Sermon # 50 - Which Side Are You On? Series

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.