Jonah Series - Part 4: Jonah's Prejudice

0:07 Open your Bibles to Jonah chapter 4. This is part 4 and the final lesson of our message on Jonah. This is Jonah part 4. If you've missed the first three lessons, let me real quickly review. part one was Jonah's predicament. Jonah was in a situation where God gave him instructions, told him to go to Nineveh to preach and declare that God's judgment was coming. And the Bible says that Jonah decided instead of going to Nineveh, he decided to go in the opposite direction to a place called Tarshish. Jonah was seeking to avoid God's assignment on his life. So he goes in the opposite direction and he encounters a storm. God creates a storm and here this ship, he gets on this ship and the ship is encountered in this challenge and this problem and the people on board the ship recognize that somebody has pissed God off.

1:15 Go ahead, tell your neighbor, whoever you piss off, don't piss off God. And finally, the soldiers decided that somebody on this ship has caused a problem. They cast lots. The lots fall on Jonah, rightfully falls on Jonah, and they recognize he's the problem. And so they throw him overboard. Go ahead. Tell your neighbor there's some people you got to throw out of your life. some of y'all still trying to hold on to some things that you shouldn't be holding on to they cast Jonah off the ship that's the predicament and when they cast him off the ship he is swallowed by a great fish the Bible says he's swallowed by a whale chapter 2 deals with his prayer while he was in the belly of this fish.

2:12 He prays. That teaches us that no matter what your condition or challenges in life, you can always call on God. Amen. Even though he was in a rebellious posture, even though he was disobeying God, he recognized that it was going to take God to get him out of his trouble. Instead of y'all calling on politicians and calling on people to get you out of trouble, you better call on the Lord to get you out of trouble.

2:42 Jonah prays and God responds and the great fish vomits him out to the land. That's chapter two. Chapter three, Jonah finally decides to go to Nineveh and preach. He goes to Nineveh and declares that God's judgment is coming unless you repent. so chapter 3 was Jonah preaches look at your neighbor say Jonah preached so should you go ahead tell them so should you today is the final part part 4 and I want to talk about Jonah's prejudice follow me clearly on this because it's I want to challenge you today Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he didn't like the people of Nineveh. He had a prejudice against them. He had an issue with the people of Nineveh, and what he had actually hoped is that God would judge them. Now, I know you're not going to confess it, but look straight ahead. Nobody will know I'm talking about you, but you know you got some people in your life that you wish God would just go ahead and judge.

4:04 If y'all all say amen together, nobody will know I'm talking about you. Yes, he didn't want God's favor, God's mercy. He did not want God's forgiveness on the people of Nineveh. And so he gets upset and angry. He gets angry. I only got two points today. Two points. Here's the first point. Jonah's anger. Jonah had anger. That's point one. He had anger. Verse one, chapter four, it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry. The reason he became angry is because when he went to Nineveh and preached, the people actually responded. The people actually fasted and prayed and changed their life and turned their heart toward God. and it was a tremendous thing.

4:59 He preached and people responded. Matter of fact, the whole city got saved. Everybody got saved. Boy, wouldn't that be something if all of Glen Arden got saved? Wouldn't that be something if all of Upper Marlboro got saved? All of Bowie, all of Prince George's County, all of Washington. Wouldn't that be amazing? He preached and the city changed. And not only did the city change, the government changed. Government leaders, the king got saved. Isn't that something? Now, last week I talked about, I said last week, if the people got right with God, maybe the leaders of the people would get right with God. Roland Martin, I don't know if y'all know who he is, he took one of my clips from the 12 o'clock service and replayed it.

5:55 And I've gone viral. Come on, somebody, look at you. You're looking at a viral person. What goes along with viral, being viral, is hatred. Anger. And verse 1 says, It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord and said, listen to Jonah's prayer, verse 2. Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish, for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in love and kindness, one who relents from doing harm. That word relents means he's a God who will change his mind. And if you ought to be honest, some of you deserve judgment.

6:48 God should have taken you out. The way you lived your life, the choices you made, the decisions you made, the actions that you took, God should have took you out. but thanks be to God, he changed his mind. Wish I had a praying crowd right now. Somebody say, God changed his mind. Y'all, I know y'all looking, acting like y'all saved and righteous and holy and all that, but you know, you got some history in your life. You have done some things, gone some places, wanted some stuff, did some things, went some places, drank some stuff, inhaled some stuff, shot up some stuff. There y'all go actor like y'all don't know what I'm talking about. But thanks be to God, he gave you another chance. And look at what Jonah knew about God. Let me read this again, verse 2.

7:46 In the middle of verse 2, it says, Therefore I fled previously, Tarshish, for I know that you are, talking about God, you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness one who relents from doing harm. Now this is an important deal here. Jonah is mad, angry because God decided to show compassion to the people of Nineveh. And you and I should be glad because God made the decision to show us compassion.

8:28 Y'all stop acting like y'all ain't lied. Y'all stop acting like y'all ain't done nothing wrong. Thanks be to God. He showed us compassion. We should have been condemned. We should have been sent to hell. We should have been defeated. But thanks be to God. We serve a God that gives us another opportunity to do right. But Jonah was mad because he wanted God to judge Nineveh. He wanted to see judgment. And the truth be told, if the truth be told, if we were to be honest, we live in a country that wants to see people that we don't like killed. Yes, yes. My God, help us. Speak truth to us, sir.

9:19 Tell the truth. Speak truth. Yes, sir. People who don't agree with us. Matter of fact, we are such a, our country is so polarized. Yeah. And by the way, the, what's the word for when you get on social media and it evaluates what you like to listen to? Algorithms. Algorithms. Algorithms. Yeah, once you watch something, then you'll keep on being fed what you like to look at. And you'll find yourself only hearing from people who agree with what you agree with. We live in a country that we want people who don't think like us, believe like us, act like us, and agree with us. We want to see them people defeated. And if the truth be told, the most guilty of that is the church.

10:11 We're very guilty of it. We're very guilty of people who don't agree with us, who don't ascribe to what we believe in. We want to see them defeated. And it's tragic. It's sad because that's not the heart of God. What the church ought to be doing is loving people who don't agree with us. We ought to be praying for people who don't agree with us. We should be encouraging and preaching and loving on people who don't agree with us. That's what we ought to do. Now, some years ago, some years ago, I, along with several other pastors, held a press conference to apologize for the attitude of the church toward the homosexual community. We were, and I'm guilty. I have to acknowledge I was guilty of that too. I preach against homosexuality.

11:07 I still preach that it's not what God desires. that's still not God's will. But I'd preach God. I'd get going to God didn't make Adam and Steve. He made Adam and Eve. I would go for it, man. Bam! I was preaching a storm. But that message didn't communicate love to a community that needed the love of God. Do y'all notice how the claps are getting lower and lower and lower? When in fact God has called us to love people who don't think like us, don't believe like us, don't stand with what we stand in. Don't get me right now. Let's be clear. Let me be clear. I'm not telling you that I think that that lifestyle is good. No, no, no. I believe it's the opposite of God's will. I do believe that. Let me be clear. but that doesn't mean we treat them hostily. We should be treating them with love.

12:00 A few years ago, a gay couple joined our church. They were married. They joined our church. And people started asking me, Pastor, what you going to do about that gay couple that joined our church?

12:24 And people were waiting on the edge to see what I was going to say. And you know what I said? Here's what I said. And I say the same thing today. We're going to treat them the same way we treat adulterers, the same way we treat liars, the same way we treat thieves. Some of y'all know y'all thieves. You be stealing from your job. Come on, y'all, you thieves. You be making long-distance phone calls. That's a thief where you make long-distance phone calls on your job. That's called a thief. If y'all all say amen together, Nobody know I'm talking about you. Some of y'all got U.S. government pens all over your house.

13:07 You're a thief. Come on, somebody holler back at me. Holler back at me. You leave work before you finish getting your job done that day. You don't get off till 4.30. Your desk is packed up at 4 o'clock. You're a thief. You stole 30 minutes. Come on, holler back at me. Don't say amen. Say, I'm guilty. I'm guilty. We're going to treat people who don't believe like us and live like us and embrace what we embrace. We're going to treat them with love because God showed you love even though you're guilty of everything. You're guilty of stealing. You're guilty of lying. But God still woke you up this morning and gave you the activity of your love. Somebody high five your neighbor and say, I know that's right. High five them on the other hand and say, I know that's right. And God decided to show Jonah mercy.

14:09 Matter of fact, here he is mad at the people at Nineveh for their sin and doing wrong. He wanted God to judge them. When God showed him compassion because he disobeyed God and got on board a ship and went in the opposite direction. He disobeyed God. He ignored God. He rejected God's instructions. And yet God still woke him. God woke him up in the middle of a great fish. Can I get an amen right here?

14:42 And that's significant. It's powerful. It's amazing that this is what God done. And we want to thank God. I don't know where y'all are, but thank God he didn't give me what I deserve. Somebody say, thank God he didn't give me what I deserve. And then in verse 3, matter of fact, hold up. Let me slow down. Verse 2, he prayed to the Lord. Jonah prayed to the Lord and said, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, verse 2, I fled previously to Tarshish. Listen to this. For I know that you are a gracious and merciful God. slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness one who relents from doing harm that that's that one sentence right there so powerful he knew about the nature of god he says you are gracious that means full of grace you are merciful god show he's full of mercy slow to anger thanks be to god he's slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness it's he he he is full of not only grace and mercy He's not only slow to get angry, but he is abundant in loving kindness and one who relents from doing harm.

16:01 Changes his mind about giving you what you deserve. Therefore, now, verse 3, O Lord, please take my life now for it is better for me to die than to live. Here's Jonah's posture. I'd rather die than to see you show compassion to those people. and there's some of you who would rather die than to see God show mercy to people who have wronged you or people who live a life that you don't agree with and it's tragic that we want to be in such a posture a place and God has to convict us and then he says this in verse number four then the Lord said is it right for you to be angry Jonah is it right for you to have that attitude and I want to ask you the question too is it right for you to hate the lgbtwxyz community i don't know the letter so y'all forgive me others but is it right in spite of all of the mercy god's given to you for your behavior that is also opposite of god's word is it right for you to be angry and that's what God asked him. The Lord said, verse 4, is it right for you to be angry? So Jonah, verse 5, went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city. Get the picture.

17:31 God, the people repent. The people and the king repent. We see that in chapter 3. They repent. They stop doing the lifestyle and they turn to God. And that's in chapter 3. They listen to the message of Jonah and they turn their lives around. and then Jonah still, even though the people responded to his message and repented, he went outside of the city and sat on the hill and made himself a shelter and still waited. Here's what that means. He still hoped. that God would do something to the city. Now, y'all looking at me like, y'all don't know what I'm talking about, but somebody, some of y'all are sitting around waiting for God to show judgment to people.

18:27 And it's not the right attitude. That's what I'm saying. It's not the right kind of heart to say, I hope God judges them. But that's what he did. Jonah went out of the city, sat on the east side of the city and made himself a shelter. And then verse six says, And the Lord prepared a great plant, prepared a plant, and made it come up over Jonah that it might be shaved for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. Now get the picture. God said, oh, look at Jonah. He down there sad and tried to make himself. God said, okay, I'm going to cause a plant to come and rise up and give him some shelter. Are y'all with me? Yes, sir. God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah. But verse 7, but as morning dawned, the next day God prepared a worm and it so damaged the plant that it withered.

19:24 So a plant comes up and covers Jonah, but the next day a worm came and caused the plant that grew up over Jonah to cause the plant to wither and die. And it happened. Verse 8, I'm almost finished. I was waiting for somebody to say, take my time. But one person said, who was it? Take your time. Oh, thank you.

19:53 And the Lord prepared a plant. Yes. So Jonah was very, verse 8, verse 6. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned, the next day God prepared a worm and it damaged the plant that it were. Verse 8. And it happened when the sun arose that God prepared a vehement east wind and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself. Every time you turn around, Jonah hoping for death. Can I tell you something? Sometimes when something happens in your life that's not what you hope would happen, not something that you like happening, and that does happen in our lives, be reminded that if God permitted it to happen in your life, he's got a greater purpose for why he allowed it to happen. And sometimes bad things do happen in your life. Sometimes drama happens.

20:47 Sometimes stuff comes in your life that you wish would have never happened. But here's what you always have to remember. Remember, if God allowed it to happen in my life, here's two things you got to know. Number one, if God allowed it to happen in my life, I know he's given me what I need to be able to withstand going through it in my life. And number two, you got to be reminded that if God calls it to happen in my life, that means something good is going to happen because of it. Yes, good will come out of whatever God permits. Don't cry. Don't get mad. Don't get frustrated. Don't get upset. But learn to say, God, I thank you that you allowed this to happen in my life. I wouldn't have chosen. But guess what? Because you allowed it, I know you've given me what I need to be able to sustain through it.

21:37 Don't complain. Don't cry. It might be difficult. But guess what? Thank God he's put something down inside of you to be able to endure and make it through it. But Jonah up here talking about he want to die. Verse number eight says, then he wished death for himself and said, it is better for me to die than to live. Untrue, Jonah. Then God said to Jonah, verse nine, are y'all still with me? is it right for you to become to be angry about the plant now by the way this is the second time God asked Jonah is it right for you to be angry he asked him in verse four and he asked him in verse nine is it right for you to be angry I want to ask y'all the question is it right for you to be angry. And in verse 9 it says, and he said, it is right for me to be angry even to death. He said, it is right. No, Jonah, you're wrong. Verse 10, but the Lord said, you have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in the night and perished in the night. And should I, God says, should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between the right hand and the left and much livestock? Get the picture. Here's what God's trying to say to him. Jonah, you showed mercy on a plant that you didn't have anything to do with, but here you don't want me to be merciful to people who I created, 120,000 of them.

23:21 And I need y'all to understand. I want you to understand. There are people you're angry with, mad with, upset with, that you don't like their lifestyle, and you want God to judge them. But the bottom line is, you ain't had nothing to do with those people. You didn't create those people. You don't take care of those people. You didn't do anything about those people being where they are. God said, I'm the God who made those people. They are born in here because of me. And all I'm trying to say is, He earns the right. He deserves the right to show compassion on who he wants to show compassion on. Go ahead and lean over to your neighbor. He's preaching better than you're saying amen. Go ahead, tell him. You ain't said amen the whole time he's been preaching. And he's preaching the truth. Go ahead, tell the pastor preaching the truth.

24:14 I'm telling you the truth. All I'm trying to get you to understand is we are a people that should have the love of God in our hearts. And even though people don't make the right choices or agree with us, we should still show them the love of God. We are the agents of God's love. We are the instruments. We are the hands and feet. We are the tongue of God. We are the feet of God. We are the heart of God. We show people the love of God by how we treat them. This week, I traveled to Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, the home of the Latter-day Saints. having dialogue with some leaders in that movement, having dialogue with some leaders in that movement, and dialoguing with them about theology.

25:28 I don't know how much you know about the Mormons, but they believe some unbelievable things. they believe that before you exist in the physical world you exist in a spiritual world that's nowhere in the scriptures that I'm aware of, but that's what they believe. They believe that you exist in the spirit realm and then you get born into the physical realm. They believe that if in the spirit realm you committed a sin against God, when you get born in the physical world, you're born black.

26:24 Yo? Sorry. Y'all know when I went there, I wanted to cuss them out. And out of all of the weeks that I would be in Utah, why would it have to be the week that I have to preach from Jonah chapter 4 today? Thank God. That's just one of the unbelievable things that they believe.

27:27 There's a whole lot of other things that are so contrary to the Bible that we embrace. And some of these things they believe because they have additions to the Bible. They've got additional books that they believe. But God convicted me that as much as I... Come on, come on.

27:53 Y'all looking at me, let me tell y'all something. There's a little bit of Jonah in all of us. I'm preaching better than y'all are saying amen here today. There's some Jonah in you. Tell your neighbor, there's some Jonah in you. There's some attitudes in you. There's some postures in you. There's some hatred in you. There's some dislike against certain people in you. When the call of the God that we serve, The call of what God has called us to do is to love people regardless of whether they like us, whether we like them. We are called to love them unconditionally. And God gave me the ability to hug them and love them. In Salt Lake City.

28:51 I wonder who God is talking to you about.