Street Preaching

Good morning – I remember when I was younger, I was shopping in a big city. It was all new to me and a little scary. The sidewalks were crowded with people. Up ahead I heard someone reading from the Bible in a loud voice. I hadn’t been raised in church and knew very little about God’s Word in those days. The fellow had long hair and a beard and was kinda scary looking to me, the look of a fanatic perhaps. I wondered what could possess someone to do such a thing. I remember crossing the street well before I got to the man, because I didn’t want him to confront me.

Many years later, after I surrendered to the Lord, I remember thinking, “Oh Lord, I’ll do anything, but please don’t make me be a street preacher!” The very thought scared me – talk about opening yourself up to possible ridicule and persecution! But I was looking at it wrongly. Although I don’t feel that calling upon me, I understand now that if that was my call, then I should do it eagerly. I was reading in the Old Testament last week about another preacher who was called to do a little “Street Preaching”, and he was reluctant also. I will start reading from Jonah 1:1.


(Jon 1:1) Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

(Jon 1:2) Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

(Jon 1:3) But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.


Did you notice Jonah’s response to God’s call? He ran from it. How often do we run from the things God calls upon us to do? Notice how God responds.



(Jon 1:4) But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

(Jon 1:5) Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

(Jon 1:6) So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

(Jon 1:7) And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

(Jon 1:8) Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

(Jon 1:9) And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

(Jon 1:10) Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

(Jon 1:11) Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

(Jon 1:12) And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

(Jon 1:13) Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

(Jon 1:14) Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

(Jon 1:15) So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.


God has taken direct control of Jonah’s circumstances now – God certainly has Jonah’s attention now. Sometimes God has to turn our life’s upside down to get us to listen to him.


(Jon 1:16) Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

(Jon 1:17) Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

(Jon 2:1) Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

(Jon 2:2) And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

(Jon 2:3) For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

(Jon 2:4) Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

(Jon 2:5) The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

(Jon 2:6) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

(Jon 2:7) When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

(Jon 2:8) They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

(Jon 2:9) But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

(Jon 2:10) And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.


(Jon 3:1) And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

(Jon 3:2) Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.


How do you think Jonah responded the second time God told him what to do? It’s amazing how quick we are to acknowledge God and put him first once he puts us in circumstances that forces us to depend on him. Jonah had just been through a tremendously traumatic experience and now was quick to obey.




(Jon 3:3) 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.

(Jon 3:4) 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.

Now Jonah was preaching a message similar to the ones that sound familiar, kind of like the “Repent for the end is near” message you’ll sometimes hear on a street corner. How popular is that message today? Yet how true it is. Let’s see how the city responded.


(Jon 3:5) 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.

(Jon 3:6) 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.

(Jon 3:7) 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:

(Jon 3:8) 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.

(Jon 3:9) Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

(Jon 3:10) And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.


Praise God! A great revival took place and the city was saved. All from the mercy of God and the obediance of one man. Now if Jonah had not been obedient, I expect that God would have sent someone else. But oh what blessings Jonah would have missed, to have been involved in such a work of God! Jonah must have had some ill feeling toward the city, tho because listen to his reaction to all this.



(Jon 4:1) But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

(Jon 4:2) And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

(Jon 4:3) Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

(Jon 4:4) Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

(Jon 4:5) So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

(Jon 4:6) And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

(Jon 4:7) But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

(Jon 4:8) And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

(Jon 4:9) And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

(Jon 4:10) Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

(Jon 4:11) And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

It appears that Jonah cared more about the gourd than he did the city. Are we that way sometimes? Do you not pray for your enemies because deep down you can’t forgive them and so you don’t want God to forgive them either – For shame! Fortunately God cared about the city. Sometimes, as a church, we can forget all about the street preaching, the preaching to the world outside the church walls. If we’re not careful a church group can expend all of it’s energy just building up a “building fund”. And maybe have a church dinner every few weeks. If a church isn’t careful it can lose it’s first love. It can build up a such a huge building fund and be trapped behind the church walls. A church can have many dinners, but still forget to invite the poor, maimed and forgotten ones. We tend to be comfortable with our Christianity in church because it feels safe, but do you hide your association with Jesus in public? In the streets? Do you talk more about sports or a tv show than you do about God? Perhaps a little more street preaching would be good for all of us. To proclaim the savior aloud to a hostile world – to not be ashamed of Jesus Christ! Who knows what the result would be if we all proclaimed our love for Jesus OUTSIDE the church walls as strongly as we do within them. Who knows what the result might be? Perhaps a soul might repent and be forgiven, perhaps a city.

Oh Lord, give us the boldness to speak your Word everywhere. Father, teach us to overcome our fear of the world, the fear that the world will turn on us. Let us love our enemies enough that we would share the gospel with them, that we would pray in honesty for their salvation. Help us to hate the sin, but to love the person and to pray for repentance and salvation for all the lost in the world. I pray that our love for you and for our neighbor will overcome the fear we feel about speaking up about your Son Jesus to a lost world. I ask these things in the name of your precious Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.