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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
I. W h at B rough t Nineveh to R epent ance? The biggest m iracle in th e book of Jonah is no t th a t the prophet was swal lowed by th e g reat fish, preserved alive for th ree days, and th en set ashore. The biggest m iracle is WESSON th a t a city as big, or EXPOSITION bigger, th a n Los An il. H. H u n ter geles was b rough t to repentance, from th e king down to th e poorest man or woman in it by one m an’s preaching. How was it done? 1. The preacher was possessed by an overwhelm ing sense of th e person ality, and imm inence, and power of God. Jonah had a trem endous experi ence of God while he was in th e belly of th e g reat fish. When a man praised John Wesley for being so brave, Mr. Wesley assured him th a t it was really cowardice, for he was so afraid of God th a t he had no room for th e fear of man. Jonah could have said the same thing. “The fear of man bring- eth a sn are,” (Prov. 29 :25 ) and many preachers and teachers are held fast in its meshes. 2. The preacher h ad his message from God, and he stuck to it. Jonah n eith er added to it nor took from it. P erh ap s it did no t give him much chance to display his rh eto ric or elo quence, b u t it was God’s message to Nineveh and Jonah had no au tho rity to tam per w ith it. When Goschen, the B ritish am bassador to Germany, p re sented the demands of his government to von Jagow , th a t Germany w ithdraw h er troops from Belgium w ithin 48 (or was it 24) hours, von Jagow demanded to know if it m eant w ar in case he refused. Lord Goschen replied th a t he had no inform ation on th a t point, his orders were to demand th e w ithdraw al of th e troops, th a t was all. He would no t surm ise, or debate, or argue, orders were orders. Jon ah obeyed orders. How many of us are no t always sure th a t we really have God’s message for
our class or congregation, and th u s have no powerful “ th u s saith th e Lord.” Instead of being God’s ambassador, we are ju s t men w ith opinions. The Son of God H imself in th e tem p tation used “ it is w ritte n ” to defeat th e enemy. 3. The preacher was in sisten t in pro claim ing his message. Not ju s t once or twice* b u t again, and again, and again. The Word of God is a hamm er th a t can b reak th e h ard est stone, bu t it may requ ire repeated blows, Jer. 23: 29. 4. The message was a message of w arning. A law th a t has no penalty attach ed to it is inoperative. John 3:16 th a t tells us of God’s love and His provision th a t “whosoever believ- e th ” may have etern al life, tells us also th a t th e altern ativ e is “ perish.’-’ Are we presenting both tru th s as we should do? We do no t usually try to get th a t man or woman who is in danger of being ru n down by an auto ou t of the way by inviting them to come and smell a bouquet of roses. 5. The message was quickened by God’s Spirit whose province it is to con vict men of sini John 16:8. Nineveh was b rough t to repentance th rough th e preaching of God's mes sage, by God’s man, in th e power of God’s Spirit. II. How Nineveh Repented. 1. The people “ believed God.” They accepted th e message as genuine. Though it was delivered by a man it came from God. 2. They confessed by outw ard actions th e ir sentence was just. Sackcloth and ashes proclaimed publicly from palace to h u t th a t sin was everywhere and th a t God’s th reaten ed judgm ent was deserved. Even th e beasts shared in it. Why not? 3. They fasted, and cried unto the Lord. Reads like an account of one of those blessed old revival meetings when Wesley, or Whitefield, or Edwards, or Finney, or Moody was preaching. There
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