Lessons from the Book of Jonah

I'll say for many folks, the story of Jonah is basically the story of a big hungry fish and a runaway prophet who couldn't swim fast enough. And yet, if you've ever really looked at that story, there's so much more to it than just that. Because, you know, the book of Jonah serves as quite a commentary for us today, frankly. Far more of a commentary for today's times and what a lot of people realize. And, frankly, for God's people and God's work at any time. There's all kinds of lessons in the account. All kinds. And there's one that's prime. So, I tell you, let's do this today. Let's look at some of those lessons. And we'll also go to the prime one. If you want a title, just simply title this, Lessons from the Book of Jonah. Lessons from the Book of Jonah. Could any of us in this room, could any of one in the room over, church building over in Gadsden, anyone in the church hall in Chattanooga, or any other congregation of God today, could any of us be a modern day Jonah, or a first cousin of his? There's some interesting parallels in the Book of Jonah to us today. And, again, some lessons to learn, and especially one major one. I might just ask the question at this point in time, what was Jonah's main problem? Is it easy to spot? Is it clear? Is it a common problem? What was his main problem? What was his undoing? What did he fail to handle that's an invaluable lesson for us today? Let's look at the account, because, again, there are a number of lessons there. Let's go to Jonah, the Book of Jonah, and I would say when you find the Book of Jonah, they're in the Minor Prophets, that you just put some kind of a marker in it, because we're going to go back and forth.

If it helps you, it's right after Obadiah. Okay, where's Obadiah?

Jonah 1. God called Jonah.

Again, think of it in terms of these looked at through the prism or perspective of parallels to us today. And some of the parallels are fine. Some of the parallels we don't want. We don't want to, you might say, fit certain parallels. Others are okay. Jonah 1.1. Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, the Word of the Lord came to Jonah. God called Jonah.

God's hand was involved with him even as God's hand is involved with us. The reason that we're able to be here today and to have minds that can grasp and comprehend deeper and deeper things of God is because God's hand is involved with us. Now, God gave him a commission. He gave him a commission to witness. It's interesting he didn't give him a commission to convert, but he did give him a commission to witness.

Jonah 1.2. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. I've got a job for you. I've called you to do a job, Jonah. I'm sending you to Nineveh to witness to them.

God gave him a commission to witness even as he's given us a commission to witness. Matthew 24.14. And like I said, I will go back and forth to Jonah, so keep your finger there.

In Matthew 24.14, and again, the time context of the end of the age, you can establish that by the question that the disciples asked Christ and how he answered them.

And in the context of their question, he did say, this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached to all the world for a witness. And that's interesting, too. The Gospel of the Kingdom goes out in this age not to convert the world. It doesn't mean there won't be some people that God converts. It just means it doesn't go forth as a conversion thing, and therefore, if we don't succeed in converting the world, and see, the, quote, Christian Church has always believed that they have the job to convert the world. And right here, Christ says, as a witness, there's a difference between something being a witness and something being a converting power. And again, God can convert who he chooses, but he chooses few in this age.

But, preached to all the world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come.

I would like to couple with this Luke 24.47.

Chapter 24 and verse 47.

And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.

That they would go forth, and in this witness, this witness was contained, repentance being preached.

It's not that it would automatically have success. Noah preached repentance.

Not one single one outside his family was on the Ark.

But the commission to witness is established.

How many times did I hear Mr. Armstrong say, and by the way, Marcus Lucas, that book, Mystery of the Ages, is a good book to read.

You can't go wrong with the fundamental truths, the foundational truths that form a framework for real understanding.

And again, there's excellent material in that book, excellent material that doesn't go out of date.

Mr. Armstrong said over and over again, he said, we're not here just to get our salvation.

Now, are we supposed to be concerned with our salvation? Yes. Are we supposed to attend to it? Yes.

Are we supposed to take care of it and do our part? Yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Because how could we even claim to be thankful for what God's given us if we don't process it responsibly? So, yes.

But are we here only to get our salvation?

If that's the only reason, well, then why wouldn't God just wait on those few He calls first fruits now?

Why wouldn't He just wait and give us our opportunity in the last great day with everybody else? Why a few ahead?

Now, there's reasons for it. There's more to it than just to get our salvation. There's more to it than just attending to our salvation.

He said, we're not here just to get our salvation, but to do a job. To do a job, to carry a witness.

And there are many who have forgotten that we have a job to do. There are too many who have forgotten that we still have a work to do.

And we don't look and say, oh, look what little power we have. We can't do very much. So, we're not going to do anything.

Who has despised the day of small things? Scripture says. We're to do. We're to exercise ourselves within whatever power we have to do in doing a work, in carrying a witness.

But Jonah fled. He fled. Jonah 1, verse 3, he was a man of quick decision.

I don't think there's any hesitancy with him on this. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish to flee from the presence of the Lord.

You would think he knew better to flee from the presence of the Lord.

And went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish, so he paid the fare thereof, and he went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Remember what David said in Psalm 139.7?

Psalm 139.7, David said, Where shall I go from your spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

Where shall I flee from your presence?

God, you've got a job for me? You call me?

No, I'm getting out of here. I'm fleeing. Where are you going to go? Where are you going to go that I can't find you?

It's interesting. It speaks to him wanting to get away from it.

And now, look, I understand there's much additional also to Jonah, and you might say the book, that I will cover today.

And I realize there are various factors involved, and it's not my point to try to exhaustively, comprehensively cover everything we possibly could.

But I'm just drawing some lessons from the book, and one prime one, one main one, that is prime.

Think about it. He wanted to get away from it. He wasn't the most pleasant thing he could think of to do. I mean, go to Nineveh, do a job, witness to them. They weren't nice people.

You walk through their gates. You see, human skins tanned and stretched on walls and all. They were known for their cruelty.

And it wasn't that he was just yearning to go and deal with them. And again, there was more to it than that.

But it wasn't the most pleasant thing he could think of to do.

Have any of us ever felt any kind of feelings or thoughts such as these?

God, when did you call me now?

When did you call me now when there's a devil roaming around the planet?

When did you call me now when you could have waited and called me when the devil is bound? Call me when I don't have to deal with him?

When did you call me now when there's so many temptations around and so many problems?

And I've got to stand up and obey you in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

And I get thought bad of by certain folks. I don't want thinking bad of me.

I get put down for what I believe and what I testify to as far with my life and how I live.

And what I won't get involved with on the one hand and what I do get involved with on the other hand, why couldn't you have waited to the millennium? Why couldn't you have waited to the last great day?

And on top of that, when you called me, you knew I had this problem and that problem.

In fact, I had this addiction. And why do I have to straighten up now? I mean, oh, it's just too hard.

And besides all of that, I'm missing out on all the good times.

It's interesting, many years ago, there was a young lady that I was counseling for baptism.

This was years and years ago. An older member in the congregation told the young lady, she knew she was being counseled for baptism. She said, you better go have your fun before you get baptized.

It says a lot about that older member, right?

But if any of us ever had any of these types of thoughts, especially in the midst of a trial of persecution from somebody that we care about and love who's giving us a hard time because of God's calling and truth and all of that.

Well, also with Jonah. He felt no honor. He felt no blessing to be called to God for a special job needing doing. There was no honor or blessing to it. And of course, we could say, well, also, he didn't see the big picture. It went over his head. But how many times have we seen people, loved ones that God has called, who can't seem to grab the big picture? It kind of escapes them, and they fall prey to failures and fade away and all of that.

So he didn't... You think about it, and you can see it right on the pages. I mean, it jumps out at you as you read the account. He didn't appreciate being called into the presence and service of God. That wasn't an honor. He was specifically called into the service and presence of God.

And that was not an honor or privilege to him or blessing. He didn't even want the response. It has a responsibility. None of it.

You know, to think that God had taken special note of him and singled him out. If you think that God called you or me because he just threw a rock into the crowd, and whoever it hit, he says, I'll take that one.

He specifically thought about your calling before he called you. And he picked the timing. He picked this time, not the last great day for you. But how many of us, maybe at times, maybe not overall, but just at times, have failed to see the magnitude of the honor and blessing of our calling? 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26 and 27.

Paul wrote the Corinthians here, and he said, Okay, brethren, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26, For you see your calling, brethren. You know, look around you. You see your calling. Have it not many wise men after the flesh, the way this world counts wisdom and greatness, not many mighty, and not many noble, are called. But God has chosen. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. You're going to play into God's plans of confounding the wise someday. It may not be until the others are brought up in the last great day, but they're going to be amazed at what God has actually accomplished with you and me. Confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Romans 8, 18. Very familiar Scripture in terms of what lies ahead of us and the honor and the blessing it is to be called now and to be a part of God and His work. Romans 8, 18. Paul said, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not even worth being compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And in verse 21, because the creature or the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. But let me show you something else that maybe we don't always focus on. Matthew 24, 22. Matthew 24. In verse 22. Now, we focus on verses 21 and 22 as far as the time of the Great Tribulation coming. And we focus on the fact that, as it says in verse 22, except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. We focus on the genocide. We focus on annihilation. We focus on planetary suicide, which it will be. Except for one reason, those days are cut short by the return of Christ. But when are they cut short by the return of Christ? But for the church's sake, for the first fruit's sake, for the body of Christ's sake, for those of Christ's who are alive at that time, for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. If you are alive at the time that Christ returns, you are... I mean, Abraham, it doesn't matter. He's dead. He's in the grave. He's awaiting the resurrection. It doesn't matter. And of course, you can say, for the elect's sake, he's included. Yes, he's dead in Christ in the grave. And there's more to it than just the fact of saving a life, so to speak, because obviously at the return of Christ, when the trumpet sounds, those of us who are flesh and blood alive, we're going to immediately be changed to spirit. So nothing that could happen physically on the planet to destroy it would affect us at that time. So there's more to it than just that, I realize. But it's for the church's sake that those days are cut short. That's an honor. That's a blessing. It's also a very big responsibility.

Here's the phrase that I have always borne in my mind regarding being called in this age and all that's been given to me to see and to understand and to have an opportunity with in the future that I have. As I look at myself in the mirror, as I look at people out and about around me who are not called yet, I'm more blessed, not better than. God didn't say, He's better than Him, so I'll call Him. She's better than her, so I'll call her. And that's not the way God did it. We're not better. In some cases, we may have been worse. In some cases, we were worse. We're not better, but we're more blessed. Because these things of God, His call and all, these are blessings. Yes. As I walk among the people around me, I realize I'm more blessed than they are. I'm not better. I'm more blessed. There's a difference. I don't have my chin way up. Now, if you see that my posture a lot of times is with my chin slightly up, that's because at my height, I've been used to looking up a lot. It's a natural position. But if somebody's chin is high enough that if it rained, they would drown through their nose because their nose is so high in the air and they're looking down at people, that's just totally wrong. Nothing godly about that. No, we're not better than. We're more blessed than. And there's a difference. The first bridge is a special category. And ruling with Christ in the world tomorrow and the wonder of that. But anyway, Jonah didn't see all that specialness. He has named it lightly. And evidently, for God to put his hand on him, for God to want to use him as an instrument, work with him, and all that went with that, something to throw away, something to run from. So again, chapter 1 and verse 3, Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish, to get away from the presence of the Lord. And it repeats it again, it says at the end of that verse, to go with him to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. How did we esteem our calling when God first started calling us? If we had time, which we don't, to ask each of you to lay out the dynamics of your calling, the good, the bad, and the ugly. You mean the whole mix. There'd be quite a variation. And it'd be a great variation on these questions as far as answers that would be forthcoming. But how did we esteem our calling when God first started calling us? Some of us were called as adults, some of us began to be called as a child. But how long did it take us to really do something with it? One man told me one time, he said, Why didn't God call me 20 years ago? I knew the man, I knew him well. I said, Gene, do you think you would have listened to him 20 years ago? No. I thought there was a lot of work that had to be done on you first before you'd even respond. But how long did it take for us to really do something with it? And how long did we ignore it or play around with it? He had known certain things about it 20 years previous from the time that he actually did get going with it. How long did we run from it and try to get away? I've had people tell me, Look, I ran. I did everything I could to get away. And one day I just realized, I'm not going to get away. I can't find a place to hide. God can't find me.

How long has it taken this—and this is a very important question— how long has it taken us to lose our appreciation for it? Now, I'm not saying you've lost your appreciation. I'm not saying I've lost my appreciation. But I pose it like that because that's one of the dangers we always have to concern ourselves with. See the very first church Ephesus there in Revelation 2 and specifically in verse 4. That first century of the church time came where God inspired John to put it down, You have lost your first love.

We talk about people having their first love and being so excited they can't sleep. They just want to—they can't get enough of it. And then one day, all of that is just a faded memory. That it's just become old hat, become stale. It's just hard to get excited about any of it anymore. Now, that is a clear and present danger that we always have to be concerned with. But God would not let John escape.

Verse 4, But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, And there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was likely to be broken. It's about to be—it looks like it's going to be broken up. God wouldn't let him escape. Verse 7, and they said everyone to his fellow, the shipmates, Come, let's cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. They cast lots to figure it out, and God directed those lots to point to Jonah. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Okay, dude, what's going on?

What's happening? Whoa! You're responsible somehow for this! Verse 10, Then were the men exceedingly afraid, they were terrified. And they said to him, Why have you done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Okay, give him a gold star for honesty, transparency. He had told them. That's interesting. I guess he was at least an honest individual. You know, once God has called us, and He's opened our mind, He doesn't just let us slip away.

He just doesn't. He doesn't let us sneak away. And that was covered to a certain degree in the sermon ethic Mr. Taylor gave. Appreciated that. He doesn't let us just go hide behind a rock, slip away, because once we're to that point, we're accountable. And God does love us. And He does have to, quote, put us in our place or restore us. And yes, He doesn't do it to us. That was way clear. He does it for us. When we run from God, think about it.

And some of you have been there in years past, because this has not been uncommon to be found among some of God's people here and there. Even with the most converted who maybe, maybe at one time, maybe tried to run from it. When you run from God, don't we kind of, if we know we're kind of running, if we know we're shying away, don't we kind of walk on eggshells because we know correction may be around the next corner at any time?

The Son whom He loves, He corrects. And we also, in a case like that, we carry a guilt. We carry a guilt for not living up to what we've been shown and called to. We feel guilty. That conscience that's been worked on bothers us. Notice verse 12. Jonah 1 verse 12. And He said to them, Take me up, cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm upon you, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. You know, we may ignore it, but we can't truly get away from it. And Jonah realized at this point, I can't, I can't really, I can't get away with it.

And maybe he was just, some of them might say, well, he was concerned for them. Here's what he figured. If I try to stone this ship, it's going to break into pieces, and I'm going to drown anyway. We're all going to drown. So I may as well do the right thing and let them throw me overboard so that the seas will come, and they'll be saved because either I die by myself or we all die together. And it's not their fault, poor guys.

I may as well just die by myself, and them not have to die. And God began to correct Jonah to bring him around. Chapter 1, verse 17. Now, the Lord had prepared a great fish, doesn't say it was a whale, doesn't say it wasn't. Might be a fish that He just simply created at the moment for the job. But He had prepared, however it was, it was a great fish. He had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Now, personally, myself, I can think of a whole lot better places to be. Can you imagine what it was like? Talk about claustrophobic. Talk about slimy. Talk about stinky. Talk about whatever. But would you have to be in that position for three days and three nights before you started giving some serious thought to your situation?

With the first big gulp and going down, my thoughts would go very serious in a hurry. But three days and three nights, and correction, which is what it was, began to affect His willingness to obey just like correction was used with us, and still is at times, to help affect a willingness to obey. Jonah 2 verse 1, then Jonah prayed to the Lord. He prayed to the Lord His God out of the fish's belly.

You don't always have to be on your knees in a closet somewhere to pray. And I can guarantee you, that was an effective prayer. His heart was fully in it. He prayed to the Lord His God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of my affliction to the Lord, and He heard me out of the belly of the grave. The word hell and King James, it has to do with the grave. The belly of the grave cried I, and you heard my voice.

Verse 4, Then I said, I am cast out of your sight, yet I will look again toward your holy temple. Verse 7, When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord. He knew He was a dead man in the fish. And my prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple.

Verse 9, But I will sacrifice to you. I will do what's asked of me. I will pay the price. I will put myself out. I will extend myself. I will do what's required. You could put that and more under the word sacrifice here. But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. With the voice of thanksgiving, say, I will once again see the big picture. I will be thankful. I will be grateful. I will pay that that I have vowed. What did we vow at baptism? Lord, I am Yours. I am bought and purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ. I no longer belong to myself.

Like 1 Corinthians 7, 23 says, You're bought with a price, be not the servants of men. I will pay that I have vowed. I am Your property. Salvation is of the Lord. It takes correction to bring us around in this kind of situation, doesn't it? And with correction, a proper perspective is installed or renewed. Because again, I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. Notice what He is restored to. Notice what He has turned around to. I will pay that which I have vowed.

Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah had been drafted to do a job. Now, that's very clear. It's an account of a person of God, a man of God, in this case, commissioned to do this job, also as a prophet. A prophet of God, a man of God, commissioned to do a job, drafted to do that job. Chapter 3 here, verses 1 and 2. And the Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. God hasn't changed His mind. It's just like I think of the work that has been assigned to the church ever since it began on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

The job hasn't changed. It's not a different work today than it was. It's a differing group of us because all of those that have gone before have died. We're the ones alive, and at this age, we're going long enough, we in this room would be dead, and there'd be others of us of the same body that God has called, drafted, that would carry on. But from everything that we've got to go by and look at, both from prophecy, the church, Middle East, Europe, the nation, all of it. We're in the closing waning years of this age.

However many or few that is, we're in the closing of the age, and we know that. But God comes to and gives us the message, and says, the second time, it didn't change His mind. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the preaching that I bid you. And that preaching that He had to take to Nineveh was the preaching of up to a point.

Of what was mentioned in Luke 24-47, repentance. It didn't mean God was going to call Nineveh. It didn't mean He was going to give them His Spirit. But they were a very cruel nation, and they did some unspeakable things to the nations they conquered. And they had, just at a basic moral level, they had a lot of evil that they could humanly turn from.

And that's what God was going to require of them, or else. Think about John 15-16. I'm not going to turn there. But where Christ said in John 15-16, You have not chosen me, I have chosen you. See, none of us someday will raise our hand in that, let's say, assembly in the sky when Christ returns. Or better yet, because this applies to the Father, not the Son. The example. When we meet the Father someday, and we all stand before the Father in an assembly with Him, and God will choose when that time is with Him.

When we meet Him, not one of us will raise our hand and say, Dear Father, I am so glad that I chose myself to be one of your first fruits. That won't happen, because we know that's not the way it is. And God would say, Look, look Fred, you know that's not the way it is.

We didn't choose ourselves. We chose to respond. We chose to keep on. We choose to keep on. But God chose us. He chose to begin removing the veil from our eyes. He chose to begin feeding us and leading us. He chose that. And we have the choice to continue to respond to Him. And we are accountable.

And He will go after if He needs to. But you've not chosen me. I've chosen you. And God would see that that job that He gave Jonah, that it would get done. Notice, He's going to wreck a ship if He has to.

Jonah is swallowed by a big fish. And if Jonah dies in that fish, God can just keep him alive so that his cognitive powers are going, and he's thinking and he's realizing, or he can actually bring him back to life. Just like he brought Lazarus out of the tomb. No hard deal for God. But Jonah, the job is going to get done.

And you are going to do it. See, Amos 3.7, the job had to get done. It wasn't optional because God was going to destroy Nineveh. And it says right here, surely the Lord God. God was going to destroy the earth. And so He had Noah warn the world. God was going to destroy Nineveh. So He has to warn Nineveh what's coming as a witness to them. Surely the Lord God, Amos 3.7, surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophets. Jonah, I'm going to reveal My secret through you to them, what's going to happen to them if they don't do some repenting.

And Jonah did the job. Okay, can't get out of it. Got to do it. Okay. Jonah began to enter, verse 4, chapter 3, verse 4. Jonah began to enter into the city of day's journey, and he cried, and he said, Yet forty days, in forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. And guess what? It was all very successful, because beginning in verse 5 here, So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed to fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to them, even to the least of them.

For word came to the king of Nineveh. And he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and he covered himself with sackcloth, and set in ashes, and he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his noble saying, Let neither man, nor beast, herd, nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed, nor drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn away everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and change his mind, and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not? And yes, God showed mercy. He put it off for a time. He showed mercy. He put it off. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. They were saddened. They were sorrowful. They did within what they could see and understand.

They did make a change. And God repented, or just simply changed his mind, of the evil, of the calamity, that he had said that he would do to them, and he did it not. And Jonah didn't like it. He didn't like it. Look at his reaction. Chapter 4. Verse 1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly. And he was very angry. First of all, he didn't want to do what God wanted him to do. He ran from it. He finally did it. Decided to do it because he couldn't get out of it.

And he prayed to the Lord, and he said, I pray you, O Lord. Was not this my saying? When I was yet in my country? Therefore, I fled before you to Tarshish. For I knew. This is when I fled, when I didn't want to go do it. Because I knew that you were a gracious God. And you're merciful. And you're slow to anger. And you're of great kindness.

And you repent. You'll change your mind of the evil or the calamity. I knew that. And, of course, none of the Assyrians were dyed in the wool enemies of Israel. Therefore now, O Lord, I beseech you. Take my life from me. Just put me to sleep. Not to wake up. Whatever. Take my life from me. Because it is better for me to die than to live. Now think about it. It's just better for me to die than to live. You know, there's quite a few lessons in here.

And again, this is not meant to be exhaustive. Because there's more that can be pulled from the account. And we might do that someday. But again, there's a main issue. And it's the main issue, I guess. It's made up of more than one or two ingredients. But there's a main issue. God focused His attention on His problem. Verse 4, Then said the Lord, Do you well to be angry?

Now, I'm not focusing on anger as the problem. I mean, that was a problem. But the anger, there was something bigger than just the anger. There was something bigger that generated the anger. But God focused His attention. He began to focus His attention on His problem. And He said, Do you well to be angry? Is it okay? Is it right for you to be angry? Jonah? And Jonah didn't answer. Due to the nature of his problem, which was a lot bigger than just the anger, He didn't want to get the point. I think He got the point, but He didn't want to get the point.

Because due to the nature of His problem, He resisted the point. So God tried another way. Verse 6, And the Lord God prepared a gourd. I'm not exactly totally sure what this was. I've not done the research. But He prepared, supernaturally prepared, this physical plant, this gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah. Just sprung up overnight, so to speak, and shaded him.

That it might be a shadow or shade over his head to deliver him from his grief. And Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. He was happy to be able to sit in the shade of this gourd. But God also prepared a worm. When the morning rose the next day, and it smoked, cut it in the right place, you know, to where the gourd withered.

Just dried up. The heat dried it up. And it came to pass when the sun did rise that God prepared a vehement east wind. He's trying to get to and reach Jonah. It is correction. And He's doing it for His own good to try to get him to say something and understand something. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted. And he wished in himself to die. And said, it is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry even to death. I just want you to think about this statement. I am right to be so angry even if it kills me.

He was so locked into his problem now, then the Lord said, You have had pity on the gourd. God is trying to soften something in him. He's trying to have an effect on something to soften it. And He's not getting anywhere, so to speak. Because the problem with Jonah is so strong, it's just resisting God. Then said the Lord, You have had pity on the gourd. For the witch, you didn't labor. You didn't make it grow. It came up in a night and it perished in a night. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city we're in, or more than 120,000 persons, they cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle. And if we take it to mean 120,000 persons that are too young to even know their right hand from their left hand, if we put it on strictly the physical basis, that many babies, that many little ones, because this was a city of millions. This was a huge, huge city. God made a point, and a very valid point, but again, due to the nature of Jonah's problem, it fell on deaf ears. Now, here's something that's interesting, and kind of sad, too. We have no record of the answer from Jonah. We have no record of an answer from him.

We have no record, to my knowledge, of repentance, of change. Here's the irony. Jonah preached a message of repentance that everyone there got but himself. Think about it. He's going through the city preaching a message of repentance, and he didn't apply it in his own life. What was his problem? The book closes with the attitude of Jonah being all fouled up. The attitude being all fouled up, sour. But all through the book, all through this little book, we never saw his attitude ever be what it really should have been. And when it did seem to go to where it should be, it didn't stay there long until it just defaulted back in to a bad attitude. It was always lacking. It was always lacking. It may be okay for a moment momentarily, but never once was it truly, Your will be done, Lord. Never once was it Christ's words of John 4.34, My substance, my meat, is to do the will of him that sent me. It was always lacking. He grudgingly, because he, I guess, felt he had no choice. I can't get away. If I try it again, same thing's going to happen. I'm going to get swallowed by fish again. I may as well do it. He grudgingly did it, and it finally caught up with him to where by the end, even God couldn't reason with him and instruct him, as we see in these final two verses. Here's something else that Mr. Armstrong said years ago. And I'm not vashtual about quoting him, because he was a servant of God, there's no doubt that God called him, raised him up, and used him. And there is no perfect man, there's no perfect man, or woman on either these front rows, or any of these pews, and I'm not a perfect man, and Mr. Armstrong was not a perfect man. No servants of God, of flesh and blood, are perfect, because perfection doesn't reside with us, but we're shooting toward that, we're heading toward it. And I will not be vashtual to quote many of the things that I learned long, long ago that are just as true today as they were then. And some of these things I've had confirmed to me over and over and over through the years. Mr. Armstrong said, when the attitude goes sour, you can't do anything with the person, you're wasting your time, attitude is the most important and critical thing. And sadly, I have seen the veracity of that proven to me firsthand numerous times over the years. Look at Jonah. He did the job. And this job will get done, one way or the other, this job will get done, that we're assigned, it will get done. And I'm not going to be able to do that. But I'm going to be able to do that. And this job will get done, one way or the other, this job will get done, that we're assigned, it will get done. But Jonah was still out in the cold because of attitude. And that was his problem. He could not corral his attitude and keep it right with God. He couldn't keep it right with himself. He was still out in the cold because of attitude. Jonah's attitude was never, ever fully with it. Think about it. He's been called the reluctant prophet. He was all done with reluctance. He's been called the begrudging prophet. That fits too. He's been called the foot-dragging prophet. He's been called the negative prophet. And there was no enthusiasm. And finally, anger and resentment.

He was faunting. He never took care of the loose ends of his attitude. And those loose ends finally just tied him into a knot. Kind of like the Gordian knot that you couldn't undo.

Of course, Alexander the Great, whoever can cut this knot will rule the world. He just took his sword and cut it. And he ruled the world. But they didn't expect him to cut it like that. But no, his attitude, those loose ends with an attitude not tied up, can be like the Gordian knot. It just ties you up in a knot where it's like you're trapped within your own attitude. And it finally caught up with him. And kind of like, in one sense, kind of like caught up with him over a picky thing. A Gord. I mean, that obviously wasn't the stimulus. But God used that, kind of as a catalyst, to pull the lackeys together and to make the point.

Here's something, brethren. We have to make sure that we tie up the loose ends of our attitude. We cannot allow our attitudes to get faulty and stay faulty. And if something gets stuck in our crawl, we have to get it out immediately. We've got to deal with it. Have you ever been walking and all of a sudden you realize you've got a tiny... It can be the tiniest of pebbles in your shoe. Not even as big as a BB. You think, well, that won't bother me.

I don't want to take the time to stop, sit down somewhere, take my shoe off and get that out. I'll just walk. With every step, you're aware of that tiny little pebble. And you're like, wow. It begins to hurt. You say, if I don't do something, this thing's going to wear a blister on my foot. And you will stop and you will take it out. Or, well, I'll throw this saddle blanket on the horse. Oh, there's a little conquer burr on the underside of this saddle blanket. But, it's just a little burr. Not a big one.

I'll throw it on and throw the saddle on. You're going to have a little problem riding that horse. And if you don't have a problem riding that horse, the horse is going to have a problem with a sore horn in that area where that friction is created. We like popcorn. We get popcorn husked between our teeth or under our dentures. We take care of it because it bugs the daylights out of us and we wear a tongue out of it stuck in the teeth trying to get it out. I think most of us like popcorn and we've had that experience. But anything left unattended in our attitude can grow to debilitating proportions.

How did we come into the church? We generally came into the church for the most part. For the most part, I think probably the greatest number of us came into the church a little bit at a time. A little bit at a time. Now, there are a few people that are walking alone one day in the darkness and they have an epiphany that God causes and the next day they're walking in the light. They can't believe, where have I been all this time and didn't see this? That does happen. Kind of like Saul struck down. It does happen. But that's not the regular way. The regular way is a little bit at a time.

Guess what? It's primarily through attitude because God works on the attitude. God works on the attitude. He processes it. That's usually the process by which we also leave. God works on the attitude to help us come to an attitude that He can work through and then over time, if we let this get in it and that and begin to work on it, just as we maybe came in a little bit at a time, we start leaving a little bit at a time.

Here's the thing. I don't care if it's a husk in the teeth or if it's a little tiny pebble in the shoe. Anything that gets in your attitude that begins to have a negative effect, you've got to process it. You've got to deal with it because attitude is the most important element about ourselves and our spirits will make up. Attitude is like a spring and the actions and the fruits that follow are like the stream flowing from the spring.

You could stand and look at a stream, good crystal clear water flowing down this little stream. You could follow it up to the base of the hill where the spring is bubbling up. You could take a stick and muddy the spring up. And then what flows on down the stream is muddy water. Attitude is like a spring.

And what comes forth from that attitude is like the stream flowing from it. And what we have to guard in this life more than anything is our attitude. Jonah, I don't know if there was ever a time where he guarded his attitude. I don't know if there was ever a time where he really, truly, sincerely, genuinely focused on it.

And he didn't take care of things along the way. And eventually, he got the upper hand. Now, I hope that in whatever years that followed, I hope he came to certain realizations. And I hope he repented. I hope he changed. And I hope we see him in the kingdom. But we don't have a record that I'm aware of that we could say, Well, look at this. We know he had to have. Just a couple of more Scriptures. One is 1 Samuel 16 and verse 7.

See, we have to safeguard our attitude like a precious spring, because let a spring become polluted, and all the water that flows from it is polluted. And attitude is the most important thing with God. It truly is. And there's reasons why it is. But when Saul is being rejected, when Samuel has been sent to anoint a future king and to anoint David, and the firstborn, who evidently was a big, tall man, probably handsome, tall, big, and Samuel said to himself in 1 Samuel 16 verse 6, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him when he saw a lyub. And God answered. He answered Samuel. But the Lord said to Samuel, Don't look on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I've refused him, for the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but I, but the Lord looks on the heart. Mr. Taylor used one of the Scriptures that I have in my notes. I want to turn to it. Again, I'm always amazed, and it's always an encouraging thing to see how that so many times God, in His inspiration, ties sermonettes and sermons together. Deuteronomy 28, 47. An attitude of, do I have to? Do I have to keep the Sabbath? Do I have to be a good neighbor? Do I have to do whatever that I see I'm supposed to do? Do I have to? Well, okay, I guess I've got to, so I may as well just go ahead and do it. Because you serve not the Lord your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart. Whatever the reasons, if you and I, with the truths of God, with the light of God, with hope, what's coming upon this nation is going to be devastating. What's coming to friends and loved ones is going to be devastating to our emotions and our minds. What's coming? And again, I don't know when it's coming. I just know it's coming. And whenever it comes, there are going to be people who die thinking they have no hope, not knowing what the hope is. We know the hope of God's kingdom. We know the hope of Jesus Christ's return. We know the hope. We know that we don't have a single loved one that will have someday a full and wonderful opportunity for salvation and not have to deal with that roaring lion that stalks around trying to destroy and hurt people and cause pain. We have truth after truth after truth that's a bolster and a bulwark against what's coming. And we, of all people, have such opportunity to always carry joyfulness and gladness in our heart. And I'll say, for all of the abundance of spiritual things that make a difference during our time of flesh and blood, God looks at our actions, but he really digs deep to see what our attitude is, because he knows that attitude is the motivating force, the intent, the desire, the approach. And he knows that a right attitude is the basis for character growth. Jonah built no character. Think about it. In that book, he destroyed character. He lost ground. He gained no spiritual ground. Think about that. He gained no spiritual ground. He built no character. He did carry out a job because he knew he had to, but he did not build character because he never had the kind of attitude that true character can be built in and through. Right attitude is the basis for character growth. And that's why God looks at attitude more than anything else, and God can lead us to salvation through a right attitude. He can develop us through a right attitude. And a sincere total effort through a right attitude is what counts.

Jonah never got his attitude together. I pray that off the record, because again, I don't know of it anywhere being in the record, but hopefully he got his attitude together later on down through the years and managed to keep it together.

But yes, there are numerous lessons in the book of Jonah. But the major lesson in the book of Jonah is for us never to forget how crucial it is that we have the kind of attitude that God can always work with us and do his work through. And not just his work out there, but the internal work that he does with us. And of course, we've got Pentecost weekend coming up, and there's more focus on us as first fruits and the work that God is doing with us through his Spirit. And all that has to be done through a right and proper attitude.