Speak the Gospel

“...but I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will fulfill that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Jehovah!” (Jonah 2:9)

These were Jonah’s words, part of his prayer when he was in the belly of the fish that swallowed him.  We all know what happened to him. He was escaping God Who told him to go to Ninevah and warn them of the destruction that was coming to them because of their wickedness. But they were so wicked that Jonah did not care to warn them and fled to Tarshish by way of Joppa where he boarded a boat. A freaky storm comes up and the sailors know that because of its unusualness, someone in that boat is the cause for it. They draw straws and it falls on Jonah who tells them that He is running from God and if they toss him out of the boat, the seas will calm down. And when they toss him, a fish swallows him. He repents when he’s in the belly of the fish and prays. (Jonah 1:1-2:9)

In these last words of Jonah’s prayer, he promises to be thankful and to obey his calling which he has vowed to the Lord. Jonah was a prophet and God entrusted him to take a message to the people of Ninevah, to repent. This was difficult for Jonah to do. These were godless people, one of the worse and in his estimation didn’t deserve any mercy. He knew that if he warned them, they would repent, and God would turn His wrath away from them. He felt that they should be punished for their wickedness.

Jonah was self-righteous.  He was disobeying a direct commandment from the Lord and yet he judged the people of Ninevah for their sin. We may not be in ministry and won’t be tempted to choose who deserves God’s mercy by choosing where to preach. But as children of God, we’ve been given the ministry of reconciliation and the commandment to teach all nations, in other words all peoples, about God’s merciful gift of forgiveness and life. “And all things are of God, Who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;” (2Corinthians 5:18).  We can’t be choosy. Only God knows who will believe and receive His gift. Our job is to speak and teach. We’ve been given the Great Commission. “Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20) The Holy Spirit is the One Who convicts people of their sin. “And when that One comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.” (John 16:8) The fear of people, fear of rejection, fear of scorning or fear of ridicule keeps us from sharing. We rationalize it by saying to ourselves that they wouldn’t want to repent anyway.

Jonah’s last words in his prayer were true then and are true now. “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” Salvation is God’s work. We have no strength or power to change people’s hearts. Only God can change hearts. In prophesying about the coming new covenant, Ezekiel prophesied, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26 other Scriptures: Jeremiah 24:7; 1 Samuel 10:9; Romans 2:29) As we speak the Gospel to people, God’s Word is alive and has the power to change their hearts. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2) One word from God can change our attitude, our mind and our heart.

On a final note, Jonah did repent and preach to Ninevah. The people did repent. And God did turn His wrath from them. As we overcome our cowardice fears and boldly proclaim the Gospel which has the power to change hearts, the Holy Spirit will convict those who will surprise us when the Holy Spirit convicts them of sin and brings them to repentance.