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Jonah's Salvation Message

By David Hartsell

You know the story of Jonah; he tried to run from God’s command to preach to Nineveh, the capitol of the Assyrian nation. Running from God was futile. The Lord caused a great storm in the Mediterranean Sea to prevent the ship Jonah was on from making any progress. Ultimately Jonah was thrown into the sea and was swallowed by a large fish prepared especially for Jonah. For three days he lived, frightened out of his wits, inside of the great beast and he prayed fervently that his life would be spared. God heard Jonah’s prayers and caused the fish to spit him up on dry land with a renewed message to go preach to Nineveh. This time Jonah complied with God’s will and the result was remarkable. There are a few things about The Lord’s message for salvation that we will explore from Jonah chapter three.

First, Jehovah’s plan for delivering the message was simple. He instructed Jonah to go and deliver His clear warnings. Jonah might have considered forming a Nineveh Evangelic Society (NES) to find the best qualified and most talented preachers to go to Nineveh. Would this have been acceptable to God? No! But why wouldn’t it have been? The answer is simple: God told Jonah to deliver the sermon. Today, many “societies” are erected to do the work The Lord gave local churches to do. We are not talking about a “way” to do God’s work but a “who” is to be doing the work. The gospel is to be supported and spread by churches and individual saints. This work is not to be turned over, in part or in whole, to human organizations or even another church.

Next, God gave Jonah a simple message. The prophet was to preach, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jon.3:4) How can anyone make the message any clearer? It is impossible to misunderstand! The same can be said for Jesus’ gospel. After Jesus’ resurrection and just before His ascension, our Lord told His disciples to preach the gospel to the world. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mk.16:16) Later Peter preached this very sermon in Jerusalem and about 3,000 were baptized for “the forgiveness of their sins.” (Acts 2:38-41) Notice that Jonah’s message was centered in God’s Word not Jonah’s personal story. Can you imagine what his message might have been? “Come see the man that spent three days inside a fish.” Some today use carnal means to draw people “to church.” (Some make appeals based on sports, plays, or meals.) However, our Lord teaches us to draw souls by the simple, but powerful, gospel message. (Jn.6:44-45)

Finally, Jonah’s message brought repentance. The Ninevites repented wearing sackcloth while they fasted. (Jon.3:5-7) The changes in their lives reflected the change in their hearts. The same is true today. “Godly sorrow” produces genuine repentance. (2 Cor.7:10) And repentance causes us to obey The Lord in everything – including baptism. One warning is also given in this passage: “the sorrow of the world produces death.” God is full of mercy but He is not foolish. The Lord wants us “fighting the good fight” not talking one.                                                                                       

 Other Articles by David Hartsell
The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart
Attitudes in Appointing Elders
The Culture of No Consequences