Somebody has to go to hell!

 

Read Jonah 3

We see rebellion.  Jonah ran away.

We see Jonah being reconciled to God’s purpose, at least in his mind.  This took place in the belly of a big fish.

We see Jonah obeying God’s command and preaching repentance to Nineveh.  Nineveh repented and God spared them.

Do we see ourselves?

Rebellion, reconciliation, and then obedience have marked the journey of many who now profess Jesus is Lord!

We see God’s own prophet who does not know the heart of God.  He obeys, but as we see in the next chapter, he is angry that God spared Nineveh.

Have we ever claimed God’s salvation and rejoice in it and celebrated the professions of faith of our children and their children?  Do we get goosebumps when our kids are baptized?

Do we love the grace and mercy of God?

Are we thankful that God loved us first and so much that he made a way for us to be in right standing with him and to spend eternity with him?

Do we love being a child of God but still think a little judgment and condemnation is appropriate for some folks.

Oh, they will need an extra level of hell for that guy.

God needs to send some fire and brimstone on those people.

Do we love grace for ourselves and our families but desire judgment for everyone else?

Do we have a little Jonah in us? 

Do we enjoy preaching hellfire and damnation but deep down hope that some people don’t respond?

I have had this conversation with some people that knew their Bible but missed the heart of God.  Here is what I have heard from professed Christians.

Somebody has got to go to hell.

That’s saying that God cannot make life abundant good enough unless it’s worse for someone else.

God can’t make heaven glorious enough unless somebody is burning in hell.

We need to wrap our minds around the fact that God desires none to perish.  He wants all to come to repentance and the saving grace offered to all.

Why do people gossip?  If they can make people believe that someone else is not as good as they are, they feel better, maybe superior about themselves. 

Gossip is a cheap fix.  It’s a drug and it’s addictive.  It is ungodly.

It reeks of us wanting grace and mercy and forgiveness for ourselves for not for others.

It is not of God.

Jonah obeyed God but his heart was still in rebellion.  He complied with God’s authority.  He did not accept it or embrace it.

I have divided our response to authority into four areas.

Reject, comply, accept, and embrace.  So many live in the realm of rejection.  Some live in the realm of compliance.

Few know what it is to accept authority and even fewer to embrace it.

God is sovereign.  Does that bother us or comfort us?

God’s thoughts and ways are beyond our comprehension.  Does that bother us or comfort us?

God’s answers to our prayers may not always be what we ask for.  Does that bother us or comfort us?

We can tell people that God loves them and he has made a way to be right with God, but do we want them to repent and believe the good news?

Do we also desire that none perish and all come to repentance and life eternal?  Do we know God’s heart and are we teachable enough to let God make our hearts like his?

And you thought we were just going to talk about those wicked people in Nineveh.

Amen.