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Ticked Off to the Bitter End Msg 8 9 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: I had a fascinating conversation with one of the ladies
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: who works in our soul care ministry before our first
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: service started today. She was expressing gratitude for the opportunity
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to serve there and it gave her an opportunity to
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: meet with different people following our worship service. as they
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: feel free to come in and pray or to talk
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: with individuals about some issue or concern that.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: They're dealing with. This particular lady who was very troubled.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Sort of burst in the room, and the two of
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: them were alone, and the lady who had just left
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  Speaker 1: our meeting in what happened to be the worship service,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: the second of the two morning worship services.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Her opening words were.
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  Speaker 1: I am Jonah. I am just like Jonah. I am
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  Speaker 1: just like Jonah. And then tears were just streaming down
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  Speaker 1: her face when she realized that what we had been
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  Speaker 1: presenting from this book that bears Jonah's name, revealed the.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Truth of her own struggles.
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  Speaker 1: And she described herself as selfish, self-serving, sometimes arrogant, I
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: was moved over the story because of the honesty of
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  Speaker 1: that kind of response. You see, the Lord has preserved
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  Speaker 1: his word to make us aware of who he is,
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  Speaker 1: and then by way of reflection on that, of who
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  Speaker 1: we are. And the beautiful thing about Scripture is that
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  Speaker 1: there is.
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  Speaker 2: Nothing like it. Only God's Word is alive and active.
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  Speaker 3: And sharp as a razor-edged sword, able to pierce right
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  Speaker 3: into the soul.
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  Speaker 2: Of the human heart.
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  Speaker 1: The poet wrote, Whom have we, Lord, but thee, soul
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: thirst to satisfy? Exhaustless spring, the waters free, all other
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: streams are dry. Never take for granted the privilege of
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  Speaker 1: the Bible in your own language.
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  Speaker 2: We turn to.
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  Speaker 1: It regularly, and I often do in my study almost
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: on tiptoe, realizing what a privilege it is to work
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  Speaker 1: with the living lines of Scripture. I speak today, I realize,
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  Speaker 1: to some of you who will find yourself feeling just
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  Speaker 1: like Jonah.
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  Speaker 2: So be aware.
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  Speaker 1: It's not just for you, it's for us.
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  Speaker 2: Myself included.
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  Speaker 1: It'll reveal who God is and also who we are.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the fourth chapter of this book
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  Speaker 1: of Jonah. The last several verses, but we're not through.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have one more message next week on Lessons Learned.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: From a stubborn preacher, which certainly was Jonah.
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  Speaker 1: But I'll be reading for you today, Jonah 4, verses
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  Speaker 1: 5 through 11 from the New Living Translation. And once
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: you find the passage, please stand with one another for
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: the reading of God's word. Remember, all other streams are dry.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Jonah 4, verse 5. Then Jonah went out to the
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  Speaker 1: east side of the city and made a shelter to
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  Speaker 1: sit under as he waited to see what would happen
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  Speaker 1: to the city. And the Lord God arranged for a
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  Speaker 1: lethe plant to grow there. And soon it spread its
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: This eased his discomfort. And Jonah was very grateful for
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  Speaker 1: the plant. But God also arranged for a worm. The
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: next morning at dawn, the worm ate through the stem
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  Speaker 1: of the plant so that it withered away. And as
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  Speaker 1: the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east
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  Speaker 1: wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: his head until he grew faint and wished to die.
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  Speaker 1: Death is certainly better than living like this, he exclaimed.
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  Speaker 1: Then God said to Jonah, is it right for you
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  Speaker 1: to be angry because the plant died?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Jonah retorted, even angry enough to die.
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  Speaker 1: Then the Lord said, You feel sorry about the plant.
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  Speaker 1: Though you did nothing to put it there, it came
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  Speaker 1: quickly and died quickly.
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  Speaker 2: But Nineveh has.
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  Speaker 1: More than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness.
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  Speaker 2: The Hebrew adds the line, People who.
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  Speaker 1: Do not know their right hand from their left. Not
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  Speaker 1: to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I have compassion for
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  Speaker 1: such a great city? Bow with me as we pray. Today,
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  Speaker 1: our Father, as we spend just these few moments in
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  Speaker 1: your living word, may we be as open as the
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  Speaker 1: lady who acknowledged, I am Jonah, just like Jonah. May
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  Speaker 1: you speak to us in such a way that you
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  Speaker 1: crowd out all other thoughts, you silence all other voices,
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  Speaker 1: and you make insignificant all other events.
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  Speaker 2: Of this day so.
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  Speaker 1: That we realize you really mean what you say because
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  Speaker 1: you have written it in such a way that it penetrates.
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  Speaker 2: It digs deep within.
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  Speaker 1: Our souls, cutting down to where no surgeon's scalpel could
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  Speaker 1: ever reach. revealing the thoughts and intentions of our innermost
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  Speaker 1: thoughts and heart. Thank you, Father, for your Spirit's work
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  Speaker 1: as you take charge of the truth and drive it home.
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  Speaker 1: May I be just as open as that woman was,
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  Speaker 1: and may we all realize You're talking about us, though
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  Speaker 1: you wrote these things centuries ago. We have our occupations
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  Speaker 1: and we are grateful for them. We thank you for
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  Speaker 1: the salaries we earn and from the money we make,
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  Speaker 1: we give. And we're learning to be even more generous.
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  Speaker 1: You teach us even that. Use our gifts today, which
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  Speaker 1: we give joyfully and generously for the greater cause of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And may this act of giving help even further to
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  Speaker 1: draw us away from ourselves and into the lives of
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  Speaker 1: those we will never meet, who live in places we
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  Speaker 1: will never go, so that their lives will be changed
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  Speaker 1: from a lifestyle.
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  Speaker 2: We would never know.
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  Speaker 1: We commit to you, our Father, These things in prayer
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  Speaker 1: and these gifts that we give in the name of Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: the Emmanuel, God with us.
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  Speaker 2: And all God's people said, amen. You may be seated.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Jonah was the most successful evangelist ever recorded in the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: That surprises most people, but no one can compare the
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  Speaker 1: numbers of converts in really a three-day campaign to the
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  Speaker 1: numbers that Jonah could name. However, he was also the
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  Speaker 1: weirdest evangelist in all the recorded scriptures. His was the
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  Speaker 1: only revival where the evangelists needed more follow-up than the
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  Speaker 1: converts needed.
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  Speaker 2: What a piece of work he was.
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  Speaker 1: If there was ever an example in the Bible of
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  Speaker 1: God's message being delivered effectively by one who didn't.
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  Speaker 2: Want to deliver it, it is Jonah.
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  Speaker 1: And by the way, He never did get the vision
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  Speaker 1: that God had, who, according to what Peter has written,
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  Speaker 1: he's not willing that anyone should perish, but that all
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  Speaker 1: should come to repentance. Jonah believed just the opposite when
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  Speaker 1: it came to the Gentile Ninevites. He was not willing
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  Speaker 1: that any of the Ninevites would live, not even one,
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  Speaker 1: but that all of them would perish.
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  Speaker 2: The reason... He was a racist.
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  Speaker 1: He was a prejudiced, selfish prophet. From the very start,
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  Speaker 1: from the get-go, he did not want to be seen
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  Speaker 1: anywhere around the Gentile city of Nineveh. But thankfully, God's
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  Speaker 1: love and mercy was far greater than Jonah's hatred and prejudice.
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  Speaker 1: And God had his way. He knew what he was about.
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  Speaker 1: What happened made Jonah so.
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  Speaker 2: Angry, he begged to die. More than once.
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  Speaker 1: You will read in chapter four in verse three, just
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  Speaker 1: kill me now. This is after the people had begun
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  Speaker 1: to change their hearts. This is after God has said,
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  Speaker 1: I'll lift the ban on these people. I will not
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  Speaker 1: bring a chaos over them and upon them. I will,
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  Speaker 1: in fact, bless them and forgive them. It was more
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  Speaker 1: than Jonah could stand.
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  Speaker 2: To hear that.
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  Speaker 1: And the Lord said to him, is it right for
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  Speaker 1: you to be angry, Jonah? And you'll remember from our
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  Speaker 1: time in that passage last time, Jonah doesn't answer.
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  Speaker 2: He doesn't have an answer.
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  Speaker 1: He realizes when he's asked that question that he's.
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  Speaker 2: Simply ticked off.
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  Speaker 1: He's simply angry about the whole thing. God may have
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  Speaker 1: changed his mind, but let me assure you, Jonah has not.
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  Speaker 1: And of all things, when he makes the prediction that
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  Speaker 1: in 40 days, if they don't change, God will bring
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  Speaker 1: a judgment upon.
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  Speaker 2: Them, they were willing to believe the warning.
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  Speaker 1: And they changed. Jonah decided to build a little lean-to,
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  Speaker 1: we would call it, a shelter, according to verse 5.
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  Speaker 1: And he got under the shelter to break the hot,
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  Speaker 1: searing rays of the Syrian sun as it beat on him.
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  Speaker 1: And he sat on the east side of the city
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  Speaker 1: and stared at.
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  Speaker 2: The city, tapping his foot.
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  Speaker 1: Hoping that maybe their repentance would go thin and maybe
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  Speaker 1: they would just turn and reveal that that repentance was
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  Speaker 1: a hoax. Nope. Was not to be. And so Jonah decides,
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  Speaker 1: I'll simply get alone. It's as if Jonah is hanging
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  Speaker 1: a huge do not disturb sign on the opening of
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  Speaker 1: that little shelter. Just leave me alone. All of you
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  Speaker 1: Ninevites and you, God, just leave me alone. And there
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  Speaker 1: he sits in this tiny handmade shelter just to be
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  Speaker 1: silent and sullen as he sulks. Before I go further,
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  Speaker 1: I have to say something about isolation. And part of
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  Speaker 1: the reason is we continue to be shocked as a
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  Speaker 1: nation when there are mass killings, and we should be.
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  Speaker 1: How heartbreaking that someone would break into a synagogue and
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  Speaker 1: randomly kill whoever the bullet may hit, and after being
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  Speaker 1: captured make the statement, all of them should die.
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  Speaker 2: No remorse whatsoever.
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  Speaker 1: Interestingly, the man has been isolated. When you check, you
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  Speaker 1: will find that most who carry out such horrible acts
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  Speaker 1: against humanity often have been living isolated lives. They're not
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  Speaker 1: involved in a healthy social relationship with others. They are
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  Speaker 1: certainly not accountable to a group of people.
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  Speaker 2: Who are there to.
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  Speaker 1: Help them realize that they're twisted in their thinking.
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  Speaker 2: They're alone, all alone.
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  Speaker 1: And from that aloneness comes the isolationist's twisted thinking.
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  Speaker 2: It's not original with me.
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  Speaker 1: Years ago, a professor of psychology at Stanford University named
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  Speaker 1: Philip Zimbardo wrote an article in Psychology Today titled, The
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  Speaker 1: Age of Indifference. In that penetrating article, he puts his
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  Speaker 1: finger on the dangers.
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  Speaker 2: Of isolation.
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  Speaker 1: I quote just a few lines from Zimbardo, quote, I
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  Speaker 1: know of no more potent killer.
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  Speaker 2: Than isolation.
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  Speaker 1: There is no more destructive influence on physical and mental
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  Speaker 1: health than the isolation of you from me and us
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  Speaker 1: from them.
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  Speaker 2: It has been shown to be a central agent.
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  Speaker 1: In the etiology, the word means origin or cause, in
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  Speaker 1: the etiology of depression, paranoia, schizophrenia, rape, suicide, mass murder,
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  Speaker 1: and a wide variety of disease states, close quote. What
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  Speaker 1: a statement.
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  Speaker 2: It isn't healthy that he get alone.
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  Speaker 1: Now this is not referring to being alone to recharge
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  Speaker 1: one's battery or to pull away from a constant activity of.
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  Speaker 2: Life so that you could get yourself back together.
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  Speaker 1: This is an aloneness that says, get out of my life.
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  Speaker 2: This is the last stage of Jonas pouting.
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  Speaker 1: His twisted desire is now to distance himself from all
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  Speaker 1: that's happened.
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  Speaker 2: He goes east of the city.
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  Speaker 1: And sits down and stares. Alone with his private thoughts,
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  Speaker 1: still seething over God's decision to change his plan from
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  Speaker 1: catastrophe and annihilation to divine blessing, Jonah settles into his
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  Speaker 1: man-made shelter, succumbing to total selfishness. Now then, The beautiful
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  Speaker 1: part of the story is that even when he finds
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  Speaker 1: his prophet in this state of mind, God graciously and sovereignly.
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  Speaker 2: Moves in to woo him back.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, I found it interesting that Martin Luther makes
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  Speaker 1: the statement, God begins to play with Jonah as a
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  Speaker 1: mother will play with her distressed child in order to
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  Speaker 1: cheer him. I don't know that I agree with Luther
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  Speaker 1: that God is playing with Jonah, though I understand what
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  Speaker 1: he means by that. God tries one maneuver after another
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  Speaker 1: to get Jonah to come back. to turn around, stop
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  Speaker 1: the staring, and this fitful isolation, and to talk with him,
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  Speaker 1: and to reason.
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  Speaker 2: With him.
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  Speaker 1: One of the prophets writes, Come now, let us reason together,
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  Speaker 1: saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they...
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  Speaker 1: shall be as white as snow. Let's reason with our God.
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  Speaker 1: Jonah is in an unreasonable state. So what does God do?
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  Speaker 1: You have your pen handy. Look at the text that
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  Speaker 1: we're looking at. Jonah chapter four. You'll find three things
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  Speaker 1: that God arranges or your Bible may read he appoints.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: You will see them right in the text. Verse six,
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  Speaker 1: God arranged For a leafy plant, your Bible may read
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  Speaker 1: a gourd. Verse 6, he arranged for the plant. How
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: comforting of God to do that. I'll come back to
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  Speaker 1: it in a moment. Look at verse 7. God also
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  Speaker 1: arranged for a worm. This is an old cut worm
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  Speaker 1: that would come and eat into the stem of the
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  Speaker 1: plant and kill it.
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  Speaker 2: I'll get to that in a moment.
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  Speaker 1: And third, you will notice verse 8, as the sun
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  Speaker 1: grew hot, God arranged, there's the third time, God appointed
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  Speaker 1: a scorching east wind to blow across that blistering sands
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  Speaker 1: of the desert east of Nineveh.
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  Speaker 2: On top of the.
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  Speaker 1: Rays of the sun, we now have the hot wind.
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  Speaker 1: You see the growing intensity? You see the acceleration of
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  Speaker 1: God's plan? That's how God sovereignly works. He begins with
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  Speaker 1: a comforting maneuver.
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  Speaker 2: Look at what he does. Back to verse 6.
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  Speaker 1: He arranged for a leafy plant to grow there. God
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  Speaker 1: didn't have to do that. Could have left him alone
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  Speaker 1: in the shelter and turned his back on him and
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  Speaker 1: ignored him. God is no isolationist. No, not on your life.
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  Speaker 1: God brought some comfort. How patient of the Lord to
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  Speaker 1: do that. He arranged for a plant. It grew quickly
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  Speaker 1: and spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him
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  Speaker 1: from the sun. This eased Jonah's discomfort.
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  Speaker 2: Look at that. And Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
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  Speaker 1: Finally, he's grateful for something. He hasn't been yet. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: he's grateful at least for the plant. You know, Jonah's
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  Speaker 1: so negative, he reminds me of the joke I read
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  Speaker 1: about some time ago where there was this farmer who
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  Speaker 1: had a neighbor that was the most negative neighbor you
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  Speaker 1: could ever live next door to. No matter what he did,
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  Speaker 1: the neighbor fussed. and complained, argued about this, groused about that.
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  Speaker 1: And this neighbor was determined to win him over. So
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  Speaker 1: he got a brilliant idea. He bought this.
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  Speaker 2: Incredible dog, wonder dog that could walk on water. Okay?
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  Speaker 1: So he says to his neighbor, he's going to go
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  Speaker 1: duck hunting. Won't you come with me? Sure, we'll probably
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  Speaker 1: both die before we get back. Neighbor said, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to have a great time.
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  Speaker 2: Come on, get in.
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  Speaker 1: Puts his dog in the boat with him and they
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  Speaker 1: go out and they're sitting in the blind.
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  Speaker 2: Boom, boom, boom. They shoot the ducks and tells his dog,
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  Speaker 2: go get them. Dog walks across the water, comes back
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  Speaker 2: with the ducks.
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  Speaker 1: Dry as it can be. And the neighbor says, he
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  Speaker 1: can't swim, can he? No matter what, no matter what,
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  Speaker 1: he's going to fuss.
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  Speaker 2: That's Jonah. Except for when he's got a.
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  Speaker 1: Little comfort, and now he's grateful for the plant, the
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  Speaker 1: soulless plant. He's grateful at least for the shade. I
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  Speaker 1: hadn't planned on the cutworm, but God had. God, remember,
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  Speaker 1: is at work on Jonah. The plant is just part
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  Speaker 1: of the process. By the way, before I get too
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  Speaker 1: deep in this, he's at work on you and me
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  Speaker 1: as well. And he begins very graciously, almost innocuously, to
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  Speaker 1: soften us, to comfort us, to get our attention. But
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  Speaker 1: he realizes that Jonah is not grateful for God. He's
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  Speaker 1: grateful for the plant. So the Lord ratchets up the
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  Speaker 1: plant and he sends along a worm.
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  Speaker 2: And what do we read?
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  Speaker 1: He arranged for a worm in the next morning at dawn.
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  Speaker 1: God starts early, doesn't he? The worm ate through the
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  Speaker 1: stem of the plant so that it withered away.
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  Speaker 2: There goes the shade.
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  Speaker 1: And if that isn't enough, notice he tightens the screws
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  Speaker 1: even tighter. When the sun grew hot, God arranged for
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  Speaker 1: a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah.
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  Speaker 2: God moves in mysterious ways.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what the leaves and the worm and
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  Speaker 1: the wind are in your life. I wouldn't pretend to know.
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  Speaker 1: But I know this. He moves in mysterious ways his
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  Speaker 1: wonders to perform. He plants his footstep on the sea
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  Speaker 1: and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds and
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  Speaker 1: never failing skill, he works together his bright design. and
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  Speaker 1: carries out his sovereign will. He's at work in your life.
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  Speaker 1: He's at work in mine. And now that the shade
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  Speaker 1: is gone and now that the sun is hot, now
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  Speaker 1: that the east wind is blowing, maybe this will be
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  Speaker 1: enough to break Jonah. because without being broken, Jonah will
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  Speaker 1: never surrender.
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  Speaker 2: His selfish ways.
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  Speaker 1: The plant withers away, the sun is hot, beats on
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  Speaker 1: his head, and he grows faint.
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  Speaker 2: And what happens? He wishes to die.
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  Speaker 1: Death is certainly better. than living like this. Then God
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  Speaker 1: said to Jonah, is it right for you to be
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  Speaker 1: angry about the plant? I mean, really, Jonah?
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  Speaker 2: Is that right?
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  Speaker 1: You've reduced your life to the leaves of a plant.
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  Speaker 1: Unless you think that that might have done it, Jonah's
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  Speaker 1: response is, yes.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Even angry enough to die. I think he shouted that.
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  Speaker 1: In so many words, so many ways, he's saying, you
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  Speaker 1: better believe it. Well, that was enough. Enough was enough.
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  Speaker 1: Even God's leash has a limit. And he's reached the limit.
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  Speaker 1: Here's the heartbreaking reality At this point, Jonah isn't even
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: thinking about the changed lives of the Ninevites. So God
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: once more turns there, which was the whole purpose of
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: getting him to come in the first place, is that
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: these people might be changed. And so the Lord said,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: and from here on it's a monologue, Jonah says nothing else.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: The book ends, if.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: You will, with a death wish that seals Jonah's lips.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: You feel sorry about the plant though you did nothing
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: to put it there. You have compassion for the plant
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: though you didn't even plant it. It came quickly and
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: died quickly.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: But look, Jonah. Look at the city.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: Look at the smiles. Look at the changed lives. From
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: the king all the way to the peasant. Look at
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: the humility of these people who were once arrogant in
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: their wickedness. Look at this, Jonah. Look at this. What
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: a difference.
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: What a change. In fact, let me say something about
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: the number.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: There's an insight here I don't want you to miss.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: Nineveh has more than 120,000 people.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: And I mentioned in the.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: Reading that the Hebrew has the line that these are
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: people who don't know the right hand from their left.
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: Now, stop.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: If you were sitting at your kitchen table and you
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: were reading your Bible at the end of Jonah and
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: you come to that line, which the New American Standard reads,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: including that, who would that refer to? Who would be
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: those who do not know their right hand from their left?
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: Small children. is the only answer.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: Until they're old enough to understand left and right and
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: to understand that concept of hands doing what right and
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: left hands do, they're young. So let's understand 120,000 has reference.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: To little children. I agree with Charles.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Ryrie in his In his footnote in the Study Bible,
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: in the New American Standard, where he says this has
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: reference to children, in fact, that puts the number of
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: the people of Nineveh over 600,000.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: 600,000. Not just 120.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: This is the most significant revival recorded in all the Bible.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: Look, Jonah! Look at that.
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: Look at all of these people, children, younger, older adults,
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: and now look at them, the change in their lives.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: Jonah, look.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: Should we not have compassion, not on the leaves of
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: a gourd, but on the lives of these once lost
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: souls who existed in darkness and knew nothing but that lifestyle. Jonah,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: connect the dots.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: He doesn't.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: I would love to be able to say that there
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: exists a reliable body of literature that gives us the
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: later years of Jonah where he came to his senses
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: and he realized how short-sighted he had been and selfish
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: and he changed.
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: But I have no other literary work to recommend. Certainly
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: nothing in the Bible.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: In fact, interesting, the book of Jonah begins with the
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord where he gave his message to
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Jonah to get up and go to Nineveh.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: And the book ends with the.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: Word of the Lord as they are at Nineveh and
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: the lives have been changed. But it ends in sort
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: of an ellipsis, just a dot, dot, dot, question mark.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: It's sort of like the song Peggy Lee made popular.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: Is that all there is? Jonah, is that all there is?
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: You want to die because a plant died? Let me
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: state it lest anybody miss it.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: This is the.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: Ultimate in a selfish lifestyle. This is the individual who
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: is proud of the license frame that says he who
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: dies with the most toys wins. Really? I will not
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: back off and just be nice and tactful here.
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be direct.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: It's easy in this day and age to become that selfish.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: It's easy.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: Just follow the direction of the majority.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: Plan for yourself. Live for yourself. Think of yourself.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Work for yourself in the sense of your plans, your future,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: your salary. Care a little about those who are lost.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: And press right on in that lifestyle, and I will
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: tell you, Little by little, your world will revolve around
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: sort of an us four and no more, and I'm
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: not too sure about you three.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: It's all about me. How many marriages have broken up
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: because the.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: Mate simply did not have room in her life or
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: his life for one other person?
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: How many companies have.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: Split apart because there's no sharing here? This is about me.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: This is mine. We're a selfish body of people.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Now, let me end on a wonderful note. Turn from
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: Jonah 4 to Philippians 2. Quickly turn. What a marvelous contrast.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: Paul is writing to the people of Philippi, and he
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: turns to the ultimate example of an unselfish lifestyle, but
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: not before he has given this.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: Imperative.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: Verse three of chapter two, don't be selfish. Don't try
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: than yourselves.
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: Don't look out.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: For your own interests, but take an interest in others too.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: And then he turns to the ultimate illustration. You must
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. I love
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: it that it's the word attitude. It all starts there.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Quickly transport yourself to eternity past. when there was no earth,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: when there was no matter, when there was nothing but
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: the Godhead. And in the midst of this eternal setting,
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit put together the
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: plan of eternal decrees, anticipating earth that would come. and
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: people who would populate it, and depravity that would captivate it,
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: and the lostness of humanity.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: That would populate it.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: And the Father and Son and Spirit agree, however it
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: occurred in that setting, that the Son would lay aside
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: and not cling to all of the glories of heaven
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: and think of what they were.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: Myriad of angels forever at his beck and call.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: Co-equal, co-eternal, coexistent with the Father and with the Spirit.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: Never a hint of sin to deal with. Never an ugly,
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: caustic comment to listen to. never mistreatment, only harmony, only
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: the joys of eternal glory in eternity past. And the
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: Son of God agrees to leave that and to come
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: here in our midst and to be born as a
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: human being, Emmanuel, God with us, and become one of
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: us apart from sin. Now you can read on verse six,
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: though he was God, did not think of equality with
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: God as something to cling to, no selfishness whatsoever. Instead,
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: he gave up his divine privileges, took the humble position
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: of a slave and was born as a human being.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: He was willing to come and live among us. And
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: if that wasn't enough, when he appeared in human form,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: he humbled himself in obedience to God, died a criminal's
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: death on a cross, The ultimate in sacrifice, as opposed
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: to selfishness, he was willing to die. And as he
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: hung there, was able to say, Tetelestai, it.
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: Is finished. It is finished.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: And slumped in death, having paid the penalty for the
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: sins of the world.
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: Easy to forget.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: Where he once was and now where he is. The
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: beauty of this passage is that he is the example
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: of how to live a life. We are given the
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: opportunity every day with choices.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: We can choose our own way, or we can think
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: of others.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: We can do what is only best for us, or
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: we can do with what benefits others. Jonah chose the former,
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Jesus the latter. As a result, Life revolves around the
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: one who gave himself that we might know eternal life.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: Isn't that amazing? He who knew no sin became sin
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: God in him. The lady in Thomas put it well
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: when he said, The life that he lived qualified him
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: for the death that he died. And the death that
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: he died qualifies us for the life that he lived.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: It would never have been possible had he selfishly clung
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: to the glories of heaven and said, I will not go.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: But from the moment he became an adult human being
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: on a mission in his ministry, he was maligned, mistreated, hated, despised,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: and ultimately a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: I think it's beautiful that the Lord established for the
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: church a memorial to his death. It's called the Lord's Table,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: for there is a little piece of pastry that reminds
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: us of a body that was given for us. and
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: a small cup of juice that is a symbol of
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: his blood poured out for us to cleanse us from sin.
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: How beautiful that he has us hold those in our
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: hands and of all things, put them in our mouths
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: and taste them, assimilate them so that we might truly
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: enter into what it means to remember his death until
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: he returns.
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: Bow with me, will you please? Right where you're sitting,
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: just bow your heads. Close your eyes. I must say
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: to all who are hearing this today.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: That this table is the Lord's table. It's not this
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: church's table. He is the host. You're not coming to
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: our table. We're all coming to his table. But if
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: you don't know the Lord, you have no part in it.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: How much better for you to receive the Lord Jesus
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: Christ right now? Just acknowledge your sinfulness, your selfishness, a
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: lifestyle of pleasing yourself, and accepting the fact that Jesus
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: can deliver you from that as you trust in Him
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: and Him alone.
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: For forgiveness.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: And then you'll be able to eat the bread and
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: drink from the cup with us. If you're a believer,
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: make sure that you are walking in the light, even
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: as our Savior is in the light, before you partake
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: of the bread and the cup.
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: Search your heart.
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: See if you be in the faith. Dear Father, we
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: thank you for the reminder that we've had before us
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: during these weeks of study We've seen a man whose
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: life has revolved around himself and the experience from one
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: miserable event to another. Convince us, Lord, that that is
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: no way to live and release our grip on ourselves,
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: I pray. Break through and as we Taste this bread
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: and drink this juice. Remembering our Savior's body and blood,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: may we deeply give thanks for all he has done
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: for us. Thank you for the cross where we first
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: saw the light and you delivered us from darkness. Our
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: worship is yours, and we pray that it will be meaningful.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, amen.
• 50:52
  Speaker 4: The preceding message, Ticked Off to the Bitter End, was
• 50:56
  Speaker 4: copyrighted in 2018, 2019, and 2025, and the sound recording
• 50:58
  Speaker 4: was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 51:00
  Speaker 4: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 51:10
  Speaker 4: commercial use is strictly prohibited.