Quote from Forum Archives on May 3, 2006, 11:43 am

Posted by: info <info@...>

E-pistle

Dr. Curt Scarborough, President
FreeWay Foundation April 28, 2006

Jonah Preaches God's Message

(Jonah 3:1-10)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

I. Concentration: on the events of this chapter

1. Jonah's call from the Lord to preach to Nineveh was issued a second
time,

vv. 1-2.

2. Jonah obeyed, entered Nineveh, and began to preach: "Yet forty
days, and

Nineveh shall be overthrown," vv. 3-4.

3. The people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast; the king
issued

a proclamation calling the nation to repentance, vv. 5-9.

4. God saw their repentance and withheld His judgment
from falling upon

them, v. 10.

II. Meditation: on how God deals with sinful mankind

1. God sends His messenger to preach a message of coming judgment

because of sin and to call for repentance.

2. The people hear the message and believe that it is a true message
from

God and that He will do what He says.

3. The people repent in godly sorrow and turn from their wicked
practices . . .

in this case, the particular sin most prevalent in Assyria was "violence,"
v. 8.

4. God sees sincere repentance of their hearts, and in mercy He
forgives,

rather than administering the just punishment which is deserved.

III. Revelation: on the spiritual implications seen here

1. Before the Lord punishes sin, He gives warnings.

2. The proper response is faith . . . believing that there is a God
and that what

He says, He will do.

3. Repentance . . . a change of the mind which results in a change of
the heart

and of the conduct . . . is the necessary companion of faith.

4. When God sees true repentance and sincere faith in a person, He
extends

mercy (taking away the deserved penalty of a guilty sinner) and grace

(giving the undeserved blessing of forgiveness and cleansing).

IV. Applications: as a Christian, I need to . . .

1. Listen to the Holy Spirit, Who convicts me of my sins.

2. Live and walk daily by faith in the Living God.

3. Remain in a constant state of repentance, confessing and forsaking
my

sins as soon as the Holy Spirit convicts me.

4. Receive with praise and thanksgiving God's twin gifts of mercy and
grace,

extended to me through His Son, Jesus Christ.

"Rock of Gibraltar"

Dr. Curt Scarborough

Few people know this, but the genuine Rock of Gibraltar is
located in a

backyard of a house in Benton, Illinois. Before Prudential even had a clue,
we

Scarboroughs owned "a piece of the rock" . . . in fact, the entire rock.
That

boulder at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea is an impostor!

At first, we had no idea how gigantic that rock on McLeansboro
Street

was. Its peak peeked out of the ground only a few inches, and it was about
16

inches across. Mother wanted the rock removed because she wanted her rose

trellis there. So I got the job of rooting it out, but the more I dug
around it, the

bigger it got. The stone became a rock, then a boulder, then a ledge . . .
finally,

after a couple of weeks of excavation work, I was convinced that we had

uncovered the top of a pyramid. No wonder southern Illinois was nick-named

"Little Egypt."

Uncle Joe ripped the drive shaft our of his Ford truck trying to
move it,

but Gibraltar wouldn't budge! Uncle John's team of blue-nosed mules didn't
have

any luck either. Finally Dad and Grandpa decided we needed to blast, so
they

planted a couple of sticks of dynamite next to the rock and lit the fuse.
Everybody

in the neighborhood ran for cover, and the explosion registered a 5.5 on the

Richter Scale in the Franklin County Seismology Department.

The rock, however, just got scorched a little, but we now owned
a nice

sized swimming hole. So Mom changed her planes about the rose trellis. To
this

day, old Gibraltar stands tall, jutting an estimated 1,400 feet into the air
on the west

side of Mother's lily pond in Benton.

King Solomon wrote: "There is . . . a time to cast away stones,
and a time

to gather stones together." (Ecclesiastes 3:5) In ancient times, invading
armies

would throw rocks on enemy land to prevent cultivation of crops and to stop
up

their wells. (II Kings 3:25) Gathered stones, by contrast, were used to
build altars

and memorial pillars. (Exodus 20:25; Joshua 4:5-7) Houses and fences and
city

walls also were constructed from stones gathered from the rocky terrain.

Stones play a significant role in the Bible: David killed
Goliath with a

stone (I Samuel 7:12), and Christ built His church on a rock (Matthew
16:18). Jesus

(the rejected stone, Matthew 21:42) spoke about the stones crying out in
praise

to God (Luke 19:40), and John wrote about believers being given a white
stone

with a new name engraved on it (Revelation 2:17).

PRAYER FOR THE DAY: Lord, You are able to bless us by bringing even the

stones of the field into league with
your people,

establish our lives upon the Solid
Rock of Jesus Christ

and His teachings.

(Job 5:23; Matthew 7:24-27; I Corinthians 3:11)

Pillsbury College & Seminary

Pillsbury College & Seminary is offering full tuition scholarships to the

first 100 Bi-Vocational pastors who register in 2006.

Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Simply fill out the

Registration Form that you can find at www.pillsburycs.org
<www.pillsburycs.org/> and mail it

along with a $50 registration fee and you will receive your first textbooks,

instructions, and an examination within approximately one week. You will

also be contacted by your personal mentor . . . an ordained minister who

has been assigned by Pillsbury College & Seminary to assist you in

earning your Bachelor of Biblical Studies Degree.

If your have questions, please contact drcurt@pillsburycs.org or telephone

us at (314) 739-1121.

"There is no room in baseball for discrimination.

It is our national pastime and a game for all."

-Lou Gehrig

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