Milford chronicle., 1907-01-25
why He RebelIed.

Why He RebeIIed.
But cannot close this sermon wifi
out noticing another fact Jonah wa
angry because God repented of tn
evil that he had said he would do unit
the Ninevites and he did not WHY
Because these Ninevites were gentile
and not Jews. In the sight of Jonal
they belonged to the barbarians. H,
would not have cared so much If 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: 10
nah, am a God to the Hebrew. Jo-
nah, am God to the Egyptian. Jo-
nah, l am a God to the white and to
the black and to the yellow skinned
and to the Malay. 1 am God to all peo-
pies, of all classes. Come unto me. all
We that labor and are heavy laden. and
will give you rest" And l see Jonah
sitting upon that hillside. l hear him
say with angry lip: NAY, Lord. nav
If thou art to be a God to the Hebrew.
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 clioues?
do not some of us say: "What is
the good of sending missionaries TO
China? Let China keep on worshiping
its idols if it wishes. We are not re-
sponsible 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
want to lead you for moment with
N the mighty walls Of 'this great can
tai of the north. l want you to see
he mighty rivers that flow through it
want you to see its dams and sluices
md great canals want you to see
is castles and walls and palaces and
emples. Nineveh was not a village.
Nineveh was the mightiest capital Of
he east 1t covered an area of over
100 square miles. l want you to see
he princes and princesses and mobiles
nd common people now jostling each
tier. l want you to hear the songs
I raises as they sing them to the
.eat Cod who HIS forgiven them their
ins Than ! want to tell you that this
igh;y people and this mighty CITY.
ter they had heard the warning call
( Jonah ana repented Of their sins. fell
rain into sin. Their last sins were 4
'or1a than their former sins. Two cen
iries later in SO b. c., God wiped
1t that city on account of those sins
ON the face of the earth and so oblit-
ated it that for over Il thousand years
one knew where this mighty capital b
the cast had stood. 1t disappeared
ore completely than did Pompeii IN
II the burning lava of volcanic Vesu-
us.
1t disappeared so completely that
ough NenophOn in 400 B. C. led his
eat army over its ancient site. he
uld not tell where the people of Sen y
cherib's capital had dwelt. So, like
neveh, we who have once repented
our sins may fall again into sin and
eternally destroyed.
Nay God grant that the apostasy of VI
Nineveh or a Judas shall not be our y,
ritual doom. May we, one and all, VI
cry day Of our lives continue to fight
: good fight of faith as did Paul Xii
10 was the mightiest servant of
rist that ever lived. He said. 81 les
ep under my body and bring it into
election lest that by any means on,
en- have preached to others I my con
should be a castaway." Art thou bet
coming a spiritual castaway? "Doest c
u well to be angry with God?" me
copyright, 1907, by Louis KIopach.l at