Overview:
Selections from Jonah
As we reach the end of our study of the book of Jonah, it’s fitting that we really let it sink in. It’s one thing to go through the book of Jonah but quite another to have that divine word go through us.
Chuck Swindoll, in this last sermon on Jonah, teaches us four principles from Jonah that can help us in our walk with Jesus.
Listen in and learn what Jonah never did.
Message Summary:
In the series finale, “Lessons Learned from a Stubborn Preacher,” Chuck Swindoll summarizes the profound life lessons embedded in the book of Jonah. The message focuses on the final “object lesson” God provides—a vine, a worm, and a scorching wind—to expose the selfishness of the human heart. Swindoll emphasizes that we often care more about our temporary “vines” (comforts, reputations, and preferences) than the eternal souls of people around us. This concluding study challenges believers to broaden their worldview to match God’s global heart for the lost, reminding us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s sovereign grace.
Message Key Facts:
- The Contrast of Pity: Jonah felt “pity” for a plant he didn’t even grow, yet felt no compassion for a city of 120,000 “who do not know their right hand from their left.”
- The Sovereign “Appointments”: God is shown as the Master of Nature, “appointing” the fish, the plant, the worm, and the wind to discipline and teach His prophet.
- The Uncomfortable Mirror: Swindoll highlights that Jonah’s stubbornness is a reflection of our own tendency to want God’s grace for ourselves but strict justice for our enemies.
- The Silence of Jonah: The book ends without Jonah’s response, leaving the “lesson learned” as an open-ended challenge for the reader’s own life.
Message References:
- The Shelter of Self-Interest
- Jonah builds a booth to watch the city, hoping for its destruction despite the revival.
- Scripture: Jonah 4:5 (Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it).
- The Discipline of Discomfort
- How God uses the “worm” of life to eat away at the “vines” we rely on for comfort.
- Scripture: Jonah 4:6–8 (God appointed a plant… then God appointed a worm).
- The Comparison of Values
- God confronts Jonah’s irrational grief over a plant versus his indifference toward human life.
- Scripture: Jonah 4:9–10 (“You had compassion on the plant… should I not have compassion on Nineveh?”).
- Final Applications: Realigning the Heart
- Swindoll’s concluding points:
- God’s grace is wider than our prejudices.
- Our comfort is never as important as another’s salvation.
- Failure is never final when we return to the God of the second chance.
- Scripture: Jonah 4:11; Romans 10:12–13.
- Swindoll’s concluding points:
