Open the Bible

Steve Hiller: Crowds of people shouting abuse, blaring horns, saying what they’ll do to the drivers in the front row if they don’t get moving right now. But you have compassion. Why? Because you understand the problem.

You’re listening to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith. And Colin, what we just heard begs an answer. What is the problem?

Colin Smith: Well, the answer I think is very simple. Sin is the problem. But here’s the surprising thing. To really understand the doctrine of sin doesn’t make a person harder; it actually leads to compassion.

A lot of folks might have the idea that if you have really grasped the doctrine of sin, that’s going to make you a condemning kind of person. Actually, it’s the opposite. Sin makes a person blind and bound and dead. Understanding that will give compassion to a person who’s in that position.

That’s the kind of compassion we need. We need to be ministering in the world not out of a spirit of holier-than-thou condemnation but out of the compassion that comes to people who understand just how devastating sin is in human lives.

Steve Hiller: And I think once we begin to comprehend that, understand that that was our condition at one point in time, and if it wasn’t for the grace and the mercy that God has showed us, then we would be in the same condition as everyone else. When you begin to grasp that, it’s just natural that that would lead to that heart of compassion.

Colin Smith: So again, I see myself in Jonah, and I see my own need to receive this word from the Lord and to become more compassionate like Jesus Christ. That’s where we’re headed today.

Steve Hiller: You can open your Bible to Jonah chapter four and join us on that journey as we continue a message about God’s grace and mercy.

Colin Smith: I want you to imagine for a few moments that you are responsible for parking at the Super Bowl. The cars are all jammed in because there is inadequate space. They are parked bumper to bumper so that nobody can move until everybody moves, and especially the folks at the front have to move their cars first.

At the end of the game, with the car park absolutely crammed with vehicles, your job is to clear the car park as quickly and as safely as possible. The job carries with it some authority, so you have a little uniform, a little flag, and they’ve even given you a little whistle.

As soon as the drivers are back in the car park, you’re looking to see who’s in the front row who can move their car first. You notice in one of the sections for which you are responsible that there are three cars that now have drivers in them. You flag them over and you want to get them into the exit lane so that you can get that whole section moving.

But when you flag them, nothing happens. You blow your whistle, and nothing happens. Then you look more closely and you see something strange. These three guys are sitting in their cars, but none of them have started their engines. You think, "What in the world? Do they want to stay here for a picnic? Why don't they know we've got to move?"

By now, the folks in the cars behind are beginning to get frustrated. Some of them are sounding their horns. Some of these people are beginning to get angry. Why are these guys at the front not moving and why are you, as the person in charge, not getting them going? You start getting frustrated with yourself as the noise increases, so you walk over to the cars.

That leads to even more blaring of horns because it takes you some while to get over there. As you move, people begin to realize that there’s a problem. Some folks have rolled down their windows and they’re shouting at you, "Get them moving! What are you doing? Come on, man!" and so forth.

You go to the first car and you bang on the windshield. You say to this guy, "Get moving! Get moving!" The driver rolls down his window and says, "I don’t know what’s happened. I came out of the game, I got into the car, and it’s like everything’s gone dark. I can’t see. I can’t move my vehicle. I’m blind."

You don’t have a clue what to say to the man, so everyone’s blaring their horns and you move to the next car. You bang on that windshield and the man tries to roll down his window. You realize he’s got a problem; there are handcuffs on him.

He says, "I don’t know what’s going on here, but I got into my car and some guy was lurking in the back seat, pounced on me, put me in these handcuffs, and then got out and ran. I don’t know who he is or where he came from, but I’m stuck. I can’t move my car. I’m bound."

By now, there’s nearly a riot going on amongst the guys in the pickup trucks behind. Horns are now blazing. Guys are standing on the back of pickup trucks waving their fists. They’re shouting at you and they’re shouting at the guys in the car, so you think you’d better get something moving here.

You move to the third car and bang on the window. "Sir," you say, "these guys over here have a problem, they can’t move their vehicles. I need you to move your vehicle right now!" There is no response. You look through the window and he’s slumped over the wheel because this driver is dead.

I want you to think about that picture. Sometimes a picture is better than a thousand words. Crowds of people shouting abuse, blaring horns, saying what they’ll do to the drivers in the front row if they don’t get moving right now. But you have compassion. Why? Because you understand the problem.

One of these guys is blind, one of these guys is bound, and one of these guys is dead. It’s very practical stuff. Think about someone who really annoys you. You get upset with them, you feel impatient with them, and you know that you need to grow in compassion for them.

Reflect on the human condition and you will grow in compassion. It works. It will happen; you will grow in compassion. You say, "Well, wait a minute. What if the person who really annoys me is a Christian?" Well, here’s the answer to that.

Though God has given us sight, we only see in part. Isn’t that right? Though we as Christians have the Spirit, we still battle with the flesh. That’s true of every Christian you ever meet; it's true of you and true of me. Though we are new creations, we are not yet what we one day will be.

Reflect on that in relation to our Christian brothers and sisters, and it will help us to be more patient with one another. It will help you to grow in compassion. Listen to what the Lord says in Psalm 103, and it’s said to those who fear him, in other words, to his own people.

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him." That’s his own family. He has compassion on them. Why? Because he knows how we are formed and he remembers that we, his own children, are dust. We need to remember that about one another as well, as the Lord graciously remembers it about us.

Steve Hiller: You’re listening to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Receive God’s Mercy," part of a series called *How to Avoid a God-Centered Life* as we take a look at the life of Jonah. We’re going to pause here, but we’ll get back to this message in just a moment.

*Open the Bible* is able to be on the station because of your financial generosity. So thank you for giving to and supporting this ministry. As you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book that Pastor Colin has picked out. It’s written by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of Pastor Colin’s very favorite preachers.

The book is called *Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures*. This is a book that has stood the test of time. If you have ever felt like you’ve gotten weary in following God, you’re just kind of going through the motions out of a sense of duty, you’ve lost the joy that you once had, this book is for you.

We’d love to send you a copy of this book that I think will help you recover your joy. You can give a gift online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That’s 1-877-673-6365. Again, our website is openthebible.org. If you joined us a little bit late, we’re in the book of Jonah chapter four as we continue the message. Again, here’s Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Now, I want to just before we move more briefly to the last thing, has your heart ever really been gripped by the compassion of God? I have been so struck by this in verse 11. I learned something I never knew before just reading around on this verse.

When God says Nineveh has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and should I not be concerned for that great city? I found this week that the word translated "concerned" literally means—its literal translation is "to have tears in one’s eyes."

The root of the word means "to overflow," and you can see why tears comes from that in reference to the eyes overflowing. So you could translate that last verse very vividly like this: Nineveh has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, should I not have tears in my eyes over that?

That's what God says. You can’t read that without thinking about God with tears in his eyes as our Lord Jesus comes over another city. Do you remember how Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem with its tens of thousands of people and he said, "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem"?

Longs that they would have come to him. "Oh, that you would have known this day what brings you peace, but it is now hidden from your eyes." God’s heart for this city. How can Jonah get a heart that is more like God’s heart?

Jonah, rejoice in the uniqueness of God’s creation. He didn’t just give life to plants; he gives life to every person in this city. He gives life to 9.5 million people in this city. And not one of them is a duplicate of another. Every one the creative work of God.

Reflect on the human condition. 9.5 million people, and many who do not yet know Christ, who are still blind and bound and spiritually dead. God says, "Should I not have, should I not then have, should we not then have tears in our eyes over this great city?"

There’s one more way in which we can grow in compassion, and it’s this. First is rejoice in God’s unique creation. The second, reflect on the human condition. Third, engage in Christ’s redeeming mission. I want to show you why I say this at the end.

If you look back at verse five, please notice that Jonah’s heart grew cold when he was disconnected from the work that God was doing. Verse five, he went out and he sat down at a place east of the city and he waited to see what would happen. Isn’t that an amazing phrase? He waited to see what would happen, and his heart shriveled.

His heart grew cold when he was disconnected from the work that God was doing. Isn’t this an amazing picture? God is at work by the Holy Spirit in a sweeping revival that is going through the city of Nineveh. People are coming in their tens of thousands to repentance and they’re coming to faith.

But Jonah is outside the city. He is disconnected. He is passive. He is removed. He is distant from the work that God is doing just a few hundred yards away inside the city walls. Now, there’s one more contrast that I want us to see here in these remaining moments, and it’s the contrast between the king and the prophet.

I’ve found this very powerful and convicting to my own heart. It speaks especially to those of us who’ve known the Lord for a number of years. We’re told exactly the same word is used about the king and the prophet, that both of them sat down.

It happens at the same time, although it’s in two different chapters. I want you to see these two connected together because they were connected together in time. The king sat down in the city and Jonah sat down outside of the city. The picture is compelling when you see the contrast. These two men, a king and a prophet, they assume the same posture at the same time but with very different meaning and significance.

Look at chapter three and verse six and I want to paint the picture of the king. When the king hears God’s word, chapter three and verse six, try and picture it now. He rises from his throne, he takes off his royal robes, he covers himself with sackcloth, and he sat down in the dust. That’s Jonah chapter three and verse six.

Picture this king. His robe has been cast aside, he’s sitting down in dust, he’s covered in sackcloth, and what is he doing? He’s praying. That’s the significance of the sackcloth. He is calling the people in the verse that follows to repentance. He’s calling the people to prayer and he is leading the way.

He’s come to believe the word of God for himself, and so he sits down in prayer and intercession for his own city and for its salvation. Now look at chapter four and verse five. See the same word. Jonah goes out. In chapter four and verse five, he sat down. He sits down at a place east of the city.

And there he made himself a shelter and he sat in its shade and he waited to see what would happen to the city. Folks, this is an amazing contrast. By definition, the king is a new believer. He’s only just heard the word of God. He’s only just come to repentance and faith himself.

The first action as a new believer is that he gets down in the dust and starts pleading for God’s mercy upon his own city. And Jonah, the prophet, who has been going around with the word of God all over the place for years, a mature believer, what’s he doing? He’s sitting outside the city, passive, disconnected, waiting to see what will happen.

Hearts grow cold on the sidelines of ministry. I’ve been a Christian for 45 years. So for all of us who’ve been Christians and known the Lord for a longer time, is it not true that sometimes new believers have a passion for Christ and a passion for bringing the gospel to others that convicts us of our own coldness and complacency and familiarity with the glorious and eternal truths of God?

As I’ve looked at this, I’ve just said, "Oh Lord, make me more like the king than I’m like the prophet. Make me more like this new believer who pleads for God’s mercy on the city than the prophet who’s known for his ministry of the word of God and actually is strangely detached and really doesn’t care."

I formed just this little prayer for myself: "Lord, as I get older, don’t let my heart grow colder." I think we need that prayer. Folks, let me just end with this. Compassion is more than a feeling. Compassion is love in action.

You see God’s compassion in his relentless moves to bring salvation and grace to Nineveh: calling the prophet, sending the fish to bring him back, sending the storm, all of that. Compassion is more than a feeling. Compassion is love in action.

It’s seen in its fullness in God not only sending Jonah to Nineveh but sending his Son into the world. For God’s compassion is not simply having tears in his eyes over the city; it is moving to do something about it. That is why God, who so loved the world, gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Because it’s not just emotion, it’s action.

Rosemary Nixon, who’s written an excellent commentary on the book of Jonah, says this. I found it very compelling. She says love and labor are inseparable. We love that for which we labor, and we labor for that which we love.

So we’re learning from this: engage in God’s work. Get involved in what God is doing and you will find that you grow in compassion. And let me just say this last word. In these days, when we as a local church are talking about how we might seek to double our impact for Christ, it would be very easy for some of us to sit back and say, "Well, it’ll be very interesting to see what happens."

I plead with you, please don’t go there. That’s exactly what Jonah did. He makes a little shelter and says, "It’ll be very interesting to see what happens." Please don’t go there. Please don’t be passive. Please be like the king, not like the prophet.

Please give yourself to prayer for this church and for this city. Please ask God in a fresh way, however long you have been a Christian, however old you are, please ask God in a fresh way as a new believer would: "Lord, how can you have me engaged in your redeeming work at this season of my life?" Choose the company of those who are working for him rather than the company of those who are simply watching. For Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you."

Steve Hiller: What a great truth from today’s message. As we engage in God’s work, we will grow in compassion. You’re listening to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Receive God’s Mercy," part of a larger series called *How to Avoid a God-Centered Life*, taking a look at the life of Jonah. If you ever miss a broadcast in our series, come and listen online at openthebible.org.

Colin, as you brought out a number of times in today’s message, when we are not connected to what God is doing, we can lose the compassion that we need to have. And so if we’re not plugged in with a church, with a body of believers, with a Bible study and all these things, I can see how it would be really easy for our heart to grow cold.

Colin Smith: Yeah, that was exactly Jonah’s position. And here’s all this spiritual life that’s going in the city. New believers being born, people praying for the first time, people repenting and trying to get right with God, and here’s this man and he’s outside and he’s on his own and he’s absorbed with himself and he doesn’t like what’s going on there.

Boy, I want to give you this challenge. Are you like Jonah at this point, outside of the church of Jesus Christ? You’ve maybe been hurt and you’ve got yourself angry, you’ve got yourself alienated, and so you look at what’s going on and you find what’s wrong with it.

Why would you not come and be part of what God is doing? Be like the king who gets down on his knees and asks for God’s mercy among his people and contributes to his work. Don’t become absorbed in yourself. Don’t sit outside as a critic of what God is doing in the world.

Take your position with other believers, however inadequate. We’re all in the same position of finding our adequacy only in Christ. Take your position with your brothers and sisters, get involved in a local church, become one who serves. Don’t sit outside absorbed with yourself, criticizing, because that’s the place to a kind of spiritual deadness. It really is.

Steve Hiller: Well, and when the book of Jonah ends, it seems as if Jonah is in this place of spiritual deadness, but yet, as we’ve pointed out a number of times in the series, that obviously is not the end of the story.

Colin Smith: He couldn’t have written the book if he’d remained there. Thank God he ends up in the position where he’s able to confess and say, "That’s where I was, but now he’s brought to a place where grace prevails in his life." May that be true for all of us.

Steve Hiller: Absolutely. And what does that look like and how did that happen? Well, you’re going to have to join us for the next broadcast. If you know that you can’t catch every program on the radio, you can always come to our website and you can listen online. Our website is openthebible.org, or you can listen through the Open the Bible app, which is free at your app store. For Pastor Colin Smith, I’m Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported production of *Open the Bible*.

Colin Smith: At *Open the Bible*, we’re grateful for like-minded organizations committed to sharing the gospel around the world. And to that end, I’d like to commend the work of Global Fingerprints. In the book of James, God calls us to help orphans in their distress. That’s a clear command, but it’s not always clear how we should obey it.

This is where Global Fingerprints comes in. Through Global Fingerprints, you can sponsor a vulnerable child to help meet their physical needs and ensure they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to commend Global Fingerprints to you. They’re focused on equipping the local church to care for children, and where there is no church, they help to plant one.

If you’d like to help a vulnerable child, you can find more information on Global Fingerprints at our website openthebible.org/gf. That’s openthebible.org/gf.