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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O N A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. III.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. Jonah's mission renewed, and the command a second time given him to
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go preach at Nineveh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. Jonah's message to Nineveh faithfully delivered, by which its
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speedy overthrow was threatened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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III. The repentance, humiliation, and reformation of the Ninevites
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hereupon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:5-9">ver. 5-9</A>.
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IV. God's gracious revocation of the sentence passed upon them, and
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the preventing of the ruin threatened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:10">ver. 10</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jon3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jonah's Mission Renewed; The Prophet's Mission to Nineveh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 840.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came unto Jonah the second time,
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saying,
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2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it
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the preaching that I bid thee.
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3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word
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of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three
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days' journey.
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4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and
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he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
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overthrown.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a further evidence of the reconciliation between God and
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Jonah, and that it was a thorough reconciliation, though the
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controversy between them had run high.</P>
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<P>
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I. Jonah's commission is renewed and readily obeyed.</P>
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<P>
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1. By this it appears that God was perfectly reconciled to Jonah, that
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he employed him again in his service; and the commission anew given him
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was an evidence of the remission of his former disobedience. Among men,
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it has been justly pleaded that the giving of a commission to a
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criminal convicted is equivalent to a pardon, so it was to Jonah.
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<I>The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>);
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for,
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1. Jonah must be tried, whether he do indeed repent of his former
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disobedience or no, and whether he have gotten the good designed him
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both by his strange punishment an by his strange deliverance. He had
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deserted his work and duty, and had been under arrest for it, had
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received a <I>sentence of death within himself;</I> but, upon his
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submission, God had released him, had given him his life, had given him
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his liberty; but it is upon his good behaviour that he is released, and
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he must again be put upon the trial whether he will follow the will of
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God or his own will. After he has been thrown into the sea, and thrown
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out of it again, God comes and asks him, "Jonah, wilt thou go to
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Nineveh now?" For <I>when God judges he will overcome,</I> he will gain
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his point; he will bring the disobedient stubborn child to his foot at
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last. Note, When God has afflicted us, and delivered us out of
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affliction, we must hear his voice, saying to us, Now return to the
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duties which before you neglected, and which by these providences you
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are called to. God now said, in effect, to Jonah, as Christ said to the
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impotent man, when he had healed him, "Now go and sin no more, <I>lest
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a worse thing come unto thee</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+5:14">John v. 14</A>),
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a worse thing than lying three days and three nights in the whale's
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belly." God looks upon men, when he has afflicted them and has
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delivered them out of their affliction, to see whether they will mend
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of that fault, particularly, for which they were corrected; and
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therefore in that thing we are concerned to see to it that we receive
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not the grace of God in vain, neither in the correction nor in the
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deliverance, for both are designed to be means of grace.
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(2.) Jonah shall be trusted, in token of God's favour to him. God might
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justly have said concerning Jonah, as we should concerning one that had
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cheated us and dealt treacherously with us, that though we would not
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proceed to the rigour of the law against him, nor ruin him, yet we
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would never again repose a confidence in him; justly might the Spirit
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of prophecy, which Jonah had resisted and rebelled against, depart from
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him, with a resolution never to return to him any more. One would have
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expected that though his life was spared, yet he would be laid under a
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disability and incapacity ever to serve the government again in the
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character of a prophet. But, behold! the word of the Lord comes to him
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again, to show that when God forgives he forgets, and whom he forgives
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he gives a new heart and a new spirit to; he receives those into his
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family again, and restores them to their former estate, that had been
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prodigal children and disobedient servants. Note, God's making use of
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us is the best evidence of his being at peace with us. Hereby it will
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appear that our sins are pardoned, and we have the good-will of God
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towards us; does his good word come unto us, and do we experience his
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good work in us! if so, we have reason to admire the riches of free
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grace and to own our obligations to the Lord Jesus, who received gifts
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for men, <I>yea, even for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
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dwell</I> even among them, and employ them in his word,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:18">Ps. lxviii. 18</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. By this it appears that Jonah was well reconciled to God, that he
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was not now, as he had been before, <I>disobedient to the heavenly
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vision,</I> did not <I>flee from the presence of the Lord,</I> as he
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had done. He neither endeavored to avoid hearing the command, nor did
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he decline obeying it; he made no objections, as he had done, that the
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journey was <I>long,</I> the errand invidious, the delivery of it
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perilous, and, if the threatened judgment did come, he should be
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reproached as a false prophet, and the impenitence of his own nation
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would be upbraided, which he had objected,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+4:2"><I>ch.</I> iv. 2</A>.
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But now, without murmuring and disputing, <I>Jonah arose, and went unto
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Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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See here,
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(1.) The nature of repentance; it is the change of our mind and way,
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and a return to our work and duty, from which we had turned aside; it
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is doing that good which we had left undone.
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(2.) The benefit of affliction; it reduces those to their place that
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had deserted it. Jonah might truly say with David, "<I>Before I was
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afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word;</I> and
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therefore, though it was dreadful, though it was painful to me, and for
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the present <I>not joyous, but grievous,</I> yet <I>it was good,</I>
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very good, <I>for me, that I was afflicted.</I>"
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(3.) See the power of divine grace working with affliction, for
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otherwise affliction of itself would rather drive men from God than
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bring them to him; but God by his grace can <I>turn the disobedient to
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the wisdom of the just,</I> and make those <I>willing in the day of his
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power,</I> freely willing to come under his yoke, whose <I>neck</I> had
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been <I>as an iron sinew.</I>
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(4.) See the duty of all those to whom the word of the Lord comes; they
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must in all points conform themselves to it, and yield a cheerful
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faithful obedience to the orders God gives them. <I>Jonah arose,</I>
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and did not sit still in sloth or sullenness; he went directly to
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Nineveh, though it was a great way off, and a place where, it is
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likely, he never was before; yet thither he took his journey,
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<I>according to the word of the Lord.</I> God's servants must go where
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he sends them, come when he calls them, and do what he bids them;
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whatever appears to be the word of the Lord we must conscientiously do
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according to it.</P>
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<P>
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II. Let us now see what was the command or commission given him, and
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what he did in prosecution of it.</P>
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<P>
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1. He was sent as a herald at arms, in the name of the God of heaven,
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to proclaim war with Nineveh
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city," that metropolis, and <I>preach
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unto it,</I> preach <I>against it,</I> so the Chaldee. What is against
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us is preached to us, that we may hear it and take warning; and what is
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preached to us, if we do not give ear to it, and mix faith with it,
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will prove to be against us. Jonah is sent to Nineveh, which was at
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this time the chief city of the Gentile world, as an indication of
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God's gracious intentions in process of time to make the light of
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divine revelation to shine in those dark regions. God knew that if
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Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon, had had the means of grace, they
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would have repented, and yet he denied them those means,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:21,23">Matt. xi. 21, 23</A>.
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He knew that if Nineveh had now the means of grace they would repent,
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and he gave them those means, sent Jonah, though not to preach
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repentance to them expressly (for we find not that he had that in his
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commission), yet to preach them to repentance, for that was the happy
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effect of what he had in commission. If God thus in dispensing his
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favours, in giving the means of grace to some places and not to others,
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and the spirit of grace to some persons and not to others, acts by
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prerogative and in a way of sovereignty, who may say unto him, What
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doest thou? <I>May he not do what he will with his own?</I> He is
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debtor to no man. Go, and preach (says God) <I>the preaching that I bid
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thee.</I> That is,
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(1.) "The preaching that I did bid thee when I first ordered thee to go
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thither
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+1:2"><I>ch.</I> i. 2</A>);
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go, <I>and cry against it;</I> denounce divine judgments against it;
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tell the men of Nineveh that their wickedness has come up to God, and
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God's vengeance is coming down upon them." This was the message Jonah
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was then very loth to deliver, and therefore flew off and went to
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Tarshish; but, when he is brought to it the second time, God does not
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at all alter the message, to gratify him, or make it the more passable
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with him; no, he must now preach the very same that he was then ordered
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to preach and would not. Note, The word of God is an unalterable thing,
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and will not be made to bend to the humours either of its preachers or
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of its hearers; it shall never comply with their humours and fancies,
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but they must comply with its truths and laws. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:19">Jer. xv. 19</A>.
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<I>Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them.</I> Or,
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(2.) "The preaching that I shall bid thee when thou comest thither."
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This was an encouragement to him in his undertaking, that God would go
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along with him, that the Spirit of prophecy should abide upon him, and
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be ready to him, when he was at Nineveh, to give him all the further
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instructions that were needed for him. This intimated that he should
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hear from him again, which would be his great support in this hazardous
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expedition; as, when God sent Abraham to offer up Isaac, he gave him a
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similar intimation, by telling him he must do it upon <I>one of the
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mountains which he would</I> afterwards direct <I>him to. The steps of
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a good man are ordered by the Lord;</I> he leads his people step by
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step, and so he expects they should follow him. Jonah must go with an
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implicit faith. Though he knows whither he goes, he shall not know,
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till he come thither, what message he must deliver, but, whatever it
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is, he must deliver it, be it pleasing or displeasing. Thus God will
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keep us in a continual dependence upon himself, and the directions of
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his word and providence. What he does, and what he will have us do, we
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<I>know not now,</I> but we <I>shall know hereafter.</I> Admirals,
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sometimes, when they are sent abroad, are not to open their commission
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till they have got so many leagues off at sea; so Jonah must go to
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Nineveh, and, when he comes there, shall be told what to say.</P>
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<P>
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III. He faithfully and boldly delivered his errand. When he came to
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Nineveh he found his diocese large; it was an <I>exceedingly great city
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of three days' journey</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>);
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a city <I>great to God,</I> so the Hebrew phrase is, meaning no more
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than as we render it, <I>exceedingly great;</I> this honour that
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language does to the great God that great things derive their
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denomination from him. The greatness of Nineveh consisted chiefly in
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the extent of it; it was much larger than Babylon, such a city, says
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Diodorus Siculus, as no man ever after built. It was 150 furlongs long
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and 90 broad, and 480 in compass; the walls 100 feet high, and so thick
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that three chariots might go a-breast upon them; on them were 1500
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towers, each of them 200 feet high. It is here said to be of <I>three
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days' journey;</I> for the compass of the walls, as some relate, was
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480 furlongs, which, allowing eight furlongs to a mile, makes sixty
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miles, which may well be reckoned <I>three days' journey</I> for a
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footman, twenty miles a day. Or, walking slowly and gravely as Jonah
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must when he went about preaching, it would take him up at least
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<I>three days</I> to go through all the principal streets and lanes of
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the city, to proclaim his message, that all might have notice of it.
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When he came thither he lost no time; he did not come to look about
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him, but applied closely to his work; and, when he began to enter into
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the city, he did not retire into an inn, to refresh himself after his
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journey, but opened his commission immediately, according to his
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instructions, and he <I>cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh
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shall be overthrown.</I> This, no doubt, he had particular warrant and
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direction to say; whether he enlarged upon this text, as is most
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probable, showing them the controversy God had with them, and how
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provoking their wickedness was, and what reason they had to expect
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destruction and give credit to this warning, or whether he only
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repeated those words again and again, is not certain, but this was the
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purport of his message.
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1. He must tell them that this great city shall be overthrown; he
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meant, and they understood him, that it should be overthrown, not by
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war, but by some immediate stroke from heaven, either by an earthquake
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or by fire and brimstone as Sodom was. The wickedness of cities ripens
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them for destruction, and their wealth and greatness cannot protect
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them from destruction when the measure of their iniquity is full and
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the measure of their vengeance has come. Great cities are easily
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overthrown when the great God comes to reckon with them.
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2. He must tell them that it shall shortly be overthrown, at the end of
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forty days. It has a reprieve granted. So long God will wait to see if,
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upon this alarm given, they will humble themselves and amend their
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doings, and so prevent the ruin threatened. See how slow God is to
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wrath; though Nineveh's wickedness cried for vengeance, yet it shall be
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spared for forty days, that it may have space to repent and meet God in
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the way of his judgments. But he will wait no longer; if in that time
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they turn not, they shall know that he has <I>whet his sword, and made
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it ready.</I> Forty days is a long time for a righteous God to defer
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his judgments, yet it is but a little time for an unrighteous people to
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repent and reform in, and so turn away the judgments coming. The
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fixing of the day thus, with all possible assurance, would help to
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convince them that it was a message from God, for no man durst be so
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positive in fixing a time, however he might prognosticate the thing
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itself; it would also startle them into preparation for it. It may
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justly awaken secure sinners by a sincere conversion to prevent their
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own ruin when they see they have but a little time to turn in. And
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should it not awaken us to get ready for death, to consider that the
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thing itself is certain, and the time fixed in the counsel of God, but
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that we are kept in the dark and uncertainty about it in order that we
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may be always ready? We cannot be so sure that we shall live forty days
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as Nineveh now was that it should stand forty days; nay, I think it is
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more probable that we shall die within thirty or forty days than we
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should live thirty or forty years; and so many years in the day of our
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security we are apt to promise ourselves.</P>
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<CENTER>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD>Fleres, si scires unum tua tempora mensem;
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<BR>Rides, cum non sit forsitan una dies.
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</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD> </TD></TR>
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<TR><TD>We should be alarmed if we were sure not to live
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<BR> a month, and yet we are careless, though we
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<BR> are not sure to live a day.</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER><BR>
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<A NAME="Jon3_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jon3_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Nineveh's Repentance.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 840.</TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast,
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and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least
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of them.
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6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his
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throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered <I>him</I> with
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sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
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7 And he caused <I>it</I> to be proclaimed and published through
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Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let
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neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them
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not feed, nor drink water:
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8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry
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mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil
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way, and from the violence that <I>is</I> in their hands.
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9 Who can tell <I>if</I> God will turn and repent, and turn away
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from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
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10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil
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way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would
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do unto them; and he did <I>it</I> not.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is
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I. A wonder of divine grace in the repentance and reformation of
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Nineveh, upon the warning given them of their destruction approaching.
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<I>Verily I say unto you,</I> we have not found so great an instance of
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it, no, not in Israel; and it will <I>rise up in judgment against the
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men of</I> the gospel--<I>generation, and condemn them; for the
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Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonas, but behold, a greater
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than Jonas is here,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+12:41">Matt. xii. 41</A>.
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Nay, it did condemn the impenitence and obstinacy of Israel at that
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time. God sent many prophets to Israel, and those well known among them
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to be <I>mighty in word and deed;</I> but to Nineveh he sent only one,
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and him a stranger, whose aspect was mean, we may suppose, and his
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<I>bodily presence weak,</I> especially after the fatigue of so long a
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journey; and yet they repented, but Israel repented not. Jonah preached
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but one sermon, and we do not find that he gave them any sign or wonder
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by the accomplishment of which his word might be confirmed; and yet
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they were wrought upon, while Israel continued obstinate, whose
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prophets chose out words wherewith to reason with them, and confirmed
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them by signs following. Jonah only threatened wrath and ruin; we do
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not find that he gave them any calls to repentance or directions how to
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repent, much less any encouragements to hope that they should find
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mercy if they did repent, much less any encouragements to hope that
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they should find mercy if they did repent, and yet they repented; but
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Israel persisted in impertinence, though the prophets sent to them drew
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them <I>with cords of a man, and with bands of love,</I> and assured
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them of great things which God would do for them if they did repent and
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reform. Now let us see what was the method of Nineveh's repentance,
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what were the steps and particular instances of it.</P>
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<P>
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1. They <I>believed God;</I> they gave credit to the word which Jonah
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spoke to them in the name of God: they believed that though they had
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many that they called gods, yet there was but <I>one living and true
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God,</I> the sovereign Lord of all,--that to him they were
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accountable,--that they had sinned against him and had become obnoxious
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to his justice,--that this notice sent them of ruin approaching came
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from him, and consequently that the ruin itself would come from him at
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a time prefixed if it were not prevented by a timely repentance,--that
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he is a merciful God, and there might be some hopes of the turning away
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of the wrath threatened, if they did turn away from the sins for which
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it was threatened. Note, Those that <I>come to God,</I> that come back
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to him after they have revolted from him, must believe, must believe
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that he is, that he is reconcilable, that he will be theirs if they
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take the right course. And observe what great faith God can work by
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very small, weak, and unlikely means; he can bring even Ninevites by a
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few threatening words to be <I>obedient to the faith.</I> Some think
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the Ninevites heard, from the mariners or others, or from Jonah
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himself, of his being cast into the sea and delivered thence by
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miracle, and that this served for a confirmation of his mission, and
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brought them the more readily to believe God speaking by him. But of
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this we have no certainty. However, Christ's resurrection, typified by
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that of Jonah's, served for the confirmation of his gospel, and
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contributed abundantly to their great success who in his name
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<I>preached repentance and remission of sins to all nations, beginning
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at Jerusalem.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. They brought word to the king of Nineveh, who, some think, was at
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this time Sardanapalus, others Pul, king of Assyria. Jonah was not
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directed to go to him first, in respect to his royal dignity; crowned
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heads, when guilty heads, are before God upon a level with common
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heads, and therefore Jonah is not sent to the court, but to the streets
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of Nineveh, to make his proclamation. However, an account of his errand
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is brought to the king of Nineveh, not by way of information against
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Jonah, as a disturber of public peace, that he might be silenced and
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punished, which perhaps would have been done if he had cried thus in
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the streets of Jerusalem, who <I>killed God's prophets and stoned those
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that were sent unto her.</I> No; the account was brought him of it, not
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as of a crime, but as a message from heaven, by some that were
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concerned for the public welfare, and whose hearts trembled for it.
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Note, Those kings are happy who have such about them as will give them
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notice of the things that belong to the kingdom's peace, of the
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warnings both of the word and of the providence of God, and of the
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tokens of God's displeasure which they are under; and those people are
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happy who have such kings over them as will take notice of those
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things.</P>
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<P>
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3. The king set them a good example of humiliation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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When he heard of the <I>word of God</I> sent to him he <I>rose from his
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throne,</I> as Eglon the king of Moab, who, when Ehud told him he had a
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message to him form God, <I>rose up out of his seat.</I> The king of
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Nineveh <I>rose from his throne,</I> not only in reverence to a word
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from God in general, but in fear of a word of wrath in particular, and
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in sorrow and shame for sin, by which he and his people had become
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obnoxious to his wrath. He rose from his royal throne, and laid aside
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his royal robe, the badge of his imperial dignity, as an acknowledgment
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that, having not used his power as he ought to have done for the
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restraining of violence and wrong, and the maintaining of right, he had
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forfeited his throne and robe to the justice of God, had rendered
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himself unworthy of the honour put upon him and the trust reposed in
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him as a king, and that it was just with God to take his kingdom from
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him. Even the king himself disdained not to put on the garb of a
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penitent, for he <I>covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in
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ashes,</I> in token of his humiliation for sin and his dread of divine
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vengeance. It well becomes the greatest of men to abase themselves
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before the great God.</P>
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<P>
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4. The people conformed to the example of the king, nay, it should
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seem, they led the way, for they first began to <I>put on sackcloth,
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from the greatest of them even to the least of them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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The least of them, that had least to lose in the overthrow of the city,
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did not think themselves unconcerned in the alarm; and the greatest of
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them, that were accustomed to lie at ease and live in state, did not
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think it below them to put on the marks of humiliation. The wearing of
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sackcloth, especially to those who were used to fine linen, was a very
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uneasy thing, and they would not have done it if they had not had a
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deep sense of their sin and their danger by reason of sin, which hereby
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they designed to express. Note, Those that would not be ruined must be
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humbled, those that would not destroy their souls must afflict their
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souls; when God's judgments threaten us we are concerned to <I>humble
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ourselves under his mighty hand;</I> and though bodily exercise alone
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profits nothing, and man's <I>spreading sackcloth and ashes under
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him,</I> if that be all, is but a jest (it is the heart that God looks
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at,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:5">Isa. lviii. 5</A>),
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yet on solemn days of humiliation, when God in his providence <I>calls
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to mourning and girding with sackcloth,</I> we must by the outward
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expressions of inward sorrow <I>glorify God with our bodies,</I> at
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least by laying aside their ornaments.</P>
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<P>
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5. A general fast was proclaimed and observed throughout that great
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city,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:7-9"><I>v.</I> 7-9</A>.
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It was ordered <I>by the decree of the king and his nobles;</I> the
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whole legislative power concurred in appointing it, and the whole body
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of the people concurred in observing it, and in both these ways it
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became a national act, and it was necessary that it should be so when
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it was to prevent a national ruin. We have here the contents of this
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proclamation, and it is very observable. See here,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) What it is that is required by it.
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[1.] That the fast (properly so called) be very strictly observed. On
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the day appointed for this solemnity, <I>let neither man or beast taste
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any thing;</I> let them not take the least refreshment, no, no so much
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as <I>drink water;</I> let them not plead that they cannot fast so long
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without prejudice to their health, or that they cannot bear it; let
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them try for once. What if they do feel it an uneasiness, and feel from
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it for some time after? It is better to submit to that than be wanting
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in any act or instance of that repentance which is necessary to save a
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sinking city. Let them make themselves uneasy in body by <I>putting on
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sackcloth,</I> as well as by fasting, to show how uneasy they are in
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mind, through sorrow for sin and the fear of divine wrath. Even the
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<I>beasts</I> must do penance as well as man, because they have been
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made <I>subject to vanity</I> as instruments of man's sin, and that,
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either by their complaints or their silent pining for want of meat,
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they might stir up their owners, and those that attended them, to the
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expressions of sorrow and humiliation. Those cattle that were kept
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within doors must not be fed and watered as usual, because no meat must
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be stirring on that day. Things of that kind must be forgotten, and not
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minded. As when the psalmist was intent upon the praises of God he
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called upon the inferior creatures to join with him therein, so when
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the Ninevites were full of sorrow for sin, and dread of God's
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judgments, they would have the inferior creatures concur with them in
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the expressions of penitence. The beasts that used to be covered with
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rich and fine trappings, which were the pride of their masters, and
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theirs too, must now be <I>covered with sackcloth;</I> for the great
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men will (as becomes them) lay aside their equipage.
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[2.] With their fasting and mourning they must join prayer and
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supplication to God; for the fasting is designed to fit the body for
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the service of the soul in the duty of prayer, which is the main
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matter, and to which the other is but preparatory or subservient.
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<I>Let them cry mightily to God;</I> let even the brute creatures do it
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according to their capacity; let their cries and moans for want of food
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be graciously construed as cries to God, as the cries of the <I>young
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ravens</I> are
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:41">Job xxxviii. 41</A>),
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and of the <I>young lions,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:21">Ps. civ. 21</A>.
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But especially let the men, women, and children, <I>cry to God;</I> let
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them <I>cry mightily</I> for the pardon of the sins which cry against
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them. It was time to cry to God when there was but a step between them
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and ruin--high time to seek the Lord. In prayer we must cry mightily,
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with a fixedness of thought, firmness of faith, and fervour of pious
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and devout affections. By crying mightily we wrestle with God; we take
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hold of him; and we are concerned to do so when he is not only
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departing from us as a friend, but coming forth against us as an enemy.
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It therefore concerns us in prayer to stir up all that is within us.
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Yet this is not all;
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[3.] They must to their fasting and praying add reformation and
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amendment of life: <I>Let them turn every one from his evil way,</I>
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the evil way he has chosen, the evil way he is addicted to, and walks
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in, the evil way of his heart, and the evil way of his conversation,
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and particularly <I>from the violence that is in their hands;</I> let
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them restore what they had unjustly taken, and make reparation for what
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wrong they have done, and let them not any more oppress those they have
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power over nor defraud those they having dealings with; let the men in
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authority, at the court-end of the town, turn <I>from the violence that
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is in their hands,</I> and not <I>decree unrighteous decrees,</I> nor
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give wrong judgment upon appeals made to them. Let the men of business,
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at the trading-end of the town, turn <I>from the violence in their
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hands,</I> and use no unjust weights or measures, nor impose upon the
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ignorance or necessity of those they trade with. Note, It is not enough
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to fast for sin, but we must fast from sin, and, in order to the
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success of our prayers, must no more <I>regard iniquity in our
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hearts,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:18">Ps. lxvi. 18</A>.
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This is <I>the only fast that God has chosen</I> and will accept,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:6.Zec+7:5,9">Isa. lviii. 6; Zech. vii. 5, 9</A>.
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The work of a fast-day is not done with the day; no, then the hardest
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and most needful part of the work begins, which is to turn from sin,
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and to live a new life, and not return with the dog to his vomit.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) Upon what inducement this fast is proclaimed and religiously
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observed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>).
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<I>Who can tell if God will turn and repent?</I> Observe,
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[1.] What it is that they hope for--that God will, upon their repenting
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and turning, change his way towards them and revoke his sentence
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against them, that he will <I>turn from his fierce anger,</I> which
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they own they deserve and yet humbly and earnestly deprecate, and that
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thus their ruin will be prevented, and they perish not. They cannot
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object against the equity of the judgment, they pretend not to set it
|
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aside by appealing to a higher court, but hope in God himself, that he
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will repent, and that his own mercy (to which they fly) <I>shall
|
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rejoice against judgment.</I> They believe that God is justly angry
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with them, that, their sin being very heinous, his anger is very
|
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fierce, and that, if he proceed against them, there is no remedy, but
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they die, they perish, they all perish, and are undone; for who knows
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the power of his anger? It is not therefore the threatened overthrow
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that they pray for the prevention of, but the anger of God that they
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pray for the turning away of. As when we pray for the favour of God we
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pray for all good, so when we pray against the wrath of God we pray
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against all evil.
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[2.] What degree of hope they had of it: <I>Who can tell if God will
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turn to us?</I> Jonah had not told them; they had not among them any
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other prophets to tell them, so that they could not be so confident of
|
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finding mercy upon their repentance as we may be, who have the promise
|
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and oath of God to depend upon, and especially the merit and mediation
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of Christ to trust to, for pardon upon repentance. Yet they had a a
|
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general notion of the goodness of God's nature, his mercy to man, and
|
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his being pleased with the repentance and conversion of sinners; and
|
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from this they raised some hopes that he would spare them; they dare
|
|
not presume, but they will not despair. Note, Hope of mercy is the
|
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great encouragement to repentance and reformation; and though there be
|
|
but some glimmerings of hope mixed with great fears arising from a
|
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sense of our own sinfulness, and unworthiness, and long abuse of divine
|
|
patience, yet they may serve to quicken and engage our serious
|
|
repentance and reformation. Let us boldly cast ourselves at the
|
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footstool of free grace, resolving that if we perish, we will perish
|
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there; yet who knows but God will look upon us with compassion?</P>
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<P>
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II. Here is a wonder of divine mercy in the sparing of these Ninevites
|
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upon their repentance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jon+3:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>God saw their works;</I> he not only heard their good words, by
|
|
which they professed repentance, but saw their good works, by which
|
|
they brought forth <I>fruits meet for repentance;</I> he saw that they
|
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<I>turned from their evil way,</I> and that was the thing he looked for
|
|
and required. If he had not seen that, their fasting and sackcloth
|
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would have been as nothing in his account. He saw there was among them
|
|
a general conviction of their sins and a general resolution not to
|
|
return to them, and that for some days they lived better, and there was
|
|
a new face of things upon the city; and this he was well pleased with.
|
|
Note, God takes notice of every instance of the reformation of sinners,
|
|
even those instances that fall not under the cognizance and observation
|
|
of the world. He sees who turn from their evil way and who do not, and
|
|
meets those with favour that meet him in a sincere conversion. When
|
|
they repent of the evil of sin committed by them he repents of the evil
|
|
of judgment pronounced against them. Thus he spared Nineveh, and <I>did
|
|
not the evil which he said he would do against it.</I> Here were no
|
|
sacrifices offered to God, that we read of, to make atonement for sin,
|
|
but the <I>sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite
|
|
heart,</I> such as the Ninevites now had, it what he <I>will not
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despise;</I> it is what he will give countenance to and put honour
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upon.</P>
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