August 3, 2025 • 36 mins
Jonah's anger over God showing mercy to Nineveh reveals a profound disconnect between his theological knowledge and his heart's response to God's character.
• Jonah becomes furious when God spares Nineveh after their repentance
• Despite correctly understanding God's character as merciful and gracious, Jonah refuses to embrace God's compassion for others
• Head knowledge without heart transformation makes us "noisy gongs or clanging cymbals" (1 Corinthians 13)
• God provides an object lesson through a plant, worm, and scorching wind to expose Jonah's hypocrisy
• Loving God authentically means loving what God loves—including people we might consider unworthy
• We are all "Ninevites" who have received God's mercy despite our sin
• The history of missions shows countless believers who loved the lost enough to sacrifice everything
• Every believer is called to share the gospel with those in their sphere of influence
• We must ask ourselves: "Who will know Jesus because of my witness?"
If you've been touched by God's grace, don't keep it to yourself. Let your experience of God's mercy overflow into sharing the good news with those around you, both near and far.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:23):
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now
in listening to our sermon fromthis week?
Amen, you can open with me toJonah chapter four.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Jonah, chapter four is today.
We end our series in Jonah aswe look at the final chapter,
chapter 4,.
And would you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, we thank you foryour word, thank you for what
you've taught us already throughthis book, what you've taught
us about obedience, what you'vetaught us about worship, what
(01:02):
you've taught us about reachingout even to those that we might
wonder if they could ever cometo know Christ, because the
reality is outside of you.
We were the very ones thatsomeone might have wondered
could we ever really know Jesus?
And yet, in your grace, youhave come to us.
(01:23):
And so, lord, teach us todaymore and more what it means to
reach out to others with thegospel.
Speak through me by your spirit.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
Every four seconds in the UnitedStates, someone's identity is
stolen and you have probablygotten the phone call, a phone
(01:44):
call from Visa or AmericanExpress, and they've asked you,
as you've sat in your home herein El Dorado, if you happen to
be in Los Angeles and you'vejust spent $2,000 on Amazon gift
cards and you've had to tellthem that was very much not me.
Every four seconds, someone'sidentity is stolen.
I remember I mentioned lastweek, our trip to Israel back in
(02:06):
2016, and we were at dinner inJerusalem and I got word I don't
know if it was an email or callor what it was that our
identity had been stolen andsomeone was trying to or
successfully not trying, theysuccessfully got into our
account.
And you imagine being that farahead and trying to do all these
(02:28):
calls in a foreign country.
And I will say I was apart-time ministry intern at the
time, so joke was on thatindividual.
They did not make it very far.
They picked the wrong guy.
They picked the wrong guy.
(02:55):
Jonah.
Chapter 4, and really Jonah ingeneral is really a case of
stolen or maybe we could justsay intentionally misplaced
identity.
Jonah has an identity, a titlea prophet of God and yet all
throughout the book of Jonah,and certainly in chapter four,
what we see is that identitythat he's supposed to be the
prophet of God.
His real life looks nothinglike that Identity theft and
(03:16):
really an intentional runningaway from his own identity.
And we see it very clear at thebeginning in verse one of
chapter 4.
I'll bring us right up to thismoment, because last week what
we saw through 310 is that thepeople of Nineveh, those evil
people get the word from Jonahthat destruction is coming in 40
(03:38):
days.
And what do they do?
They put themselves before themercy of God, they repent of
their sins and sackcloth andashes from the king all the way
to the lowest.
Even the animals are repentingand they turn from their evil
ways.
And in verse 10, what we see isthat God saw what they did and
God turned from this destruction.
(04:00):
God did not bring destructionupon him.
And now my question is chapter4, verse 1, how should that
verse go?
How should it be read?
What does the prophet of God doin response?
Because maybe we've read enoughof scripture to know how this
should go.
There should be a celebration.
(04:21):
I think of Luke, chapter 15, apassage.
I bring up.
Every other sermon really, butthere's three stories in Luke,
chapter 15.
Number one there's a lost sheep.
A shepherd has 99 sheep, but heloses one and he runs after the
one and when he finds the one,he comes home and he throws a
party, invites all the neighbors, and the text even says in the
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same way there is celebrationamong the angels in heaven,
among one sinner who repents,who comes home.
The very next story there's alady that has 10 coins.
She loses one.
She turns the house upside down, she finds it, and when she
does, she brings the neighborsin, throws a party.
And it says in the same way theangels rejoice in one sinner
(05:04):
who repents.
In the third story we see aprodigal son says in the same
way the angels rejoice in onesinner who repents.
In the third story we see aprodigal son that runs far from
home.
When he repents and comes backhome, what does the father do?
He gets the robe, he gets thering, the shoes, he gets the
fattened calf.
And they throw a party.
Why?
Because the one who was lost isnow found.
There's reason to celebrate.
(05:24):
And so, with the model ofscripture before me, my thought
is that the whole trajectory ofchapter four should simply be
this.
It should be the story of Jonahcalling in all his Ninevite
neighbors now and them throwinga big party that he gets on
Amazon or goes to party city andthere is a celebration that is
(05:47):
now about to happen.
But as we read chapter four, werealize that's not what happens.
In verse one we see this, butit displeased Jonah exceedingly
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and he was angry, jonah's mad,about what has happened.
This people of Nineveh.
What the text says 120,000people have repented, have, in
the mercy of God, avoideddestruction.
And Jonah is furious Not justfurious at the people of Nineveh
(06:31):
that they could do somethinglike this how could you repent
at the final moment but furiousat God for allowing it to happen
.
How could you do this?
We read that in verse two, andhe prayed to the Lord and said
oh Lord, is this not what I saidwhen I was yet in my country?
That is why I made haste toflee to Tarshish, for I knew
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that you were a gracious God andmerciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love andrelenting from disaster.
Basically, in Jonah, chapterfour, verse two, jonah looks up
at God and just says this God, Itold you so I told you way back
in Joppa that this is exactlywhat was going to happen.
(07:17):
That, god, I know enough aboutyou to know this that you just
can't help yourself.
God, you can't help, butshowing grace and mercy when
people cry out for your graceand mercy, you won't seem to
follow through with yourdestruction when there are
(07:38):
people crying out for mercy.
God, I knew this would happen.
Mercy, god, I knew this wouldhappen.
What's interesting about Jonah'sresponse here and his anger is
that his theology it's not bad.
In fact, what he says in versetwo about the character of God
is exactly right.
(07:59):
It's interesting how histheology is so spot on but his
heart and motivation are so farfrom the things of God.
It's interesting that what weknow in our head can sometimes
struggle to get to the heart.
Because again, jonah is notwrong here.
(08:20):
In Exodus, chapter 34, we see amoment when God speaks to Moses
about who God is.
So this is God writing his owntestimony of his character and
it says the Lord, the Lord, aGod merciful and gracious, slow
to anger, abounding in steadfastlove and faithfulness.
This is God explaining who Godis and faithfulness, this is God
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explaining who God is.
That I am merciful, that I amslow to anger, that I abound in
steadfast love.
Jonah's theology is right aboutwho God is, but again, his
theology about who God is hasentered the head but it has not
moved to the heart.
His theology has not led him tolove the one who God loves, to
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care for the one whom God caresfor.
It reminds me so much of 1Corinthians 13.
Maybe you've been at a wedding,and rightfully so.
You've heard those beautifulwords from 1 Corinthians 13, the
passage about love.
Again, we hear it about atmarriages, but really it's not a
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passage strictly about marriagethough certainly is but it's
just about Christian love ingeneral.
And it says this in these firstthree verses if I speak in the
tongues of men and of angels buthave not love, I am a noisy
gong or clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powersand understand all mysteries and
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knowledge and if I have allfaith as to remove mountains but
I don't have love, I'm nothing.
If I give away all I have andif I deliver up my body to be
burned but have not love, I gainnothing.
It's interesting Paul understoodin 1 Corinthians what Jonah
(10:10):
missed that theology that juststays in the head and doesn't
move to the heart and to thehands, knowledge about God that
does not lead us to imitate God,pursue the holiness of God.
It really doesn't mean a lotthat we may have the right
(10:33):
answers, that on a certain testwe could fill in the right
blanks and maybe get a decentscore, but in the test of life,
as far as how we love oneanother and those around us,
it's clear that God reallyhasn't affected the heart and
the hands.
It's so interesting that Jonahknows the character of God and
(10:54):
through knowing the character ofGod, that makes him furious.
It makes him furious that Godwould act in the very way that
God has always said that hewould act.
And really, jonah wants God tooperate on his terms, on Jonah's
terms.
And that leads me to the firstpoint in just a second.
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And before I put it out there,if you've ever wondered why
First Baptist Church made me thesenior pastor and put my name
over the door, it's because youcan get points like this.
Let's put it on the screen.
Loving God means loving God.
I know we're going deep today.
Loving God means loving God.
(11:37):
You say, taylor, how long didit take you to get to that?
But it really is deeper thanwhat it looks like.
Loving God means loving God asGod says that God is.
Loving God means loving theaccurate picture of God, the
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true God, not the God that I'vemade in my image, not the God
that I've made so that he willoperate on my terms and he will
surely always keep mecomfortable and keep me right
where I want to be, not the Godthat I get from the outside
world, but the God, as scriptureproclaims that God is.
(12:25):
Loving God means loving andserving accurately the true
picture of who God is as he hasrevealed himself.
And that was the problem withJonah.
He wanted to love the God thatJonah had made in his image, the
God that will operate exactlylike Jonah wants him to operate.
(12:45):
The God that when people likeNineveh commit to years of evil
and sin, that God will then come, no matter what repentance they
might try to do at the lastminute.
That God will then come andwipe them out.
That's the God Jonah.
That's not accurate.
(13:08):
Loving and serving God meansthat we love God on God's terms,
that we come to grips with whohe is.
Cs Lewis says that God is thegreat iconoclast, one who
smashes our icons, smashes ouridols.
So, continually, god has tocome and tear down our own
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pictures of who we've designed,of God as we've made him in our
own image, and he's got toreplace the inaccurate picture
with the accurate picture of whoGod is.
In his word, god gets to definewho God is.
God gets to have mercy on whomhe will have mercy.
God gets to have the final say.
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Jonah didn't like that God andbecause of that Jonah's going to
get an object lesson from God.
And really, verse three through11 is all about this lesson
that God's going to teach Jonah.
Verse three, therefore.
Now, o Lord, please take mylife from me, for it is better
for me to die than to live.
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This begins the pity party fromJonah on a hillside.
God, if this is who you are, ifthis is how you operate, if I'm
going to come all the way to aplace like this and not at least
get the firework show at theend of the day, god, just take
me now.
Verse four.
And the Lord said do you dowell to be angry?
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Jonah went out of the cityverse five and set to the east
of the city and made a booth forhimself there, and he set in
the shade till he should seewhat would become of the city.
He goes up to the hillside, helooks back at the town of
Nineveh and says maybe again,god will change his course of
action.
Maybe, just maybe, it's mylucky day and God has heard my
(15:01):
cries and my argument and myplea and he'll actually realize.
Jonah, you know what, eventhough I'm the sovereign God of
the universe, you bring up somegreat ideas and I will destroy
the city of Nineveh.
Maybe that could happen.
Jonah says.
But God's got a lesson to teachhim.
Verse six now the Lord, god,appointed a plant.
(15:21):
We've seen throughout the bookalready, and we'll see more that
God can appoint and useanything he wants.
He appointed a fish to be rightat the perfect location for
Jonah.
He appointed that same fish tospit Jonah out onto dry land.
Now, verse six God appointed aplant and made it come up over
Jonah that it might be a shadeover his head to save him from
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his discomfort.
So Jonah was exceedingly gladbecause of the plant.
So not only is Jonah on thehillside now, but, in God's
grace and mercy, god has thisplant grow up that provides
shade for Jonah.
So now Jonah has this hillsideseat and he gets to be in the
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shade.
Verse 7, but when dawn came upthe next day, god appointed a
worm.
There he is again appointingthings, appointed a worm that
attacked the plant so that itwithered Again.
Let's keep track here.
God gave a plant for shade.
God sent the worm.
It attacked the plant.
It's now gone, it's withered.
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Verse 8, then, when the sun rose, here's God appointing.
God appointed a scorching eastwind.
Earlier in the book.
He appointed the waves torattle the boat and now he
appoints the east wind.
He's even sovereign over theweather.
And the sun beat down on thehead of Jonah so that he was
faint and he asked that he mightdie and said it is better for
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me to die than to live.
But God said to Jonah do you dowell to be angry for the plant?
And he said yes, I do well tobe angry, angry enough to die.
God gave a plant for shade.
God took the plant away.
The sun shone on Jonah.
(17:10):
He grows faint and he says Godthat's enough, just send me on
my way, just be done with all ofthis.
And here comes the lesson, verse10,.
And the Lord said you pity theplant, for which you did not
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labor, nor did you make it grow,which came into being in a
night and perished in a night,and should not.
I pity Nineveh, that great cityin which there are more than
120,000 persons who do not knowtheir right hand from their left
, and also much cattle.
(17:54):
If you're catching the lesson,it's really this Jonah, you love
that plant.
When it offered you shade, whenI grew it up from the ground
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and it provided that shade foryou.
You celebrated, you loved thatplant so much.
But here's what's interesting,jonah you had nothing to do with
the creation of that plant.
You had no way to make thatgrow, no part of you had
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anything to do with that plantbeing there.
And yet when that plant wasgone, you were sad, you were
upset, you were even angry at me.
And then the Lord says this.
And then the Lord says this canI not be sorrowful over 120,000
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people that I created, that Iactually invested into that I
and compassion, even in theirevil state?
Am I not allowed to love mycreation?
(19:23):
If you can love something somuch you didn't create, can I
love something that I created?
Can I show mercy on theseindividuals that don't know
their right hand from their left?
Am I not allowed to be God andoperate in the gracious mercy
that I have forever operatedwithin Jonah?
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Am I allowed to do this?
And that leads me to my secondpoint, which is really just this
Loving God means loving whatGod loves.
Loving God means loving whatGod loves.
Serving God means serving theone whom God loves.
It's interesting that after thatverse, once the Lord lays out
this lesson, after verse 11, thebook ends.
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It's somewhat a cliffhanger,because we have no idea what
Jonah does next.
I hope and pray that hecompletely gets the message and
he completely repents and saysLord, I have been off this whole
time.
I understand it now.
Praise God, nineveh is saved.
It could be, though, that Jonahtakes his pity party to the
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next level and never really getsover his anger.
We don't know how it ends, butwe have this cliffhanger, and I
just wonder if the author givesus this cliffhanger to put the
ball in our court so we can saythis what do we now do with this
text?
What do we do with the story ofJonah?
Not?
What is Jonah's next move?
What is our next move?
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Can we love the things that Godloves?
Can we love the ones whom Godloves?
And I'll ask this question whatis it, or should I say who is it
, that God loves?
Well, it's certainly all people.
And now let this blow our minds.
Let this blow our minds whodoes God love?
Sinners, the broken, the sinful, the Ninevites, the outsiders,
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the one who are running away insin?
I just want to ask each one ofus do we have love for sinners?
Do we have love for people thatnot only don't know Jesus but
don't want to know Jesus, go outof their way to not know Jesus.
Maybe even go out of their wayto let you know just how much
they do not know Jesus.
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Do we have love for thosepeople?
Do we have love for those whoare on the outside, who are
living a life so different fromwhat the word of God calls each
person to live, because theydon't know the authority of the
word of God and they don't knowthe Savior whom the word of God
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speaks to?
It's so fascinating to me when Ilook around the world, whom the
word of God speaks to.
It's so fascinating to me whenI look around the world and
every day, if you look at thenews, if you look at the local
news, if you look at thenational news, the world news,
what you're going to see.
So often you're going to seesome good stories along the way
that make you happy.
But oftentimes, when you watchthe news, guess what you're
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going to see.
You're going to see sinfulpeople.
Oftentimes, when you watch thenews, guess what you're going to
see.
You're going to see sinfulpeople.
You're going to see some sinfulpeople that have done some
sinful things.
You don't have to look at thenews, when you just look around
town, when you just look let'sbe honest in the mirror as well
I'm not picking on anybody elsebut when you just look at the
world, sinners often act likesinners.
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I don't think that surprises ustoday, and sometimes I just it
hurts, and certainly hurts allthe time, really to see when
sinners act like sinners and areso far from the things of God.
But I got to tell you whatscares me, what keeps me up at
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night, is not simply thatthere's sinners out there acting
like sinners Lord, would it bethat we can go spread your
gospel?
But what really scares me isthat there are believers not
acting like believers.
That there are believers inthis lost and broken world who
every day live around lost andbroken people, and those lost
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and broken people don't get wordfrom that believer that there
is a Savior.
They don't hear the gospel.
That every one of us, if we'rehonest every one of us, if we're
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honest sometimes we go aroundtown and the gospel of Christ is
not on the tip of our tonguethat sometimes we interact with
lost people I'm not picking onyou, I'm telling my story too.
Sometimes we are around lostpeople and in our mind we think
they don't want anything to dowith this.
I know them and if I brought upJesus, at best I'd just get
made fun of.
At worst they'd say done withthis guy.
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Or certainly, hey, listen, theyneed a lot more than little old
me telling them you know alittle Bible story.
They need more than that.
No, no, what they need issomeone in their lives who has
been radically transformed bythe grace of Christ, that can
just tell them there issomething about this Jesus that
changed my life and I justbelieve he can change yours too.
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When Jonah looked across at thecity of Nineveh, all he saw were
evil people that he would saythey're a lost cause and they've
got no hope.
When God looked at the city ofNineveh, he saw creation that
was just waiting to hear thatthere is hope, that there is a
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God who saves.
And who is it in your life, inyour sphere of influence?
And who is it in your life, inyour sphere of influence?
Who is it?
Students, as you I'm sorry tobring it up start school in a
week and a half.
Who is it in your classroomthis year?
Who is it as you're about tostart the fourth grade that's
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going to be sitting at the deskbeside you and on day one of
school does not know Jesus.
But on the last day of schoolthey know Jesus.
Who is it on your football teamthat's going to know a little
bit more about Jesus?
Who is your coworker that youmeet at the water cooler?
And usually you're talkingabout the football games from
the week before, and thatdoesn't have to stop.
But with that you're also goingto talk about the gospel.
Who is it around town at thecoffee shop?
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Who gives you your coffee?
Who's behind the counter?
Who is it that needs the hopeof the gospel?
Let me tell you you don't haveto wait on someone else to tell
them about Jesus.
You're the one.
Nineveh is out there and ifyou've ever wanted to be
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encouraged this morning, let mejust tell you you can do a
better job than a guy inscripture who's literally a
prophet of God.
A prophet of God, and you cango out and I bet you can beat
him at his own game, because youcan tell the gospel of Jesus
and you can actually celebratewhen people hear the gospel and,
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lord willing, respond to thegospel.
I love the history of missionsfor Christians, really, since
the Lord, jesus Christ, gave thecommission after his
resurrection in Matthew 28,.
He said go make disciples ofall nations, and there from
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there the history of missionswent forward.
I was reading this week aboutJohn G Patton.
He was a missionary in theearly to mid 1800s in the New
Hebrides Islands, today calledthe Vanuatu Islands, and I
smiled at Katie because I spentall weekend working on
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pronouncing both of those terms.
He was a missionary to the NewHebrides Islands in the South
Pacific in the 1800s, sent outfrom London, and in his
autobiography he's kind of givenan account of the history of
missions to the New HebridesIslands up to this point and he
has a fascinating story.
These are his words giving thehistory of missions to this
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island.
He says this.
A glance backwards of the storyof the gospel in the New
Hebrides may help to bring myreaders into touch with the
events that are to follow.
The ever-famous names ofWilliams and Harris are
associated with the earliestefforts to introduce
Christianity amongst this groupof islands in the South Pacific
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seas.
John Williams and his youngmissionary companion Harris,
under the sending of the LondonMissionary Society, landed on
Irremanga on the 30th ofNovember 1839.
Alas, within a few minutes oftheir touching land, both were
clubbed to death, and I won'tread the next sentence about
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what happened with them evenafter being clubbed to death.
Thus were the new Hebridesbaptized with the blood of the
martyrs, and Christ thereby toldthe whole Christian world that
he claimed these islands as hisown.
His cross must yet be lifted upwhere the blood of his saints
has been poured forth in hisname.
The poor heathen knew not thatthey had slain their best
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friends, but tears and prayersascended for them from all
Christian souls wherever thestory of the martyrdom on
Irmanga was read or heard.
Those were the first twomissionaries to the New Hebrides
Islands, and I might think whathappens next If you're the
London Missionary Society andyou've sent two missionaries
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down to the South Pacific andbefore they could get a word out
, they were martyred for theirfaith.
What happens next?
I might think about this.
I might say what happens next?
Nothing happens next, we're notsending the next crew.
I think in 2025, those littleislands in the South Pacific
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would be a remote group ofislands that we could probably
just forget about Much more in1839, if we just don't talk
about them.
They're not even there.
What does the London MissionarySociety do?
They send the next twomissionaries Again.
Therefore, in 1842, the LondonMissionary Society sent out
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Turner and Nesbitt to pierce thekingdom of Satan.
They placed their standard onour chosen island of Tanah, the
nearest to Irmanga.
In less than seven months,however, their persecution by
the savages became so dreadfulthat we see them in a boat
trying to escape by night withtheir lives.
Two more missionaries are sentdown.
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They get a little further, butpersecution leads them to have
to escape by night.
But here's what's interestingthey're alive.
That looks like progress to me.
So what does the LondonMissionary Society do?
They send the next twomissionaries down to the New
Hebrides Islands, for the sakeof the gospel and what we see by
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these two men, getty and Inglis.
They go down and they saw about3,500 savages it says their
words throwing away their idols,renouncing their heathen
customs and avowing themselvesto be worshipers of the true
Jehovah God.
And those two missionaries,along with the people of the New
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Hebrides themselves, they saveup all of their money.
They all put their moneytogether so that they can pay
for a new translation of theword of God in their original
language.
So now the people of the NewHebrides have a copy of God's
word that they celebrate.
That now penetrates thedarkness in the New Hebrides,
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and what is the history ofmissions in that place?
It's a history of people sayingI will go to the darkest of
places, I will go to where thegospel has not been preached.
I think of Paul as we return toRomans next week.
Why does he write the book ofRomans In one part?
Because he wants the church atRome to be a home base, a
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sending place that the gospelcould go even further, even into
Spain, and that would be thechurch at Rome, the sending
agency.
Because what does Paul say?
I want to preach the gospelwhere it has not yet been
proclaimed.
I think of John Patton.
I think of the Moravian brethren.
I think when they would go outon mission, they would pack all
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of their luggage in coffins andthey would go to this place
because they knew this I need myluggage and I need my coffin
because I'm not going home.
And the motto of the MoravianBrethren was this get a load of
this.
This was their motto.
Preach the gospel, die beforgotten.
That was their motto.
Preach the gospel, die beforgotten.
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I think of David Brinard, whowas a missionary even in the
1700s to the Native Americanshere, before we were even a
country.
I think of Lottie Moon, a youngwoman leaving everything behind
to go to China and seeingpeople come to the gospel.
I think of one who is in thisroom right now, maybe a child
(32:47):
among us, that one day will dropeverything and will go to the
nations and will make much ofJesus on the other side of the
globe.
I even think of themissionaries in this room who
tomorrow morning are going to goto their workplace, next week
to their schools, that are goingto go to their homes and they
are going to make much of Jesus.
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Do you love the things that Godloves?
Do you love the people that Godloves?
Do you know the gospel that Godhas given?
Here's the gospel that you are,in the truest sense, a Ninevite
, in the truest sense, aNinevite.
That you are, in the truestsense, lost and dead in sin, and
(33:36):
yet Christ came to you Throughthe cross, the resurrection, our
gospel.
There is forgiveness of sinsand there is life.
If you know that gospel, don'tbe like Jonah, who loves mercy
for himself but no one else.
Be someone that understands sodeeply what Christ has saved you
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from that.
Now you can't help but tell thegreatest news to the world, to
those who are close by, maybenext door, and those on the
other side of the globe Do youlove the ones whom God loves?
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I'm going to pray for us andafter that I'm going to invite
you, if you desire, to come downand respond.
If that means you want to jointhis church or talk about
baptism, or even talk aboutcoming to know Jesus for the
first time, I'd love to do that.
As always, our altar is open.
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If you just need to come andpray, if you want to come to me
and I can pray with you.
However you want to respond,now is your opportunity.
Let me pray and then we'llworship together.
Lord Jesus, thank you so muchfor the gospel.
You have saved us from sin andso, lord, let that lead us to
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share the good news with others.
Lord, how awful it would be ifI sat here keeping your love all
to myself, your grace all tomyself, loving the fact that
you've saved me, but not lovingothers enough to share the
(35:28):
gospel with them.
Lord, may it not be.
Let your love in my lifeoverflow, lord, in each one of
our lives overflow in such a waythat out of that overflow, lord
, your gospel goes forth tothose who are very close and
those who are very far.
Lord, I pray that it would be,lord, if there's any in the room
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this morning that just need torespond in any way, whatever
that may be.
They may be in the room andthey don't know how to respond,
but they know your spirit'sstirring in some type of way,
lord.
Maybe they just need to cometalk to myself or someone.
Lord, would they do so even now?
I ask this in Christ's name,amen.
Would you stand as we worshiptogether and I'll be down front.
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado, will you join me now
in listening to our sermon fromthis week?
Amen, you can open with me toJonah chapter four.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Jonah, chapter four is today.
We end our series in Jonah aswe look at the final chapter,
chapter 4,.
And would you pray with me?
Lord Jesus, we thank you foryour word, thank you for what
you've taught us already throughthis book, what you've taught
us about obedience, what you'vetaught us about worship, what
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you've taught us about reachingout even to those that we might
wonder if they could ever cometo know Christ, because the
reality is outside of you.
We were the very ones thatsomeone might have wondered
could we ever really know Jesus?
And yet, in your grace, youhave come to us.
(01:23):
And so, lord, teach us todaymore and more what it means to
reach out to others with thegospel.
Speak through me by your spirit.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
Every four seconds in the UnitedStates, someone's identity is
stolen and you have probablygotten the phone call, a phone
(01:44):
call from Visa or AmericanExpress, and they've asked you,
as you've sat in your home herein El Dorado, if you happen to
be in Los Angeles and you'vejust spent $2,000 on Amazon gift
cards and you've had to tellthem that was very much not me.
Every four seconds, someone'sidentity is stolen.
I remember I mentioned lastweek, our trip to Israel back in
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2016, and we were at dinner inJerusalem and I got word I don't
know if it was an email or callor what it was that our
identity had been stolen andsomeone was trying to or
successfully not trying, theysuccessfully got into our
account.
And you imagine being that farahead and trying to do all these
(02:28):
calls in a foreign country.
And I will say I was apart-time ministry intern at the
time, so joke was on thatindividual.
They did not make it very far.
They picked the wrong guy.
They picked the wrong guy.
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Jonah.
Chapter 4, and really Jonah ingeneral is really a case of
stolen or maybe we could justsay intentionally misplaced
identity.
Jonah has an identity, a titlea prophet of God and yet all
throughout the book of Jonah,and certainly in chapter four,
what we see is that identitythat he's supposed to be the
prophet of God.
His real life looks nothinglike that Identity theft and
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really an intentional runningaway from his own identity.
And we see it very clear at thebeginning in verse one of
chapter 4.
I'll bring us right up to thismoment, because last week what
we saw through 310 is that thepeople of Nineveh, those evil
people get the word from Jonahthat destruction is coming in 40
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days.
And what do they do?
They put themselves before themercy of God, they repent of
their sins and sackcloth andashes from the king all the way
to the lowest.
Even the animals are repentingand they turn from their evil
ways.
And in verse 10, what we see isthat God saw what they did and
God turned from this destruction.
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God did not bring destructionupon him.
And now my question is chapter4, verse 1, how should that
verse go?
How should it be read?
What does the prophet of God doin response?
Because maybe we've read enoughof scripture to know how this
should go.
There should be a celebration.
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I think of Luke, chapter 15, apassage.
I bring up.
Every other sermon really, butthere's three stories in Luke,
chapter 15.
Number one there's a lost sheep.
A shepherd has 99 sheep, but heloses one and he runs after the
one and when he finds the one,he comes home and he throws a
party, invites all the neighbors, and the text even says in the
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same way there is celebrationamong the angels in heaven,
among one sinner who repents,who comes home.
The very next story there's alady that has 10 coins.
She loses one.
She turns the house upside down, she finds it, and when she
does, she brings the neighborsin, throws a party.
And it says in the same way theangels rejoice in one sinner
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who repents.
In the third story we see aprodigal son says in the same
way the angels rejoice in onesinner who repents.
In the third story we see aprodigal son that runs far from
home.
When he repents and comes backhome, what does the father do?
He gets the robe, he gets thering, the shoes, he gets the
fattened calf.
And they throw a party.
Why?
Because the one who was lost isnow found.
There's reason to celebrate.
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And so, with the model ofscripture before me, my thought
is that the whole trajectory ofchapter four should simply be
this.
It should be the story of Jonahcalling in all his Ninevite
neighbors now and them throwinga big party that he gets on
Amazon or goes to party city andthere is a celebration that is
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now about to happen.
But as we read chapter four, werealize that's not what happens.
In verse one we see this, butit displeased Jonah exceedingly
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and he was angry, jonah's mad,about what has happened.
This people of Nineveh.
What the text says 120,000people have repented, have, in
the mercy of God, avoideddestruction.
And Jonah is furious Not justfurious at the people of Nineveh
(06:31):
that they could do somethinglike this how could you repent
at the final moment but furiousat God for allowing it to happen
.
How could you do this?
We read that in verse two, andhe prayed to the Lord and said
oh Lord, is this not what I saidwhen I was yet in my country?
That is why I made haste toflee to Tarshish, for I knew
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that you were a gracious God andmerciful, slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love andrelenting from disaster.
Basically, in Jonah, chapterfour, verse two, jonah looks up
at God and just says this God, Itold you so I told you way back
in Joppa that this is exactlywhat was going to happen.
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That, god, I know enough aboutyou to know this that you just
can't help yourself.
God, you can't help, butshowing grace and mercy when
people cry out for your graceand mercy, you won't seem to
follow through with yourdestruction when there are
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people crying out for mercy.
God, I knew this would happen.
Mercy, god, I knew this wouldhappen.
What's interesting about Jonah'sresponse here and his anger is
that his theology it's not bad.
In fact, what he says in versetwo about the character of God
is exactly right.
(07:59):
It's interesting how histheology is so spot on but his
heart and motivation are so farfrom the things of God.
It's interesting that what weknow in our head can sometimes
struggle to get to the heart.
Because again, jonah is notwrong here.
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In Exodus, chapter 34, we see amoment when God speaks to Moses
about who God is.
So this is God writing his owntestimony of his character and
it says the Lord, the Lord, aGod merciful and gracious, slow
to anger, abounding in steadfastlove and faithfulness.
This is God explaining who Godis and faithfulness, this is God
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explaining who God is.
That I am merciful, that I amslow to anger, that I abound in
steadfast love.
Jonah's theology is right aboutwho God is, but again, his
theology about who God is hasentered the head but it has not
moved to the heart.
His theology has not led him tolove the one who God loves, to
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care for the one whom God caresfor.
It reminds me so much of 1Corinthians 13.
Maybe you've been at a wedding,and rightfully so.
You've heard those beautifulwords from 1 Corinthians 13, the
passage about love.
Again, we hear it about atmarriages, but really it's not a
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passage strictly about marriagethough certainly is but it's
just about Christian love ingeneral.
And it says this in these firstthree verses if I speak in the
tongues of men and of angels buthave not love, I am a noisy
gong or clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powersand understand all mysteries and
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knowledge and if I have allfaith as to remove mountains but
I don't have love, I'm nothing.
If I give away all I have andif I deliver up my body to be
burned but have not love, I gainnothing.
It's interesting Paul understoodin 1 Corinthians what Jonah
(10:10):
missed that theology that juststays in the head and doesn't
move to the heart and to thehands, knowledge about God that
does not lead us to imitate God,pursue the holiness of God.
It really doesn't mean a lotthat we may have the right
(10:33):
answers, that on a certain testwe could fill in the right
blanks and maybe get a decentscore, but in the test of life,
as far as how we love oneanother and those around us,
it's clear that God reallyhasn't affected the heart and
the hands.
It's so interesting that Jonahknows the character of God and
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through knowing the character ofGod, that makes him furious.
It makes him furious that Godwould act in the very way that
God has always said that hewould act.
And really, jonah wants God tooperate on his terms, on Jonah's
terms.
And that leads me to the firstpoint in just a second.
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And before I put it out there,if you've ever wondered why
First Baptist Church made me thesenior pastor and put my name
over the door, it's because youcan get points like this.
Let's put it on the screen.
Loving God means loving God.
I know we're going deep today.
Loving God means loving God.
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You say, taylor, how long didit take you to get to that?
But it really is deeper thanwhat it looks like.
Loving God means loving God asGod says that God is.
Loving God means loving theaccurate picture of God, the
(12:02):
true God, not the God that I'vemade in my image, not the God
that I've made so that he willoperate on my terms and he will
surely always keep mecomfortable and keep me right
where I want to be, not the Godthat I get from the outside
world, but the God, as scriptureproclaims that God is.
(12:25):
Loving God means loving andserving accurately the true
picture of who God is as he hasrevealed himself.
And that was the problem withJonah.
He wanted to love the God thatJonah had made in his image, the
God that will operate exactlylike Jonah wants him to operate.
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The God that when people likeNineveh commit to years of evil
and sin, that God will then come, no matter what repentance they
might try to do at the lastminute.
That God will then come andwipe them out.
That's the God Jonah.
That's not accurate.
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Loving and serving God meansthat we love God on God's terms,
that we come to grips with whohe is.
Cs Lewis says that God is thegreat iconoclast, one who
smashes our icons, smashes ouridols.
So, continually, god has tocome and tear down our own
(13:32):
pictures of who we've designed,of God as we've made him in our
own image, and he's got toreplace the inaccurate picture
with the accurate picture of whoGod is.
In his word, god gets to definewho God is.
God gets to have mercy on whomhe will have mercy.
God gets to have the final say.
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Jonah didn't like that God andbecause of that Jonah's going to
get an object lesson from God.
And really, verse three through11 is all about this lesson
that God's going to teach Jonah.
Verse three, therefore.
Now, o Lord, please take mylife from me, for it is better
for me to die than to live.
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This begins the pity party fromJonah on a hillside.
God, if this is who you are, ifthis is how you operate, if I'm
going to come all the way to aplace like this and not at least
get the firework show at theend of the day, god, just take
me now.
Verse four.
And the Lord said do you dowell to be angry?
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Jonah went out of the cityverse five and set to the east
of the city and made a booth forhimself there, and he set in
the shade till he should seewhat would become of the city.
He goes up to the hillside, helooks back at the town of
Nineveh and says maybe again,god will change his course of
action.
Maybe, just maybe, it's mylucky day and God has heard my
(15:01):
cries and my argument and myplea and he'll actually realize.
Jonah, you know what, eventhough I'm the sovereign God of
the universe, you bring up somegreat ideas and I will destroy
the city of Nineveh.
Maybe that could happen.
Jonah says.
But God's got a lesson to teachhim.
Verse six now the Lord, god,appointed a plant.
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We've seen throughout the bookalready, and we'll see more that
God can appoint and useanything he wants.
He appointed a fish to be rightat the perfect location for
Jonah.
He appointed that same fish tospit Jonah out onto dry land.
Now, verse six God appointed aplant and made it come up over
Jonah that it might be a shadeover his head to save him from
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his discomfort.
So Jonah was exceedingly gladbecause of the plant.
So not only is Jonah on thehillside now, but, in God's
grace and mercy, god has thisplant grow up that provides
shade for Jonah.
So now Jonah has this hillsideseat and he gets to be in the
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shade.
Verse 7, but when dawn came upthe next day, god appointed a
worm.
There he is again appointingthings, appointed a worm that
attacked the plant so that itwithered Again.
Let's keep track here.
God gave a plant for shade.
God sent the worm.
It attacked the plant.
It's now gone, it's withered.
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Verse 8, then, when the sun rose, here's God appointing.
God appointed a scorching eastwind.
Earlier in the book.
He appointed the waves torattle the boat and now he
appoints the east wind.
He's even sovereign over theweather.
And the sun beat down on thehead of Jonah so that he was
faint and he asked that he mightdie and said it is better for
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me to die than to live.
But God said to Jonah do you dowell to be angry for the plant?
And he said yes, I do well tobe angry, angry enough to die.
God gave a plant for shade.
God took the plant away.
The sun shone on Jonah.
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He grows faint and he says Godthat's enough, just send me on
my way, just be done with all ofthis.
And here comes the lesson, verse10,.
And the Lord said you pity theplant, for which you did not
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labor, nor did you make it grow,which came into being in a
night and perished in a night,and should not.
I pity Nineveh, that great cityin which there are more than
120,000 persons who do not knowtheir right hand from their left
, and also much cattle.
(17:54):
If you're catching the lesson,it's really this Jonah, you love
that plant.
When it offered you shade, whenI grew it up from the ground
(18:14):
and it provided that shade foryou.
You celebrated, you loved thatplant so much.
But here's what's interesting,jonah you had nothing to do with
the creation of that plant.
You had no way to make thatgrow, no part of you had
(18:37):
anything to do with that plantbeing there.
And yet when that plant wasgone, you were sad, you were
upset, you were even angry at me.
And then the Lord says this.
And then the Lord says this canI not be sorrowful over 120,000
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people that I created, that Iactually invested into that I
and compassion, even in theirevil state?
Am I not allowed to love mycreation?
(19:23):
If you can love something somuch you didn't create, can I
love something that I created?
Can I show mercy on theseindividuals that don't know
their right hand from their left?
Am I not allowed to be God andoperate in the gracious mercy
that I have forever operatedwithin Jonah?
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Am I allowed to do this?
And that leads me to my secondpoint, which is really just this
Loving God means loving whatGod loves.
Loving God means loving whatGod loves.
Serving God means serving theone whom God loves.
It's interesting that after thatverse, once the Lord lays out
this lesson, after verse 11, thebook ends.
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It's somewhat a cliffhanger,because we have no idea what
Jonah does next.
I hope and pray that hecompletely gets the message and
he completely repents and saysLord, I have been off this whole
time.
I understand it now.
Praise God, nineveh is saved.
It could be, though, that Jonahtakes his pity party to the
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next level and never really getsover his anger.
We don't know how it ends, butwe have this cliffhanger, and I
just wonder if the author givesus this cliffhanger to put the
ball in our court so we can saythis what do we now do with this
text?
What do we do with the story ofJonah?
Not?
What is Jonah's next move?
What is our next move?
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Can we love the things that Godloves?
Can we love the ones whom Godloves?
And I'll ask this question whatis it, or should I say who is it
, that God loves?
Well, it's certainly all people.
And now let this blow our minds.
Let this blow our minds whodoes God love?
Sinners, the broken, the sinful, the Ninevites, the outsiders,
(21:27):
the one who are running away insin?
I just want to ask each one ofus do we have love for sinners?
Do we have love for people thatnot only don't know Jesus but
don't want to know Jesus, go outof their way to not know Jesus.
Maybe even go out of their wayto let you know just how much
they do not know Jesus.
(21:48):
Do we have love for thosepeople?
Do we have love for those whoare on the outside, who are
living a life so different fromwhat the word of God calls each
person to live, because theydon't know the authority of the
word of God and they don't knowthe Savior whom the word of God
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speaks to?
It's so fascinating to me when Ilook around the world, whom the
word of God speaks to.
It's so fascinating to me whenI look around the world and
every day, if you look at thenews, if you look at the local
news, if you look at thenational news, the world news,
what you're going to see.
So often you're going to seesome good stories along the way
that make you happy.
But oftentimes, when you watchthe news, guess what you're
(22:29):
going to see.
You're going to see sinfulpeople.
Oftentimes, when you watch thenews, guess what you're going to
see.
You're going to see sinfulpeople.
You're going to see some sinfulpeople that have done some
sinful things.
You don't have to look at thenews, when you just look around
town, when you just look let'sbe honest in the mirror as well
I'm not picking on anybody elsebut when you just look at the
world, sinners often act likesinners.
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I don't think that surprises ustoday, and sometimes I just it
hurts, and certainly hurts allthe time, really to see when
sinners act like sinners and areso far from the things of God.
But I got to tell you whatscares me, what keeps me up at
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night, is not simply thatthere's sinners out there acting
like sinners Lord, would it bethat we can go spread your
gospel?
But what really scares me isthat there are believers not
acting like believers.
That there are believers inthis lost and broken world who
every day live around lost andbroken people, and those lost
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and broken people don't get wordfrom that believer that there
is a Savior.
They don't hear the gospel.
That every one of us, if we'rehonest every one of us, if we're
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honest sometimes we go aroundtown and the gospel of Christ is
not on the tip of our tonguethat sometimes we interact with
lost people I'm not picking onyou, I'm telling my story too.
Sometimes we are around lostpeople and in our mind we think
they don't want anything to dowith this.
I know them and if I brought upJesus, at best I'd just get
made fun of.
At worst they'd say done withthis guy.
(24:16):
Or certainly, hey, listen, theyneed a lot more than little old
me telling them you know alittle Bible story.
They need more than that.
No, no, what they need issomeone in their lives who has
been radically transformed bythe grace of Christ, that can
just tell them there issomething about this Jesus that
changed my life and I justbelieve he can change yours too.
(24:40):
When Jonah looked across at thecity of Nineveh, all he saw were
evil people that he would saythey're a lost cause and they've
got no hope.
When God looked at the city ofNineveh, he saw creation that
was just waiting to hear thatthere is hope, that there is a
(25:02):
God who saves.
And who is it in your life, inyour sphere of influence?
And who is it in your life, inyour sphere of influence?
Who is it?
Students, as you I'm sorry tobring it up start school in a
week and a half.
Who is it in your classroomthis year?
Who is it as you're about tostart the fourth grade that's
(25:27):
going to be sitting at the deskbeside you and on day one of
school does not know Jesus.
But on the last day of schoolthey know Jesus.
Who is it on your football teamthat's going to know a little
bit more about Jesus?
Who is your coworker that youmeet at the water cooler?
And usually you're talkingabout the football games from
the week before, and thatdoesn't have to stop.
But with that you're also goingto talk about the gospel.
Who is it around town at thecoffee shop?
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Who gives you your coffee?
Who's behind the counter?
Who is it that needs the hopeof the gospel?
Let me tell you you don't haveto wait on someone else to tell
them about Jesus.
You're the one.
Nineveh is out there and ifyou've ever wanted to be
(26:10):
encouraged this morning, let mejust tell you you can do a
better job than a guy inscripture who's literally a
prophet of God.
A prophet of God, and you cango out and I bet you can beat
him at his own game, because youcan tell the gospel of Jesus
and you can actually celebratewhen people hear the gospel and,
(26:35):
lord willing, respond to thegospel.
I love the history of missionsfor Christians, really, since
the Lord, jesus Christ, gave thecommission after his
resurrection in Matthew 28,.
He said go make disciples ofall nations, and there from
(26:55):
there the history of missionswent forward.
I was reading this week aboutJohn G Patton.
He was a missionary in theearly to mid 1800s in the New
Hebrides Islands, today calledthe Vanuatu Islands, and I
smiled at Katie because I spentall weekend working on
(27:17):
pronouncing both of those terms.
He was a missionary to the NewHebrides Islands in the South
Pacific in the 1800s, sent outfrom London, and in his
autobiography he's kind of givenan account of the history of
missions to the New HebridesIslands up to this point and he
has a fascinating story.
These are his words giving thehistory of missions to this
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island.
He says this.
A glance backwards of the storyof the gospel in the New
Hebrides may help to bring myreaders into touch with the
events that are to follow.
The ever-famous names ofWilliams and Harris are
associated with the earliestefforts to introduce
Christianity amongst this groupof islands in the South Pacific
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seas.
John Williams and his youngmissionary companion Harris,
under the sending of the LondonMissionary Society, landed on
Irremanga on the 30th ofNovember 1839.
Alas, within a few minutes oftheir touching land, both were
clubbed to death, and I won'tread the next sentence about
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what happened with them evenafter being clubbed to death.
Thus were the new Hebridesbaptized with the blood of the
martyrs, and Christ thereby toldthe whole Christian world that
he claimed these islands as hisown.
His cross must yet be lifted upwhere the blood of his saints
has been poured forth in hisname.
The poor heathen knew not thatthey had slain their best
(28:44):
friends, but tears and prayersascended for them from all
Christian souls wherever thestory of the martyrdom on
Irmanga was read or heard.
Those were the first twomissionaries to the New Hebrides
Islands, and I might think whathappens next If you're the
London Missionary Society andyou've sent two missionaries
(29:07):
down to the South Pacific andbefore they could get a word out
, they were martyred for theirfaith.
What happens next?
I might think about this.
I might say what happens next?
Nothing happens next, we're notsending the next crew.
I think in 2025, those littleislands in the South Pacific
(29:28):
would be a remote group ofislands that we could probably
just forget about Much more in1839, if we just don't talk
about them.
They're not even there.
What does the London MissionarySociety do?
They send the next twomissionaries Again.
Therefore, in 1842, the LondonMissionary Society sent out
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Turner and Nesbitt to pierce thekingdom of Satan.
They placed their standard onour chosen island of Tanah, the
nearest to Irmanga.
In less than seven months,however, their persecution by
the savages became so dreadfulthat we see them in a boat
trying to escape by night withtheir lives.
Two more missionaries are sentdown.
(30:12):
They get a little further, butpersecution leads them to have
to escape by night.
But here's what's interestingthey're alive.
That looks like progress to me.
So what does the LondonMissionary Society do?
They send the next twomissionaries down to the New
Hebrides Islands, for the sakeof the gospel and what we see by
(30:33):
these two men, getty and Inglis.
They go down and they saw about3,500 savages it says their
words throwing away their idols,renouncing their heathen
customs and avowing themselvesto be worshipers of the true
Jehovah God.
And those two missionaries,along with the people of the New
(30:55):
Hebrides themselves, they saveup all of their money.
They all put their moneytogether so that they can pay
for a new translation of theword of God in their original
language.
So now the people of the NewHebrides have a copy of God's
word that they celebrate.
That now penetrates thedarkness in the New Hebrides,
(31:16):
and what is the history ofmissions in that place?
It's a history of people sayingI will go to the darkest of
places, I will go to where thegospel has not been preached.
I think of Paul as we return toRomans next week.
Why does he write the book ofRomans In one part?
Because he wants the church atRome to be a home base, a
(31:39):
sending place that the gospelcould go even further, even into
Spain, and that would be thechurch at Rome, the sending
agency.
Because what does Paul say?
I want to preach the gospelwhere it has not yet been
proclaimed.
I think of John Patton.
I think of the Moravian brethren.
I think when they would go outon mission, they would pack all
(32:00):
of their luggage in coffins andthey would go to this place
because they knew this I need myluggage and I need my coffin
because I'm not going home.
And the motto of the MoravianBrethren was this get a load of
this.
This was their motto.
Preach the gospel, die beforgotten.
That was their motto.
Preach the gospel, die beforgotten.
(32:25):
I think of David Brinard, whowas a missionary even in the
1700s to the Native Americanshere, before we were even a
country.
I think of Lottie Moon, a youngwoman leaving everything behind
to go to China and seeingpeople come to the gospel.
I think of one who is in thisroom right now, maybe a child
(32:47):
among us, that one day will dropeverything and will go to the
nations and will make much ofJesus on the other side of the
globe.
I even think of themissionaries in this room who
tomorrow morning are going to goto their workplace, next week
to their schools, that are goingto go to their homes and they
are going to make much of Jesus.
(33:09):
Do you love the things that Godloves?
Do you love the people that Godloves?
Do you know the gospel that Godhas given?
Here's the gospel that you are,in the truest sense, a Ninevite
, in the truest sense, aNinevite.
That you are, in the truestsense, lost and dead in sin, and
(33:36):
yet Christ came to you Throughthe cross, the resurrection, our
gospel.
There is forgiveness of sinsand there is life.
If you know that gospel, don'tbe like Jonah, who loves mercy
for himself but no one else.
Be someone that understands sodeeply what Christ has saved you
(34:00):
from that.
Now you can't help but tell thegreatest news to the world, to
those who are close by, maybenext door, and those on the
other side of the globe Do youlove the ones whom God loves?
(34:20):
I'm going to pray for us andafter that I'm going to invite
you, if you desire, to come downand respond.
If that means you want to jointhis church or talk about
baptism, or even talk aboutcoming to know Jesus for the
first time, I'd love to do that.
As always, our altar is open.
(34:41):
If you just need to come andpray, if you want to come to me
and I can pray with you.
However you want to respond,now is your opportunity.
Let me pray and then we'llworship together.
Lord Jesus, thank you so muchfor the gospel.
You have saved us from sin andso, lord, let that lead us to
(35:04):
share the good news with others.
Lord, how awful it would be ifI sat here keeping your love all
to myself, your grace all tomyself, loving the fact that
you've saved me, but not lovingothers enough to share the
(35:28):
gospel with them.
Lord, may it not be.
Let your love in my lifeoverflow, lord, in each one of
our lives overflow in such a waythat out of that overflow, lord
, your gospel goes forth tothose who are very close and
those who are very far.
Lord, I pray that it would be,lord, if there's any in the room
(35:53):
this morning that just need torespond in any way, whatever
that may be.
They may be in the room andthey don't know how to respond,
but they know your spirit'sstirring in some type of way,
lord.
Maybe they just need to cometalk to myself or someone.
Lord, would they do so even now?
I ask this in Christ's name,amen.
Would you stand as we worshiptogether and I'll be down front.
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