The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1907-01-25
Why lie RebeIIed.

But l cannot close this sermon with
out noticing another fact. Jonah was
angry because God repented Of the
evil that he had said he would do unto
the Ninevites and he did not. Why?
Because these Ninevites were gentiles
and not Jews. In the sight of Jonah
they belonged to the barbarians. He
would not have cared SO much II they
had been Hebrews, as he was a He
brew. But they belonged to a class
outside Of his own nationality. And
from time immemorial the Hebrews
always looked upon their God as their
own God exclusively. Thus, by ac-
cepting this repentance of the Nine
vites, God was practically saying: 40
nah, am God to the Hebrew. Jo-
nah, am God to the Egyptian. Jo-
nah, am a God to the white and to
the black and to the yellow skinned
and to the Malay. am God to all peo-
Piles, of all classes. Come unto me, all
We that labor and are heavy laden, and
l will give you rest" And see Jonah
sitting upon that hillside. / hear him
say with angry lip: May, Lord, nay.
then be a God to the Hebrew race
alone"
Are we not all Jonahs? Do we not
want to hem In the work of Jesus to
our own social and national cliques
Do not some Of US say; What Is
the good of sending missionaries to
China? Let China keep on worshiping
Its idols If 1t wishes. We are not re-
sponsble for what China does" Do
we want our Christ to be the Christ of
the harlot and the laborer and the
black man? Are we trying with an
intense yearning desire to bring all So
cial classes into our churches and have
the poor and the unfortunate worship
Christ by our side in our own church
pews?
Nineveh's Fate.
AS l come to the end of this sermon
l want to lead you for a moment with
in the mighty walls of this great cap
ital of the north. | want you to see
the mighty rivers that flow through it.
want you to see its dams and sluices
and great canals. | want you to see
its castles and walls and palaces and
temples. Nineveh was not a. village.
Nineveh was the mightiest capital of
the east. 1t covered an area Of over
400 square miles. | want you to see
the princes and princesses and mobiles
and common people now jostling each
other | want you to hear the songs
of praises as they sing them to the
great God who has forgiven them their
sins. Then | want to tell you that this
mighty people and this mighty city,
after they had heard the warning call
of Jonah and repented of their sins, fell
again into sin. Their last sins were
worse than their former sins. Two cen
turtles later, in G25 B. c., God wiped
out that city on account of those sins
from the face Of the earth and so oblit-
Grated it that for over a thousand years
no one knew where this mighty capital
Of the east had stood. 1t disappeared
more completely than did Pompeii I'M
der the burning lava Of volcanic Vesu-
vius.
1t disappeared so completely that,
though Xenophon in 400 B. G. led his
great army over its ancient site, he
could not tell where the people of Sen
capital had dwelt So, like
Nineveh, we who have once repented
Of our sins may fall again into sin and
be eternally destroyed.
May God grant that the apostasy of
a Nineveh or Judas shall not be our
spiritual doom. May we, one and all,
every day Of our lives continue to fight
the good fight Of faith as did Paul,
who was the mightiest servant of
Christ ti1et eyer lived. He said, 81
keep under my body and bring 1t into
subsection lest that by any means
when | have preached to others | my
self should be a castaway" Art thou
becoming spiritual castaway? "Doest
thou well to be angry with Godp
copyright. 1907, by Louis Klopsch.l