There can be no doubt, that the repentance of a great proportion of the Ninevites was insincere ; yet they all obtained a reprieve. The Lord has such a love for holiness, and is so abundant in mercy, that he shews a respect even for appearances of goodness, and for approaches to reformation. Ahab was respited when he humbled himself, though he was still in love with sin, and died at last under the tokens of God's wrath.* Rich is the grace of our God; he is slow to anger, but swift to shew mercy: and, now that the Nineviles began to reform, and exhibited promising appearances of amendment, he turned from bis fierce anger, and would not destroy them.

Yet who can tell, how many sincere penitents might now be found in Nineveh? Christ tells us, that the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with the evil generation that would not believe in him, and shall condemn it; may we not therefore hope, that many of them shall appear in the great day on the right hand of the Judge, to the praise of the glory of his grace? Numbers were saved in ancient times, through the merit of Christ's atonement, who had very imperfect ideas of the way of salvation through his blood; and gentiles, as well as Jews, were admitted to take hold of the covenant of God, and to share in the riches of his redeeming love. Many of these poor sinners betook themselves to the mercy of God for refuge; and we have reason to think, that this mercy was extended, not only to their bodies, but also to their souls; and that they were delivered, not only from temporal calamities, but from eternal perdition. * 1 Kings xxi. 29.

At a very early period did God make known his designs of mercy towards the heathen; and the repentance of Nineveh, the capital of the gentile world, was an earnest of the calling of the gentiles into the church of God. While the Jews are persecuting his prophets, and rejecting the offers of his grace, lo! he turns to the gentiles; and this large city repents at his first call.

Brethren, did the men of Nineveh repent and turn to the Lord, on the imperfect intimations of his mercy that were given them; and shall not we, who have the fullest discoveries of his grace in the gospel, accept the invitations of his love, that we may live for ever? It is not on a mere peradventure that we are called to rely, but on the word and the oath of a redeeming God. We are not left to conjecture whether God will forgive us or not, on our believing in Jesus for salvation; for God hath set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, for the remission of sins. Escape then unto Jesas without delay, and receive that great salvation, which is secured unto all believers by infinite love, almighty pow er and unalterable faithfulness. Had you merely a faint hope, such as the Ninevites had, that you might obtain salvation by coming to Christ, even this should prompt you to throw yourselves on his mency; resolving, that i you perish, you will perish at the foot of the cross; hov much more should you flee to him for refuge, when he gives you the kindest assurances of this love; and bas expressly said, for the encouragement of poor sinners, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out?"

* John vi. 37.

LECTURE IX.

JONAH'S CHAGRIN AT GOD'S MERCY.

Chap. IV. 1-4.

Ver. 1. "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry."

The natural tempers or dispositions of men are almost as much diversified as the features of their faces. Some are reserved, and others open; some forward, and others timid; some mild and deliberate, others passionate and impetuous; some cheerful and contented, others peevish and fretful. Now, it must occur to every one who has studied the different characters of the godly, that, though divine grace makes a wonderful change in the natural dispositions, improving the good and correcting the bad, there will still remain some traces of the original temper; and such of God's children as have had a very bad natural temper, will now and then discover some workings of the old leaven, unsubdued, or at least unextinguished.

Of this we have a striking illustration in the case of Jonah. He seems to have had one of the very worst tempers; to have been peevish and melancholy, and yet fiery and headstrong; and, though he was not

only a child of God, but a prophet, nay, even a type of the glorious Messiah, the sour fruits of his bad natural dispositions are very conspicuous. We have observed some of them in the foregoing chapters, and here we find others equally strange. One would hardly have supposed, that a saint, much less a holy prophet, could have betrayed a spirit so perverse as that which Jonah now breathed; but great failings and strong corruptions have too often been discovered in real believers. That such things are recorded by Jonah himself, without any attempt to throw a vail over his imperfections, is a proof both of his faithfulness and his penitence. Doubtless his failings are set before us for our warning, that we may shun the temptations into which he fell, and learn to be actuated by a better spirit.

After hearing of the great success which attended Jonah's ministry, we might expect to find his thanksgivings and praises for the salvation of so many sinners, and for the honour conferred upon him in his being made the instrument of their redemption; and we might suppose the prophet to be eager in forwarding the good work begun at Nineveh, and ardently seeking to extend this reformation to other parts of the Assyrian empire. As Paul counted it a high honour to be the apostle of the gentiles, so might Jonah magnify the Lord who had graciously advanced him to be the prophet of the gentiles; especially as it was an honour of which he was so unworthy. Well might he have said, "To me, who am less than the least of

all saints, is this grace given." But ah! how different the spirit of the prophet from that of the apostle! The blessed change wrought at Nineveh, and its consequent preservation from ruin, instead of calling forth songs of praise and labours of love, only produced murmurs and passionate complaints: "It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry."

There are occasions when anger may be justified, but even then it will become sinful, if it be not kept within due bounds: as it is said, "Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath."* It is an important duty to restrain our passions, and maintain a proper composure of spirit; and though there had been something to offend Jonah, he ought not to have been exceedingly displeased and very angry.

Much more criminal was Jonah's anger, as it was directed against God himself, who could not have given him any just cause of offence. It is truly strange, that a child of God should ever be displeased with his heavenly Father, or angry at his proceedings: yet such was the case with Jonah. He could not be angry with the Ninevites for repenting at his preaching; it was with God himself that he was dissatisfied; and this was a great aggravation of his crime; for, if he that is angry with his brother without a cause be in danger of the judgment,+ how much more he that is angry with God himself?

Not only was his anger without a cause, as all anger against God must be, but even without the * Ephesians iv. 26. + Matthew v. 22.