WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680 As we do come to the word, let's take the word 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:11.519 and open it. And open it to Jonah chapter three. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.719 We're simply picking up where we left off. Having 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.600 looked at Jonah two last time, and we noted in 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:31.100 Jonah two that Jonah finally did. the thing that 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:34.479 he should have been doing the whole time. He 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:38.159 finally, in the belly of the fish, he prays, 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:42.700 doesn't he? God speaks to the fish and the fish 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:47.920 spits him out onto dry land. And so we see that 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:53.979 God is not finished with the prophet Jonah. And 00:00:53.979 --> 00:00:56.579 this is very important for us to understand because 00:00:57.390 --> 00:00:59.950 Maybe you've felt like this before. Have you 00:00:59.950 --> 00:01:03.670 ever, have you ever struggled with a sin that 00:01:03.670 --> 00:01:08.209 just, it just seems to never go away. You continually 00:01:08.209 --> 00:01:13.170 fall into temptation, right? And you begin to 00:01:13.170 --> 00:01:17.549 wonder, maybe you have, does God still love me? 00:01:18.489 --> 00:01:22.349 Does God, can he still use me? What will he do 00:01:22.349 --> 00:01:24.650 with me? Surely he won't do anything with me. 00:01:24.670 --> 00:01:27.590 I continue to sin daily and thoughtward indeed. 00:01:27.930 --> 00:01:30.890 God doesn't love me anymore. God can't use me 00:01:30.890 --> 00:01:34.629 anymore. Well, friends, Jonah, the prophet, is 00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:37.730 here to show you something different than that. 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:41.750 Because God, our God, is the God of second chances 00:01:41.750 --> 00:01:44.909 and third chances and fourth and fifth and on 00:01:44.909 --> 00:01:48.849 up. And so God's not finished with Jonah and 00:01:48.849 --> 00:01:51.840 Christian. God's not finished with you either. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:02:00.200 Let's read the text Jonah 3 Then the word of 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:03.400 the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:08.219 arise Go to Nineveh that great city and call 00:02:08.219 --> 00:02:11.840 out against it the message that I tell you and 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.599 so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:19.259 to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceedingly 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:23.039 great city, three days journey in breadth. Jonah 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:27.379 began to go into the city, going a day's journey. 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:30.840 And he called out, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:33.819 be overthrown. And the people of Nineveh believed 00:02:33.819 --> 00:02:39.159 God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.960 from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:02:44.219 --> 00:02:48.050 The word reached the king of Nineveh. And he 00:02:48.050 --> 00:02:52.090 arose from his throne. He removed his robe, covered 00:02:52.090 --> 00:02:55.389 himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And 00:02:55.389 --> 00:02:58.550 he issued a proclamation and published through 00:02:58.550 --> 00:03:02.129 Nineveh. By the decree of the king and his nobles, 00:03:02.530 --> 00:03:06.310 let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste 00:03:06.310 --> 00:03:11.389 anything. Let them not feed or drink water. But 00:03:11.389 --> 00:03:14.770 let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. 00:03:14.860 --> 00:03:18.219 and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone 00:03:18.219 --> 00:03:21.639 turn from his evil way and from the violence 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:25.120 that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:29.419 and relent and turn from his fierce anger so 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:34.219 that we may not perish. When God saw what they 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:38.439 did, how they turned from their evil way, God 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:41.500 relented of the disaster that he had said he 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:47.509 would do to them. And he did not. The grass withers 00:03:47.509 --> 00:03:51.129 and the flower fades, but God's word stands forever. 00:03:51.210 --> 00:03:54.389 Let's pray. Oh, Father, we do thank you for this 00:03:54.389 --> 00:03:59.729 word. It is such an encouraging word to us that 00:03:59.729 --> 00:04:03.770 even as we see the faults of Jonah, we recognize 00:04:03.770 --> 00:04:07.889 that you are still at work and this is how you 00:04:07.889 --> 00:04:10.650 operate. You operate through people who do struggle 00:04:10.650 --> 00:04:14.259 with sin. Lord today as we look at this we realize 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:16.740 how desperately we need your help We need your 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:19.180 help to understand this and we need your help 00:04:19.180 --> 00:04:22.120 to apply it And so would you give us all of that 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:29.680 we pray for Christ's sake amen. I Said a week 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:35.920 or two ago That the most miraculous miracle in 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:40.209 the book of Jonah is not that a prophet survived 00:04:40.209 --> 00:04:42.569 in the belly of a fish. That's not the greatest 00:04:42.569 --> 00:04:47.350 miracle here. Chapter 3 shows us the greatest 00:04:47.350 --> 00:04:53.069 miracle here. The changing of the hearts of all 00:04:53.069 --> 00:04:56.870 of the people in a very large city and not just 00:04:56.870 --> 00:05:00.790 the people here. Even the animals are mentioned 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:07.139 as well. Jonah goes to the city of Nineveh. And 00:05:07.139 --> 00:05:10.639 he proclaims what the Lord has him to proclaim. 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:14.639 And I'm calling this the most efficient and the 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.699 most effective sermon ever, because again, we're 00:05:17.699 --> 00:05:20.980 looking at the repentance of an entire city and 00:05:20.980 --> 00:05:24.019 a city that was known for its cruelty, a city 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:27.939 known for its violence, a city known for worshiping 00:05:27.939 --> 00:05:32.759 idols. But God is merciful and he turns them 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.060 from these things. Today I want to look at Jonah's 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:41.800 commission, Nineveh's repentance, and God's compassion. 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:44.839 Let's look at the commission first there. Go 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:51.660 to verse two. Arise, go to Nineveh. Perhaps at 00:05:51.660 --> 00:05:55.379 this point you're having some deja vu going on. 00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:58.500 You're like, I've read these words before. Well, 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:00.699 if you look in chapter one, you do see these 00:06:00.699 --> 00:06:03.939 words. Chapter one, verse two. Arise, go to Nineveh, 00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:08.360 that great city. And so we have heard this before. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.839 And so what we recognize is that, yes, Jonah 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:16.100 was saved from drowning, but Jonah is not saved 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:19.800 from the mission that God has for him. And so 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:25.920 arise, go to Nineveh. Now, we don't exactly know 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:30.579 where the fish spat the prophet out. It could 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:32.560 have been somewhere near Joppa. It could have 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:35.160 been anywhere along the coast. But either way, 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:39.740 we recognize then that Jonah has a ways to go 00:06:39.740 --> 00:06:42.579 to get to Nineveh, no doubt. He had a lot of 00:06:42.579 --> 00:06:47.000 thinking to do on his journey there. And we've 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.439 already seen this in chapter one, how Jonah did 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:53.740 not want to go, right? And we also mentioned 00:06:53.740 --> 00:06:57.779 how it's not very common in the Bible for these 00:06:57.779 --> 00:07:01.379 Old Testament prophets to be sent to these wicked 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:04.879 nations. Most of the work of the prophets against 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:08.040 the nations is done from home. Think of it as 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.620 early remote work, right? Working from home. 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:14.560 That's what usually happens, but not so with 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.199 Jonah. He gets spat out of the fish and then 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:22.279 he receives the exact same mission. Don't go 00:07:22.279 --> 00:07:25.240 to some other place. I'm still intending for 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:28.560 you to go. to Nineveh. And we've said that this 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.819 is a cruel place, so no judgment from us, right? 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.980 We're like, I don't want to go there either. 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:38.560 But also notice something with this commissioning 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:42.180 here. It is a little bit different from chapter 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:45.879 one. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:49.779 call out against it the message that I tell you. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:53.259 That second part of the verse there is not present 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:56.819 in the first. So this tells us here that God's 00:07:56.819 --> 00:08:02.680 going to give Jonah the exact words to say. In 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:07.959 effect, Jonah has everything he needs. He's got 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:12.660 the where, Nineveh. He's got the when, right 00:08:12.660 --> 00:08:18.600 now. And he's got the what. He's got the message. 00:08:19.139 --> 00:08:22.339 And so he goes there to proclaim the word of 00:08:22.339 --> 00:08:30.860 God. verse 4. Yet 40 days in Nineveh shall be 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:34.600 overthrown. Now I don't know if the people of 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:38.299 Nineveh would have understand the 40 -day motif, 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:42.320 but Israelites would and Christians who know 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:46.480 their Bibles would. We see this motif of 40 days 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:49.620 several other places in Scripture. For instance, 00:08:49.659 --> 00:08:53.220 you remember the Great Flood. You remember Noah 00:08:53.259 --> 00:08:56.600 in the boat, right? Genesis six through nine. 00:08:56.740 --> 00:08:59.179 And how long is that flood? It's going on for 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:02.740 40 days. You also may remember the Israelites 00:09:02.740 --> 00:09:07.159 with the golden calf. After Moses learns about 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:11.419 this, he is with the Lord interceding for the 00:09:11.419 --> 00:09:14.919 Israelites for 40 days. You can find that in 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:18.230 Deuteronomy. Chapter nine. And so both of those 00:09:18.230 --> 00:09:22.009 events involve judgment. They both involve 40 00:09:22.009 --> 00:09:25.309 days and they both involve great populations 00:09:25.309 --> 00:09:29.250 of people and even animals. And so we see some 00:09:29.250 --> 00:09:32.769 significance here in some relation to other scripture. 00:09:33.750 --> 00:09:36.370 Also, look at this word, though, for overthrow 00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:40.649 at the end of verse four. That word overthrow 00:09:40.649 --> 00:09:44.190 is very significant. It's the same word that 00:09:44.190 --> 00:09:48.789 is used in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:51.730 And so the message there was of judgment. And 00:09:51.730 --> 00:09:55.429 here within the book of Jonah, for Nineveh, it's 00:09:55.429 --> 00:09:58.129 destruction or it's repentance. What's it gonna 00:09:58.129 --> 00:10:01.909 be? What do you want? To be destroyed or to repent? 00:10:03.129 --> 00:10:06.610 And so we see what happens here. The people of 00:10:06.610 --> 00:10:10.480 Nineveh do turn from their sin. and they turn 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:13.940 to the Lord. So let's look at point two, Nineveh's 00:10:13.940 --> 00:10:17.759 confession. We see what happens in verse five. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:22.879 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:25.740 believed God and their actions show it, which 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:29.799 shows us something that is essential for preaching 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.039 and teaching the Bible. Preaching of the word 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.399 must connect with the heart. Preaching of the 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:40.000 Word must connect with the heart. That's what's 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.220 happening now in this sanctuary. That's what's 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:45.039 happening now in sanctuaries all across the world. 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:49.259 That as preachers preach, they're not just sharing 00:10:49.259 --> 00:10:51.799 information. This is not just head knowledge. 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:54.960 This is not a TED Talk. This is not a lecture, 00:10:55.179 --> 00:10:59.299 right? It's a sermon. And the Holy Spirit works 00:10:59.299 --> 00:11:02.100 through the preaching of God's Word. You perhaps 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:06.100 remember Romans 10, 17. Faith comes by hearing 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:09.799 and hearing by the word of Christ. And so do 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:12.860 not just receive this message with your head. 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:16.879 It must resonate within your heart. It must be 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:20.539 received with faith. And if you were to examine 00:11:20.539 --> 00:11:24.779 the sermons throughout scripture, you would see 00:11:24.779 --> 00:11:27.679 this. you would see that there's not power in 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.419 the preacher. It's not about his greatness. If 00:11:30.419 --> 00:11:33.500 it was, you'd need a new preacher. Instead, the 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:36.360 Holy Spirit works faith into the hearts of people. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:40.259 The Holy Spirit is the one encouraging and convicting 00:11:40.259 --> 00:11:44.519 and comforting and equipping. The Holy Spirit 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:49.720 works through the preaching of the word. Years 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:54.000 ago, I worked for a Christian camp and I've... 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.500 told many of you about this place that I love. 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:02.799 But one time working there, I was asked to preach 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:07.799 kind of a last minute chapel service, not to 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:11.259 campers, but to counselors, staff members. Again, 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:14.220 it was very last minute. I hadn't had any preaching 00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:17.139 courses in seminary. I didn't know what I was 00:12:17.139 --> 00:12:20.759 doing, but they needed somebody to step up and 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:26.480 perhaps foolishly I said, yes. And as I got into 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:30.940 the pulpit that day, and again, this is a very 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:34.240 small gathering in a chapel up in the mountains, 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:38.600 as I was behind that lectern and I started to 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:40.940 preach, and I couldn't even tell you what the 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:44.120 text was or anything about the sermon, but I 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.940 just knew this is the worst sermon anybody's 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:51.639 ever preached ever. All I wanted was for it to 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:55.500 be done. All I wanted was to get out of the chapel 00:12:55.500 --> 00:12:59.500 and for nobody to say anything ever about this 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:06.019 sermon. As I concluded the sermon with prayer 00:13:06.019 --> 00:13:11.039 and singing, I made a beeline for the door. Just 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.779 when I was about to step outside the door, a 00:13:13.779 --> 00:13:18.759 staff member caught me and said, can we talk? 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:23.350 And she said, that really helped me. That really 00:13:23.350 --> 00:13:25.350 helped me. I'm dealing with some stuff right 00:13:25.350 --> 00:13:28.269 now I'm dealing with some serious sin issues 00:13:28.269 --> 00:13:31.629 some serious family issues your sermon helped, 00:13:31.629 --> 00:13:35.710 but but can we keep talking? Of course I said 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:40.769 sure You see the Holy Spirit works Even when 00:13:40.769 --> 00:13:43.590 the preacher doesn't want to do the work, right? 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:46.909 What preachers really need to do and I would 00:13:46.909 --> 00:13:49.289 say this applies to teachers whether you're teaching 00:13:49.289 --> 00:13:51.409 adult Sunday school or maybe you're with the 00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:54.799 kids What the preacher the teacher needs to do 00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:57.379 is preach the word and then get out of the way 00:13:57.379 --> 00:13:59.940 Preach the word and get out of the way and that's 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:03.980 what Jonah does. He preaches what the Lord says 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:08.179 We have only this just sentence to go on I don't 00:14:08.179 --> 00:14:10.500 know if he added anything to this I kind of think 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:13.559 what's here in the text is all he preached all 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:17.159 he said So this is not a carefully crafted sermon. 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:20.519 There is no scintillating illustration here. 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:24.320 There's no joke There's no three points. There's 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:29.419 no alliteration. Jonah simply speaks what the 00:14:29.419 --> 00:14:32.500 Lord would have him to speak. He is obedient 00:14:32.500 --> 00:14:36.179 to the Lord because there's power in the word. 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:41.240 And friends, this is how the Bible teaches preachers 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:45.120 to preach. Perhaps you know this text from Second 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:50.600 Timothy four, verse two. It says, preach the 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:56.049 word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, 00:14:56.570 --> 00:15:00.389 rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and 00:15:00.389 --> 00:15:04.789 teaching. We are to preach the word. You are 00:15:04.789 --> 00:15:08.669 to teach the word. And you see the response of 00:15:08.669 --> 00:15:11.509 the people of Nineveh when that happens. They 00:15:11.509 --> 00:15:15.470 respond in repentance. In effect, the very thing 00:15:15.470 --> 00:15:18.309 that Jonah didn't really want to happen does 00:15:18.309 --> 00:15:21.110 happen because God works through the Word, even 00:15:21.110 --> 00:15:22.789 when the preacher doesn't want to preach it, 00:15:22.929 --> 00:15:26.269 because God's Word will not return void. It produces 00:15:26.269 --> 00:15:30.230 the effect that God wants it to produce. And 00:15:30.230 --> 00:15:34.289 so you see the response of the people here. There's 00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:37.029 the calling for the fast. There's the putting 00:15:37.029 --> 00:15:41.100 on of the sackcloth, right? And this happens 00:15:41.100 --> 00:15:44.039 from everybody, from the greatest to the least, 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:48.919 even all the way up to the very king. And you 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.879 see that the king is brought to humility, right? 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:57.460 He exchanges his throne for a seat in ashes. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:01.740 He exchanges his robe for sackcloth. And then 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:06.039 he makes this proclamation, nobody, no man, no 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:11.090 beast, you are not to taste anything. Some of 00:16:11.090 --> 00:16:14.769 you have animals. Some of you work on a bit of 00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:19.230 a farm. How difficult must it be to keep the 00:16:19.230 --> 00:16:22.629 animals from tasting anything? Think about how 00:16:22.629 --> 00:16:26.789 this would disrupt the entire economy for animals 00:16:26.789 --> 00:16:30.269 to not be allowed to eat or to drink. They are 00:16:30.269 --> 00:16:36.370 taking this so seriously. And you might even 00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:39.539 say, well, why? The animals... They're not the 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:42.120 ones who sinned here. They're not responsible 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:47.259 for the immorality. Well, they may not be responsible, 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:52.500 but the animals surely are affected by it. And 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:54.679 yet, as we have said before in the book of Jonah, 00:16:54.779 --> 00:16:58.759 we see all of creation responding positively 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:02.740 to the Lord, right? We have mentioned that. With 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:04.920 the fish, we've mentioned that as God brings 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:07.859 up this great windstorm. We're gonna see that 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:11.079 in chapter four with this plant and this worm. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:16.279 Everything complies with what the Lord wants. 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:23.559 And now Jonah finally is two. And so you see 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:29.160 what happens in verse eight. They are responding 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:31.400 to this proclamation and the king is saying, 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:34.599 Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:37.819 let them call out mightily to God. Once again, 00:17:37.819 --> 00:17:41.859 we see the importance of prayer within the book 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:44.700 of Jonah. But I also think it's interesting within 00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:47.259 Jonah's words, the words that the Lord gives 00:17:47.259 --> 00:17:53.140 him to say, he doesn't have to say what is wrong 00:17:53.140 --> 00:17:56.000 with the people of Nineveh. He doesn't say what 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.349 their sin is. How come he doesn't have to? They 00:18:00.349 --> 00:18:03.230 know it they know what their problem is and so 00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:05.569 rather than the prophet saying what their problem 00:18:05.569 --> 00:18:09.250 is the king does that let everyone turn from 00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:13.329 his evil way it says and from the violence that 00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:17.910 is in his hand and so they are to leave that 00:18:17.910 --> 00:18:23.150 sin that violence that cruelty in the past and 00:18:23.150 --> 00:18:26.910 They are to turn to God and that's what they 00:18:26.910 --> 00:18:32.490 do Friends, we know, because we've discussed 00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:37.029 it, what their problem was, what their sins were. 00:18:38.109 --> 00:18:41.829 What about us? What are the sins that you are 00:18:41.829 --> 00:18:45.710 battling today? What's going on in your hearts? 00:18:46.890 --> 00:18:53.950 Is it envy? Is it deceit? Is it lust? Is it gossip? 00:18:54.890 --> 00:19:00.299 Is it disobeying parents? Is that idolatry? What 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:04.940 is it, friends? I don't know, but I can tell 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.740 you the solution to these things. If you would, 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:13.839 go to James chapter 4. Turn to James chapter 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.119 4. James is in the New Testament. It's right 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:21.740 after Hebrews. This is going to tell us whatever 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:25.519 sin you are battling against, this tells you 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:30.279 what to do about it. James chapter four, verses 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:34.420 eight through 10. And I would encourage you to 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:38.440 take time on this Lord's Day to further consider 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:42.980 these words. It says, draw near to God, and he 00:19:42.980 --> 00:19:46.940 will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you 00:19:46.940 --> 00:19:50.240 sinners, and purify your hearts, you double -minded. 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:54.299 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:58.420 be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom Humble 00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:02.940 yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:07.180 you And so even as maybe most of that doesn't 00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:10.180 sound so positive doesn't sound so fun. We see 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:15.140 the hope of that passage Draw near to God and 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:20.039 he'll draw near to you And so you see, this is 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:23.220 what Nineveh is doing. Even the king here, he 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:25.980 doesn't seem to have assurance that God will 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:29.559 relent, but he knows that they in this city, 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:35.579 they must do everything to turn from sin. And 00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:38.599 this tells us that sometimes, even when we do 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:42.779 repent, which we must do, we still sometimes 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:46.130 have to face the music, don't we? There can still 00:20:46.130 --> 00:20:50.529 be consequences for sin even after we turn from 00:20:50.529 --> 00:20:55.470 it But there is hope here Because you can be 00:20:55.470 --> 00:21:01.089 sure That when you draw near to God in faith 00:21:01.089 --> 00:21:05.150 in Christ When you truly repent of your sin, 00:21:05.150 --> 00:21:08.490 you can know that God really does forgive you 00:21:08.490 --> 00:21:11.549 because he sent his one and only begotten son 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:15.829 for this This is why Jesus came. And so today, 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:18.049 if you're listening, maybe you're online, maybe 00:21:18.049 --> 00:21:21.009 you're here. If you don't know Jesus, if you 00:21:21.009 --> 00:21:24.890 have not turned in faith to Jesus, be a Ninevite. 00:21:25.630 --> 00:21:28.029 Be a Ninevite and not one of the cruel ones, 00:21:28.349 --> 00:21:31.650 not a violent one, but a repentant one. Whether 00:21:31.650 --> 00:21:34.069 you're among the least or you're among the greatest, 00:21:34.190 --> 00:21:38.509 whether you're a man or a beast today, know that 00:21:38.509 --> 00:21:44.400 Jesus came to forgive sin. And be assured of 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:50.000 it. Look in verse 10. Look in verse 10 for God's 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.319 compassion here. When God saw what they did, 00:21:53.619 --> 00:21:56.500 how they turned from their evil way, God relented 00:21:56.500 --> 00:21:58.579 of the disaster that he had said he would do 00:21:58.579 --> 00:22:03.220 to them. And he did not do it. Repent and relent. 00:22:03.619 --> 00:22:06.720 This is clearly the work of God's mercy. These 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:10.539 people were cruel. They were idolaters. And Jonah 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:14.440 was a complete stranger, right? Why should they 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:17.500 listen to Jonah? This should not be the recipe 00:22:17.500 --> 00:22:20.880 for repentance. Cruel, violent people, stranger 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:24.319 walks in, says repent, and they do it. That doesn't 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:26.740 make any sense by the world's standards, does 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:31.740 it? But God works by his word, and he is compassionate 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:35.099 to forgive those who repent. And God is trustworthy 00:22:35.099 --> 00:22:38.339 here, because as he said, he would relent. That's 00:22:38.339 --> 00:22:44.180 exactly what he does. When they turned from sin, 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:51.019 he did not destroy them. I was thinking a lot 00:22:51.019 --> 00:22:53.920 about this this week, and I want to put a question 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:58.500 into your head. How would the story of Jonah 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:01.539 be different if you didn't have the first two 00:23:01.539 --> 00:23:05.279 chapters? How would the story of Jonah be different 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:08.599 without the first two chapters? Suppose Jonah 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:12.359 had immediate obedience. that as soon as the 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:14.519 Lord told him, arise and go to Nineveh, he was 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:17.160 like, yep, okay, here I go. What if we didn't 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:21.299 have those first two chapters? Why do we even 00:23:21.299 --> 00:23:24.440 need those first two chapters? Friends, we need 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:26.779 these chapters because we learn so much about 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:30.559 the compassion of God. We learn so much about 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.099 the compassion of God for Nineveh and for those 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:37.559 pagan sailors on the boat. And even for Jonah 00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:42.109 himself, God has so much Patience with Jonah, 00:23:42.109 --> 00:23:50.509 doesn't he? He does. He does. And so today, if 00:23:50.509 --> 00:23:54.490 perhaps you're thinking, well, I did that sin 00:23:54.490 --> 00:23:58.329 again. And I really blew it. And this surely 00:23:58.329 --> 00:24:01.049 has to be the last time. God's done with me. 00:24:01.069 --> 00:24:03.869 He doesn't love me. He doesn't want me. He doesn't 00:24:03.869 --> 00:24:07.569 work through me. Today, know this. God doesn't 00:24:07.569 --> 00:24:12.400 cast off his people. when they sin. God's not 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:15.480 finished with Jonah, and God's not finished with 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:19.140 you yet either. And the entirety of scripture 00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:22.940 shows this, right? That God works through messed 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:27.400 up people to bring glory to himself. Look at 00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:32.359 the lineage of Jesus, right? The lineage of Jesus 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:36.759 is a who's who of seriously faulty people. Or 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:39.380 look at Hebrews chapter 11, the hall of faith. 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:42.519 Or for those of you who have been studying the 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:46.599 book of Judges, right? God works through those 00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:49.740 judges. God works through David, and his sins 00:24:49.740 --> 00:24:53.640 are very transparent, aren't they? God works 00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:56.220 through Paul, who called himself the chief of 00:24:56.220 --> 00:24:59.759 sinners, and so, yes, God can still work through 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:04.880 you. He is not done with you. He is not. What 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:07.500 we know from Scripture, the phrase that's said 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:09.779 throughout Scripture is that God is merciful 00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:13.220 and gracious, slow to anger and abounding and 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:15.960 steadfast love. The book of Jonah proves that 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:19.579 to be true. And so what do we gain by including 00:25:19.579 --> 00:25:22.400 the faults of the prophet, his disobedience, 00:25:22.700 --> 00:25:25.380 his prayerlessness, and his near -death experience? 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:29.740 We gain everything by that. For we are encouraged 00:25:29.740 --> 00:25:33.799 to know that Jesus loses none of those the Father 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:36.859 has given to him and that God can do mighty and 00:25:36.859 --> 00:25:39.819 wonderful things through his people. And that's 00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:43.960 what he does. And all of this shows us what God 00:25:43.960 --> 00:25:47.220 was really doing in the book of Jonah. He was 00:25:47.220 --> 00:25:51.019 readying the world for his full display of his 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:54.380 mercy in Christ. In Christ, the whole world is 00:25:54.380 --> 00:25:57.759 not destroyed due to sin. In Christ, you do not 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:00.509 perish but have everlasting life. In Christ, 00:26:00.730 --> 00:26:04.410 there is a disaster transfer where the disaster 00:26:04.410 --> 00:26:07.269 that should have fallen upon you and upon me 00:26:07.269 --> 00:26:12.049 instead falls upon Christ as Christ is our substitute 00:26:12.049 --> 00:26:17.730 and our perfect substitute at that. God is at 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:21.829 work, friends. He is. And as I begin to conclude, 00:26:21.869 --> 00:26:24.710 I want to point out one more thing to you. I 00:26:24.710 --> 00:26:29.640 mentioned the 40, 40 day example. that we see 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:33.819 throughout scripture. There's another one. You 00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:36.299 remember that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness 00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:41.079 for 40 days, and yet he never sinned. Jesus is 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:44.400 victorious over sin. He's victorious over the 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.940 grave. And in doing so, he has secured salvation 00:26:47.940 --> 00:26:53.700 for all, for all who trust in him. And so today, 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:57.799 keep trusting in Jesus. Keep looking to him in 00:26:57.799 --> 00:27:02.039 faith. and repent and walk in new obedience. 00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:03.200 Let's pray.