Evening star., 1922-03-04
of Church News Activities and Services
Sunday School Lesson

, prophet for his former refusal and dis
obedience. He recognized that there
could be no better preacher Of repent
ance than one who had himself re-
pented:
! Our Lord allows us to suffer for our
servants because of their errors. The
second chance is never as good as the
first opportunity Jonah was no longer
disohedient to the heavenly vision. God
called him again. This time he went
boldly to preach the message, which
Jehovah had given him. 1t took cour-
age for a prophet of Israel to. enter the
wicked city and fearlessly proclaim the
! message of their coming obstruction.
Thus saith the Lord: Yet forty days
and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
| The river is colored by the soil through
which its waters pass. Every preacher,
prophet and poet colors with his person.
ality the message he receives from the
the provincial Jew. who called Nineveh
to repentance by his sonl-stirrinE mes
sage of warning. The miracle of the
book is that the people Of that ancient
city. which has been forgotten and
/ buried for over $500 years, should be-
lieve Jonah's message. His dress and
dialect were peculiar, but his startling
speech aroused the evihoers, who are.
as rule, towards when they face pun
ishment. While there was nothing In
4
ing. yet the people and Che king clearly
perceived that the message Of warning
was also one that offered hope.
Ntneveh'S repentance started with the
was the king VINO suggested that pos
sbly God might yet spare them. Ii
Jonah had told them of his experience.
how. after trying to escape preaching to
! them. he was rescued from his eAtraor-
dinary prison in the great fish. this
| p1ip,f ha eod than, n hnrk1 fOr
another chance If they repented. The
| revival swept over the city with CHEAT
rapidity. 50 that the king and the people
repented in sackcloth and they believed
and called unto God for mercy. Tho
capacity for the heather to receive the'
Gospel was demonstrated by the Nine
vites Genuine repentance Is certain to
receive pardon and forgiveness today as
then. The one who turns in faith to
God. seeking forgiveness and mercy in
the name Of the Lord Jesus, will receive
the same. for there is joy In the pres
ence Of the angels in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth.
When God saw that the city had
indeed repented and turned from their
evil ways. then God repented Of the
| evil" which Jonah had announced
unto them There was no difficulty in
the relenting of Jehovah, when He
observed their genuine repentance
and heard their sincere cry. His at
titude toward men Is always condf-
tional and contingent upon mans at
titude toward Him. The universality
of Gods love and mercy is what as
land today the fulflllment of the
golden text-"Let the wicked forsake
their way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts; and let him return unto
upon him: and to our God. for he will
abundantly pardon" Fundamentally,
God is not a man. that He should lie.
or the son OF man. that He should
repent" He has two permanent pur-
poses in all His dealings with men.
sinner. The other is to destroy the
obstinately and finally impenitent
wicked.
Jonah was displeased at the turn
pictures Of the Bible is that of the
prophet sitting upon the hill upon
the east side of Nineveh, under a
booth which he had erected to protect
him from the heat of the sun. watch
ing and waiting for God to destroy
the city. Gods mercy extended to his
prophet SO He drew near and had a
personal talk with his servant. He
used nature to comfort Jonah and
teach him how much Nineveh meant
to God. The gourd that brought
comfort and grief was used to reveal
to the prophet how God had watched
over the development of the great
city and given to Nineveh its place
of power.
His love for the heather city called
for Him to be merciful when its
destruction meant the suffering of
over 100000 innocent children. who
were not responsible for the sins of
their parents. as well as the cattle.
The brute beasts and children ought
to be spared. if 1t were possible.
Gods confidence in His servant ie
. revealed by His penetrating question
which He left to the prophet to an
swer for himself. The supreme mes
sage of Jonah is what the world needs
world war are being healed.
His love hath provided salvation
for all men. His program calls for
the evangeliZation. enlistment and
education of every man. There never
was an hour like the present for win
We are called to either go or give
SO that the gospel may be preached
unto the uttermost parts Of the earth.
The challenge of the hour of oppor-
tunity calls for heroic service and
. sacrifice, Let us recognize our
has brought the foreigner to our
doors Each immigrant presents an
opportunity for spiritual service. II
immigration ever menaces our fair
land. it will be because We have
neglected to evangelize the foreigner
within our gates by the gospel of the
cross. They will never thoroughly
understand the secret of our country's
power until they come to know the
religion of the land. The Masters
all ought to obey His command; Go
:. ye into all the world and preach the
gospel to all people,.