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Once again, it is a pleasure 
to be here, a privilege to get to be amongst you this morning. 
I do bring greetings from my wife and our family back in Nashville, 
Tennessee. I wish Barbara was here with 
us and she could enjoy the opportunities that I enjoy. I just get to come 
back home and tell her stories and such. First, when you have a missionary 
come to speak, you expect a missionary sermon. And I am concerned about 
missions. I am concerned about the gospel. 
I'm concerned about evangelism. And one of the burdens of my 
heart is that nothing would hinder the gospel. Over and over we 
read in scripture of prayers and exhortations that the word 
of God would not be hindered, but that it would flow freely. 
And that's my desire, that it would not be hindered. And I 
know I'm in Canada, so I don't know all that goes on here. I 
don't know what the issues are in this country. But I know in 
America there are issues. There are, even now with an election 
coming up, there are issues that are raised. Among those, illegal 
immigration is one of the issues that weighs heavy on a lot of 
Americans' minds. They don't like the idea of people 
coming across the border getting benefits, educational or medical 
benefits. They don't like the idea of people 
mooching off of the government and then not paying taxes, and 
that offends many people. I've also heard there are other 
controversies, a controversy related to abortion. That's a 
topic that is still hot, and it'll always be hot, I think, 
as long as it exists. It's a topic that has caused 
a lot of God's people to be stirred in many ways. I met a couple 
not too long ago, who came to me and said that they were among 
those who protest abortion clinics. And I asked them the question, 
what would you do if the abortion doctor moved in and became your 
next door neighbor? Then what would you do? Would 
you go and protest against your neighbor? Would you wish that 
your neighbor's house would burn down and that they would just 
go away? But there are other issues out 
there. One of them is Islamic extremism. I think when you think 
about Muslims, or when some people think about Muslims, all they 
can think about is terrorists. All they can think about is people 
who just want to blow up other people and want to rule the world. And that is something that affects 
people. Brethren, the thing that I'm 
concerned about is that these issues don't affect our compassion 
for the gospel to those various groups and people. One of the things I think can 
be a problem is an attitude. An attitude against those groups, 
those individuals, those people, those untouchables that are out 
there. in our minds that would keep us from wanting to reach 
them, keep us from wanting to even pray for them, and have 
a burden for them. I don't know what it's like here. Maybe, in a sense, it's good 
to be a visiting preacher because I don't know who's who, I don't 
know the believers, I don't know the unbelievers, I don't know 
who's a visitor. I don't know. So I'm just going 
to preach as the Spirit of God enables me to preach today. What 
I'd like to ask you to do is join me in looking at Jonah. As I thought of this topic, this 
man Jonah came to my mind because I believe Jonah had an attitude 
problem. Now, the Book of Jonah, of course, 
it's just about three pages, not even three pages in my Bible. I'm reading from the ESV version, 
by the way. We could read it all right through 
if we wanted to, but we won't. We'll look at various parts of 
Jonah. But one of the things about Jonah 
that interests me is the fact that it's not a prophecy against 
a nation or condemning this group or that group against one of 
the kings. It's a prophecy that was addressed to the prophet. It was the prophet's prophecy. And by extension, I would say, 
it's a prophecy for God's people. Jonah represented the people 
of God and the attitude that could be possible in the minds 
and the hearts of God's people. Before I go on, I'd like to ask 
you to join me one more time and pray. Our God and our Father, we are 
privileged to be able to gather together in relative peace and 
quiet. We can take time to think about 
the things of God. We can take time to consider 
our ways. We aren't being threatened and 
attacked day by day. We do have that liberty. And 
yet, our Father, we also know that there are some things can 
perhaps even consume our thoughts and make us to be prejudicial 
even against others. We pray that you would help us 
if that's the case, that you would show us that you're a God 
of great compassion, a God of mercy, a God who delights and 
showing mercy slow to anger. And we pray that you would make 
us more and more like you. We ask that you would bless us 
now as we look at your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, what I'd like us to do 
first this morning is begin to look at this man, Jonah, and 
first of all, I'd like to point out that we see here in Jonah 
in the very beginning, in the first two verses, a command rejected. A command rejected. And we'll 
read that God commanded Jonah to pronounce judgment against 
Nineveh, verses 1 and 2. Now the word of the Lord came 
to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, 
that great city, and call out against it for their evil has 
come up before me." God had given Jonah a specific command. He commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh. Nineveh. It's called a great 
city. We're told in chapter 3 that 
it took three days to go across the city and Jonah at one point 
when he actually obeyed God's command, he had gone a whole 
day and then he began to preach in the city. So it was a great 
city and it was a large city, exceedingly great, we're told. 
It was politically a great city. It was the capital of the Assyrian 
Empire. That's where all the attacks 
came from against the northern tribes of Israel. It was a great 
empire ruled the whole Middle East for a time. In that sense, 
it was a geographically large place. But the population, we 
are also told in Chapter 4, in the very last verse, The population 
was also great. It was a great city because it 
had a lot of people in it. It says there that there were 
120,000 persons who didn't know their right hand from their left. 
We understand that to be children. We consider how many people that 
is, including the parents and the rest of the families that 
are there. That's a large city. Hundreds of thousands of people 
in this city. So Nineveh was a great city. 
But Nineveh also was a wicked city. So it was great, but it 
was a very wicked city that deserved the wrath of God. We're told 
here, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it. 
For what? For their evil has come up before me. It was an 
evil city. The Assyrians were known for 
brutality, for their bloodletting, for the horrible treatment of 
those that they captured. Nahum, we read that they were 
known for their brutality. They're called vile. They're 
said to have fed people to lions. They're called a bloody city, 
unceasing evil. Eventually, and within 100 years, 
they actually destroy the northern kingdom of Israel. You can imagine 
how the Israelites felt about Nineveh, how they felt about 
the Assyrians. They hated them. They despised 
them. But they were a wicked people. They deserved God's wrath, His 
judgment. When God pronounced His judgment, 
it wasn't because they didn't deserve it. They weren't innocent. 
There are no innocents. They weren't innocent. They were 
deserving of God's anger and His wrath. What God had commanded 
Jonah to do was perfectly legitimate. And Jonah ought to have done 
what God commanded, because this was something God had full authority 
to do. God had given Jonah a command, 
but Jonah ran away. He simply ran away. We read in verse 3, But Jonah 
rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He 
went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So 
he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish, 
away from the presence of the Lord. Jonah left. He went away. Now, someone might 
think, well, Jonah was just afraid. He was just a scaredy cat. He 
didn't want to go because he was afraid of suffering, or he 
was afraid of the people. I don't believe that's true. 
I believe Jonah was a courageous man. He wasn't afraid to die. Later on we read where Jonah 
says, throw me into the sea. What's going to happen when he's 
thrown into the sea? He's going to drown. He knew 
that he could die. He wasn't afraid to die. Jonah 
was a prophet of God. He wasn't afraid to die. He was 
a courageous man. Jonah was a man who had known 
God's blessing on his ministry. He had preached about victory 
for the people of God. He had preached about expansion 
of the territory. He was a man who was probably 
a very popular, a loved prophet. He loved Israel. He loved his 
people. He loved God's people. But he 
wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid. But though God gave him a command 
to go to this foreign country, He got up and he left. Something made Jonah reject God's 
command. And I say reject because he didn't 
simply stay home. To disobey, you just stay where 
you are and don't do what you're told to do. That's just disobedience. But he didn't stay home. He left. He ran away. He rejected outright 
what God had commanded him to do. He knew the place of duty, 
but he left the place of duty. He forsook the call that God 
had given him. If you were in the military, 
you'd be called a deserter. You deserve punishment. And actually, 
Jonah was a man who needed to repent. He himself was sinning 
against God. He forsook God's command. But 
the thing is, Jonah was God's man. God had called this man 
and commanded him to do something, and he was going to do it. He 
was going to do it. That was God's intent. There 
wasn't another man out there God wanted to send. It was Jonah. Jonah had a specific obligation. 
This was his mission. This was his calling. He attempted 
to nullify God's command by denying God's call on his life and going 
in the opposite direction. And what did he do first? He 
left. He physically departed the scene. Perhaps he was thinking, well, 
if I get out of the way, if I get out of here, maybe God will overlook 
it. Maybe he'll forget. Out of sight, 
out of mind. Maybe he won't expect me to do 
anything. I'll be so far away from here, he won't bother with 
me anymore. He'll just give up on me. But Jonah knew he couldn't flee 
from God's presence, because we're told that's what he attempted 
to do, flee the presence of God. He knew he couldn't leave the 
presence of God. Psalm 139 is very clear and says, 
how can you leave the presence of God? Where shall I flee from 
your presence? Where shall I go from your spirit? 
There's no way you can go anywhere. If you go up into the heavens, 
if you go down into the pits of hell, you can't flee. from 
the presence of God, and Jonah knew he couldn't flee from the 
presence of God. But you know, a lot of times 
when we have a command, we run away from it by doing other things. I don't know. Maybe Jonah thought, 
I'll go to Tarshish. I'll be amongst strangers there. 
Maybe I can serve God in another place. I have no idea. But I 
think sometimes we can do the same thing. Maybe we find other 
things to do, to be busy. Maybe in our homes, we have a 
responsibility to do something in our homes, to care for our 
wives, to care for our families. Maybe we find other things to 
do in neglecting those responsibilities. Maybe churches do this. Maybe 
churches, instead of going out to the world and fulfilling the 
Great Commission, Maybe churches focus so much attention on themselves 
and upon their ministry, upon their worship, upon their theological 
needs. They focus so much on themselves. 
It's possible that we do other things in an attempt to avoid 
some of the things that we are called to do. But Jonah did that. Jonah. left. Whatever his intent 
was, he showed he was unwilling to do the thing God commanded. 
I also think Jonah, in a sense, he even left mentally. When he 
got into this boat, we are told later on that he got into this 
boat and he went down into the bottom of the boat and what did 
he do? He fell asleep. You know, the kids, I think you 
all have probably heard stories about Jonah. So that's why I 
don't think I need to explain too much. But you probably know 
the story of Jonah. But he was down in the ship, 
and he's asleep. He's asleep, unmoved by his condition, 
unmoved by the situation. There's a lot we can say about 
Jonah and about how we could, as believers even, sin and deny 
even the efforts that God makes to awaken us. But he did that. But though he attempted to nullify 
God's command, as I said, he was God's man. God hindered his 
escape. God hindered him. How did God 
hinder him? He sent a great storm upon the 
sea. God showed he is sovereign. He's omnipotent. He's the God 
of the sea. He's the God of the storm. He's 
the God of creation. You remember the story of the 
Lord Jesus being on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples? The 
storm is raging. He's asleep in the boat. And 
the disciples, they're terrified. Lord, don't you know that we're 
going to perish? And he gets up. And he says, 
oh, you of little faith. And he says, peace, be still. 
And the storm is gone. The power of our God. He is powerful. There's nothing too great for 
God. Nothing too great. And God is showing Jonah, I am 
the God who rules all things. I am the God who made heaven 
and earth. In fact, Jonah speaks of him 
that way later on with these sailors. He is the God who made 
heaven and earth. He's not the God of this region 
or that region. He's the God of all the universe. And this is the God that commanded 
Jonah. This is the God who gave him 
a calling. But God hindered him by causing 
the storm. Not only that, but he sent this 
fish, big fish, came and swallowed Jonah. God's not limited. He's not limited in any way. He could send a fish. He could 
cause a donkey to speak. He can do all sorts of things. 
and we need to understand that you know I was thinking about 
this this chapter this first chapter the rest of the chapter 
speaks about all that these sailors go through to protect All that 
they do to show compassion on Jonah. They don't know Jonah. 
He's just a troublemaker for them. But all that they do to 
try to protect him, to preserve his life, they were willing to 
throw everything overboard for Jonah. They tried doing everything 
to get back to shore for Jonah. What compassion they showed on 
this man who had no compassion on them. a testimony of how God 
worked even through a rebellious prophet. Jonah wasn't trying 
to evangelize sailors, and yet we find the sailors falling down, 
calling upon the Lord, calling upon God. An amazing thing. But here's the question. Why 
did Jonah escape? Why did he attempt to escape? 
And I think you know the answer. But there's a couple of things, 
I think, come to play here. The first thing I think is that 
he hated the Assyrians. Plain and simple. He hated them. He had a prejudice against the 
Assyrians. Not for, without reason. They 
were wicked. They were brutal. They murdered 
babies and killed pregnant women. They did all sorts of horrible, 
brutal things to people. No wonder they were hated. He hated them. But another thing we see in chapter 
4, verses 1 and 2, we see that he knew the character 
of God. He knew that God is a God of 
compassion and mercy. He knew that. Chapter 4 says, but it displeased 
Jonah exceedingly, and I'll look at that a little bit later. But 
it displeased Jonah because eventually these people repented and were 
saved. But he was angry, and he prayed to the Lord and said, 
oh 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." He knew God was 
kind. He knew God would bless these 
people. He knew if he preached to them, 
they'd be saved. Can you imagine that? Someone 
is upset about people being saved. He didn't want them saved. He 
didn't want them blessed. Oh no, they deserve to go over 
the pit. That's where they should go. 
They deserved God's wrath, and Jonah was determined that that's 
what would happen. He didn't want their blessing. 
He didn't want God's goodness on them. Oh, Jonah knew about 
God. He knew God. He knew God was 
a God of compassion. He knew that God was a God who 
when he warned, he warned to show mercy. When he gave his 
warnings, it was to show mercy. If God wants to wipe out a people, 
what does he do? He wipes them out. He comes to 
Sodom and Gomorrah and wipes them out with fire and brimstone. 
That's what he does. He doesn't give them warnings. 
He gives warnings so they repent. That's what it's all about. That's 
why you hear the gospel. It's a warning. Today is the 
day of salvation. Why do we say that? Because if 
you hear, if you harden not your hearts, And you hear, this is 
your opportunity, this is your warning. If you continue in disobedience, 
if you continue in being unrepentant, if you continue to go the way 
you're going, you're in trouble. And God is a God who is ready 
to receive you. If you are lost, he is ready 
to save. He is very full of mercy and 
compassion. He is slow to wrath and slow 
to anger. But he's ready to receive all 
who will come to him. Come unto me, the Lord Jesus 
said. All you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you 
rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn 
from me. Come to me, God says. Come to me. Come now, let us 
reason together, we are told in Isaiah chapter 1. Though your 
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. God wants 
to call sinners to faith and to obedience, to follow him. 
I'm reminded of that parable of the fig tree. This man planted a tree, and 
it didn't bear any fruit. And he says, three years I'm 
coming, and there's no fruit. Cut it down. Just by saying cut 
it down, stirs up his keeper to say, Lord, just give it one 
more year. You know, folks, God has been 
giving us time. You're hearing the gospel preached 
in your church. You're hearing over and over 
and over. Some of the children have grown 
up hearing the Bible being read in your homes, prayed over, your 
parents praying. You've heard these things over 
and over. It's not new to you. But you 
get hard, and you get cold, and you get distant, and you don't 
want to deal with it. And you put it all off. Well, 
God has been warning you all this time. Why? So you would 
believe. So that you would embrace the 
Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. That's what the warnings are 
for. And Jonah knew that. And he didn't 
like it. Because he hated the Assyrians. 
Jonah didn't understand God's absolute sovereignty. God is 
sovereign. He's sovereign in His dispensation 
of wrath. He's sovereign in His dispensation 
of mercy. God saves whom he wills to save. Romans 9 says, I will have mercy 
on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom 
I will have compassion. So then it depends not on human 
will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. Jonah needed to 
understand this was God's call, not his. Jonah's responsibility 
was obedience, faithfulness, submission to God's call. But 
Jonah can't save and he can't condemn anyone. I can't save 
or condemn anyone. Jonah had the privilege of being 
a mouthpiece of God. He had a calling to be God's 
mouthpiece and his servant. And that's where it stops. He has to fulfill his calling. 
If anyone is to be saved, it's God's work to save them. God 
uses his gospel call to save people. 1 Peter 3 says, For Christ also 
suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he 
might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but 
made alive in the Spirit. Christ came to save the unrighteous. And our call is to proclaim that. It's God's prerogative to save. It's his prerogative to extend 
his mercy to whomever he wills to extend it. When Jonah was 
swallowed up by that fish, that was the lesson he needed to learn. 
He was brought down into the depths. He was brought to a position 
where he was lost. And he said, I understand. that salvation is of the Lord. 
It's God's prerogative to save who he wills to save. It's his 
call. Now, there are many people who 
have thought that if you're not worthy, then you 
should be left alone. The Pharisees were very well 
known for this. They saw some people as worthy 
and some people as unworthy. Samaritans were unworthy. Samaritans. Why would you talk to Samaritans? 
Even the disciples of the Lord Jesus, when He was compelled 
to go to Samaria and He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the 
well, you remember the story? This woman heard the Gospel from 
the Savior's lips. The disciples come back and they 
see Him talking to the woman. The woman herself was surprised 
that he would talk to her. She says, the Jews have no dealings 
with Samaritans. They have no dealings with them. 
They stay away from them. They keep them at a distance. 
They keep apart from them. It wasn't new. It wasn't a new 
thing. Jonah was doing that thing. Jonah 
was keeping apart from these people. He hated the Syrians. 
The Jews hated the Samaritans. And anyone else who was unclean 
in some way? What did they say when they saw 
the Lord Jesus eating with prostitutes, with tax collectors, with sinners 
and immoral people? What did they think? What? When this woman, a prostitute, 
touches him, doesn't he know what kind of woman this is? These 
are the kind of people that we don't want to touch. We keep 
them off in the distance. Lepers! They're like lepers. 
You don't touch lepers. You don't touch these people. I think that's this attitude, 
this spirit was what was motivating Jonah. These Assyrians, they're 
dirty, they're outside, they're not God's people, they don't 
deserve God's goodness. I know we wouldn't say that. 
I know none of us would say that about anyone. You wouldn't say 
about a homosexual they don't deserve God's mercy. We know 
they don't. We don't either. No one deserves 
it. But you may not say anything 
outwardly against anybody, but you may feel it. You may wish 
that something would happen to all those people. I wish they 
would just go away. I wish something would just happen 
to them. What would you do if something did happen to them? 
Well, we find Jonah eventually comes around and he obeys God's 
command in Jonah chapter 3, verses 1 through 4. Then the word of 
the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, 
that great city, and call out against it the message that I 
tell you. So Jonah rose. and went to Nineveh according 
to the word of the Lord." Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great 
city. Three days journey in breadth. 
Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey, and he 
called out, "'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!' 
And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast, 
and they put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least 
of them." Well, we find Jonah obeys God's command, and then 
they repented, at the preaching of Jonah. They repented. And I think our Lord Jesus even 
brings this up, doesn't he? The people repented at the preaching 
of Jonah. We need to repent at the preaching of Christ. The 
preaching of the gospel. But he obeyed. He went. He preached. The people in verses 5 through 
10 They repent, all the way from the king, all the way down to 
even the animals. It was sackcloth and ashes. Unbelievable 
repentance. It was a revival that was going 
on. Wonderful thing happened there. 
I can't imagine being in Jonah's shoes. I would say, hallelujah, 
praise God. There's an awakening amongst 
the Assyrians. Something's happened in there. 
But Jonah, we are told, was very displeased about this. He didn't 
like that they repented. And he didn't like that God blessed 
them. Because it says in verse 10, 
when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, 
God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do 
to them. And he did not do it. And you can imagine Jonah saying, 
I knew it. I knew it. You were going to 
be good to them. No matter what I said, no matter 
what I did, you were going to bless these people. Jonah was 
angry, we read. He did not like what had happened 
there. Though Jonah learned a lesson 
about sovereignty. He knew. Intellectually, we know 
a lot of things up here. He knew about the sovereignty 
of God and saving. But he had an attitude that hindered 
him. It still hindered him. Prejudice 
hindered the free flow of the gospel, of the message. Yes, 
he obeyed. But there was an attitude issue 
within Jonah. And I wonder if that might not 
be a similar attitude that some of God's people have. As I mentioned, 
it wasn't that he had a problem with fear. He was a courageous 
man. It was that he hated these perceived 
enemies. And you know the Lord Jesus commands 
us to love our enemies, doesn't He? He commands us to love those 
sorts of people. He wants us to hate sin. God 
loves righteousness. He hates wickedness. He wants 
us to love righteousness and hate wickedness just like Him. 
He wants us to be pursuing holiness and despising wickedness. We 
must hate wickedness. But God also doesn't want us 
to hate sinners. He doesn't want us to hate sinners. We are called to love our enemies, 
to love them. The many things, the many examples 
of our Lord Jesus Christ and how he reached out to the lost 
around him, how he was compassionate, he was merciful to those around 
him. That is an example that we should 
follow. God wants us to commit ourselves 
to his mission, to his sovereignty, Not our will, not our ideas, 
not our ministries and our ways, but His, His calling. In fact, 
it's interesting because He says, go and preach to them the message 
that I tell you. That's what we're called to do. 
Preach the message we are told to tell. The messenger is a critical part 
of the Gospel presentation, brother. It's a critical part. Your attitude 
is critical. It'll affect how you pray. It'll 
keep you from praying for some when you want to pray for them. 
It'll affect you in the way you interact with people who are 
really strange and really weird, who are different. They deserve 
God's wrath. Yes, they are sinners. Maybe 
they're homosexuals, lesbians, or otherwise. Maybe they are 
immoral in some other way. Maybe they're some sort of perverts. 
Maybe they're into pornography. Maybe they're into some other 
things. Maybe they're drug users, and they're high on drugs. Maybe 
they're drunk on liquor. Maybe they're adulterers or adulteresses. They're immoral. We aren't immoral, are we? We're 
clean. We've been washed. We've been 
changed. But such were some of you, the 
Lord Jesus said. Such were some of you, the scriptures 
teach us. We were like that. I don't know 
what your testimonies are, but I can remember back in those 
days. We used to call it the BC days, the before Christ days. I can remember the immorality. 
If it weren't for the goodness of God to send someone to speak 
a word to me, put a tract in my hand, to be a testimony, an 
example, I wouldn't be here today. If it weren't for God's goodness 
to me, where would I be today? Where would you be? But for God's 
grace and kindness. But we get saved, and then our 
lives change. We get cleaned up. We look nice. We act nice. We have a different 
community of people. And then suddenly, there are 
people out there that are dirty. And sometimes, we want to just 
keep them out there, away from us. There are co-workers. There are next door neighbors. 
There are supervisors. They're out there. There are 
students. They're there all over the place. And we may have these attitudes 
against them because of what they do. Oh, I know how that 
person lives. I know what they do. I know their 
political views. Whatever it is, there's sometimes 
things that could keep us or keep them at a distance from 
us. And as I mentioned, Jonah was 
God's man. God uses instruments. He uses 
us. He uses people to proclaim His 
Word. He doesn't just send out, He 
doesn't like, you know, send out like a, some kind of a thing 
in the air. I saw one of these airplanes 
flying over with a big old sign. He doesn't send those up there. 
Well, some of them are out there doing that too. Maybe put John 
3.16 up there. He doesn't do that. He sends 
us. The Lord Jesus was the Word become flesh to dwell among us, 
to proclaim God to us. He declares God to us. We declare God to men. That's 
what we're here for. That's what we should be doing. 
Romans 10, 14 and 15 say, How then will they call on Him 
in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him 
of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without 
someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless 
they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful 
are the feet of those who preach the good news." These are people that are going 
out to proclaim Christ. We're not talking about evangelists 
and pastors, we're talking about believers proclaiming the truth 
wherever they go. When there was persecution, we 
read this in the book of Acts, after Stephen's death people 
just went scattered everywhere telling about Jesus, telling 
the gospel. What a privilege we have. What 
a wonderful privilege we have being Christians. being children 
of God, having the opportunity to say something that is meaningful, 
real meaningful. One of the young men was talking 
about how he loves languages, and I said to him, as long as 
you have something to say, right? If you could proclaim it in Swahili 
and you're preaching the gospel, that's wonderful. Well, if you're 
just talking about the news or sports, what is that? But we 
have something to say, brethren. I know someone was telling me 
once when We were talking about people who want to go into missions. 
Well, one of the things he said was, well, you've got to have 
something to say. You've got to have something. I mean, that 
sounds trite, but you do. Do you have something to say? 
Do you know Jesus? Do you know him? Is he your life? Do you have something to tell 
people? That's what you're here for. 
That's what your life's all about. Jesus said, you are the light 
of the world. Let your light so shine before 
men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father 
in heaven. You are the light of the world. 
Jonah was denying that reality. Jonah was the light of the world, 
and he was living as if he weren't. And even the sailors believed. 
Even the sailors, like a fallout of God's mercy. That's what we are called to 
do. That's what we are to be. How will these people hear? I 
wonder about that. I've got next-door neighbors. 
I'm just getting ready, just starting to get to meet them. 
And I'm thinking, I gotta meet them. I gotta know these people. 
How will they hear if they're lost? How will they hear? Maybe 
I'll find some Christians among them, and somehow we'll be able 
to talk about the things of God with others. Maybe we'll start 
a Bible study. Maybe something will happen. 
I don't know. But how will they hear, brethren, unless we are 
out there doing the talking and living And then there are some 
of those that are like untouchables to us. We don't want to talk 
to them. I met a young man whose brother 
was homosexual and he got married. Well, he got whatever you want 
to call it. But he refused to go to the wedding on principle. I thought that was a good decision. 
He wouldn't go to the wedding. But he wants to do whatever he 
can with his brother and this person. without compromising 
his faith, but in an effort to win. I don't know how you can 
do that. What a challenge that would be. This is your brother 
and this other person. Being with them would make me 
uncomfortable. And yet this is what this person 
wants to do. Brethren, that's kind of what 
we need to be doing. There's a lot of uncomfortable things 
out there. That's what we need to be doing. When the Lord Jesus 
was telling His disciples, when you invite people to a dinner, 
don't just invite your friends and your neighbors. They'll invite 
you, too. Invite those people that can invite you. Invite the 
unclean people. Invite these other people. Jesus 
ate with these people. You don't just eat a meal. That's 
all you do. You talk. You interact. Brethren, 
there are people out there you can do that with. You've got 
next door neighbors. You've got co-workers. You've 
got people you can get to know. Bring your neighbors a, I don't 
know, do you make banana nut bread around here? Bring them 
some banana nut bread. Bring them some kind of a meal. 
Find out if they're sick. Bring them some soup. That was 
great soup we had the other night. Bring them something. Do something 
to show them the compassion of God. You know, people hear of 
Christians protesting all the time. We're protesting this. 
We protest against that decision of the government. We protest 
against abortion. We protest against homosexuality. 
We protest everything. Why don't we reach those people? 
Why don't we find ways to go to those people? To somehow touch 
their lives. If you've ever been to a homeless 
shelter, you find all kinds of smelly, dirty people. They haven't 
taken a bath. They've been drinking maybe. 
There's alcohol on their breath. There's all sorts of things that 
are distasteful. But you can do that by the grace 
of God. We can do that. We can reach those other people. Because I believe this is the 
mission of God, to show compassion to the unworthies, to reach those 
who didn't deserve it. Can't you just wonder at God's 
plan and purpose when he said to Jonah, go to Nineveh, that 
great city, and preach the message I have for you to preach to them. 
What is God thinking? These are enemies. These are 
bad, bad, bad people. God is teaching us something 
with that. He's showing us that's just what 
I'm all about. Mercy and grace. That's what 
grace is. You don't deserve it. They don't 
deserve it. Reach out to those people. How 
important is our attitude? brethren, to other people, how 
it could hinder us, how it could make for opportunities, what 
our attitude really means. Well, let me just, you know, 
I have a whole lot of things on my mind this morning, but 
I want to give you some motives and maybe some things you can 
do to cultivate reaching undesirable people. And several motives can 
be brought forward to or right in Jonah. the sovereignty of 
God. We are called to be lights. We are called to be witnesses, 
go into all the world, make disciples of all the nations. We are commanded, 
brethren, we must obey, simply, obedience. That should be a motive. Mercy should be a motive. God 
says to Jonah in chapter 4, verses 10 and 11, you had mercy on this 
plant. And I'm not going to go into 
this plant thing, but it But to say it was a temporal thing, 
it was not a living soul. But Jonah was so moved with anger 
because this temporal vine was destroyed by a worm overnight. But sometimes we get unbalanced. Sometimes we're so concerned 
about the whales that get stuck in the ice, and we don't get 
concerned about the souls that are perishing. There's an imbalance 
here. There's the environment. Yes, 
we need to care for environment. Yes, we need to be stewards of 
the world God has given us. We need to be that. But we also 
have priorities. We have concerns that are all 
much more important than those. And that's what God is saying. 
Shouldn't I have compassion upon these hundreds of thousands of 
souls? And he wasn't even talking about 
the really bad ones. He was talking about the babies. 
All the little babies, they haven't learned all this bad stuff yet. 
There may be future terrorists, but they're not there yet. Well, 
maybe they are. They're not there yet. Why shouldn't 
I be compassionate? toward those people. Brethren, 
every Muslim's not strapped with bombs. They're not all out there 
killing people. They're living lives like you 
are, day in and day out. They're going to work. They're 
living their lives. They've been indoctrinated with false teaching 
and they believe that stuff, but they're just living their 
lives. They're on farms and they're in workshops. They're people. They need to hear. They need 
to hear Christ. Mercy. The gospel of grace. That ought to be compelling enough. 
There's no one good. Not one, we're told. Which of 
you is good? Which of you can make yourselves 
good? None of you. None of us. The Lord Jesus Christ came to 
reconcile lost sinners to God. He came to bring us to God. He came to call us to believe 
and repent. Repent. You know, if you're homosexual, 
you're called to repent, and believe, and be saved. We're 
all called to repent. Maybe there's 99 of them out 
there that don't think they need repentance, but there may be 
one, and God rejoices over one sinner who repents. The pattern 
of Christ's behavior and teaching, I don't need to say any more 
about that. I've mentioned it already. The Lord Jesus is a 
pattern for reaching the lost. Think about the Good Samaritan 
and all the stories our Savior told. The pattern of the Apostle 
Paul. What did Paul do? He said, I 
do all things. I become all things for all men 
that by all means I might save some. You know what kind of a 
man Paul was? He was a Pharisee. He was a Pharisee, 
a religious man. Do you think he didn't have some 
issues with unclean things? Don't you think there are some 
of the things that he saw people doing would have turned his stomach? Don't you think he felt uncomfortable 
as a Pharisee? And yet he was willing to put 
some of that stuff aside to reach people. That's what we have to 
find a way to do. And just think about their need. 
How are they going to hear unless you tell them? I'm not saying 
that their salvation depends on you, but how will they hear 
unless you tell them? You know people that don't know 
Jesus. You've got to tell them. And God's providence, he puts 
you in the lives of other people. Sometimes that's very uncomfortable. 
Why, Lord, did you introduce me to this person? Why me? Couldn't somebody else be the 
one? But I'm the one. I don't like this person. I don't 
enjoy being around them. They cuss all the time. They 
do this and they do that. Why do I have to be the one? 
Well, that's what God plans. He puts you into close proximity 
with all kinds of different people. And that's what it's for. That 
you might be a light to those people. We need to see ourselves 
on mission, all of us. We're all on mission to win people 
around us. I'm not saying everybody is a 
pastor, everybody's an evangelist, but every one of us is commanded 
to be on mission for God in this world. That's the reason why 
you're here. Well, some things you can do. I've already mentioned 
some of them. First of all, you need to think about what the 
Lord Jesus has done to you. We always need to remind ourselves, 
don't we? We forget so easily where we 
came from and what Jesus has done for us. We need to remind 
ourselves over and over and over where we have been and what Jesus 
has done. Remember that. and remember and 
be humbled by the forgiveness that you have received, the weight 
of debt, indebtedness that was on your shoulder that Jesus lifted 
and took away. Brethren, there are a lot of 
people who don't know anything about that. There are Muslims, they 
know nothing about forgiveness of sin, nothing about being free, 
set free. But you have been, and you have 
something you can say. Brethren, you should educate 
yourselves. I didn't ask this question, but I often do ask 
it. Since 9-11, since 2001, how many of you have taken the time 
to find out and read any books about Islam? How many of you 
actually have come to learn some things about Islam since that 
time? You've got 10-11 years now. And even since then, we've 
had all sorts of reasons why we should be finding out about 
Islam and how to reach them. Sometimes I think about, and 
I don't know how you all feel about Lord of the Rings, but 
I think that the Church, in America particularly, in the United States, 
is often like the hobbits in the shire. It's all happening 
out there, brethren. There's all this stuff going 
on out there, and many of us are oblivious to it. We don't 
know. All we do is hear it on the news, 
and we have opinions, but we don't know how to reach people. Do you know how to talk to a 
Muslim? Do you know how to talk to a 
homosexual? Have you tried to find ways to 
do that? Or is it your fear or your animosity 
toward them keeping you away? Educate yourselves. Read books. Study the scriptures. Follow 
the news. Get involved. Subscribe to some 
newsletters or prayer letters. Learn about what's going on in 
other places. Get involved with things. Participate. 
This is, I think, I heard that even around here there's like 
an Islamic center. There may be some sort of a an 
opportunity where people can actually get to meet with Muslims 
just to understand each other. Maybe there'll be even opportunities 
to have discussion groups. I know that there were some people 
that I know of down in Virginia who actually they would put out 
a topic and they'd have They'd be able to come and talk about 
it. The person who talked about it could talk until they were 
done without anybody interrupting them, and then they would have 
discussions afterward on any given topic. Who knows? You may have opportunities like 
that, where you could actually bring up things and talk to people. 
You know, I found in Turkey, one of the best things was just 
to be curious. Why do people do that? You believe that Mohammed 
said this or did this? Or why do you think this? Or 
you heard something about Jesus. Why do you believe this about 
Jesus? Where did you hear that? Ask people why they do what they 
do. So how do you go to heaven then? 
How is a person in Islam saved? What do you do about sin? I mean, 
ask people questions and find out where they're coming from. 
I asked these guys once about heaven. I said, Tell me, what's 
in heaven? What do you think is in heaven? 
And they said, well, holy people and beautiful women and food. And I said, oh, they said prophets. I said, so what about God? Oh 
no, no. You know why they said no? Because 
Allah is so separate. He's not there. I said if he's 
not there, why would I go there? What is there in heaven that 
is so attractive if God's not part of it? You ask questions 
and you find out where people are coming from and you deal 
with them. Participate. Get involved. Find out about 
outreach opportunities. Maybe get involved in a mission 
opportunity. Maybe you can go to some other 
country. I have always invited people to come to Turkey and 
visit. Too bad. I came back to America. I don't 
have a place for you to stay now. But if I were there, I would 
have you in my home. I'd bring you to my neighbors 
and other people. I'd bring you to villages. Wherever 
you want to go, I'd show you. I'd show you the seven churches. 
I'd show you Ephesus. I'd bring you all over. Because 
I know once you meet people, once you're touching people, 
you're going to get hooked. You'll get hooked. And I hope 
you get hooked here. I hope that something happens 
to you that you'll meet people right in your own neighborhood. 
We've met some Turks since we've been back to America. We just 
had dinner with a Turkish family not two weeks ago down in Nashville. And here we are. We have these 
different little opportunities. They're here, brethren. You've 
heard this before. The nations are here. The nations 
are here. You know they are because you 
know where they are out here. There are people God has brought 
into your lives. We need to pray that God would 
help us not to allow attitude to hinder the free flow of the 
gospel, to hinder us from talking, to hinder us from living for 
Christ in the world we're in. We could be more passionate, 
more bold. We could be more alive for Christ 
to these people. They could hear. We need to be 
the ones that they hear from. We need to find ways. and pray 
that God would bless our efforts. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I confess that I am so weak in 
being able to even communicate what ought to be communicated 
about you, the greatness of your heart, the greatness of your 
compassion and mercy. Father, you created everything, 
and you specifically created all of humanity that it would 
be a reflection of you, image bearers of God. And you ought to be honored and 
exalted. As we sang in the hymn, let the 
peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you. Then 
shall the earth yielder increase. Our God, God, our own God will 
bless us. Father, we ask for your blessing. 
Would you bless this church? Would you bless these brethren 
here in Chilliwack? Would you bless their lives, 
their witnesses, their their testimonies? Would you bless 
each one here? Would you use them please in 
this place? Would you make them lights? Would 
you make them witnesses for you here? Would you deliver each 
one of us from the attitudes that we have, the feelings we 
have against or about others? Would you forgive us for wrong 
attitudes? And would you help us to to pursue 
the lost, to find ways to pursue them, to reach out to them, that 
they might believe and might be saved. Father, you are worthy 
that there would be a multitude from every tribe and tongue and 
people and nation and even every various unnamed group that you 
might be glorified. You are worthy. We praise you 
this morning. Thank you for meeting with us. 
Thank you for bringing us together. May your word be kept upon our 
minds and upon our hearts. In Jesus name.