The problem at Ninevah
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1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Tonight I would like to preach about a city in the Bible that is a tremendous picture of the lost world in which we live in today.
And that city is the city of Nineveh.
Nineveh was the Capital of the Assyrian empire and was located in modern day Iraq.
It was in the time of Jonah one of the largest and most powerful cities in the world.
But more than this it was one of the most wicked cities in the world.
God told Jonah that their wickedness had come up before him.
In fact the city was so wicked that there is an entire book of the Bible dedicated to prophesying against it…the book of Nahum.
This book is called the burden of Nineveh.
1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
In the book of Nahum, the Bible tells us that Nineveh was a bloody city.
1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; The prey departeth not;
Explain: How they were known for their violence and burning people alive, boiling people in hot oil, skinning people alive, cutting off peoples heads and decorating with the. And making monuments boasting of their torture that still exist today.
1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; The prey departeth not;
Every type of crime and wickedness existed in the city.
4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, The mistress of witchcrafts, That selleth nations through her whoredoms, And families through her witchcrafts.
All types of fornication, immorality and witchcrafts were all common and abundant in this city.
It was a terrible place. So bad in fact that God was going to destroy the city with divine judgment much like Sodom and Gomorrah.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
I want to show you three ways that Nineveh is like the lost world that we live in today.
The first similarity between Nineveh and the lost world we live in today is that..
1. Their judgment is coming
1. Their judgment is coming
Nineveh reached a point where the patience and mercy of God ran out.
They had 40 days, and then they would be destroyed.
Explain: How we often wonder why God allows all the evil in the world.
the murder
the immorality
the horrible violent things that happen every day all around us
There are some churches now around the world having drag shows in their services.
And we wonder why God allows it to go on but the reality is that God will soon judge the wickedness.
Jesus is coming back.
And after the tribulation He will judge this world and correct all the things that are wrong.
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Judgment is coming soon for this wicked world.
It doesn’t matter what the evil world says…soon they will face the judgment of God.
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
We know that the evil of this world will one day soon be punished.
And we can rejoice that soon all that is wrong in this world will be set right
…but we better not forget verse 11.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
The only reason I am standing here today in church with a Bible in my hand is because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
I deserve to be burning in hell today just as much as the worst sinner out there.
And you do to.
But I have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
We deserved that judgement just like Nineveh.
But we were saved because someone gave us the gospel.
And that brings us to our second point tonight of how Nineveh is like the lost world today...
2. Their mercy is offered
2. Their mercy is offered
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
One of the greatest revivals in all of history…took place in one of the most wicked cities in all of history.
This evil city…turned to God, and God had mercy on them.
And just as he had mercy on Nineveh…He wants to have mercy on even the worst sinners in our world today.
Example: The story of Tom
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
There is no sinner too wicked for God to save.
So we see that just like Nineveh for this lost world today…their judgment is coming
And just like Nineveh there mercy is offered…they can be saved.
But there is just one problem.
And that leads us to our third and final point tonight.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish 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 went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
But Jonah
You see Nineveh had a problem.
It wasn’t just that their judgment was coming.
That was a big problem but it was a solvable problem.
They could turn to the Lord and be saved.
They had a bigger problem…one that they could not solve.
And that is that God had a man whom He chose to take the message of mercy to that city.
So that they could accept it and be saved.
And that man…wouldn’t go.
Jonah wouldn’t go.
That was their problem.
And there was nothing that they could do about it
Now we tend to be really hard on Jonah when we preach this story.
Example: I have heard about Jonah since the nursery.
But I think we should give Jonah some of the same conveniences that we give ourselves today.
Jonah would have been a model Christian today
He was a popular prophet in Israel.
-If he was in our churches today he would be dressed just right, carry his Bible just right.
-He’d be involved in all the ministries
-Faithful to all the services.
-Teaching a Sunday School class.
But when God told him to take the gospel to people who were not God’s people…he wasn’t interested.
Example: Patrick
But Jonah
But Peter
I was Jonah.
Folks for this lost world today…their judgment is coming…Christ could appear at any moment.
Their mercy is offered…Christ died for their sins and can save any sinner.
and just like Nineveh…they need a preacher.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
This lost world is Nineveh
This book is the call
And you are Jonah
Lets make sure that we are actively taking the gospel to the lost.
Is God calling you to the mission field…don’t be Jonah.
Speak to the young people about surrender to God’s will
God is calling all of us to be a witness to others…the question is if we will answer that call.