THEY BELIEVED GOD AND ACTED* ELECTION OF GOD--OR A CHOSEN GENERATION * “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. /MAT 12:41. Notice the men *of Nineveh were not given any indication in Jonas’ message that mercy would be offered for repentance. They heard only the message of judgment. No offer of repentance or mercy was given. There was no call to repentance! They were only sent a notice of condemnation that in forty days, Nineveh would be overthrown. JON 3:2-4 said, “Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Do you see even a hint of mercy or a call to repentance? It was just a forewarning. They had forty days before being overthrown. See how the Lord teaches us to respond to the doctrine of election. It is important to understand this principle and why *Nineveh shall rise in judgment against the generation whose whole religion rested upon election and the promises God had made to Abraham, while refusing to hear our Saviour’s Words. * Jonah warned the men of Nineveh of the fruit of their sins, and they repented. Notice what the Jews *said to the Lord Jesus Christ when He reproved them of their unrepentant spirit. JOH 8:45-48 says, “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” Here is an age-old tactic of Satan. We see the same thing today; as soon as sin is revealed, people will turn on the one who reproves, charging Him with wrong to remove the emphasis from their own sin. Let me give you a current example. A special prosecutor is appointed to investigate crime. As soon as he gets his fingers on something hot, he is charged with wrongdoing. His words become less effective because tactics were used against him to discredit his findings. If a man faithfully preaches the whole gospel, men’s consciences will be charged with sin. Then, like Jezebel did with Naboth, they’ll get men of Belial to charge him with blaspheming God and the king and stone him to death so that they could seem justified in taking his vineyard, Cf. 1KI 21:5-21. What did the scribes and Pharisees do to the Lord Jesus after he had healed a man possessed of a devil? They brought accusations against His name and charged Him with casting out devils in the name of Beelzebub. Do you see what Jesus is saying? He asked who could convince or accuse Him of sin; what had He done wrong? They tried to stop His mouth by bringing blasphemy against Him. In Verse 31 He said, “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” He told them in Verse 28 that it was by the Spirit of God that He cast out the devil. Let’s go back to JOH 8:45-48 where Jesus said, “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” Why did they accuse Him of being a Beelzebub? It was to discredit the words He spoke. Then Jesus showed them they were not of God because if they were, they would hear what He said. When Jesus charged their consciences with the truth, they immediately brought charges against Him. Why? It was their best defense. An offensive is often the best defense. An offensive against the truth might hide their lies. We need look no farther than our political arena today to see examples of the same tactic. Isn’t it also true in our church circles? It is a natural response of man. It is by grace, my friend, if we are able to hear and receive reproof. It is a token of grace to hear rebuke, and correct and repent of that sin. The logic of *the men of Nineveh was far *wiser than all the philosophy and humanistic religion of this chosen generation of Abraham’s seed! See what they *said of the preaching of Jonah in JON 3:4-9. “And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God*, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water; But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent,* and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?” Can we let our philosophy and private interpretations of election be an obstacle to our salvation? The men of Nineveh had nothing but a message of condemnation and destruction. Yet they believed God*. That is why they will rise in judgment with this generation. They didn’t call Jonah a Beelzebub or a devil or a Samaritan. They believed God! They went into action and did that which is not only logical, but natural! They proclaimed a fast, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes from the greatest of them to the least of them. They cried unto God and repented. This heathen nation had no claim upon any covenant relationship with God, nor had they received any gospel. Do you understand that no person needs despair over not being among the elect? God heard these heathens who were outside the chosen race. When they repented, He turned from His fierce anger; yet His chosen people who made their whole religion out of election fell into fatalism and committed the unpardonable sin. This is why Ninevah shall rise in judgment against the chosen generation with whom our Saviour was speaking. The city of Nineveh had no reason to think they were among the elect, but they repented and turned from their evil ways. They turned from the violence that was in their hands. Repentance is more than just weeping; it is more than sorrowing. It is a turning from sin. Gospel repentance is turning from our evil ways and seeking the will of the Lord as the people of Nineveh did. Do you understand what the Lord Jesus is preaching concerning the doctrine of election? No person can claim election as a foundation for salvation in an unrepentant state, and no person should despair of it because he is not a chosen one. The Lord is looking for a turning from evil ways. We are to cry unto the Lord for mercy and repent of our evil ways. Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 20:17:15 +0000
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