Jonah's "great commission."

 

            Yesterday, I preached on Jonah's "great commission." Here is one man given a commission by God to evangelize the city of Nineveh. One man given the task to evangelize over 190 square miles. Most of us know the story well. Jonah didn't want to do it; he tried to run away from the responsibility; and he didn't even like the people to whom he was to preach. However, God convinced him, rather dramatically, that he was going to do it anyway.  So, with "whale-driven determination," Jonah goes to the plush city of an estimated 60,000 people, and begins preaching, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be over-thrown!"

            What if God had given "us" this commission? That is, what if God had told the modern church to evangelize such an area? How would we react?  Well, we would probably have to form committees and consider our approach;  we would have to section-off the city into various districts; we would have to obtain hundreds of ministers (pulpit ministers, youth ministers, family counseling ministers, music ministers, etc.).  We would then have to construct hundreds of buildings in order to have places for the people to come and hear the preaching. Next, we would have to wait till we had enough money to finance the mission. 

            What I am saying is this: Sometimes the machinery that we think we need to carry out our responsibilities to the "Great Commission" of Christ (Matt. 28:19-20), or even evangelize our own area, become so bogged down with technical preparation, the work never gets done.  However, in this event, God uses one ordinary man to preach a simple, monotonous, negative sermon, that resulted in the salvation of the entire city.

            God no longer raises up individual prophets like Jonah - - He doesn't have to, because He has raised up an individual "BODY" to prophesy to the world - - His church.

            One of the most encouraging points to me is considering "why" God sent Nineveh a preacher in the first place.  They were a heathen nation steep in sin, yet He sent them a preacher with a message. The answer lies in Ezekiel 33:11, "I take no delight in the death of the wicked."  I'm wondering why God would ever destroy the wicked if He takes no pleasure in doing so. After all, He is God. He shouldn't have to do anything He doesn't delight in. However, the answer lies within the question:  "Because He is God."  Because God is "Light" (John 8:12), it's impossible for Him to fellowship darkness (1John 1:5). Light always dispenses darkness. If  we retain "darkness" in our life, we are not in fellowship with God. That's why we have to have our "darkness" (sins), washed away in the blood of Christ by repentance, baptism, and obedience of faith before we can be in God's Family. This is also why Hell is referred to as a "place of outer darkness" (Matt. 25:30) - - because God is not in Hell.

            God spared Nineveh this time because they repented. About 160 years later, they fell back into sin, refused to repent, and God destroyed them.

            The very fact that the world remains today is proof that God desires our salvation. And though He cannot fellowship sin, we can have our sins washed away by the blood of Christ. There's only one way to be saved and that's by obedience to the Gospel (Romans 1:16).  But, like always, from the Garden of Eden to the present day, God gives us the choice.   Stay Hungry (Matt. 5:6) - - Toby Miller