Let us thank the Lord for the many lessons we learnt from the life of Jonah. We have come to the final part of this study. When I began this series, I did not expect that it would be such a long one, and I am grateful to the Lord for all that we have learned in this process, and all glory to God alone.
We read in Jonah 4:9-11, But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (ESV)
This was a conversation between God and Jonah. God perceived the anger and frustration of Jonah and therefore, God wanted him to comprehend how He felt about the situation. We as humans might have ignored Jonah, but we see God’s compassion to speak to Jonah, and explain things to him. It is clear that God’s compassion extends to everyone, for we observe that God not only cared for the people of Nineveh, He also was concerned about Jonah.
God is patient towards all
We read in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some consider slowness. Rather, He is being patient toward you—not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” (TLV)
The will of God for all mankind is that not one should perish. This is possible only when everyone comprehends who Jesus is, understand the way of Salvation, receives it and walks in it. For those who do so, are saved from destruction, and are granted eternal life. If we want to receive this salvation that Jesus offers an important step on our part is repentance.
The predicament of the people of Nineveh
We read in Jonah 4:11, And am I not to have mercy on Nineveh, that great town, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons without the power of judging between right and left, as well as much cattle? (BBE)
It is evident from the above mentioned verse that God cares not only for human beings, but also for the animals. This means that God is concerned about all of His creation. God described the people of Nineveh as those who could not discern between the right hand and the left. I wish to explain this in two ways.
The lack of maturity
Firstly, let me explain it this way. When children are really small, parents will teach their children to greet someone by shaking their hands. Often these little ones will put out their left hand instead of their right hand, and the parent will correct this. So also, parents teach their toddlers to receive things from others and to give to others using their right hand. This is the way parents teach their young children the difference between the right hand and the left.
So when God says that the people of Nineveh did not know how to judge between their right hand and their left, it implied that they were not taught these things.
This is where the church a plays an important role in the life of their members. It is therefore crucial that we understand the various duties of the church. One of the duties is to teach the people right from wrong from the Word of God. These are days when many people neglect coming together as a church for various reasons. Only if we understand the purpose for which Christ instituted the church, we will not disregard our gathering together.
The purpose of the church
In Ephesians 4:13, we read, These grace ministries will function until we all attain oneness in the faith, until we all experience the fullness of what it means to know the Son of God, and finally we become one perfect man with the full dimensions of spiritual maturity and fully developed in the abundance of Christ. (TPT)
The purpose of the church is that we should become perfect, and attain spiritual maturity. This is often taken lightly. A person who is born again is like a little baby. Just as a baby grows and become a teen, and then an adult, so also it is God’s will that every person who is born again should mature to become more and more like Jesus. There are many who have not grown spiritually, and remain infants, because the church has not fulfilled the responsibility to help them grow in maturity.
Paul says it this way in Ephesians 4:12, “And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ.” (TPT)
One of the other important roles of the church is to nurture new believers, and to prepare them for works of ministry. Every believer who comes into the church must become a disciple and share the good news of the gospel to those outside the church. The purpose of the church has been misrepresented to just perform rituals like naming of babies, wedding and funerals. One of the topmost priorities of the church is to grow believers to maturity, so that they could in turn be those who bring others into the fold of God. Our fellowship, unity, breaking of bread are all secondary.
The five-fold ministry of the church
We read in Ephesians 4:11, And he has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. (TPT)
The above mentioned verse speaks about the five-fold ministry of the church, and the purpose is that all should attain maturity.
In Ephesians 4:14 we read, “And then our immaturity will end! And we will not be easily shaken by trouble, nor led astray by novel teachings or by the false doctrines of deceivers who teach clever lies.” (TPT)
We are called to not be like babies, but to become mature. A baby is immature and clamors for his or her needs to be met. If a baby is hungry he wails unaware of the situation the mother is in, and so also when a baby is not well, there is no way he or she can express it except through their cries.
There are many who are still infants in their faith walk, and will take offence for the smallest of matters. They will be upset if you don’t greet them, and will easily find fault with others. Also they will get into petty politics, make fun of others, and cause division. If any of these qualities are found in us we should pray and ask God to help us grow to maturity.
Generally a primary class of children will often be bickering complaining and fighting with each other over petty things. It is pathetic when we find this kind of behavior in adults who are believers. The reason for such behavior is because they have not received the word of God, obeyed it, and allowed it to work in their lives to become perfect and mature as God desires for them to be. God has established the church to help believers grow out of their childishness, and become mature men and women of God. It is therefore crucial that the church you are a part of should help enhance this spiritual growth in your life.
Truth should be accompanied with love
We read in Ephesians 4:15, “But instead we will remain strong and always sincere in our love as we express the truth. All our direction and ministries will flow from Christ and lead us deeper into him, the anointed Head of his body, the church.” (TPT)
The word clearly admonishes us that we must be taught, and be established in the truth. However, love should be the foundation for the same. There are those who want to speak the truth without love, and the consequence is confusion. Speaking the truth in love is a sure sign of maturity in a believer. Moreover, God has equipped us with the five-fold ministry in the church that all of us should grow deeper into Christ who is the head of the church.
We must sincerely desire and ask that the Lord should help us lay aside all our childish ways, and strive towards maturity. In most places the problems that arise are a result of those who have not attained this maturity. Let us pray that the word of God should be firmly rooted in our hearts, so that we can attain the perfection that Christ desires to see in each one of us.
The parable Jesus taught
Another aspect that we are going to consider is what Jesus explained as those at His right and His left hand in Matthew 25.
The great separation
We read in Matthew 25:31-32, “When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne, and the people of all the nations will be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (GNB)
There is coming a day when the Lord will separate all the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
In Matthew 25:33 we read, And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. (NKJV)
On God’s right side are a group of people and on His left are another group.
The blessed ones
These are the words of God to the people on His right as found in Matthew 25:34, Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (ESV)
When Jesus was here on earth He preached extensively about the Kingdom of God. A kingdom represents rule, authority, and Jesus taught about the blessing of being part of this kingdom. The invitation was those on His right hand side to inherit the Kingdom that had been prepared for them.
Inheriting something is different from receiving something. Children inherit the property that belongs to their parents by right. The Lord calls those on His right side as blessed children who are worthy to possess the Kingdom that was prepared for them before the creation of the world.
Deeds done unto the Lord
In the verses below, the reasons as to why these people are blessed is given.
We read in Matthew 25:35-39, I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’The righteous will then answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ (GNB)
Jesus explained in detail as to why they were blessed, and were worthy to possess the Kingdom of God. They were told that they had fed the Lord when He was hungry, had satisfied His thirst, took Him in when He was a stranger, clothed Him when He was naked and visited Him when He was sick and in prison too. This group is surprised and wonders as to when they saw the Lord this way and attended to Him.
This was the king’s reply as found in Matthew 25:40, The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!’ (GNB)
The explanation that Jesus gave was that whenever they took note of those who were in need and helped them in anyway, it was considered as being done to the Lord Himself. Everyone who is taught the word of God aright will grow in maturity, and those who are mature will be selfless. These are the ones who will make the best of every opportunity to help those who are in need.
All of us know that from the year 2020 there are many who are going through untold trouble. There are those who have no food, and are facing numerous issues because of the pandemic. If you have not been able to help anyone, I can say for sure that you have not grown in the Lord as you should. No matter how low you may think you are economically, there will always be those who are in a position more pathetic than yours. It is therefore important that we should do all we can to help such people. Christ left His heavenly throne, and came down to earth to do good for all. Those who claim to be mature must therefore be like Christ. While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us, and opened the doors of heaven for us. The question is, ‘What are we doing for the Lord, who has given His all for us?’
These are days to ponder and act. Amongst all the business of our lives there are numerous signs all around us to remind us that the coming of the Lord is at hand. The Lord is coming for His church, and there is no doubt about it. Let us be those who are ready, and do all that we can for those who are struggling all around us.
The ones God rejected
The Lord then looks at those at His left and said in Matthew 25:41, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Away from me, you that are under God's curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels!” (GNB)
Above was told to the group who did not care about anyone who was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, without home or in prison, but were concerned only about themselves.
There are two important lessons we learnt from this message. The people of Nineveh were so childish that they did not know the difference between right and wrong. We also see that there is a right and left side of God, and while the right side signifies eternal life, the left side signifies eternal destruction. We have learned so many lessons from the life of Jonah and today we have learned one more lesson. Be regular to church and study the word of God like a good student. Grow into that perfect maturity of Christ, and be a blessing to those around you. If we do this we too will surely find ourselves worthy to enter the Kingdom of God. These are days when we should live cautiously, grow, and be selfless as God desires of us to be.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
