WEBVTT 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:06.559 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:09.380 podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:09.380 --> 00:00:12.099 Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:14.160 Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.500 strengthens your faith and draws you closer to 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:22.460 Christ. Let's dive in. All right. What did we 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:24.839 talk about last week? Jonah chapter two is what 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:29.429 we unpacked. You guys remember what was taking 00:00:29.429 --> 00:00:42.130 place then? That's right Noah, thank you. Noah 00:00:42.130 --> 00:00:44.729 did like this. Jonah's praying, where's Jonah 00:00:44.729 --> 00:00:49.869 at? He's in the belly, right, of a gigantic fish. 00:00:51.070 --> 00:00:56.060 And he ultimately... Goes to hell she all is 00:00:56.060 --> 00:00:58.020 what he talks about right? He's in this he's 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:01.979 in the very depths of the sea of the ocean and 00:01:01.979 --> 00:01:07.840 so then he is vomited out and I searched and 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:13.040 searched to find out where exactly was was Jonah 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:17.079 vomited out at and You may be like why does that 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:19.379 matter? Well, it says it was a three -day journey 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:25.280 from where he was to Nineveh So there are some 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:27.620 theologians that they're like, we don't know 00:01:27.620 --> 00:01:31.219 exactly where he was, but we do think that he 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:35.260 was very close to where he entered, got on the 00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:40.340 boat. And so I titled this sermon today, Back 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:43.939 to the Beginning, Embracing Mercy, Humility and 00:01:43.939 --> 00:01:48.099 Repentance. And so sometimes God has to, when 00:01:48.099 --> 00:01:51.140 he tells us to do something and we disobey and 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:54.400 go the opposite direction, God will ultimately 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.780 get you back to where you need to be and where 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.680 he wants you to be, but you ultimately start 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.420 back at the beginning, right? And so here's my 00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:08.800 big idea for this sermon. God's mercy is available 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.979 to all who repent, and through humility, we can 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:15.900 experience his transformative grace leading to 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:20.960 a life of faithful witness. So Jonah, as we're 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:25.370 gonna read, does go to Nineveh. So let's go ahead 00:02:25.370 --> 00:02:28.590 and unpack that now if you've got a Bible. Like 00:02:28.590 --> 00:02:30.430 I said, Jonah chapter three, if you don't, we've 00:02:30.430 --> 00:02:32.830 got Bibles in the back. That's our gift to you. 00:02:33.710 --> 00:02:36.490 We also will have it right up here. So here we 00:02:36.490 --> 00:02:38.849 go, Jonah chapter three, starting in verse one. 00:02:39.509 --> 00:02:42.550 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second 00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:46.569 time. Note that it says the second time. He is 00:02:46.569 --> 00:02:50.379 the God of second chances. saying, arise, go 00:02:50.379 --> 00:02:53.180 to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:57.400 it the message that I tell you. So Jonah arose 00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.879 and went to Nineveh according to the word of 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:03.120 the Lord. Bless you. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.879 great city. Three days journey in the breath 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.379 of Jonah, or in breath, Jonah began to go into 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:12.979 the city, going a day's journey, and he called 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:19.810 out. Yet a 40 days, or yet, 40 days and Nineveh 00:03:19.810 --> 00:03:23.590 shall be overthrown. And the people of Nineveh 00:03:23.590 --> 00:03:27.949 believed God. They called for a fast and put 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:30.750 on sackcloth for the greatest of them to the 00:03:30.750 --> 00:03:35.389 least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh 00:03:35.389 --> 00:03:38.129 and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, 00:03:38.669 --> 00:03:42.150 covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 00:03:42.729 --> 00:03:45.289 If you're unfamiliar with the grieving process, 00:03:45.330 --> 00:03:50.300 this is the grieving process. in those times. 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:52.699 And so they would strip their clothes. If you 00:03:52.699 --> 00:03:54.639 read the book of Job, you see this. And they 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:57.860 would cover themselves in ashes as a way of grief. 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:01.180 Verse seven, and he issued a proclamation and 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:06.699 published through Nineveh by the decree of the 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:10.000 king and his nobles. Let neither man nor beast, 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:14.060 herd nor flock taste anything. Let them not feed 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:17.829 or drink water. but let man and beast be covered 00:04:17.829 --> 00:04:22.290 with sackcloth and let them call out mightily 00:04:22.290 --> 00:04:26.810 to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and 00:04:26.810 --> 00:04:30.329 from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? 00:04:30.689 --> 00:04:34.170 God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce 00:04:34.170 --> 00:04:39.509 anger so that we may not perish. When God saw 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:42.379 what they did, how they turned from their evil 00:04:42.379 --> 00:04:45.839 way. God relented of the disaster that he had 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:50.000 said he would do to them and he did not do it. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:57.660 So I want you to think about, have you ever witnessed 00:04:57.660 --> 00:05:02.379 yourself not read about or anything like that? 00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:06.120 Have you ever witnessed a true revival? I'm not 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:11.699 talking about what we can do a Southern Baptist 00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:15.879 and put up a tent for a week and hold services 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:18.180 in that tent and call that revival. That's not 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:21.220 what I'm talking about. Have you ever seen a 00:05:21.220 --> 00:05:25.259 revival where whole towns, whole churches, whole 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:32.540 schools, whole cities are completely repentant 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:36.579 and they turn from what they're doing and all 00:05:36.670 --> 00:05:38.810 run towards God. Now you can say, what are you 00:05:38.810 --> 00:05:40.870 talking about a church? I'm talking about churches 00:05:40.870 --> 00:05:45.589 that turn and see that they are dead and they 00:05:45.589 --> 00:05:50.889 want holiness. Have you ever seen that yourself? 00:05:52.910 --> 00:06:01.410 No. It's a true gift from God. My wife and I 00:06:01.410 --> 00:06:04.100 can tell you growing up, in the south, we've 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:06.139 witnessed a lot of fake, and we're going up in 00:06:06.139 --> 00:06:07.680 the Charismatic Church, we've witnessed a lot 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:14.120 of fake revivals, a lot of emotion, but no real 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:18.540 change. And so what we see right here with Jonah 00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:23.860 going to Nineveh is one gigantic, massive revival. 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:30.230 In 1904, In a small town in Wales, a young coal 00:06:30.230 --> 00:06:35.170 miner named Evan Roberts couldn't sleep. He wasn't 00:06:35.170 --> 00:06:38.589 a preacher, he wasn't famous, and he didn't have 00:06:38.589 --> 00:06:43.149 a pulpit or a plan. He just had a growing, unbearable 00:06:43.149 --> 00:06:46.990 conviction that God was calling him to pray and 00:06:46.990 --> 00:06:51.029 to speak. Roberts finally stood up in a small 00:06:51.029 --> 00:06:54.329 church and said something simple. He didn't shout, 00:06:54.910 --> 00:06:59.529 he didn't entertain. He just called people to 00:06:59.529 --> 00:07:02.529 repent, to obey God immediately, and to confess 00:07:02.529 --> 00:07:09.829 Christ openly. And something happened. Men who 00:07:09.829 --> 00:07:14.250 had mocked the church began to weep. Bars started 00:07:14.250 --> 00:07:16.529 closing because no one was drinking anymore. 00:07:17.870 --> 00:07:21.029 Police officers formed choirs because there was 00:07:21.029 --> 00:07:24.730 so little crime to deal with. In the coal mines, 00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:28.529 the horses stopped obeying commands. Not because 00:07:28.529 --> 00:07:31.110 they were stubborn, but because the miners had 00:07:31.110 --> 00:07:36.870 stopped cursing. The horses were so confused, 00:07:37.050 --> 00:07:38.470 they're like, you're not using terminology I'm 00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:42.629 familiar with. In less than a year, over a hundred 00:07:42.629 --> 00:07:47.149 thousand people turned to Christ. No strategy, 00:07:47.709 --> 00:07:52.709 no celebrity, no marketing campaign, no rock 00:07:52.709 --> 00:07:59.189 star bands, no fog machines. Just one man who 00:07:59.189 --> 00:08:04.269 obeyed God in a city that listened. And when 00:08:04.269 --> 00:08:07.930 we open Jonah chapter three, we see something 00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:13.050 that's very uncomfortably familiar. This could 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:15.050 have been Jonah's story from the very beginning. 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:18.529 He could have been Evan Roberts from the beginning, 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:22.790 but instead Jonah took the long way around. And 00:08:22.790 --> 00:08:25.829 like most of us, it takes a wake -up call and 00:08:25.829 --> 00:08:29.569 smelling like vomit. for us to obey, and that 00:08:29.569 --> 00:08:32.610 is where we find Jonah. Back to where he started, 00:08:32.929 --> 00:08:36.250 but now he's stinky, he's smelly, he's sticky, 00:08:36.250 --> 00:08:42.610 and he's a lot more humble. Now, quickly, I will 00:08:42.610 --> 00:08:51.970 say this. I think the story of Jonah spread before 00:08:51.970 --> 00:08:56.710 Jonah got to Nineveh. I think people saw him 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:02.960 be puked up from this gigantic fish and they're 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:05.580 like, oh my lord, this dude just came from the 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:10.279 pits of hell and he's back. And word travels 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:14.159 fast, you know? And so I think Nineveh, when 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.440 he did show up, reeking, smelling, they knew 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.840 who he was, but ultimately it doesn't matter 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:25.460 because it wasn't who he was, it was who he represented. 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:32.080 So if we look at Jonah one through three, then 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.559 the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:37.059 time saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:41.039 city, and call out against it with a message 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:45.360 that I tell you. So Jonah rose and went to Nineveh 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:48.159 according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:50.500 was exceedingly great city, three days journey 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:55.639 in breath. Let me ask you something. Do you think, 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:59.659 that Jonah at this point, more than anyone should 00:09:59.659 --> 00:10:07.080 understand the grace and mercy of God. Yep. And 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:12.480 yet still, Jonah doesn't get it. And we'll look 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.940 at that in just a second. But he serves a God 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:20.100 of new chances. And so by the time we reach Jonah 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:22.960 chapter three, Jonah himself is the walking poster 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:26.389 child for God's rich mercy and patience. God 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:28.870 doesn't change the assignment. He gives Jonah 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:33.090 another chance so it's funny because the it says 00:10:33.090 --> 00:10:36.409 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time 00:10:36.409 --> 00:10:38.450 and God's like and by the way, I'm not changing 00:10:38.450 --> 00:10:44.090 anything about this Just keep going Jonah ran 00:10:44.090 --> 00:10:46.529 Jonah fought and Jonah learned the hard way that 00:10:46.529 --> 00:10:49.470 disobedience always costs more than obedience 00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:53.389 He comes out of the fish alive, but he's not 00:10:53.389 --> 00:10:57.629 sanitized Jonah likely smelled like vomit. As 00:10:57.629 --> 00:11:00.169 I've said, he carried the evidence of rebellion 00:11:00.169 --> 00:11:06.190 on him. Many of us carry the stench of rebellion 00:11:06.190 --> 00:11:14.529 on us. No matter your story, when you disobey 00:11:14.529 --> 00:11:19.370 God, you carry, let's just say, I think that 00:11:19.370 --> 00:11:23.379 an alcoholic, who's come to the saving knowledge 00:11:23.379 --> 00:11:26.960 of Jesus Christ can understand how Jonah smelled. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.539 So, if we're honest, some of us know all too 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:36.480 well that smell. Sometimes refusal to repent 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.820 and obey God leaves us spiritually and even physically 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:44.240 wrecked. Drinking, partying, running from conviction 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.759 doesn't make life better. It leaves us smelling 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:52.019 like what swallowed us. Yet God speaks again 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:59.740 and again and again to come out That's grace 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:04.519 Not a reset because Jonah earned it but because 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.559 God is patient and committed to his purposes 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:11.299 Jonah's walk to Nineveh is proof that God doesn't 00:12:11.299 --> 00:12:16.240 discard broken servants. He restores them And 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.379 so many of us had to learn obedience the hard 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:23.460 way We said no when God said go we fought him 00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:27.240 and came out the other side battered and bruised 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.299 and some of us broken I shared that a little 00:12:29.299 --> 00:12:33.799 bit last week for my own personal story and God 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:37.759 in mercy ultimately says hey Let's try this again 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.500 Are you ready to listen now? Does it hurt bad 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:46.759 enough now? The good news is that God still gives 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:49.460 second chances and the good news is We don't 00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:51.980 have to learn every lesson the hard way. Just 00:12:51.980 --> 00:12:54.799 say yes the first time. When God's telling you 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:56.580 to do something, it's a lot easier to just go 00:12:56.580 --> 00:12:58.559 ahead and obey, no matter how much you fear, 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.039 because it's going to be a lot easier than just 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:06.179 fighting him on it. And so Jonah is not the only 00:13:06.179 --> 00:13:09.460 one that had to have second chances. Throughout 00:13:09.460 --> 00:13:11.940 history, we see a God of second chances, not 00:13:11.940 --> 00:13:14.519 just in Jonah, but we see it all throughout a 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:16.700 thread of history. Let's just start with the 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:18.940 scriptures. Where do we see a God of second chances? 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:28.179 What's that? Okay, Adam and Eve. What's that? 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:33.879 David. Yep, absolutely. How about Abraham? How 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:42.139 about Samson? Peter with the denial. But then 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:44.419 I got to thinking about, all right, who else? 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:49.419 Can I think about throughout history that's not 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:51.299 just in scripture and I thought about if you've 00:13:51.299 --> 00:13:53.340 never read it I would highly encourage you to 00:13:53.340 --> 00:13:57.860 read it the confessions by Augustine I Had to 00:13:57.860 --> 00:13:59.700 read it in seminary and at first I was like, 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:01.240 oh, this is gonna be brutal It actually ended 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:05.159 up being a very very good story Confessions is 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:07.960 about Augustine's past and what he was saved 00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:11.299 from and how Faithful his mother was to pray 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:13.559 for him always and so Augustine took the long 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.970 way around for his conversion. Augustine wasn't 00:14:16.970 --> 00:14:19.909 converted in a crisis moment. He resisted God 00:14:19.909 --> 00:14:24.409 for years. He chased pleasure, philosophy, and 00:14:24.409 --> 00:14:27.129 status. He wanted to be a politician. He wanted 00:14:27.129 --> 00:14:29.590 to be somebody because he was a really good orator. 00:14:30.129 --> 00:14:32.870 And so he wanted desperately to be famous and 00:14:32.870 --> 00:14:35.470 to be looked at as very smart. And ultimately, 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:38.669 his mother continued to pray because she herself 00:14:38.669 --> 00:14:41.730 was a faithful believer. And there was a man 00:14:41.730 --> 00:14:45.340 who was her pastor, her priest. who was also 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:48.720 very smart, and Augustine would go to him and 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.759 debate him over and over because he wanted to 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.159 prove that what this man believed wasn't real 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:58.059 and he wanted to prove that Christians were ultimately 00:14:58.059 --> 00:15:01.000 really stupid and that they fall for anything. 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:04.200 And then what happens? But he goes and he would 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:07.200 constantly debate this man in front of hundreds 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.759 of people and this man would... ultimately show 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:14.759 him that he had the answers and Augustine didn't. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:17.899 And it ripped Augustine to shreds. He couldn't 00:15:17.899 --> 00:15:20.379 stand it. He couldn't stand that his pride was 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:22.840 continually getting battered and battered. And 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:26.320 then finally God got him weary and broken and 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.240 he finally surrendered and he went on to become 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.460 one of the most influential theologians in church 00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:36.190 history. Highly recommend the confessions. But 00:15:36.190 --> 00:15:38.409 then let's look at another man who's not so famous. 00:15:38.429 --> 00:15:42.169 His name is Jacob de Shazer. He was an American 00:15:42.169 --> 00:15:44.509 pilot who was captured after the Doolittle raid 00:15:44.509 --> 00:15:47.750 in World War II. As a prisoner of war in Japan, 00:15:47.809 --> 00:15:52.070 he was filled with hatred and bitterness. Given 00:15:52.070 --> 00:15:54.549 a Bible while he was in prison, de Shazer encountered 00:15:54.549 --> 00:15:56.690 Christ and repented. And after the war, instead 00:15:56.690 --> 00:15:59.309 of returning home to live quietly, he went back 00:15:59.309 --> 00:16:01.970 to Japan as a missionary to the same nation he 00:16:01.970 --> 00:16:07.379 once wanted to destroy. And so that first point 00:16:07.379 --> 00:16:10.500 that I did not read again for the second week 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:15.139 in a row is a new chance. We all get new chances. 00:16:15.500 --> 00:16:18.539 We serve a God of second chances. Whether you 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:21.059 already are surrendered to God in the sense of 00:16:21.059 --> 00:16:25.200 your faith and salvation, and He's called you 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:27.519 to do something and you're walking in those disobedience 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:30.700 with, you get a second chance. You get a do -over 00:16:30.700 --> 00:16:33.139 to say yes to that. or you're somebody that's 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:35.559 sitting here who does not know Christ and he's 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:38.019 continually crying out to you saying, just go 00:16:38.019 --> 00:16:42.480 ahead and just surrender and stop fighting me. 00:16:43.259 --> 00:16:48.220 Point number two, Nineveh's notable response. 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:53.700 So let's look at verse four and five. Jonah began 00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:56.259 to go into the city, going a day's journey and 00:16:56.259 --> 00:16:58.980 he called out, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall 00:16:58.980 --> 00:17:02.259 be overthrown. and the people of Nineveh believed 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:06.279 God, they called for a fast and put on sackcloth 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:08.900 for the greatest, from the greatest of them to 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:13.039 the least of them. And so Jonah finally preaches, 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:16.519 he gets the word out, but he's preaching out 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:21.140 of a desire to see Nineveh become decimated and 00:17:21.140 --> 00:17:27.220 destroyed. He doesn't preach because he loves 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:30.819 Nineveh, he preaches because he has to. His heart 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:33.579 isn't burning for their salvation. It's bracing 00:17:33.579 --> 00:17:37.200 for their judgment. There's no altar call. There's 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:40.660 no invitation, no hope offered. Jonah just walks 00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:43.700 into the city preaching destruction and then 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:50.019 waits to see if God will drop the hammer. But 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:55.819 does God drop the hammer? No. In his goodness 00:17:55.819 --> 00:17:59.950 and in his grace, he doesn't. But here's what's 00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:04.589 funny. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. No, 00:18:04.670 --> 00:18:06.049 will you grab me some water back there? I forgot 00:18:06.049 --> 00:18:12.869 to get water. Sorry. Thank you. Yet the people 00:18:12.869 --> 00:18:16.450 believe of Nineveh believe God. And that's the 00:18:16.450 --> 00:18:18.750 shock of the text. The power wasn't in Jonah's 00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:21.789 passion. It wasn't in God's, it was in God's 00:18:21.789 --> 00:18:24.430 mercy. It wasn't in the fact that Jonah was a 00:18:24.430 --> 00:18:28.440 great orator. It was in God's mercy. It wasn't 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:31.720 that Jonah had a great band. It was in God's 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:36.359 mercy. Jonah's heart is still crooked. In the 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:39.680 words of Martin Luther, God does incredible things. 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:42.720 He draws straight lines with crooked sticks. 00:18:43.900 --> 00:18:47.279 And that's what's happening here. God's mission 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.720 will not be circumvented because of a preacher 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:57.549 who has a bad heart. Even when a preacher isn't 00:18:57.549 --> 00:19:02.710 right, the word still is. That should both humble 00:19:02.710 --> 00:19:06.309 and encourage us. God can move in spite of us. 00:19:07.410 --> 00:19:10.230 But what a tragedy to miss the joy of being fully 00:19:10.230 --> 00:19:11.809 aligned with what God's doing. Here's what I 00:19:11.809 --> 00:19:17.950 mean by that. In full transparency, there have 00:19:17.950 --> 00:19:23.369 been places where God has taken me to do ministry. 00:19:24.139 --> 00:19:29.019 and my heart has not been for the people. A very 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:33.079 good example is, thank you, bud. Way to carefully 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:41.579 walk that without spilling a drop. I wasn't worried. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:44.700 Your mom wasn't gonna drive the three and a half 00:19:44.700 --> 00:19:47.500 hours home, so if you wanna make it back home 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:51.900 alive, I know I can still be here. Anyway, when 00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:55.039 I was at Westside, I did not want to go back 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:58.380 into youth ministry after having planted and 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:07.420 I just did not care for the kids there. I didn't. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:18.660 I didn't like any of them. Less than five out 00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:25.650 of a hundred. I found them to be annoying. I 00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:29.390 found them to be, I found the parents to be just 00:20:29.390 --> 00:20:32.890 absolutely, I just wanted to pull my hair out 00:20:32.890 --> 00:20:36.869 constantly. And I just kept going like, why am 00:20:36.869 --> 00:20:41.230 I here God? Like this is so, I'm above this. 00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:45.190 And the Lord's like, are you? Are you though? 00:20:45.730 --> 00:20:48.829 I don't think so. Your heart shows otherwise. 00:20:50.569 --> 00:20:58.650 And so, Despite my crooked heart, we still baptized 00:20:58.650 --> 00:21:02.490 teenagers and led teenagers to Christ. We still 00:21:02.490 --> 00:21:06.049 saw parents wanting to learn how to disciple 00:21:06.049 --> 00:21:09.950 their kids. It wasn't me doing that. It wasn't 00:21:09.950 --> 00:21:13.829 because I was having a lot of fun. But God is 00:21:13.829 --> 00:21:17.609 faithful even when you've got preachers and people 00:21:17.609 --> 00:21:22.529 who don't have a heart for the lost. God can 00:21:22.529 --> 00:21:24.710 save people in dead churches. He does it all 00:21:24.710 --> 00:21:28.130 the time. God can still draw sinners through 00:21:28.130 --> 00:21:32.309 flawed messengers. He does it here. And God can 00:21:32.309 --> 00:21:35.990 still move even when hearts are reluctant. But 00:21:35.990 --> 00:21:38.069 what a beautiful thing and what a holy privilege 00:21:38.069 --> 00:21:40.490 it is when God's people are fully surrendered 00:21:40.490 --> 00:21:44.250 and actually want what God wants. So here is 00:21:44.250 --> 00:21:47.150 my question to you. Do you want to see your neighbor 00:21:47.150 --> 00:21:53.400 saved? If you do, you will share the gospel. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:58.099 Don't overcomplicate it. As we're seeing right 00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:00.980 here, God does the heavy lifting. You don't have 00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:03.660 to have an apologetics degree. You don't have 00:22:03.660 --> 00:22:05.859 to know everything. You don't have to worry about, 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:07.039 because that's one of the things that people 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:09.819 are like, why do they ask a question that I don't 00:22:09.819 --> 00:22:13.420 know? And I go, easy. You just say you don't 00:22:13.420 --> 00:22:25.450 know. Right? You have to want to share the gospel. 00:22:26.670 --> 00:22:30.890 You should want to share the gospel. Here's the 00:22:30.890 --> 00:22:37.369 other thing, too. When you get the opportunity 00:22:37.369 --> 00:22:43.730 to share the gospel with someone, and they come 00:22:43.730 --> 00:22:49.539 to Jesus, they say yes. It is the most incredible 00:22:49.539 --> 00:22:52.960 feeling in the world. Do you guys know what I'm 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:57.339 talking about? It feels like, this is the best 00:22:57.339 --> 00:22:59.900 way I can put it, because there's no other really 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:06.000 words to describe it, but we had a young guy 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.380 in our church when I was a youth pastor in Arkansas 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:13.160 who came up to Nebraska with us to help us plant, 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:20.890 and he's about this tall and the girl sure is 00:23:20.890 --> 00:23:25.250 and his and his wife is about this tall and so 00:23:25.250 --> 00:23:30.609 they're they're quite the couple but um okay 00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:34.650 he's more like this tall um he is very short 00:23:34.650 --> 00:23:40.109 uh and she is taller than i am and so she anyway 00:23:40.109 --> 00:23:44.009 he he was like wanting a wife, wanting a wife. 00:23:44.109 --> 00:23:46.329 And I said, dude, what about faith? And he goes, 00:23:46.430 --> 00:23:49.390 have you seen how tall faith is? And girls her 00:23:49.390 --> 00:23:51.690 height don't wanna date guys that are my size. 00:23:52.029 --> 00:23:55.029 And I'm like, brother, give it a shot, right? 00:23:55.049 --> 00:23:59.369 Well, ultimately they meet or they get together, 00:23:59.369 --> 00:24:01.329 they start dating, they're now married, they 00:24:01.329 --> 00:24:03.869 have a baby, and I got to do their wedding. And 00:24:03.869 --> 00:24:07.289 I reminded them during their wedding that if 00:24:07.289 --> 00:24:11.190 it wasn't for me, they wouldn't have met each 00:24:11.190 --> 00:24:15.019 other. Because he was too afraid because of he 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:19.119 was being so short That's what it's like to bring 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:22.000 someone to introduce them to Jesus It feels like 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.839 this like matchmaker thing and you kind of have 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:28.640 this like yeah, man Like I did that now you did 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.299 not do that God did that but there's that feeling 00:24:31.299 --> 00:24:33.359 Does that make sense? Am I making sense at all 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:35.000 or am I just being crazy because that's that's 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.319 just the way it feels to me It's not difficult 00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:42.599 to share the gospel with someone. There is a 00:24:42.599 --> 00:24:49.099 guy who helps Eli with woodworking. And I told 00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:53.279 Tracy, I went to see him this week and I said, 00:24:54.180 --> 00:24:58.119 I shared the gospel with Arlie. And she's like, 00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:01.480 you did? And I said, yeah. And she's like, what 00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:04.400 happened? So I'm telling her. And as a matter 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.920 of fact, it was. the little book that I had there, 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:09.180 I had it in the car and he was asking me about 00:25:09.180 --> 00:25:15.720 it. And he grew up Catholic, right? I think he 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:21.700 did. But anyway, as we sat there and we talked 00:25:21.700 --> 00:25:25.559 about the weather, literally, we talked about 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:28.140 the different things of where God is working 00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:32.279 and how I see the world. And he just smiled and 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:36.180 he was like, I've never heard that before. And 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:38.940 we just spoke, like I didn't say, hey, do you 00:25:38.940 --> 00:25:40.400 want to give your life to Christ or anything 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:43.079 like that in that moment, but it was a very simple, 00:25:43.140 --> 00:25:45.640 he didn't feel threatened by it. He didn't, it 00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:48.640 wasn't like, hey, shut up, don't say, like, he 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.240 just smiled and was like, I've never heard that 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:55.759 before. And I think we overcomplicate so much, 00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:59.759 like Jonah, in our fear, we run, and in reality 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:03.180 it's like, if you would just obey, there's no 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:08.200 telling what God is about to do. So anyway, back 00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:14.500 to our regularly scheduled program. Nineveh reminds 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:17.759 us that God's mercy isn't limited by our expectations 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:23.000 or our prejudices or our grudges. Outsiders respond, 00:26:23.779 --> 00:26:26.720 enemies repent, and the city we think deserves 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:30.460 judgment receives grace. The question for us 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:32.980 isn't whether God can work without us, it's whether 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:38.380 we're willing to join him when he does. So there's 00:26:38.380 --> 00:26:40.319 something else I want to point out here though 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:47.240 that's pretty crucial for you guys to know. We 00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:51.400 looked at in chapter one that the guys on the 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:55.079 boat, the pagans on the boat, they use God's 00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:59.220 actual name. They cry out to Yahweh. We see that 00:26:59.220 --> 00:27:02.099 capital L for Lord and that's. Whenever you see 00:27:02.099 --> 00:27:04.460 that in the scriptures, that means they're using 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:10.140 God's name, Yahweh. But here, this is not what 00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:15.180 is described. We see a capital G and that word 00:27:15.180 --> 00:27:18.539 is Elohim that they use, which is a very generic 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:19.880 term. You guys have heard me talk about this 00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:24.079 before, a generic term for God. So I began to 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:28.920 wonder, were they really crying out to God? And 00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:33.140 as I dove in this week, Theologians are split. 00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:39.000 Some say they didn't in the sense of turn to 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:42.980 God, they just added God, the true God, to their 00:27:42.980 --> 00:27:46.940 other pantheon of gods. They were trying to please 00:27:46.940 --> 00:27:51.579 the gods. And so I wanna talk about these two 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:55.160 real quickly and you can make your decision because 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:57.859 this isn't a heaven or hell issue, okay? I wanna 00:27:57.859 --> 00:28:02.430 make that clear. If someone disagrees, It's okay. 00:28:04.089 --> 00:28:06.690 But when we first see it, there's two main ways 00:28:06.690 --> 00:28:09.390 to understand it. First, what the Bible clearly 00:28:09.390 --> 00:28:12.410 shows us is when Jonah preached, the people of 00:28:12.410 --> 00:28:15.490 Nineveh believed God. They fasted, they wore 00:28:15.490 --> 00:28:18.609 sackcloth, and the king even humbled himself 00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:22.029 in ashes. And most importantly, it says they 00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:25.529 turned from their evil ways. Scripture says that 00:28:25.529 --> 00:28:29.130 God saw what they did and relented from the destruction 00:28:29.130 --> 00:28:33.289 he had announced. Later, Jesus himself said that 00:28:33.289 --> 00:28:35.809 the people of Nineveh truly repented and would 00:28:35.809 --> 00:28:38.269 stand as a witness against his own generation 00:28:38.269 --> 00:28:40.809 because they responded to Jonah while Israel 00:28:40.809 --> 00:28:44.930 rejected someone greater than Jonah. So, here's 00:28:44.930 --> 00:28:49.109 view one. Either they genuinely repented, which 00:28:49.109 --> 00:28:51.269 is, I think, the way we've all grown up hearing 00:28:51.269 --> 00:28:55.490 and had faith. And so, there is sincere repentance. 00:28:56.369 --> 00:29:00.430 And why, why do I think, because I, I still sit 00:29:00.430 --> 00:29:03.329 with view one. I think they genuinely repented. 00:29:03.990 --> 00:29:08.630 Why do I think that? Let me tell you. Well, I'm 00:29:08.630 --> 00:29:11.210 told in the scriptures to judge things by its 00:29:11.210 --> 00:29:14.210 fruit. So I'm going to ask you guys, why would 00:29:14.210 --> 00:29:17.730 you think that they genuinely repented? What 00:29:17.730 --> 00:29:21.210 do we see in the text that it blatantly tells 00:29:21.210 --> 00:29:23.970 us? We're not reading into the text. It's there. 00:29:24.750 --> 00:29:28.319 So what do we see happening? That would show 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:34.559 us that there was genuine repentance They left 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:48.140 their evil ways what else Yeah Yep, which the 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:51.440 the other theologians would say that's just God's 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:54.660 Grace still nonetheless right like even in the 00:29:54.660 --> 00:29:57.700 midst of if they weren't truly repentant Like 00:29:57.700 --> 00:29:59.779 they were repentant, but they were just adding 00:29:59.779 --> 00:30:02.640 God to their pantheon, right? They would say 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:05.019 that just still shows God's grace in the moment, 00:30:05.099 --> 00:30:08.240 but I agree with you. So what else though? What 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:21.180 else do we see? Yes. Wow. Cold star. So proud 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:25.859 of you. Yeah. There's sorrow over their sin. 00:30:27.829 --> 00:30:32.869 They're broken over it. They then trust in God. 00:30:32.890 --> 00:30:37.569 They change their behavior and God relents. And 00:30:37.569 --> 00:30:41.390 so that's why it just makes sense to me that 00:30:41.390 --> 00:30:43.970 there was true repentance. They begin to fast 00:30:43.970 --> 00:30:46.269 and not only do they as the people have to fast, 00:30:46.549 --> 00:30:50.150 but it even says that their animals have to fast. 00:30:51.869 --> 00:30:53.990 The cows are like, I didn't sign up for this. 00:30:56.009 --> 00:30:59.589 But also too, something that makes me believe. 00:31:00.009 --> 00:31:04.130 So we've got Jesus saying it. We've got all the 00:31:04.130 --> 00:31:06.789 keys to what it looks like when someone does 00:31:06.789 --> 00:31:10.490 repent, sorrow over their sin, placing trust 00:31:10.490 --> 00:31:13.410 in God, a visible change in behavior. That needs 00:31:13.410 --> 00:31:16.910 to be very evident, by the way. But also too, 00:31:17.029 --> 00:31:21.049 the book of Nahum, it talks about how the later 00:31:21.049 --> 00:31:25.859 generation returns to violence and pride. And 00:31:25.859 --> 00:31:28.819 so we have a generation that changes and then 00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:32.160 a generation later it gets changed back. And 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:35.579 so there was a legitimate generational change 00:31:35.579 --> 00:31:38.680 and then later on we see, so it would be contradictory 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:43.819 to me if God would ultimately destroy them when 00:31:43.819 --> 00:31:45.259 he could have just done it then, if there hadn't 00:31:45.259 --> 00:31:49.339 been real true repentance. And so. As I said, 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:51.599 there's the second view, the temporary limited 00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:53.740 repentance, which argues that Nineveh's response 00:31:53.740 --> 00:31:57.400 while serious may not have been full conversion 00:31:57.400 --> 00:32:00.660 to faith in Israel's God. The people feared judgment 00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:03.119 and responded appropriately like they would any 00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:05.660 other God that they served. But this repentance 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:11.480 was short -lived or incomplete. But again, you've 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:18.109 got this tension. And so was... None of us repentance 00:32:18.109 --> 00:32:20.890 true heart change or a desperate response to 00:32:20.890 --> 00:32:24.150 a looming disaster and I would say it was real 00:32:24.150 --> 00:32:29.289 repentance and it was ongoing you can Study it 00:32:29.289 --> 00:32:32.230 for yourself and decide what your conviction 00:32:32.230 --> 00:32:37.390 is because again It can differ from pastor Logan 00:32:37.390 --> 00:32:41.430 you'll be wrong, but I'm just kidding All right 00:32:41.430 --> 00:32:44.910 point number three King the Kings humble call 00:32:45.150 --> 00:33:12.460 So we look at verses six through nine. but let 00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:15.539 man and beast be covered in sackcloth and let 00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:18.480 them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:21.279 from his evil way and from the violence that 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:25.099 is in his hands. Who knows God may turn and relent 00:33:25.099 --> 00:33:28.819 and turn from his fierce anger so that we may 00:33:28.819 --> 00:33:34.220 not perish. So by the time Jonah's message reaches 00:33:34.220 --> 00:33:37.720 the King of Nineveh, the city has already been 00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:45.329 unraveling. Here's the deal. We see what's going 00:33:45.329 --> 00:33:48.529 on in Minneapolis, right? Most everybody in here 00:33:48.529 --> 00:33:52.410 isn't living under a rock. And so Minneapolis 00:33:52.410 --> 00:33:58.690 is in complete and utter turmoil, okay? The leadership 00:33:58.690 --> 00:34:04.769 of that city, in my opinion, is only continuing 00:34:04.769 --> 00:34:09.670 to stoke a fire all the more. They're not looking 00:34:09.670 --> 00:34:13.710 for peace because they ultimately hate and despise 00:34:13.710 --> 00:34:17.010 our president and so they continue to stoke the 00:34:17.010 --> 00:34:20.469 rebellion and the city is continuing to be to 00:34:20.469 --> 00:34:24.489 burn and and just completely be decimated around 00:34:24.489 --> 00:34:29.650 it and Innocent people are kind of stuck in the 00:34:29.650 --> 00:34:33.750 middle So why do I bring that up? Because here's 00:34:33.750 --> 00:34:44.050 the deal Even even in their rebellion, the king 00:34:44.050 --> 00:34:48.590 knows that the society is already unraveling 00:34:48.590 --> 00:34:54.590 of Nineveh and it's under his leadership. And 00:34:54.590 --> 00:34:57.690 so I think personally that the king already was 00:34:57.690 --> 00:35:00.550 like, I don't know how to stop this. He can see 00:35:00.550 --> 00:35:07.730 it. And then here comes Jonah. Now, What I want 00:35:07.730 --> 00:35:16.210 you to hear is this. We see in scripture why 00:35:16.210 --> 00:35:22.010 societies unravel. When cities and nations fill 00:35:22.010 --> 00:35:25.329 themselves with evil, the chaos that follows 00:35:25.329 --> 00:35:28.469 isn't just bad decision -making, it is already 00:35:28.469 --> 00:35:34.369 God's wrath at work. God doesn't have to send 00:35:34.369 --> 00:35:37.289 fire like Sodom and Gomorrah. He automatically 00:35:37.289 --> 00:35:41.070 begins to, when you are buying into an ideology 00:35:41.070 --> 00:35:44.489 and you have decided to turn from him, guess 00:35:44.489 --> 00:35:48.190 what? He begins to take his hands off because 00:35:48.190 --> 00:35:50.929 the Holy Spirit is the one that holds back evil. 00:35:51.630 --> 00:35:58.269 And so God's like, okay, here's judgment. More 00:35:58.269 --> 00:36:01.809 destruction will follow, but you're already seeing 00:36:01.809 --> 00:36:05.559 the judgment at work. Roman tells us that, the 00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:07.420 book of Romans tells us that, that God's judgment 00:36:07.420 --> 00:36:10.199 often looks like this. He removes his restraining 00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:13.860 hand and allows darkness to run its course. Evil 00:36:13.860 --> 00:36:19.179 consumes itself. Order collapses and peace disappears. 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:23.539 God will not forever hold back what we continually 00:36:23.539 --> 00:36:27.199 choose. And that's what makes Jonah so astonishing. 00:36:28.340 --> 00:36:31.139 God is not obligated to warn Nineveh, but he 00:36:31.139 --> 00:36:34.989 does anyway. Before total collapse, before judgment 00:36:34.989 --> 00:36:38.590 is final, God extends mercy. He gives them a 00:36:38.590 --> 00:36:41.750 chance to turn, to restore order, and to find 00:36:41.750 --> 00:36:45.190 peace, stability, and life, the very things every 00:36:45.190 --> 00:36:50.489 nation longs for. We fight wars over this. Yes? 00:36:51.389 --> 00:36:55.190 We all desire peace. We all desire stability. 00:36:55.369 --> 00:36:58.250 We all desire the ability to make our own way, 00:36:58.250 --> 00:37:01.519 and you can't do that in the midst of wreckage 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:05.159 and evil and constantly looking to other things. 00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:10.059 Does that make sense? Again, I point to what 00:37:10.059 --> 00:37:12.820 is happening right before our eyes with cities 00:37:12.820 --> 00:37:16.320 burning down around them. And you see leadership 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:19.940 that doesn't care. And so all of this starts 00:37:19.940 --> 00:37:23.659 at the top. The king doesn't defend himself. 00:37:24.329 --> 00:37:27.349 He doesn't spin the message. He doesn't blame 00:37:27.349 --> 00:37:30.289 the people. He steps down from his throne, removes 00:37:30.289 --> 00:37:33.329 his robe, sits in ashes, and calls the entire 00:37:33.329 --> 00:37:38.610 nation to repentance. We would all absolutely 00:37:38.610 --> 00:37:48.789 croak if we saw Tim Walls do that. He repent 00:37:48.789 --> 00:37:51.670 for the fraud that he has been partaking in. 00:37:51.769 --> 00:37:56.269 that he would step down from his rule as governor 00:37:56.269 --> 00:37:59.869 and go, I have sinned against all of you. We 00:37:59.869 --> 00:38:02.710 are living in sin and I'm going to repent and 00:38:02.710 --> 00:38:04.829 we all should repent. Everyone would be like, 00:38:04.829 --> 00:38:08.889 what is going on? That's what's happening right 00:38:08.889 --> 00:38:13.690 here in Nineveh. It's not impossible. We laugh 00:38:13.690 --> 00:38:16.269 and we joke because it's like, it feels impossible, 00:38:16.550 --> 00:38:23.840 but God is doing that here with Nineveh. We see 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:27.780 humble leadership, not power preserving itself, 00:38:27.980 --> 00:38:31.820 but authority bowing before God. And here's the 00:38:31.820 --> 00:38:34.079 mystery of mercy. When leaders humble themselves 00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:36.980 before the Lord, God can heal more than hearts. 00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:41.139 He can heal communities. God can bring peace 00:38:41.139 --> 00:38:43.760 where there was violence, order where there was 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:46.679 chaos, and hope where there was collapse that 00:38:46.679 --> 00:38:50.559 felt inevitable. And so that's exactly what Christ 00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:53.280 does on a greater scale. The true King steps 00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:55.780 down, he humbles himself, and through repentance 00:38:55.780 --> 00:38:59.360 and faith brings lasting peace. And so here's 00:38:59.360 --> 00:39:02.719 my question for all of you guys. Will we humble 00:39:02.719 --> 00:39:05.639 ourselves before God or wait until collapse forces 00:39:05.639 --> 00:39:11.199 us to? When God places us in positions of authority, 00:39:11.820 --> 00:39:15.960 humility is not optional. It's essential. This 00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:20.110 should be up here. Leadership in God's economy 00:39:20.110 --> 00:39:23.449 is never about protecting image. It's about modeling 00:39:23.449 --> 00:39:28.090 repentance. So when we fail, repentance cannot 00:39:28.090 --> 00:39:32.469 remain private and internal only. It must often 00:39:32.469 --> 00:39:37.429 be visible. Here's what I mean by that. If you 00:39:37.429 --> 00:39:40.030 are in a place of leadership, and I'm about to 00:39:40.030 --> 00:39:43.309 break this down into the micro scale, because 00:39:43.309 --> 00:39:45.809 we're all in some place of authority in leadership. 00:39:46.989 --> 00:39:53.809 When you fail, when you sin, your repentance 00:39:53.809 --> 00:39:56.369 should not just be in your prayer closet, but 00:39:56.369 --> 00:39:58.610 it should also be repentance to those you have 00:39:58.610 --> 00:40:02.969 sinned against. So men, if we sin against our 00:40:02.969 --> 00:40:06.369 wives, if we demean them in front of our children, 00:40:06.949 --> 00:40:10.469 repentance must be both private and public. Our 00:40:10.469 --> 00:40:13.690 children need to see that in our sin we seek 00:40:13.690 --> 00:40:17.650 forgiveness and pursue reconciliation. If you're 00:40:17.650 --> 00:40:20.690 a business owner, if we mistreat a customer or 00:40:20.690 --> 00:40:24.630 an employee, if we cheat them, humility demands 00:40:24.630 --> 00:40:27.750 that we admit fault openly and make it right. 00:40:29.469 --> 00:40:34.750 This isn't weakness. It's faithful leadership. 00:40:37.389 --> 00:40:39.750 Whether in the home or in the marketplace, leadership 00:40:39.750 --> 00:40:42.769 is a public trust. And if we are going to lead 00:40:42.769 --> 00:40:46.010 as believers, we must resolve to be public in 00:40:46.010 --> 00:40:49.010 our confession, honest about our failures, and 00:40:49.010 --> 00:40:52.170 quick to pursue repentance. Because humility 00:40:52.170 --> 00:40:56.710 is how God restores both people and those we 00:40:56.710 --> 00:41:04.869 lead. Point number four. Mercy manifested in 00:41:04.869 --> 00:41:09.110 God's grace. The last verse, verse 10. When God 00:41:09.110 --> 00:41:12.360 saw what they did, how they turned from their 00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:15.500 evil way, God relented of the disaster that he 00:41:15.500 --> 00:41:18.280 had said he would do to them, and he did not 00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:27.559 do it. So, in all of this, mercy happens. The 00:41:27.559 --> 00:41:29.820 Ninevites repents, the king humbles himself, 00:41:29.840 --> 00:41:32.599 and the people turn from their evil ways, and 00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:37.360 God relents. The destruction he had promised 00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:40.840 does not come. Judgment is suspended and grace 00:41:40.840 --> 00:41:45.659 is displayed in full color. This is the mystery 00:41:45.659 --> 00:41:49.539 and the beauty of God's mercy. He does not delight 00:41:49.539 --> 00:41:52.800 in punishment. He delights in repentance. He 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:57.260 waits. He calls. He offers a way back. Even when 00:41:57.260 --> 00:42:00.340 failure has been deep, the rebellion has been 00:42:00.340 --> 00:42:04.179 long, and the consequences are severe. I'm going 00:42:04.179 --> 00:42:07.480 to pause for just a second. A good friend of 00:42:07.480 --> 00:42:12.219 mine, We love to talk about the Bible, and we 00:42:12.219 --> 00:42:16.880 met this past Tuesday, and he was like, we're 00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:18.559 just kind of going through scripture, and he 00:42:18.559 --> 00:42:24.059 goes, hey, man, what if we just started reading 00:42:24.059 --> 00:42:27.300 through Jonah? And I was like, so did you know 00:42:27.300 --> 00:42:28.460 that I'm preaching through Jonah right now? And 00:42:28.460 --> 00:42:32.380 he's like, nope. I'm like, cool, well, we can 00:42:32.380 --> 00:42:34.179 have all the discussion you like, because I've 00:42:34.179 --> 00:42:37.860 been deep into it for a few weeks. And so he 00:42:37.860 --> 00:42:41.070 says, well, The reason why I bring it up is because 00:42:41.070 --> 00:42:45.150 he said, my son Ryan, Ryan is in college. He 00:42:45.150 --> 00:42:48.190 comes home for the holidays and he says, dad, 00:42:48.530 --> 00:42:53.130 can we just be people of the New Testament? Can 00:42:53.130 --> 00:42:58.869 we just do away with the Old Testament? And he's 00:42:58.869 --> 00:43:00.429 like, well, what do you mean? And he's like, 00:43:00.449 --> 00:43:03.909 well, it just, it doesn't fit. Like when I look 00:43:03.909 --> 00:43:08.880 at Jesus, And I look at the disciples and I read 00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:12.639 the book of Acts. I don't see the same God as 00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:18.059 I see in the Old Testament. And I said, so he's 00:43:18.059 --> 00:43:20.840 saying like Andy Stanley, we should just like 00:43:20.840 --> 00:43:23.900 unhitch what Andy Stanley said, unhitch our wagon 00:43:23.900 --> 00:43:26.659 from the Old Testament. And he goes, yeah, essentially. 00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:29.659 And he goes, what do you think about that? I 00:43:29.659 --> 00:43:33.449 said, I think that's blasphemy. I said, not really, 00:43:33.469 --> 00:43:36.389 it's not blasphemy in a sense, but if you want 00:43:36.389 --> 00:43:38.250 to completely do away with the Old Testament, 00:43:38.309 --> 00:43:41.769 you completely misunderstand who God is. And 00:43:41.769 --> 00:43:45.829 he's like, okay, so what should I say to him? 00:43:46.429 --> 00:43:50.230 And Ryan, I was his youth pastor, so he's not 00:43:50.230 --> 00:43:52.050 struggling with faith, he's just like, how do 00:43:52.050 --> 00:43:55.309 I make sense of this? And I said, God, when you 00:43:55.309 --> 00:43:58.110 read the Old Testament, God is not some angry 00:43:58.110 --> 00:44:01.210 middle school boy who is up and down with his 00:44:01.210 --> 00:44:05.619 emotions. I go, the problem is we read it and 00:44:05.619 --> 00:44:10.059 we go, oh man, they sinned then God did this. 00:44:10.519 --> 00:44:15.039 And I go, and we read that as this person sinned 00:44:15.039 --> 00:44:17.880 and then right away they're dead. And I said, 00:44:18.139 --> 00:44:19.739 are some stories like that? Yeah, some stories 00:44:19.739 --> 00:44:22.000 are like that, but that also is in the New Testament. 00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:28.000 So I go, what you have to understand is like 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:29.840 with Jonah, cause that's what got the whole thing 00:44:29.840 --> 00:44:33.510 started. Like with Jonah, the Ninevites had gone 00:44:33.510 --> 00:44:37.550 hundreds of years doing this stuff. There have 00:44:37.550 --> 00:44:40.550 been generations and generations of violence 00:44:40.550 --> 00:44:47.469 and sin. And God is like, grace, patience, grace, 00:44:47.809 --> 00:44:52.590 patience. And he's waiting and he's waiting and 00:44:52.590 --> 00:44:55.030 he's waiting. And they just continue to add on 00:44:55.030 --> 00:44:57.809 more gods and more gods and more gods. And God's 00:44:57.809 --> 00:45:00.139 like, okay. Now's the time because I'm about 00:45:00.139 --> 00:45:06.539 to put the belt to the booty if we don't change, 00:45:06.840 --> 00:45:11.320 right? And so I go, you can't read the Old Testament 00:45:11.320 --> 00:45:13.860 and just read it as God is just being dramatic. 00:45:14.219 --> 00:45:16.320 I go, you have to understand holiness. You have 00:45:16.320 --> 00:45:18.300 to understand who He is. You have to understand 00:45:18.300 --> 00:45:21.159 justice and love. And I go, and you cannot understand 00:45:21.159 --> 00:45:25.079 it fully apart from the Old Testament. You have 00:45:25.079 --> 00:45:28.090 to see it. The reason why I bring that up is 00:45:28.090 --> 00:45:31.590 you see the grace. Don't read this as the Ninevites 00:45:31.590 --> 00:45:33.409 had only been doing this for a few years. No, 00:45:33.429 --> 00:45:36.070 this has been generations of sin and violence. 00:45:36.550 --> 00:45:39.190 And here God is in His mercy and in His grace 00:45:39.190 --> 00:45:44.409 going, okay, we're going to send someone and 00:45:44.409 --> 00:45:48.110 you've got to know. And so no matter our past, 00:45:49.070 --> 00:45:52.110 no matter our mistakes, God offers forgiveness. 00:45:52.599 --> 00:45:55.260 He offers renewal and a chance to live in right 00:45:55.260 --> 00:45:59.460 relationship with him. But grace is not passive. 00:46:00.159 --> 00:46:03.260 God's mercy invites a response. We are called 00:46:03.260 --> 00:46:07.300 to reflect in our lives. We are to forgive, to 00:46:07.300 --> 00:46:10.079 humbly repent, and to extend Christ -like love 00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:14.159 in every sphere we touch. The same God who relented 00:46:14.159 --> 00:46:16.280 from Nineveh's destruction is the God who offers 00:46:16.280 --> 00:46:21.179 mercy to you right now. that assurance move you 00:46:21.179 --> 00:46:24.880 to obedience and to humility and to live out 00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:32.139 that grace. I want to close with this. I wrote 00:46:32.139 --> 00:46:37.519 this in a blog yesterday, and so you know how 00:46:37.519 --> 00:46:40.800 I'm closing if you read that yesterday, but do 00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:45.320 you guys know who Philip Yancey is? Philip Yancey 00:46:45.320 --> 00:46:49.929 is a famous author. Christian speaker, he's very 00:46:49.929 --> 00:46:54.230 well known for more of that like kind of psychology 00:46:54.230 --> 00:46:58.130 counseling -ish type stuff, but he wrote a couple 00:46:58.130 --> 00:47:01.030 of books. One is, he's written a lot of books, 00:47:01.090 --> 00:47:03.369 but his most famous ones are What's So Amazing 00:47:03.369 --> 00:47:10.110 About Grace, The Jesus I Never Knew, Finding 00:47:10.110 --> 00:47:15.929 Grace When It Hurts, stuff like that. We saw 00:47:15.929 --> 00:47:18.909 him speak about four years ago at a youth conference 00:47:18.909 --> 00:47:24.929 and that's not where he typically speaks, okay? 00:47:25.309 --> 00:47:27.610 Not to youth. And he looked awkward and he admitted 00:47:27.610 --> 00:47:29.769 that he was feeling awkward preaching to youth. 00:47:30.909 --> 00:47:34.010 But I told Tracy on our way home, I said, I go, 00:47:34.989 --> 00:47:39.590 there was something else there about Philip Yancey. 00:47:39.900 --> 00:47:43.059 When he was speaking I said it wasn't his awkwardness 00:47:43.059 --> 00:47:44.599 that he was preaching to youth I said I felt 00:47:44.599 --> 00:47:46.460 like he didn't believe what he was preaching 00:47:46.460 --> 00:47:53.260 And I don't know I don't I can't tell you without 00:47:53.260 --> 00:47:57.940 a benefit of the doubt that That he did he doesn't 00:47:57.940 --> 00:48:00.840 believe like I can't say any of that but What 00:48:00.840 --> 00:48:02.940 just recently came out in the news this week 00:48:02.940 --> 00:48:05.599 is that he just admitted to an eight -year affair 00:48:05.599 --> 00:48:11.639 with a married woman and so What I find very 00:48:11.639 --> 00:48:16.820 interesting is also on top of that, his wife 00:48:16.820 --> 00:48:21.820 of 50 years has decided to stay with him. And 00:48:21.820 --> 00:48:23.900 you may be like, yeah, okay, well, you know, 00:48:24.019 --> 00:48:26.679 that's her prerogative. And yes, no one would 00:48:26.679 --> 00:48:29.239 blame her if she left. She has every biblical 00:48:29.239 --> 00:48:32.119 right to do so. He broke the covenant of their 00:48:32.119 --> 00:48:34.099 marriage. But what gets even more interesting 00:48:34.099 --> 00:48:38.210 is that he also, It was also announced that he 00:48:38.210 --> 00:48:40.849 has severe Parkinson's disease and he's slowly 00:48:40.849 --> 00:48:43.250 deteriorating and he can no longer care for himself. 00:48:44.130 --> 00:48:46.309 He can't feed himself, he can't wipe himself, 00:48:46.449 --> 00:48:52.769 he can't bathe himself. But his wife, even in 00:48:52.769 --> 00:48:55.750 his physical decline, has decided to become his 00:48:55.750 --> 00:49:00.530 full -time caretaker. She could easily walk away, 00:49:00.530 --> 00:49:05.659 as I said, and nobody would blame her. But she's 00:49:05.659 --> 00:49:10.119 decided, she chooses to say, she's showing grace, 00:49:10.480 --> 00:49:12.760 she's showing kindness, she's showing mercy in 00:49:12.760 --> 00:49:18.579 the most tangible and costly way. She's chosen 00:49:18.579 --> 00:49:23.579 the narrow way. Now, if you're here and you're 00:49:23.579 --> 00:49:27.739 like, hey, my spouse cheated on me, I didn't 00:49:27.739 --> 00:49:29.320 stay, are you saying that I'm not great? No, 00:49:29.400 --> 00:49:34.500 I'm not saying that at all, at all. I'm just 00:49:34.500 --> 00:49:37.760 saying that this is incredible. And so what I 00:49:37.760 --> 00:49:41.860 find ironic about all of this, and it's easy 00:49:41.860 --> 00:49:43.860 for me to look back at that time he was speaking 00:49:43.860 --> 00:49:46.400 and go, oh, that was the problem. That was the 00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:48.739 sin problem. And he probably doesn't believe. 00:49:49.840 --> 00:49:52.360 But I find it ironic that his most famous titles, 00:49:52.519 --> 00:49:54.880 What's So Amazing About Grace, The Jesus I Never 00:49:54.880 --> 00:49:59.940 Knew, is now being played out in a living story 00:49:59.940 --> 00:50:06.260 before his own eyes. He's experiencing the mercy 00:50:06.260 --> 00:50:10.619 that he probably saw as just abstract. Grace 00:50:10.619 --> 00:50:13.940 isn't just a concept in a book. It's a choice 00:50:13.940 --> 00:50:16.820 to forgive and to love and to stay when we're 00:50:16.820 --> 00:50:21.099 wronged, even when it would be easier not to. 00:50:23.320 --> 00:50:30.239 And so that, deciding to stay, deciding to experience 00:50:30.239 --> 00:50:38.820 and show mercy, This woman is literally being 00:50:38.820 --> 00:50:50.559 Philip Yancey's redeemer in real time. She is 00:50:50.559 --> 00:50:57.940 loving him, caring for him, even though he betrayed 00:50:57.940 --> 00:51:03.170 the covenant between the two of them. That's 00:51:03.170 --> 00:51:07.590 mercy. That's grace and that's who God is We 00:51:07.590 --> 00:51:11.190 break the covenant with him all the time And 00:51:11.190 --> 00:51:16.650 yet still he stays and he fights So he's a god 00:51:16.650 --> 00:51:21.329 of second chances He's a god who who chases continually 00:51:21.329 --> 00:51:27.550 after us He's a god who stays Let's pray