Missing God's Heart

Pastor Stan Mons | Lessons from Nineveh PT.3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqkKDbPY6Ko

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Sermon Transcription:

I will give you, church, a brief recap of the last weeks, part one and part two of the lessons from Nineveh that we have been studying and have been receiving. The first one was titled, When people ask for prayer and you cannot pray. When people ask for prayer and you cannot pray. The key verse in that word was Jonah 1, verse 5. And it reads this: “All the sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own God. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he laid down and fell into a deep sleep.” We began to see in the word of God that when you know Jesus and you have received direction from his word as to what God seeks to spend your life on, and you go a different direction like Jonah did, you begin to fall asleep to the spiritual needs of those that are very near around you.

They can even be a part of your life, so to speak. They can be on the same ship going in the same direction, and there can even be hearts that are ready to pray. They are ready to cry out to some kind of a God, and you can be asleep to the spiritual situation in that very moment while others are ready to cry out to God. Then part two, how does God get you back on track as he did in Jonah’s life? Jonah 1, verse 1: 17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. We saw that Jonah didn’t have to get himself back on track. As soon as Jonah acknowledged, “I am going in the wrong direction, and I’m willing to adjust to what God is actually asking me to do,” not only did the storm that really Jonah was causing in the lives of others subside instantly. The disorder went away, but also a incredible miracle took place.

The word tells us God had prepared, was ready. He had prepared a fish, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days, three nights, and Jonah gets spit out on Nineveh beach, right there, back on track with his call, back on track with what God wanted to do with his life. And we saw last time that we had a situation that had an identical heart, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We had on one hand the story of Jonah, who after turning to the Lord saw God miraculously get his life back on track. And in the New Testament, we saw Jesus talk to the scribes and the Pharisees, and and he brings up this story of Jonah when they ask for a sign. And they he tells them, “You’re going to get the greatest sign of all. You’re going to get the sign of Jonah.” And as Jonah was in the fish three days, three nights, in the same way, the Son of Man will be in the earth three days, and you will receive this greatest sign. And we saw that Jesus was saying, “By me going into the earth, by this miracle, God is going to get your life back on track.”

God got Jonah’s life back on track by preparing this miraculous journey of a fish. Three days, three nights, and all of a sudden, his life was back where it needed to go. And Jesus tells these scribes and Pharisees, “You can’t really hear me right now. You’re not really agreeing with me right now, but you’re about to get the greatest sign you could receive, and that will get your life back on track.” And this week, again, we will see the same heart’s issue addressed by Jesus in the New Testament as we see it addressed in the book of Jonah in the Old Testament. Missing God’s heart. Missing God’s heart. I want to remind you of the story of the lost son, or the prodigal son. This son was the youngest son in his father’s house. And he does something very dishonoring to his father, not only today, but also in that time. He goes to his father to ask for his inheritance early, while dad is still alive, and he receives it. And not only does he do that, he takes his inheritance. And the word tells us that he spend spends it, that he squanders it on sinful living.

On top of dishonoring his dad, he then takes all of his father’s resources and just spends it on his flesh. Spends it on sinful living. And then by the time that he comes to his senses, we read an incredible thing. It may just look like a story to you, but to the Jewish people at the time, this would have been highlighted, because he comes to his senses around the pigs, while he’s surrounded by pigs. And we sometimes look at that as just a humble job. But but to the Jew, a a pig was unclean. You cannot touch a pig. Now you are unclean. And not only does he have to touch them, he has to serve them. He has to feed them. He has to provide their food, while while he himself does not have food. He’s in a place of humiliation. That’s where this journey has taken him.

And after he comes to his senses, we read verse 20 to 32 in Luke 15. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost, and he is found.” And they began to be merry. Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what this thing meant. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.” But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, “Lo, these many years I’ve been serving you. I’ve never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you’ve never given me a young goat that I make marry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with the harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him?” And he said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make Mary and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.”

Right here in this story, if we focus in on the older son for a moment, we begin to see that somehow, even though this older son was in the father’s house, he didn’t really know and didn’t really like the father’s heart.

This older son had an aversion to mercy, an aversion to the grace that was ready to be poured from the father’s heart. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like the dancing. He didn’t like the party. He didn’t like the celebration. For this younger son that had just gone out and done everything wrong he could possibly get his hands on, he did it. He did everything wrong he could do wrong.

And here this younger son comes back home, and he’s not having to pay the price for anything he’s done. Nobody brings it up. Nobody accuses him. He doesn’t have to take the humble seat. He doesn’t have to muster up a good work attitude and just be quiet and work hard in the father’s house for a couple of years, prove himself, show that he’s grateful for even being allowed to come back. This older son doesn’t like that there’s no price to be paid for this younger son coming home after doing wrong absolutely everything. And this older son is standing there saying, “Listen, he has done so many things I’ve never done wrong.” And here I am, and I haven’t seen a proper celebration about me yet. And here this younger son comes home, and we partying.

What is this? I want to be a part of this household. And he doesn’t want to go in. And the father comes out pleading with him, because he’s missing God’s heart. He’s missing the father’s heart.

And and the older son has this attitude that I’ve heard before in Christians, an attitude that says, “Well, that’s easy. Must be nice. You did everything you wanted. You went off in the world, and you just get to come back home and celebrate in the father’s house.” “Nice and easy.”

I have a good friend, close friend, that was wrestling with this, and not in a malicious way at all, but the struggle in the heart. And he said to me, “Stan, some days it’s really hard for me to look at your life. It’s really hard for me to see all the things that God is doing in your life because I know your past.” And he literally almost word for word said that to me. And he he he said, “You know, sometimes I’m almost jealous because you got to do every sin, everything that that I’ve ever imagined I’ve ever wanted to do.” And then then you give your life to Jesus, and it’s easy for you to hear his voice, and it’s easy for you to leave things behind. And he even calls you into ministry. Seems to bless everything you put your hands on. And here I am. I’ve never done any of those things, and it’s hard for me, and I’m struggling, and I’m this and I’m that. And and and he was not malicious about it.

But this thing in the heart can get there even when we are Christians, even when we are following Jesus, that say that says, “Wait, why do you get to have a party while I’m here just my whole life trying to do what’s good, and I don’t feel like I’m in the middle of a party? I feel like I I’ve been trying to serve God, and I’ve been trying to do what’s right, and and it looks like there’s more party in your corner of Christianity than in my corner. That can’t be right. That’s not really fair. That’s not really good.” And it’s really what the Bible speaks of it. It’s the offense of the cross. The offense with the cross. See, the cross is the ultimate expression of God’s heart towards sinners, towards Nineveh, towards the sinner in our generation. The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s heart. Galatians 5:11 says this, “And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.” See, there’s an offense that was always accompanying the cross. And to some, it becomes offensive. To some, it becomes a party.

But there is an offense to the cross. Because the cross allows those that have abused the grace of God, abused the mercies of God, abused the very breath that God has given them, the very body that God has given them. It allows them to come back at a moment’s notice. It allows them to turn to Jesus in a moment, and in many cases receive more than those that never left the home. In many cases, they seem to be more in a party mode than those that have never left the home and have not engaged in all of those sins and all of that running away and squandering what God has bled and died for on the cross. And Christians, the very church of Jesus Christ in our generation, can begin to miss God’s heart for Nineveh. Jonah 3, verse 1–10.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preached to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. And he cried out and said, “Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”

So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and set in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor beast, her nor flock, taste anything. Do not let him eat or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God. Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish?”

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. And God relented from the disaster that he had said he would bring upon them. And he did not do it.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. Now, this at first glance kind of sounds amazing, that Jonah responds by being angry, and in his heart he is displeased with the grace and the mercy of God being poured towards this city. Especially when you consider that they were there were prophets in the Old Testament time that heard from God. I’m sending you. I’m with you. I’ve anointed you, but no one will listen to you. Not Jonah’s case. Jonah enters the city of Nineveh. Everyone seems to hear him. Everyone seems to respond to his preaching. The king notices it. He causes it to be published. He takes it far beyond what Jonah could have done on his own. And the entire city begins to turn to God, and begins to repent, and begins to believe on the Lord. And God responds in his heart and extends mercy and extends grace. And now we read that it is upsetting to Jonah. It’s been one of the most effective preachers that we ever read about in the entire word of God. And it’s upsetting to him that sinners are getting away with it.

Verse two and three. So he prayed to the Lord and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this why I what I said while I was still in my country. Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish. For I know that you are a gracious and a merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, oh Lord, please take my life, for it’s better for me to die than to live.” Offended with God’s heart, offended with the heart of the father towards the sinner. It births this conditional gospel, this conditional message in the heart of the believer, as did it in Jonah’s heart. And it he he says, “This is exactly why I was turning away from God’s direction for my life. I’m offended with the mercy. I’m offended with the grace.” And it begins to change in the heart of the believer, ever so slightly, the way that they represent God to their generation and his gospel to their generation.

It causes this thing. It’s unspoken, but it’s there. It’s not said, but it’s communicated. We want you to pay a little bit for what you’ve done. You can come to church, but you better dress like this. We want you to pay a tiny bit and get your act together. You can come to church, but you better behave the way that we do. You can come, but you cannot come as you are. The way you are really needs to be covered up and changed a little bit. And you better do it. You got to pay a—you know what you’ve done. You know what’s in your past. We want you to pay a tiny little bit. And no one says it like that, but that sound is in the preaching. That sound is in the congregation. That sound is in the church of the living God, in measure, in our generation. That attitude that says, “Well, must be nice. You do all you want, all the sin, and you came back and you’re just forgiven and you behave like it never happened.” That’s irresponsible. This is what the gospel turns into in the heart of God’s people when they take the slightest offense with the cross. It always starts small, and it becomes this message that says you cannot just repent, cry out your eyes one day, and get then everything that God has to offer for free.

It can’t be that easy. God knows I’ve stayed in the house and you went all about. You got to prove yourself a little bit. You got to get in line a little bit. You got to—you need some time to show that you are really seeking after Jesus. You should pay just a little bit. They should really behave humble for quite a while, considering what they’ve done in the past. A little bit of humble attitude would fit you right. And the church can think in its heart, man, if I was forgiven for all of that, I’d be a whole lot more quiet. I’d be a whole lot more humble. They should pay a little bit and change their attitude. See, the father didn’t have this problem towards the prodical son. He didn’t sit him down to have a firm talk before. He said, “Well, you’re welcome back in, but let me tell you the rules of this house. You’re welcome to come back, but you know, honor your brother because he never left.” No, the father didn’t have this problem. The father loved his younger son. He had a heart of love. And the only thing the father was crying out for was as long as he comes back. As long as she comes back in my house. That’s all he desires. That’s all he wants. And then we read verse 4 to 11 in Jonah. Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be so angry?”

We’ve heard that question before in the story of the prodigal son when he addresses the older son. Is it right for you to be so angry? Verse five. So Jonah went out of the city. Many Christians today, when they look at their city and they see how exceedingly sinful a city is, they leave. They go out of the city. And he set on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and set it under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head, to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as the morning dawned the next day, God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.

And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind, and the sun beat on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It’s right for me to be angry, even to death.”

But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock?” Church, when the Christian does not love anymore, when they don’t love their neighbors anymore, when the Christian is not invested wholeheartedly in the wellbeing of the people around them anymore, that Christian will always fall in love, just like Jonah did. But they will fall in love, just like Jonah did, with their own comfort and their own benefit. Grateful for the small and even the big miracles that God is doing in my life. Grateful for the blessings and the comfort of provision and miracles.

But that Christian that stops wholeheartedly loving all people and being invested into all people around them, they will end up loving themselves, and it’ll mean the world to them how I am doing myself. That’s Jonah. That’s who he is. That’s the older son. When you don’t love sinners, when you’re missing God’s heart, you become obsessed with your own little miracle. You become enamored with whatever is good for you. You become busy with all the things that add to your life, to build yourself a life here on earth. And the paid for gospel will become offensive to you. God’s direction will become unattractive to you. Jonah said, “That’s why I was second guessing and even diverting from God’s direction for my life in the first place. I don’t really like the mercy and the grace that much.” You’ll end up caring for your own comfort and your own miracle while others go to hell, and it doesn’t move you anymore.

There’s whole churches now in our generation who love to be with their own people, who are shielding themselves from sinners and brokenhearted people, people on the street, you name it. Shielding themselves from Nineveh, shielding themselves from the sin, from the sinner.

They are occupied with whatever little miracle is happening in their midst, within their walls. Occupied with their own challenges, their own difficulties between the walls. And as the Nineveh around them in this generation is on its way to hell, their heart says judgment is going to come on Nineveh. Judgment is going to come on those sinners. Judgment is going to come on this city because of all the sin that is going on here. Church, I’ve heard this literally said about our city, Portland. Judgment is going to come because of all of the sin in this city. And they leave this city and sit down under that little miracle tree to watch far away from the city to see what happens to this horrible place with all these horrible people. And God turns to Jonah and pleads with him and says, “Jonah, you don’t have my heart. You’re missing the heart of God. Yes, you fear me at times. Yes, you obey me at times. Yes, you even have testimony at times. But you don’t love the people. You love yourself.”

Verse 10. But the Lord said, “You have pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night, and it perished in a night.” What is God saying to Jonah? He’s drawing a parallel. What is he saying? Saying, “Jonah, I labored for every single one of those people. I grew every single one of those people in the womb. Jonah, I’ I’ve known these people. I’ve known this person a long time. Jonah, I was there at their first cry when they came into the world. Jonah, I was there.” And you can’t see them anymore through my eyes. You see them according to their sin. You look at them according to the judgment that you feel is right for them because of what is coming. But I was there. I know them. I labored for them. I grew them. But you can be bothered with things that you did hardly anything for. But you’re missing the heart of God. See, the oldest son in the house never really got to know and understand the father’s heart, but the younger son did. The younger son got to experience what the father is actually really like, and it caused celebration.

Church, you have to have God’s heart. That’s what the Lord is speaking to us and to the church in our nation. You have to have my heart, and you have to go tell sinners about me. You have to have my heart and go. Not only go like Jonah did, not only go and do and feel good about the fact that you’re following Jesus. Church, so many are following Jesus without having the heart of God. And it changes the way the message feels for sinners who cannot do anything good or else they would. They can’t stop sinning or else they would. They don’t have the finances to dress up like you do or else they would. And there’s a message that comes from our life, not only with our mouth, but from our attitude, from our heart. And when we miss the heart of God, sinners feel they can’t come. They can’t come to the father’s house. They can’t come and be paid for. They can’t come and be changed. They can’t come and be celebrated. They can’t come and dance in gratitude. No, they need to pay a little bit. And the Lord is speaking to us. You have to have my heart, and you have to go tell sinners about me because sinners have forgotten about me. And the Lord wants them to remember. He wants their soul to remember, because when they remember what the father’s like, they come running back home.

When they remember what he’s like, they are persuaded to one more time begin to pray. One more time, believe that they too can come. I want to invite you to stand with me for a moment.

I want to pray with you this morning for the body of Christ, for churches in our city, for churches in our nation. And I want to, together with you, unite in prayer and pray for those that are missing God’s heart. They can’t see sinners anymore the way the father sees them. And maybe maybe you say that’s me this morning. I realize I’m not looking at the broken, the hurting, the sinning. I’m not looking at them the way the father looks at them. I’m not looking at them like they were made by Jesus. Jesus was near to them their entire life. Jesus is hurting for them, and Jesus wants them to have mercy and forgiveness. I’m treating them as sinners. I’m treating them not according to the heart of the father, which provided a cross so that anyone can come home. I have a small—it’s small—but I have a small offense in my heart. It causes me to judge these people. If you repent and turn to Jesus, he will give you the father’s heart again. It is that simple.

When you repent, you say, “Lord, that’s me.” And you say, “Lord, I come back. Lord God, would you give me your heart?” I promise you, Lord Jesus will begin to minister the father’s heart to you. And maybe you are here, or you are with us online, and you say, “I don’t even see myself through the father’s eyes. I don’t even see myself like I can come home. I don’t even see myself like I’m wanted in the presence of the father.” But I’m willing to believe this morning that God is different. That he wants my presence. That he wants me to experience forgiveness. That he wants me home. And that he wants me to represent him well. That he wants me to celebrate. That he wants me in the house. That he wants to dress me. That he wants to put a ring on my finger. That he wants to put new sandals on my feet. That he wants to celebrate me. I’m willing to believe that that is what the father is actually like. I want to invite you to come and join me here at the altar if you say, “ I’m doubting whether or not I see myself correctly through the father’s eyes. I feel like I see myself through sin.”

Or if you say, “I feel like I see others through sin.” Or if you say, “Listen, I want to come and join, and I want to pray together this morning for churches that are missing God’s heart.” We don’t want to cast judgment on those churches and flush them down the gutter. We want to pray for these churches. We want to pray that they may have God’s heart. We want to pray that they may go out in their cities again. We want to pray that they may see the cross again over sinners and not their sin clouding them. If you want to pray with us for any of those reasons, would you come and join me at the altar, that we may unite together in prayer? Praying for this generation, praying for the churches, and praying that the people of God may have his heart in all places, all situations, for their own life and for the lives of their cities and this generation, that we may represent our Lord accurately in Jesus’ name.

-Pastor Stan Mons