IT may be felt that this verse concerning the reaction of the king of Nineveh to the message of Jonah adds nothing new to what we have already considered from the reaction of the people to his message. However there is more that we can learn, and this is brought into focus because the focus of the Spirit's work in reviving and bring the soul to life is upon one man, and he is the king.

What we learn here is so important because if there is anything that is needed to be learnt by the church today it is what we see in this king. The whole focus of church life lacks this important work of the Spirit of God. It is not entirely lacking, but it has not the depth and conviction that is found here, and so people's Christian faith and experience is lacking that deep faith in Christ in all the completeness of his saving work.

The reason may be that society today is filled with so much gross evil, and standards have been eroded so much that sin is not regarded as sin anymore, or if it is, it is not felt to be so bad, and as a result the true nature of sin and the corruption of the human heart as seen from the eye of God is not appreciated. We do not commit these gross sins. We care about the suffering of the world, and do what we can to alleviate it. We are not violent or rude as so many are. We are respectable citizens who pay our taxes and obey the law. In the light of the gross sins which are displayed on the news and in TV chat shows and drama, we feel we are good people, and although we confess we are sinners before God, there is little if any real concept of the experience which Paul so graphically records for us in Romans 7 or Philippians 3. Because of this Christ and his love and his atoning work for sinners is not seen in its great glory, and there is a tendency to feel that although we need Christ to save us, we don't need him very much because we are good people. This attitude is revealed in how forms of confession in the services of the Church of England have been watered down from the strong confession of sin previously, and it is felt to be going over the top and unnecessary to paint our sin in such a awful way. This anemic view of sin is seen in that Christ and his great work to redeem us is hardly mentioned in preaching, and the great themes of Romans and Galatians figure little, if at all.

Looking at the experience of this king of Nineveh helps us to see how shallow is our understanding of salvation and the Spirit's work in the soul. We can learn so much by simply meditating on this verse, and the four actions recorded there of the response of the king of Nineveh to the message of God through Jonah.

ACCEPTING GOD'S WORD.

When the news reached the king. The news was the message of God through Jonah. He heard the word of God, and he accepted it as the word of God. He believed this word to be true. He received it as a true and authoritative message. He believed that God was God and he could do what he said he would do. He feared God and this was his response to the message.

Here is a cogent lesson for the church today and for every Christian. Do we receive the word of God given to us in the Bible as the very word of God? Do we take the word of God seriously? Do we believe it and receive it as God speaking to us, and give the word of God the attention and response that it deserves and which we should? Do we reverence the Bible as the word of God, and so read and consult it every day to hear God's message for us? By the same token do we treat preaching with seriousness, and examine the Scriptures to see if the word preached is the word of God, and if so do we receive this preaching and respond to it as this king did to the preaching of Jonah? Do we attend on preaching and use this means of grace as a joy and privilege, so that we may be instructed in the message of God whom we serve? These are serious questions, and we need to search our soul by them.

ROSE FROM HIS THRONE.

The first action of the king in response to the message of God through Jonah was to vacate his throne. There is much we can learn from this action. We can learn that the king, seeing himself in the light of the conviction of sin being impressed upon his mind and heart by the Spirit, saw himself in the view of God as a sinner just like any other man. He realized his royal position, though high in value before the world, was nothing in the eyes of God. He realized that he was before the king of kings, and so he must be humble before the king of kings.

The rising from his throne revealed the convicting work of God's Spirit. It was a sovereign and gracious work. Though it was seriously humbling, yet it was a work done in love. Blessed is the man who is led to view God as the one before whom all should bow, and realize that what ever earthly glory we may possess it is nothing in the eyes of God, and that God requires our obedience by right of creation and right of being holy and Lord of all.

The king of Nineveh renounced his pride and earthly glory and was made humble before God. This is evidence of the gracious work of God's Spirit, because such humbling and renunciation is not in the character of fallen human beings. In the normal course of events we see people in positions of glory and importance puffed up with pride and refusing any idea that they need to be humble before God. We have only to look at the kings we see in the Bible. One powerful example is the case of Belshazzer. He was terrified when he saw the writing on the wall. He heard Daniel's correct interpretation of the writing, but he did not repent, but went on in his evil ways until God's judgement was executed on him.

TOOK OFF HIS ROYAL ROBES.

The king of Nineveh next took off his royal robes. These robes displayed his importance and the glory of his position and his authority. They displayed his greatness and the superiority of his person in the world. The act of taking them off was a very powerful symbol of the condition of heart which was brought about by the action of the Holy Spirit. Blessed is the person who experiences such a work of the Spirit. Even though it is humbling and painful, it is precursor of blessing and salvation, because it led him to cry to the Lord for mercy.

This act is deeply symbolic if we can see the symbolism. All of us in our natural thinking come before God with a belief that we deserve God's favour in some way or other. When difficulties arise in our lives we feel that we deserve that God should come to our aid. In the face of death we believe that we deserve God should gather us into heaven and peace. If we confess that we are not perfect, we compare our lives with those we see around us, and evaluate what we see to make us worthy and good citizens. We are not like those awful sinners we hear of on the radio and TV. We do not see how God sees us, and we resent being called sinners, and deny that we deserve God's condemnation.

The symbolism of the king taking off his royal robe is speaking of the soul who has been taught by the Holy Spirit that all this supposed righteousness and goodness is nothing but vile and filthy rags before God, and that none of us have any righteousness or goodness deserving of God's approbation. It is an action of realizing we are sinners and under the just wrath and condemnation of God, and that what we need is righteousness to be saved. It is a realization of the fact that however much we try by our own efforts we can't in anyway work a righteousness that completely meets the holy demands of God's law. It is an acceptance that we deserve everlasting damnation.

COVERED HIMSELF WITH SAKCLOTH.

There is vivid symbolism here also. Sackcloth, as we have seen already, was a sign of mourning in the ancient world. The symbolism here is that the king was seeking to express a deep mourning over the sin he now saw was defiling his life and which was bringing eternal danger upon his soul.

What is symbolized in the sackcloth was genuine and deep repentance from sin. It revealed a new understanding of the vileness and evil of sin. It revealed a deep hatred of sin as an offense before God. It revealed a true sorrow for sin and turning from sin. True repentance is seen in our actions and the way we live. Repentance is not in the word which says we truly repent and sorrow for sin, but in the proof of this conviction of sin in the way we turn away from sin, and all that leads to sin. It is seen in turning away from the world and self to God. When the king covered himself with sackcloth he was giving an outward expression of how sin defiled his life before God, and that it deserved everlasting condemnation from God.

SAT DOWN IN THE DUST.

Lastly we see the king sitting down in the dust. This action is also highly symbolic. It reveals how the king now saw himself before the justice and view of God.

This action showed where the king saw he deserved to be because of his sin against God. It symbolized the fact that sin deserves nothing else before God than the condemnation of God and the sentence of eternal death. In the soul which has truly received the gracious work of conviction of sin there is an acceptance of the fact that sin deserves God's just punishment. It is an acceptance that our sin means that we have no right to any favour from God, and that we deserve only death and to be cast into hell.

The question here is whether we know any of this acceptance, or do we still feel that it would be unjust for God to send us to hell? I doubt whether we have had a true experience of conviction of sin until we do accept this, for it is to be in this condition which causes the soul to look away from self, and seek mercy from God.

CONCLUSION.