John 3:16 declares the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ in a single verse. It is also a very simple and powerful tool for evangelism. Almost every Christian and many non-believers have this verse memorized. Believers can simply proclaim this single verse to bring the Good News of salvation in Jesus to a lost and dying world desperate to hear it.
Recall from our previous study that the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and that God therefore relented from the destruction of the city that Jonah had foretold in his brief prophetic message. Here in Jonah 4 we see that Jonah was highly displeased with the compassion God showed toward the Ninevites, forgetting the compassion God had shown to Jonah himself by rescuing him out of death through His sovereign provision of the great fish that swallowed and preserved him. God’s mercy upon Nineveh is not at all what Jonah expected, and he didn’t hesitate to tell God exactly how he felt about it.
In our study of Jonah so far, we have seen God’s relentlessness in His pursuit of Jonah when the so-called “Reluctant Prophet” tried to run away from God’s call for him to go to Nineveh. Then we saw God’s faithfulness in rescuing Jonah out of death, and Jonah’s gratitude for God’s mercy. Now in Jonah 3, we see God’s infinite grace and mercy not only upon the prophet he rescued out of death, but also upon the Ninevites to whom God called Jonah to preach a message of repentance. God’s grace is particularly manifest in that He knew the Ninevites’ repentance was only temporary in their fearful response to Jonah’s prophecy of their destruction.
All of the events that took place during Jonah’s mission to Nineveh occurred in accordance with God’s will and by God’s power. When Jonah tried to run away from God’s calling, God relentlessly pursued Him, and made it possible for Jonah to be redeemed out of death by His provision of the great fish that swallowed him. Jonah understood all this, and cried out to God for salvation knowing that God would hear his prayer and answer him in accordance with His plan and His will out of His abundant mercy and grace. God had a purpose for Jonah who hadn’t yet fulfilled it.
The story of the prophet Jonah gives us a classic example of God’s relentless pursuit of His children no matter how long or far we try to run away from His calling and no matter how stridently we rebel against His commands. God mostly draws us gently and lovingly to Himself, but sometimes – as in Jonah’s case – He allows us to fall down to rock bottom before He reaches out to redeem us. God desires us to enter into loving fellowship with Him, and He never stops calling out for us to return to Him.
We can and should pray fervently for revival, but revival is ultimately a work of God’s Spirit alone. We see this demonstrated in Ezekiel 37 when God led the prophet out into a valley full of dead, dry bones and asked Ezekiel pointedly whether those bones could ever live again. Ezekiel was honest in his answer. He didn’t know, but he recognized that God knows all things and can accomplish anything – even restoring those bones to life. Ezekiel was obedient when God commanded him to preach God’s Word to the bones. In response, God knitted the bones back together but they remained as lifeless corpses. Then God commanded Ezekiel to pray for God’s Spirit to breathe life back into the corpses, and God then brought the corpses back to life with His Spirit.
As we pray we must do so in the sure knowledge that God also desires revival in us and through us. We must pray with the expectation, that God will indeed fulfill all the promises we find in His Word regarding our Spiritual revival.
In our lives as Christ followers, we can sometimes experience periods of spiritual drought. During such times, God’s Word encourages us to recall the joy of our salvation we felt when we first came to know the LORD Jesus, and to return to the love we felt for Him when we first realized that He loves us. The church in Ephesus is a vivid example of this falling away and Jesus’ stern warning to repent and remember our first love.
This message reminds us that “all” human life is valuable to God. If the people of God truly desire “revival” in their life and in the life of their church, then God’s people must recognize how sacred life is. What must follow is love for God and love for “all” our neighbors.
In the first message of this series, we looked at the universal desire among Christ followers for “revival.” We explored the meaning of revival, and were encouraged as we seek revival within ourselves to pray the words of King David from Psalm 51 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” We must seek to be holy before God when we pray for revival because God also tells us in Leviticus – “I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” As we seek revival, we must also seek to live in holiness empowered by God’s Spirit within us.
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Mt. Freedom Baptist Church
