Sinners in the Hand of a Forgiving God

Introduction

Nearly 300 years ago, Jonathan Edwards, one of the leaders of the Great Awakening, was asked to preach the commencement at Harvard University. This address was viewed as the super bowl for pastors and Edwards preached a message centered on God’s glory in redemption and in saving sinners. Edwards was the pastor of one of the largest churches in New England, a growing area in the early 1700s, and began preaching on the wonderful work of Jesus in bringing sinners from darkness to light. Fast forward to 1741 and Edwards was in attendance for a midweek service and he wasn’t scheduled to preach but was asked to do so because the expected preacher was sick - even more reason to always have a sermon up your sleeve if you’re a pastor! Edwards stepped to the pulpit and delivered one of if not the most read sermon ever preached in our country - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. If this would have been in the 21st century, Edwards would have had a billion views on YouTube simply because of the title of the message and a billion more based on the content. Edwards dove deep into the sinfulness of humanity and preached on the just judgment of God towards unrepentant sinners. Edwards shared that we as humans are spiders dangling over the pit of hell and the only thing saving us is a tiny thread - the thread of redemption. With one hand God holds back His wrath against sinners and with the other hand, God is calling us to come home because Jesus Christ stands in the place of sinners today. This message paved the way for the 1st Great Awakening in our country as millions of people turned to Jesus after hearing the Gospel message preached without gimmicks or flare. It was simply the Gospel - we are sinners in need of a Savior. Every sermon has strengths and weaknesses and every preacher critiques their message first thing Monday morning and Edwards’ message was no different. He would tell you that this wasn’t a perfect sermon and many people have publicly critiqued Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God over the last 280 years and the more people that hear the message, the more that will say negative things about them. There’s no such thing as a perfect sermon outside of the Sermon on the Mount!

But, Edwards wasn’t afraid to give people the bad news that they needed to hear… Even though not everyone liked hearing this bad news. We don’t like receiving bad news either. Even if it isn’t all that bad, we don’t like hearing messages that go against our way of thinking. Why is this? Why do we dislike hearing bad news and why do we hate being the bearer of bad news? Because of the impact it will have - yet, sharing the bad news is crucial. If we never tell people that they must repent of their sin and stop living for themselves and instead live for Jesus Christ, they might feel good about themselves but they are hopelessly lost and dead in their sins! Sharing the bad news isn’t fun, but we must be obedient, as Jonah was, to call people to repent and trust in the One, True, Living God.

Just as our God judges sin and just as sin angers our King - He is also a God who forgives as we studied this morning. This evening we’re going to look the importance of repentance and trusting ourselves into the hand of our Forgiving God.

Jonah 3 CSB

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.” 3 Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the Lord’s command. Now Nineveh was an extremely great city, a three-day walk. 4 Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!” 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least. 6 When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he issued a decree in Nineveh: By order of the king and his nobles: No person or animal, herd or flock, is to taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink water. 8 Furthermore, both people and animals must be covered with sackcloth, and everyone must call out earnestly to God. Each must turn from his evil ways and from his wrongdoing. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that we will not perish. 10 God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—so God relented from the disaster he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.

Like Jonah, we are Commanded to Preach the Gospel (1-3)

In the opening few verses we see a very similar message to Jonah as we saw back in Jonah 1:1-2. As we talked last week, Jonah was given a second chance. He had disobeyed, he suffered the consequence and now he was commissioned to do the thing that he was called to do from the beginning: go to Nineveh and call them to repent. Aren’t you thankful for second chances? Aren’t you thankful that God is a God of mercy? Jonah had received this second chance and he obeyed in verse 3 as he actually went to Nineveh. If you look at Jonah 1:2

Jonah 1:2 CSB

2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.”

Jonah 3:2 CSB

2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach the message that I tell you.”

So Jonah is told to arise, go and proclaim. In chapter 1 we see that he is to call out against the people of Nineveh for the evil and wickedness. In chapter 3 we do not see specifically what he is supposed to proclaim. Many scholars note that it is the same message as before in chapter 1 - a call to repent. This is likely the case.

Think for a moment about our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. We like Jonah are called to arise, go and proclaim. What are we supposed to proclaim? We are supposed to proclaim the truth of the Gospel! We see a great summary of this in 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 CSB

3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Jesus Christ was born, lived a perfect life, died for our sins and rose from the grave. We proclaim this message to people around us because it is so important! We discussed this briefly during our Wednesday night Bible study a few nights ago… Our world loves to tell our children that they are perfect - maybe you don’t fall into this category, but seriously there are millions of children who are told daily by their parents that they are perfect and that they never do anything wrong. To these children who are being told this, what happens as they get older? Maybe they are invited to church with a friend in Junior High and they are introduced to Jesus Christ who came to die for our sins. This confuses the student because they’ve been told that they’re absolutely perfect - why would they need someone to die for their sins whenever they’ve never sinned? Do you see how important it is for us to share and teach what the Bible teaches as Christians? Don’t tell your kids and grandkids that they’re perfect or that they’re enough on their own - they’re not! What Scripture shows us is that we are sinners and we need a Savior.

We need to share the Gospel. Both sides of it. On the one hand you’re not good enough. You are bad. You are dead in your sins and trespasses. You are wicked. This is not a fun message to share and it’s not a fun message to think about, but it’s the truth of Scripture - if you don’t repent and turn everything over to God then you’re going to spend eternity in a place called hell. That’s not being judgmental, that’s being Biblical! This is the bad news. But the news doesn’t stop there - we are sinners and Christ died for sinners and He is good enough! The Lord loves giving mercy to sinners. The question that we need to ask is do we love doing this as well? Do we love giving mercy to others?

We love receiving mercy for ourselves whenever we fall short. We love getting the benefit of the doubt when it’s ourselves. What do we do whenever it’s someone else, though? Do we love giving mercy to others? Sometimes it’s hard! When it’s hard we must remind ourselves of our sin and how we have received mercy from God that we did not deserve either.

Like Jonah, we Encourage People to Repent (4-5)

As we share the Gospel message with others, this starts with us being the “bearer of bad news” and most of us don’t like that task. We must encourage people to repent and turn their eyes upon Jesus as the age old hymn puts it. This is exactly what Jonah does. He goes to this “exceedingly great city” and we wonder why a wicked city can be called exceedingly or extraordinarily great? The reason why is because this was a very large and powerful city. We talked about how the Ninevites were notorious for their torture of others and their military expertise. This was not only a powerful city but also a populated one. We see in Jonah 4:11 that there were over 120,000 people in the city. Scholars debate as to how many people lived in the city and we will discuss this more in depth next week, but this is a place with at least 120,000 citizens or roughly the size of Springfield nearly 2600 years ago. Big place and scary people who could easily torture and kill Jonah!

What does Jonah tell these people in verse 4? He tells them that the city will be destroyed in 40 days. In the Hebrew text, Jonah only says 5 words. Can you imagine a sermon that is only 5 words long? This would be a dream come true for some of you because you’d get home around 10:45 instead of 11:30! Adam Bradley shares that Jonah’s words were “amoebic in form by Jurassic in size.” Truly, though, Jonah says 5 words and we see in verse 5 that the people get the memo and they repent! How on earth does this happen with 5 small words?

We know that words are powerful, don’t we? Jonah doesn’t get into the deep parts of Scripture. He doesn’t give a PhD dissertation or preach for hours and debate scholars like Paul did in Athens as we see in Acts 17. What does he do? He tells them what God commanded him to. As we saw last week in Jonah 2:9

Jonah 2:9 CSB

9 but as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation belongs to the Lord.

Salvation is from the Lord! The Gospel is the power of God. The people didn’t repent because Jonah convinced them per say, they repented because they were convicted by God. They were responsible to repent here and that is exactly what they did. They believed Jonah’s message.

What was Jonah’s command here? To arise, go and proclaim this message from God. What was the result? The people repented. Check out what we see in Jeremiah 18 regarding what will happen whenever a nation repents.

Jeremiah 18:7–8 CSB

7 At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it. 8 However, if that nation about which I have made the announcement turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.

These people repent and instead of receiving punishment and disaster, God promises to relent. Do you see the direct command here? We as followers of God are to encourage people to repent as we share the Gospel message with them. Maybe that is by using 5 words like Jonah did or maybe that is by helping people out in their time of need and telling them about our testimony or what Jesus has done in our lives. Maybe that is traveling on a mission trip to another city or country just as Jonah did. Maybe that’s going across the street. We are simply commanded to preach the Gospel and God’s Word will never return void.

Romans 1:16 CSB

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

Are we ashamed of the Gospel? Of course we say we’re not - but based on how we act and the things that we talk about, are we ashamed of it? I believe that God’s Word is so true and life changing that it doesn’t need our help to make it stand out any more than it already does. I know of so many friends who attend churches that are trying to figure out how to best minister to others in our changing world where so many people don’t know their Bibles. Some are tempted to do so many events and outreach endeavors to get people in - those can be great. Some are tempted to change some things in order to reach a different audience - that can be a good thing. Others are struggling to discern which direction they should go. Leadership is difficult because methods do change. The way that we do church is different than the way our grandparents did church and it was different for them than it was back in the 1600-1700s. Methods change… but the message will never change. The message that Jesus Christ saves sinners is still the message that Christians are to proclaim. Like Jonah, we set out to tell others of God’s grace and our need of saving. We call on others to repent. We must take advantage of the opportunities that God grants to us and not take them for granted.

I love what Donald Whitney says about opportunities to share the Gospel, “They won’t just happen. You’ll have to discipline yourself to ask your neighbors how you can pray for them or when you can share a meal with them. You’ll have to discipline yourself to get with your coworkers during off-hours. Many such opportunities for evangelism will never take place if you wait for them to occur spontaneously. The World, the flesh, and the Devil will do their best to see to that. You, however, backed by invincible power of the Holy Spirit, can make sure that these enemies of the gospel do not win.” Friends, we have to make these things happen. The Lord will give us the opportunities, but if we are not prepared or if we are not disciplined then we will blow them time and time again. We must prepare ourselves to share the Gospel message. The more that you look for opportunities to proclaim the Gospel, the more that you’ll find those opportunities! Whitney shares earlier in his book on page 119 that “Only the sheer rapture of being lost in the worship of God is as exhilarating and intoxicating as telling someone about Jesus Christ.” Ask yourself who is someone that you know who needs to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ? Who is one that you can invite to worship with us this Christmas season? Be like Jonah and maybe just share 5 words with them this week.

Unlike Jonah, we Pray that People will Repent and Turn to God (6-10)

Jonah didn’t exactly do everything right, though. We’ll look more at this next week in chapter 4, but we know that Jonah has a fundamental problem with these people receiving God’s mercy and forgiveness. His prayer is that they would hear God’s message and not repent and experience His judgment. We must be unlike Jonah in this regard.

Have you ever heard someone say, “Try your best and leave God the rest”? This was a statement that I’ve heard used often in athletics. We know that God’s plan will be accomplished regardless of our shortcomings and flaws as messengers - this is the awesome truth of Isaiah 55:11 as we see that God’s Word will never return void! While God’s plan will come about, we have a duty as Christians to share the good news and to be the most prepared as we possibly can be! To study God’s Word and to memorize it so that we can share it! Last year in our preparation to go to Guatemala, I tasked our team to be able to share their testimony in 3 minutes and to share the Gospel in 1 minute. Do you think that you could do these things? We should all be able to do this - but it’ll take some time to prepare and get there.

It doesn’t stop with the message and the conversation, though. Usually people have to hear the Gospel 7x before they respond to it. They might not repent the first time you tell them - it might take someone else saying the exact same things that you said and it shouldn’t upset us whenever someone else gets to be present whenever the spiritual lightbulb goes off! I said this at Morgan Baptist my last Sunday there and I’ll say it here now: In 50 years, I pray that the name Joel Hayworth is never said again at FBC Salem. I want our church to grow spiritually and change lives for the Gospel more and more each year… but I don’t want my name to be said after the fact - I want the name of Jesus to be the resounding legacy of FBC Salem. Think about what Paul says about evangelizing with others in 1 Corinthians 3

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 CSB

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Who brought about the growth? Was it Paul? Was it Apollos? Was it Jonah? No! It was God. We know that whenever we share the Gospel with others that we can do absolutely nothing to open their eyes. You can show them a Billy Graham crusade video on YouTube where he would talk about the cross very passionately and talk about the weight of our sin but that person will simply not get it unless they are convicted by the Holy Spirit because we are lost without Christ! You and I can do absolutely nothing regarding reaping a harvest - that is up to the Lord - it’s above our pay-grade. What is our responsibility? To share the message and to pray for the people. To quote a former teacher, “It’s not our job to save everybody, it’s out job to be faithful to Jesus and to tell the good news.” - what does that look like? To share the Gospel and pray that they would repent.

When was the last time that you prayed for your enemy? If I were to ask you when was the last time that you prayed for someone that you like, you’d probably say that you prayed for them earlier today or last week. But what about someone that you don’t like? This is God’s point with the Ninevites. God has a purpose and plan for them as well and we must pray that God’s power changes their lives and hearts! Jonah shared this good news to the entire city full of wicked people - including the king! We see in the concluding verses of chapter 3 that the king makes a decree for everyone to cover themselves in sackcloth and turn from their wicked ways. He goes on to say that they will not eat, drink and even the animals will be covered with sackcloth. The king heard this message and said that the whole city needs to get right with the Lord - friends can you think of a nation that needs to hear this message right now? Shouldn’t this be our prayer for our nation and other wicked nations today?

Why did the king do this and why should we pray that our nation would do the same? Jeremiah 18:7-8 for one, but also 2 Chronicles 7:14

2 Chronicles 7:14 CSB

14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Friends, we’ve got to humble ourselves as Christians and pray that others would repent of their wickedness and turn and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord. We see that the king of Nineveh does this and we see in verse 10 that God does not bring about judgment and destruction upon the city - instead he shows mercy. You know where this is going. This should be our prayer for our nation. That we would repent and turn to God. Some people think that our nation is beyond the point of no return - or that if Biden wins in November that we are doomed and that Christians will be rounded up into concentration camps and given a microchip in our arms - I’m not kidding by the way because people are sharing this garbage on Facebook. Our nation needs revival and to turn to the Lord - who has to lead this? The church. Nothing will ever stop the church of Jesus Christ - Christ Himself said so. Yet, some people think that Jesus is wrong. They think that a bad president will stop the church of Jesus Christ. Friends, we give presidents way too much power. God is immutable, meaning He doesn’t change. Hebrews 13:8 shares this fact. Christ has been building His church and will continue to do so until He returns. No virus, person or law will stop that!

Just as God threatens judgment upon Nineveh, there are people facing the upcoming judgment of God today. That judgment could come during this life but it will certainly come in the next, but if you reject Jesus you will face that judgment. The incredible hope is that God also offers mercy. But there is also a message of judgment - we must be obedient to share both with our world as well.

Conclusion

Our God is the God of second changes. Jonah received a second change here in chapter 3 to go and do what God called him to originally do. Aren’t you thankful that our God is the God of second, third, fifth, and twentieth chances? Y’all, this is the God of Scripture. This is the Forgiving God who holds sinners in His hands. Whenever we make mistakes, He providentially gives us another chance. Whenever we live in sin and do what feels right, God gives us a second chance by providing us eternal salvation and life through Jesus Christ who died as our substitute on the cross. We serve a forgiving God, friends. Who is someone that you know who needs to know of the power of His forgiveness? Our society needs the second chance of Jesus. They need to once again here the Gospel message so that they would repent and believe in what Jesus has done. We don’t just preach a message of rainbows and butterflies and happily ever after - we preach the Biblical Gospel without shame. We are sinners and unless we repent we will be in the hands of an angry God against our sin… But because of Jesus, we can find ourselves in the hands of the all-forgiving King of Kings today.