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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning to everyone welcome to Free Grace Baptist Church and uh welcome to all our visitors here with us this morning it's a joy to have you just before we begin worship this morning just a couple of announcements um just a reminder we have a we have a Pulpit Swap this morning we announced last Lord's day uh Pastor Butler is at Siri Reformed Baptist Church uh and we have Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick here with us this morning from that church preaching for us morning and evening um for those who are new or visiting Pastor Mike was ordained an elder here in our church back in 2017 uh we planted a church there in Suri that uh began uh in 2018 I believe it was January um and he's been Faithfully ministering there uh since 2018 so it's a joy to have him back with us here preaching for us morning and evening um so that evening service is at 5:00 p.m. tonight and just a reminder that there is no Wednesday night bible study for July and August we'll reconvene the Wednesday night bible studies uh that first Wednesday after Labor Day I imagine but an email will come out with regards to that well let's move on to Sacred things now then we can turn to our Bibles for our call to worship which is Psalm 24 Psalm 24 is our call to worship the this morning Psalm 22 has been called The Psalm of the Cross uh Psalm 23 The Psalm of the crook not the criminal but the shepherd's Crook and Psalm 24 the psalm of the crown in each of these Psalms we have in Psalm 22 uh Christ as Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world we have Psalm 23 Christ as the great Shepherd of the sheep and here in Psalm 24 the exaltation and coronation of the Lord Jesus Christ uh now at the right hand of the Majesty on high Psalm 24 beginning in verse one this is the word of the Triune God a Psalm of David the Earth is the Lord's and all its fullness the world and those who dwell therein for he has founded it upon the Seas and established it upon the waters who may Ascend into the hill of the Lord or who may stand in his holy place he who has Clean Hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation this is Jacob the generation of those who seek Him who seek your face saah lift up your heads oh you Gates and be lifted up you Everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory the lord strong and mighty the Lord Mighty in battle lift up your heads oh you Gates lift up you Everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory the lord of hosts he is the king of glory say la and amen well let's stand and sing together our first hymn this morning is Psalm 146 Psalm 146 let's stand and sing together my soul praise him I will praise him all will S I will sing to God my prise Braes for all their will to nothing when to GL Earth all he his forever his for willice for [Music] is all to he and rightous and the for forever gener hallelujah praise the Lord let's go to our God In Prayer let's pray our righteous and Holy Father we come to you in prayer rejoicing that we can gather once again in the name of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ for the worship of the one and only living and true God father Son and Holy Spirit we would pray once again that you would help us by your spirit to hallow your most high name we pray that your gathered Saints here this morning would worship you in spirit and in truth and we reflect with great joy upon your goodness upon the multitude of blessings that you bestow upon us each and every day and we thank you for this special blessing this day set aside the the Lord's day your Sabbath day that we might Gather in this place coming in from out of the world to rejoice in our precious God to rejoice in the Christ whom he has sent and to sing the Praises of gospel Grace we thank you for the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our blessed savior we rejoice in the Blessed truth that in the fullness of the times you did send forth your son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as Sons we thank you for the Blessed truth of the Incarnation that the son of God the second of the Triune God In Due Time took upon himself our flesh took upon himself man's nature for our Redemption and for our recovery we rejoice in the precious gospel that our Lord Jesus Christ was actively obedient unto the whole law in the stead of all who believe in his name and that he suffered in that pass of obedience unto death he suffered and bore the curse for a multitude of Sinners and for a multitude of sins committed and we thank you that that cross crosswork was not a crosswork an atonement of maybe or perhaps but in so dying he secured the multitude uh the the salvation of a multitude that no man can number from every tribe and tongue and people and Nation we thank you for the perfect saving work of Jesus Christ Our Savior and we pray now by your spirit you would help us to Avail yet again of that Perfection of Salvation we thank you that we have the Forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ we we pray that you would forgive us aresh by that blood that same blood knowing that we have at your right hand Jesus Christ the righteous who intercedes for all for whom he died and we thank you so much for the Blessed continuing mediatorship of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray once again that by his sent Spirit we would worship or right this day and we pray Lord God for the preaching of the word in this place today we pray that you'd be with Pastor Kirk Patrick as opens up your word as we often pray we know that pastors that Ministers of the Gospel don't rest upon their own strength their own Ingenuity their own intelligence but much rather they rest upon the strength that Father Son and Holy Spirit provide those who are ministers of theirs and we do pray that Pastor Kirkpatrick would know that strength in this Pulpit that he would Proclaim with great conviction with great courage and joy the truth of Holy Scripture and that by that same Spirit aiding the minister those in the pews this morning would be lifted up and strengthened by the word proclaimed we pray that your people would be strengthened would be edified uh would have what they need to go into this upcoming week to live uh in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation to hold forth the word of Truth and to uh represent the gospel of our blessed savior and we pray that that same Spirit would also be active unto the salvation of Sinners uh knowing that with God alone all things are possible that every single tongue that entered in this place uh opposed to God opposed to his Christ would leave these two doors singing the Praises of Victorious Grace we do pray that you'd be with those unable to join us we pray whether sick or traveling that you would watch over them and help them and uh heal those who are sick heal those who are brokenhearted and down in spirit we pray that you would lift these up and cause them to know the joy of Christ we do pray for churches that are dear to us the church in Suri uh in Armstrong in dren in Honduras uh we think of the other churches here in Canada uh across Canada in uh in central Canada Eastern Canada we think of those who we know well in California and elsewhere we play we pray for all those True Churches of yours Lord God that you would cause those worshiping today to know the presence of Christ who walks amongst his precious lampstands we pray that you would be with preachers and pulpits that they would proclaim the true and saving God gospel and we do pray for the Vindication of your name throughout the world that as the gospel Goes Forth by the power of the Holy Spirit many would be brought from Darkness to light we pray Lord God for the persecuted Church throughout the world we would ask that you'd be with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ who uh are the recipients of such such hot anger and persecution tyranny and opposition that you would strengthen them in the midst of these uh gross trials and these afflictions we pray that you'd help them we we pray that you would cause them to lay hold of their confession of faith without wavering know that knowing that the one in high heaven is faithful to those who are amongst his churches and we do pray for those who oppose your churches Lord we pray that many would be brought to Faith in Jesus Christ by word and spirit we pray that many presently your enemies would by Amazing Grace be made your friends and be found among those whom they persecute we pray Lord God that you would take away from uh from the those take take away those from the midst of your people who are seeking to perpetrate wickedness those in in reprobate opposition that you would take them out of the way that as we pray those Psalm 58 things that you would tear out their fangs and that you would cause them to wither away as the snail as they would no longer that they would no longer bring violence and perpetrate evils upon the people of God your precious church we pray then that you would continue to be with us as we pray as we read the scriptures As we sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and as we engage in a moment's time in that Central act of worship the preaching of the word of God we pray that you would be with us by your spirit that you would help us to worship you in spirit and in truth and that upon the Praises of this gathered assembly the Lord Jesus Christ would be honored and glorified and we pray in his precious name amen well let's stand and sing again this time is uh hymn 3 25 and uh we'll sing that together just a reminder that the Bible tells us that we're not simply or only singing to God when we stand up and we sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs we're singing to one another with Grace in our heart so let's stand and sing to God and each other from hymn 3:25 glor and to be to Children the king of is royal the king and bless angels pring the all the people of to for they of prise to be highest our be now AC their praises accept the pr we PR [Music] you can turn in your Bibles with me to the gospel of Mark our New Testament scripture reading as we read consecutively through the New Testament in Lord's Day morning worship is now Mark 1 beginning at verse 21 and we'll read from there to the end of the chapter Mark 1 beginning at verse 21 once again the word of God then they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught and they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having Authority and not as the scribes now there was a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit and he cried out saying let us alone what have we to do with you Jesus of Nazareth did you come to destroy us I know who you are the Holy One Of God but Jesus rebuked him saying be quiet and come out of him and when the unclean Spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice he came out of him then they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves saying what is this what new doctrine is this for with authority He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him and immediately his Fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue they entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John but Simon 's wife's mother lay sick with a fever and they told him about her at once so he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and immediately the fever left her and she served them at evening when the sun had set they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed and the whole city was gathered together at the door then he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons and he did not allow the demons to speak because they knew him now in the morning having having risen a long while before daylight he went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed and Simon and those who were with him searched for him when they found him they said to him everyone is looking for you but he said to them let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also because for this purpose I have come forth and he was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out Dem demons now a leper came to him imploring him kneeling down to him and saying to him if you are willing you can make me clean then Jesus moved with compassion stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him I am willing be cleansed as soon as he had spoken immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed and he strictly warned him and sent him away at once and said to him see that you say nothing to anyone but go your way show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing uh offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded as a testimony to them however he went out and began to Proclaim uh it freely and to spread the matter so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city but was outside in deserted places and they came to him from every direction amen well just very briefly Mark continues to set forth Jesus Christ and his Supremacy we noted last time uh as the John John the Baptist said that um he himself John the Baptist was not worthy to uh worthy to loose the sandal straps of this one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit noted that Jesus isn't just some other Prophet but is actually the sum and content of Prophecy proclaimed or he himself is both preacher and content of the preaching and we see that brought forth here as his authority is set forth first of all over the scribes secondly over the demons and then thirdly o over illness and disease Jesus Christ sets forth the fact that he is the promised Messiah he is the one who was to come forth and do Mighty things in the name of God he being God uh In the Flesh and we have this wonderful statement that I I was thinking about this the very last statement and they came to him from every direction that's the sort of text that Spurgeon would rip completely out of its context and preach a sermon on on Ministry and and the salvation of a multitude which no man can number from the entirety of the globe he's one of the only men that could do that and and do that well but isn't it a wonderful statement and they came to him from every direction that's our goal as the Christian church as those who serve Christ in this lower world we want those to come from every tribe and tongue and people and Nation to come to the Savior to come to the one who forgives sins to come to the one who came into this world Sinners to save and we ought to continue to pray for the ministry of the church for the ministry of the church proper and those sent by the church out into the missionary field to bring the gospel to those near and far what a glorious thing it is to to go out into the entirety of the earth and Proclaim that blessed one who came into this world Sinners to save let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we rejoice in your goodness to us in revealing to us Christ in the scriptures we thank you that we can lay hold of our blessed savior on the pages of holy RIT that we can Avail of the Blessed things that you've revealed to us his salvation the Perfection of it uh his deity his Humanity his single mediatorship as the one who saves people from their sins we do pray that you'd help us as we enter now the act of worship the preaching of the word might we be focused Upon Our Savior might we be focused in preaching upon the word preached help us to attend unto that act of worship and we pray that our minds would not be carried off by the things of the past week or the week upcoming but that we would be solely focused on the worship of Father Son and Holy Spirit and we pray in Christ's name amen our final hymn then if you'll stand with me is hymn number 374 let's stand and sing 374 together and for for God [Music] and [Music] his and to all mesty to [Music] GL glor well good morning everyone it's good to be with you once again this morning on this Lord's day uh we're going to look at the prophet Jonah chapter 4 so you can turn with me in your Bibles to the prophet Jonah I've titled this sermon plants or people who's more valuable and who is God uh who is more gracious towards either we're going to look at all of chapter 4 but I'm going to read chapter three as well to set the context Jonah 3 we'll begin reading at verse one now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying arise go to Nineveh that great City and preach it the message that I tell you so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceedingly great City a three-day journey in extent and Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk then he cried out and said yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown so the people of Nineveh believed God proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them then the word came to the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his Nobles saying let neither man nor Beast herd nor flock taste anything do not let them eat or drink water but let man and Beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God yes let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands who can tell if God will turn and relent and turn away from his Fierce anger so that we may not perish then God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God relented Ed from the disaster he that he had said he would bring upon them and he did not do it but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry 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 tares for I know that you are a gracious and merciful god slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness one who relents from doing harm therefore now oh Lord please take my life from me for it is better for me to die than to live then the Lord said is it right for you to be angry 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 and the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be shadeed for his head to deliver him from his misery so Jonah was very grateful for the plant but as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm and it so damaged the plant that it withered and it happened when the sun arose that God prepared a veh 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 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 but the Lord said you have had pity on the plant for which you have not laid labored nor made it grow which came up in a night and perished in a night and should I not pity Nineveh that great City in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock amen well let us pray oh Lord Our God we are know that you are The God Who is slow to anger and abundant in Mercy we are thankful for your loving kindness we are thankful that you are gracious and we know oh Lord that we are undeserving of all the good gifts that you've given to us temporal but especially Eternal we know that we have sinned against you we know that we have violated your law we know that Adam brought sin and misery into this world and so we are grateful for your mercy thank you for removing our misery in Christ Jesus our lord thank you Lord that we do oh Lord that we do not need to fear that final day when Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead because you have been so gracious and merciful to us and we ask oh Lord that you'd forgive us for our own anger forgive us for our own pettiness at your goodness towards others please forgive us for our covetousness for various things that you give to others and we're thankful oh Lord that Christ is such a sufficient savior he is able to forgive us of all of our sins all the sins that we have committed in word thought and deed and even all the sins we will commit thank that he is our high priest who is the same yesterday today and forever and we are we're thankful oh God that your goodness is your essence and we're thankful Lord we see your goodness towards us in your love we see your goodness towards us in your grace and we are thankful that we see your goodness towards us in your mercy and so we ask and pray oh Lord that you'd send forth your spirit as has been prayed that we' have a better understanding of what your word says that we would recognize that you are sovereign you are The Sovereign God who will be just with whom he will be just We Are The Sovereign God who will be compassionate with whom whom he will be compassionate so we pray that we would trust that we pray that we would submit to that and we pray oh Lord that we would appreciate that you're the one who rules all things even including the salvation of Sinners so be with us now by your spirit we pray that today would be an edif time of edification for your people and we pray that today would be the great day of salvation for you God who is merciful so be with us now by your spirit we pray in the Name of Christ amen well whether we like to admit it or not we can all struggle with pettiness and anger over God's goodness it's what we call covetousness when we see that God gives good gifts to others we desire those things rather than being content with the lot that God has given to us and we can even be Petty and angry at the goodness of others with respect to gifts that God has given to them even pastors can get Petty when they see perhaps another Pastor who has the gifts of Spurgeon who has the mind of Owen and God has not given those things to me or to someone else and so we can get a little petty with respect to these things we can observe Church growth and wonder ourselves why is this not happening to our church what is going on and perhaps rather than praise the Lord for the gifts he gives to his church and praise the Lord for the growth that he brings sometimes we can get just a little bit pity and we Petty and we can sulk and this is what Jonah is doing when it comes to the Salvation of the ninevites God has brought a great salvation you think it would be every missionary's Delight to see the salvation of Sinners but here we see something very interesting Jonah is sulking Jonah is mad Jonah is angry at the goodness of God you see that's the entire point of the Book of Jonah it's all about God who is Sovereign and he is Sovereign to be just with whom he will be just but he's also Sovereign to be gracious with whom he will be gracious he is the one who has the right over this entire world whether to demonstrate his Justice or to demonstrate and show undeserved mercy and so this in this book we see that Jonah is sent to the Nations we see in this book that Jonah is sent really to the enemy and that's very unique when it comes to the prophets Jonah was a prophet perhaps before or around the time of Amos and Hosea he was a prophet to that northern kingdom during the time of the divided Kingdom and we see it as a dark time in Israel's history there's Disobedience there is wickedness there is much uh vess under jeroboam II and what makes him so unique is his task to be sent out to the various Nations now if you're reading your Bible chronologically or in order and you come to Hosea you see the wickedness of that northern kingdom we see their idolatry and how they love Idols rather than God and then we come to Joel and we see that God is going to bring judgment but he's also going to be bring restoration and salvation as well then we come to Amos and we start to see some sort of references to the Nations their brutality their wickedness their awfulness God is going to judge them just as he's going to judge Israel then we come to Obadiah and Obadiah is also a prophet concerning the Nations and then something unre something remarkable happens in Jonah God is going to be gracious and kind to Israel's enemies God is going to bring deliverence to a pagan and to a pagan nation and so it makes Jonah's call you unique and it teaches us about God's sovereignty over the Nations and even his Mercy toward the Nations God's glory is not just for Israel but it's also for the whole world and so really Jonah is set up in two parts there's Jonah's resistance which we know all too well and then we see neva's repentance in chapters 3 and four and so the problem that we see in this text is the problem when we can be angry with the goodness of God even as he brings the salvation of enemies even as he brings the salvation of those we want to see judged God is so loving God is so good and God Is So merciful that he saves the worst and most vile of Sinners and this is evident with Jonah as he is petty towards the salvation of his enemies and so in Jonah 4 we see that Jonah is angry with the mercy of God but really this magnifies God's grace all the more God is merciful god is good God is loving God is gracious God is slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness so we're going to see yahweh's Mercy under two headings this morning first of all we're going to see when the prophet is angry in verses 1 through 4 when the prophet is angry in verses 1-4 and then we're going to see when the Lord is merciful in verses 5- 11 so when the prophet is angry and when the Lord is merciful so let's first look at when the prophet is angry in verses 1-4 now it's important to remind ourselves of this book as a whole we all know about Jonah's fleeing we all know that God said to him you must go to Nineveh and he goes the opposite direction he goes the other way and we see this storm comes about and even what Jonah meant for evil God does mean for good because we do see the salvation of the Mariners we see the salvation of these pagans now if you were to go to an Evangelistic seminar to learn about methods as far as evangelism goes you wouldn't talk to Jonah would you I ran away I didn't do what God Said I went the opposite direction and what happens he eventually says yes this whole storm is because of me it's what I have done I have fled from my God and we see the Mariners believe the Mariners profess the Mariners recognize there is one God and so it teaches us that God's salvation really is uh his and he is the one who is pleased to work when he sees fit so they cast Jonah out we see that Jonah dies in Chapter 2 with the fish he prays for deliverance from death and in death and God provides that then we see God's salvation of Nineveh and we see their repentance we see that in verse 5 so the people of Nineveh believed God and then in chapter 3:1 we see then God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God relented from the disaster that he said he would bring upon them and he did not do it and so what's Jonah's response it's to be angry and so we see that in verse one but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became very angry and this book often repeats words in it to teach us something and one word that is often repeated in chapters 3 and 4 is the word evil evil doesn't always mean morally wrong wrong but evil can refer to disaster so we see that Nineveh repents from their evil way and God relents from bringing disaster or evil upon them and so Jonah is mad at the fact that God ceased from this evil and the word evil will come up more uh in verse four when things don't go his way he sulks like a little child I mean his responses are like a little child with what he says to God and so he says in verse two as he praise to God and we finally know the reason why he went the other way God you're too kind I know you're so merciful I know that your goodness is your essence he says Ah Lord was not this what I said when I was still in my country therefore I fled previously to tares for I know that you are gracious and merciful I know that you are slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness one who relents from doing harm and there is a contrast here with this prayer and the prayer that Jonah prays in the belly of the fish you see he does pray for Mercy he does pray for deliverance and God gives it but here he is griping at the mercy of God and so he reveals why he has done what he has done because God is good this is why all the drama has occurred in this book because God is good and again Jonah isn't the greatest role model when it it comes to perhaps uh thinking of the Giants of the faith I mean John Gil says the strangest oddest and most out ofth way man for a good man and a prophet as one shall ever hear or read of displeased he was at that which one would have thought he would have exceedingly rejoiced at the success of his ministry as all good men prophets and Ministers of the word do nothing Grieves them more than the hardness of men's hearts and the failure of their labors and nothing more rejoices them than the conversion of Sinners by them but Jonah is displeased at the repentance of the ninevites through his preaching and at the mercy of God shown unto them I mad oh Lord at what you've done I am mad at this great salvation that you've brought because he knows who God is he does have a proper theology but it's not the right practice uh here when it comes to that right theology ology and L of the language that we see about our God in verse two ought to draw our attention hopefully as I read it and read it a few times already you would have been drawn back to Exodus 34 in Exodus 34 as God reveals himself to Moses as he it's a theophany this God appearing to Moses in Exodus 34 after the golden calf situation after Israel danced around that golden calf after Israel engaged in spiritual adultery on their wedding night we see that God is what the Lord the Lord God slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love he is a God who is gracious he is a God who is goodness is his Essence and we see that uh toward us we see his work toward us and that he gives us good things but he also dispels our misery and takes that away and we're thankful that he does so in the Lord Jesus Christ you see Israel or Israel and Nineveh are both deserving of judgment Nineveh is deserving of damnation Nineveh is deserving of being judged by God but God is what he is merciful and gracious he is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness Moses begged for the goodness of God here Jonah is begging for something different he wants Justice to come for his enemies now Exodus 34 does also talk about Justice God will by no means clear the guilty that's why we need a substitute that's why we need someone to die in our stead that's why we need someone to Bear the punishment we deserve because God is just and what's interesting is God's justice does come up in nahem chapter 1 and what's interesting the emphasis in nahem chapter 1 is certainly God being slow to anger but also God being the one who will judge all God who will judge sin and so in nahem chapter 1 we see that God is going to bring judgment upon n God is going to judge them God is going to make them no more that's many years down the road but nonetheless we see that God is just and God is merciful and both of those come into play when it came to the history of Nineveh and here at this time in is in nineveh's history God is pleased to relent God is pleased to demonstrate his mercy and so what does then Jonah do he threatens God Jonah threatens God and says in verse three this is that childlike Behavior therefore now oh Lord please take my life from me for it is better for me to die than to live it's like when you're disciplining your child and you're taking something away and they say fine take everything away from me and that's exactly how Jonah is acting fine Lord kill me fine Lord take me away you are so good you are so gracious but I do not want to see my enemies Prosper I don't want to see my enemy sa fine Lord please just take me away I'm angry at this whole situation and what does God say God gives a gentle rebuke here he is being kind to Jonah much more kind than probably we would be with Jonah because Jonah really does have a double standard here because it's not just so much who Jonah goes to remember to whom the book is ultimately written it's written to Israel and Israel was just as vile Israel is just as wicked as the Nations Israel is just as wicked as Nineveh and so Jonah has a double standard here doesn't he Jonah is wanting Mercy for Israel but he does not want Mercy for the Nations when in reality Israel needs Mercy as well and so he gives a gentle rebuke if anyone should be angry if anyone should be frustrated it is not the prophet and I speak in the manner of men but verse four then the Lord says is it right for you to be angry now notice it's the Lord God that is referenced here the one who is the Covenant Lord the god of Israel we'll see that in contrast certainly with God's sovereignty is the word God is used in subsequent verses but the Lord God is speaking to Jonah and saying to him is it right for you to be angry obviously the answer to that question is no who is the judge of all the Earth who has the right to be angry over anything who has the right to bring a about judgment if anyone should be angry if anyone should be um uh uh uh Angry it is God and so that is the problem I think we can apply to ourselves here in verses 1-4 the application we can draw the problem of unrighteous anger with God's sovereignty and the problem of unrighteous anger with God's sovereignty as it pertains to Justice you see most of the time our anger is unrighteous there are times when our anger or can be righteous but that ought to stem from a holy Zeal for God's name but if we're being honest with ourselves is that rarely the reason why or is that ever the primar primarily the reason why we're angry most of the time we get angry at things that are perhaps outside of our control sometimes we get angry with God for the life that he has given unto us isn't that what pride is in reality pride is not submitting to the things of God Peter draws this out very clearly as he talks about submitting to God submitting under the mighty hand of God and how you humble yourselves and submit under that Mighty hand of God by casting all your cares upon Him for he cares for you it's a comforting text but a challenging text as well because you see when we don't trust the life that God has given to us in reality we try to play God and when we get angry you know what we're doing we're putting ourselves in the Judgment seat of God we think we know better than God we think we know better than the situation we assume that we could do things better unbelievers often say well if I were God and they it's usually implied when they talk about how could there be evil in this world if I was running this world I would not bring evil into it I'm very thankful that that person is not running the world because God is the one who runs it for his purposes and for his own Glory even sometimes Believers in our own personal Liv but even when we look at the state of our perhaps political situations how could this person be in office how could this person be the one running these countries how could this happen why is it that person and that person oh Lord you see sometimes we can be angry with the situation and we think that we know better than God most high I'm not condoning the wicked things that leaders do but really the reality is we need to trust in God's sovereignty he will judge the wicked he will bring justice but he's also pleased to delay his final Justice and final judgment for the Salvation of undeserving Sinners that's why God's justice and judgment on that final in that final Act is delayed because God is good and so we ought to be careful at being angry at our situations ought to be careful about being angry at the goodness of God towards us and towards others we ought to trust in the sovereignty of God especially as it pertains to the fact that he is the judge of all the Earth and he will do right is it right for you to be angry so that is when the prophet is angry let's then look at when the Lord is merciful in verses 5- 11 the contrast is important we need to see who the good one is remember the Rich Young Ruler says good teach teacher and what does Jesus say why do you call me good there is no one good but God there is no one good but God and there is no one good but Christ and so we see that there is only one who is good and that is our God and he's going to teach Jonah A Lesson by way of this plant by way of this tree that he loves so much verse 5 so Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city and there he made himself a booth or a shelter and set under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city he wants to see what would happen he thinks that Neva is still going to be judged and so he's just waiting for that fire to fall he wants to be there to see it all happen so he's going to go and he's going to sit by the city and he's going to wait because he wants he thinks that there's still perhaps going to be some sort of fire that's going to fall and so as he's waiting we see the Lord God does something he prepares s and that word prepare is used throughout these verses he prepares the plant he prepares the worm he prepares the East Wind he also prepared the fish as well in 117 it's the same word again it's teaching us about the sovereignty of God most high he has appointed all these things he is the one who is in control of the fish he's the one who's in control of the Nations he's the one who's in control of Israel and he is the one who is in control of this plant for shade and so we see see he provides this plant he gives him a plant he sees it till uh in verse six and the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade for his head to deliver him from his misery it's hot in Assyria it's hot in Nineveh and so God puts this shade over his head God is kind God is pleased to dis spel his misery and what's interesting that's a good definition of what Mercy is isn't it it's God remove removing our misery what did Adam bring into this world if you know your children's catechism very well sin and misery Brethren suffering isn't isn't just perhaps being locked up in a prison it's not just being persecuted for the faith although that's the highest form of suffering in this world but sin and the effects of sin are part of suffering as well sickness illness not even related to persecution sickness pain suffering hardship difficult there's a lot of suffering that is present in this world sin and misery and most importantly if we do not believe Upon Jesus Christ and if we die in our trespasses and sins it's going to be punishment for our sin and it's going to be misery forever and so what does God do he dispels he removes the evil that same language he removes the evil he removes the misery he delivers him from it even though if it's just with respect to this plant it's still a good picture when you read the the Theology and read about what Mercy is it is the dispelling of misery Grace is God is the gifts that God gives but Mercy is the dispelling and removing of that misery that we brought upon ourselves and that Jonah brought upon Him upon himself as well and so he prepares this plant Jonah Delights in it verse six at the end Jonah was very grateful for the plant again don't miss the fact he's angry with Nineveh but he loves that plant he loves to Garden he loves that tree that's come on up to give him the shade that he needs he just loves his plant but then the Lord is going to teach him a lesson by way of his Providence still in verse 7 but as morning dawned the next day God The Sovereign God overall the creator of Heaven and Earth he has prepared a worm and it so damaged the plant that it withered 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 he has grown faint we see that God is Sovereign over all of this now grona uh grona Jonah is going to groan again and Grumble and complain he says at the end of verse 8 then he wished death for himself and said it is better for me to die than to live yeah Lord please take me Nineveh didn't get blown up and Lord please take me now because my plant is gone my precious plant my wonderful plant it is as ridiculous as it sounds because here is a plant and he's more concerned with that plant than he is with people and at least he's honest in the next question that God brings in verse 9 then God said to Jonah is it right for you to be angry about the plant and Jonah says yes it is right for me to be angry even to death it was my plant I love my plant it is a great plant It's a Wonderful plant and I care for that plant and so we see that then God says in verse 10 then he brings it to Bear upon Him is it are you really more concerned with this plant than you are with people and it's really to teach and highlight the theme of how Israel has been so rebellious to draw out the fact that God has been so gracious to Nineveh that he can be gracious to Israel too how often in Hosea turn turn turn Amos seek the Lord and live he is gracious and good and so if God postponed the judge judgment upon Nineveh would he not do the same for the people of God who repent now later on in naham nahem 1 9 and 14 highlight ninva is not going to rise again they are not going to rise again but nonetheless God is the point here is that God is gracious and good and he's going to highlight the fact the plant was not even Jonah's to begin with we need to remind ourselves of that Brethren everything we have is not ours to begin with it's a gift that God gives God made us and God gave it to us the rain falls upon the just and the unjust Paul as he's evangelizing in Acts 14 says there's rain and fruitful Seasons it is going to be an Evidence against those who do not believe Upon Jesus here's the goodness of God to you in this world even in a sin cursed world and yet you still spit in the face of God and spit in the face of his goodness and you will not believe and look to him it's going to be evidence against them and we see that God is the one who is merciful god is the one who toiled he is the one who made the world that word toiling is used in chapter 1 where Jonah says I am a Hebrew and I fear the lord the god of Heaven who made the Sea and the dry land again wonderful testimony I mean what he says is good but the reality is he is not walking the walk but God is still again pleased to save these Mariners and pleased to save these ninevites and so God then brings it to bear in verse 10 he says in verse 10 but the Lord said you have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored nor made it grow nor came up in a night and perished in a night the plant's trivial I gave it to you you didn't water it and then it died and now it's gone why are you so concerned about this plant shall not God have pity for people if Jonah has pity for a plant who has speaking in the manner of men a greater loving kindness who is good and who is gracious and who is merciful the reality is it's probably not us the reality is it's definitely not Jonah the reality is it is God most high often we like to prate ourselves as one who would be gracious and kind and merciful but the reality is we are not the reality is we do not the reality is we are more angry and Petty than we would like to think of ourselves and so we see that he highlights this very fact should you have had pity on this plant but verse 11 should I not pity Nineveh that great City in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock you see God knows the world that he made and he knows that there is a higher order he knows that there's plants then there's animals and then there's people and so of what is more value a plant or a cow hopefully you all say a cow what's more value than a cow people people have more value than cows again the world gets this all messed up often many are concerned with the the protection of animals which I don't I'm not for cruelty but there's a hypocrisy when they're perfectly okay with murdering babies in the womb you see man is not as gracious and as kind as he would like to think that he is there's only one who is there's only one who is whose goodness is his Essence there's only one who is loving kindness and God is highlighting that by way of this question should I not pity ninova I know their frame should I not pity the one who does not know the right hand from their left and what's interesting is this whole book ends on a cliffhanger It Ends by way of question we really don't see Jonah's response although Gil highlights something uh with respect to how we could uh surmise how Jonah responded Gil says no answer being returned it may be reasonably supposed Jonah was convinced of his sin and Folly and because he includes it he goes on to say to show his repentance for it Pinn this narrative which records his infirmities and weaknesses for the good of the church and the instruction of saints in succeeding ages should I not pity all these people and much livestock Jonah's answer is yes you should you should pity them and I have been the one who has been wrong and we know that by the fact that this book is included in God's word obviously God is the one who writes it God is the author of the scriptures but we see all the infirmities and weaknesses and pettiness from Jonah because it highlights how good and gracious God is this is a message about God's grace but also a message about God's sovereignty when it comes to his grace as well it's something to akin to what Paul said in Romans 9 he says I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion God will judge whom he will judge and he will judge rightly and justly because man sinned against him but thankfully he is merciful to a great multitude that no man can number and he will be gracious with whom he will be gracious and he is pleased to call Sinners out of Darkness through means but we must remember that God is the one who brings that salvation it's not our method it's not it's not NE we try to speak we share the truth with others but it's not our method it is God who does it I think that's why sometimes churches grow in different ways it is to teach man that God will work how he pleases and also perhaps to protect some pastors from pride and arrogance by letting things get to uh too much in their head because God is the one who is Sovereign over his church he is the so is Sovereign over salvation we see his grace toward the undeserving in this book I mean to the prophet Jonah doesn't deserve Grace but God is gracious we see that Nineveh does not deserve Grace but God is gracious what we have is that Gentile foretaste the Gentile inclusion foretaste with the Mariners and also with these ninevites because God is going to be gracious to whom he will be gracious it's not just for Israel we see that the nations are going to flock the nations are going to come in and the way that it happens is in Jesus Christ and by faith the way that that happens is the proclamation of the Gospel we see this fulfilled in the book of Acts as the as our Christ continues to do and to teach through the man that he has appointed going from Jerusalem Judea Samaria and all the way to the ends of the Earth we have a foretaste of that here in Jonah we have a foretaste of God's goodness not just to Israel but to the Nations and this is all meant to teach us and help us to see that there really is what we receive by way of what Christ has done in the gospel is all of God's grace God is good God is kind and we see that manifested in full in Jesus Christ the one who was born of a woman born under the law to redeem those who are under the law this uh saying is uh faithful and worthy Christ Jesus came into this world to save Sinners and Paul says what of whom I am chief he came to save the the Sinners he came not to save The Righteous but call Sinners to repentance there is no one like our Christ there is no one like our God there is no salvation but in Jesus Christ and so if you're an unbeliever here today you must believe Upon Jesus Christ to be saved you must Look to Him by faith to be saved faith is a gift but we call you to believe we knowing that God will regenerate Hearts give new Hearts call forth his people but we pray that you would believe that you would look to Christ believe upon him and that you would be saved all that we need is found in Christ Jesus what Christ has done for us has given us all of our need we had dead Hearts what do we need regeneration we were guilty before God what do we need justification our hearts are corrupt what do we need sanctification we were orphans because of our sin what do we need adoption our bodies are dead and dying what do we need Resurrection all those things come in Jesus Christ he is such a sufficient Savior for all of our needs believe upon Him believe upon this one who is the Lord the Lord God who has Mercy merciful and gracious the one who is abundant in loving kindness the one who relents from doing harm should God not pity Those whom he will pity for many of us here he is merciful to us and he has taken away our misery well let us pray oh Lord Our God we are thankful that you are the Lord God who is merciful and gracious the one who is slow to anger and abundant and loving kindness we're thankful that you're the one who relents from doing harm and we know oh Lord that we see this and we receive this because of Jesus Christ we're thankful that Jesus bore the punishment we deserve in our stead and we're thankful because of what he has done we receive all the benefits that Christ Jesus has purchased for us and so we are thankful for all those Redemptive benefits that you have given we're thankful that you give new Hearts we're thankful Lord that you have the promise of new bodies thank you Lord for the fact that we are righteous in your sight and we are Justified because of Jesus we're thankful oh Lord that we are being Sanctified and we will one day be fully Sanctified and we're thankful oh Lord that all this comes from what Christ has done because you're the God who is good towards undeserving Sinners we know oh Lord that we have sinned much and there's much Misery we have brought into our lives but thank you for the joy of being found in Christ thank you for the joy of knowing Christ and we ask and pray oh Lord that you'd help us uh To Be watchful help us to be on guard with our own anger and we pray oh Lord that we would not be Covetous and we're thankful that even these sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus for those who believe and so we pray oh Lord that you would help us to be joyful help us to bear and exhibit the fruit of the spirit that we would be loving and kind and gracious and gentle and meek uh and self-controlled we pray oh Lord that as we live by the spirit that we would walk by the spirit and we pray oh Lord that in doing so we would trust you we would trust you with our lives we would trust you with the nations in which we live we would trust you with the salvation of Sinners help us to be faithful to what you've called us to do but help us to remember that you are The God Who will bring the salvation ation to Those whom you will bring that salvation and we are thankful that you are pleased to work through means so thank you oh Lord that you're the one who pies Nineveh you're the one who pied us and we're thankful Lord that we can Rejoice knowing that we are found in Christ Jesus for you are good so be with us now by your spirit we pray in the Name of Christ amen well we'll close this morning's hymn by singing himym 568 so you can turn with me in your triny uh s himnos him 568 PR him all praise son andly ghost to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us Kings and Priests to his God and Father to him be glory and Dominion forever forever and ever amen we'll close with the brief time meditation the PS finished you are dismissed e e e e e e e e e [Music] e e