The Great Conversion

There have been four major Great Awakenings recorded and documented in history. The fourth Great Awakening occurred during 1904 and 1905 and is known as “The Welsh Revival.”

Evan Roberts was a coal miner, tall, blue-eyed, young and thin.

At age twenty-five, having just begun studying for the ministry, he asked his pastor for permission to hold some evening meetings.

Only a few people came at first, but within days village shops were closing early for the services. People left work to secure seats at church. The building was packed and roadways clogged with would-be-attenders. Services often lasted until 4:30 in the morning.

Sins were confessed, sinners converted, and homes restored.

In neighboring towns Roberts saw similar results. All across Wales, theaters closed, jails emptied, churches filled, and soccer matches were canceled to avoid conflicting with the revival. Welsh miners were so converted that their pit ponies had to be retrained to work without the prodding of curse words.

Long before that revival the Bible speaks of another great awakening that took place in Nineveh!

The Assyrians experienced the grace of God and the salvation of the Lord! Jonah, the prophet of God, brought the message of God and the people believed on God! Isaiah 55:11,

Isaiah 55:11 NKJV

11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Jonah didn’t want God to have mercy on the Assyrians, but God’s grace was shown to the Gentiles.

Jonah was the only preacher in the Bible that didn’t want his listeners to respond to the message of God. This passage teaches us that the people responded to the word of God.

Some say today that people just won’t respond to the gospel like they did 40 years ago.

That is a lie from Satan. We are not to buy into the lies of the Devil.

May we never be so dull in our thinking that no one will believe!

God is still at work saving peoples souls.

When the people of God share the message of God, full of the Spirit of God, souls are saved and lives are changed!

A sailor had just returned from a whaling voyage and was taken by a friend to hear a famous speaker. After the address, the friend asked him how he like the speech. The sailor said, “Well, it was ship-shape. The masts were high enough, the sails and rigging were all right, but it did not have any harpoons.” He then explained that when a vessel goes on a whaling voyage, the important thing is to get whales. But whales do not come because you have a fine ship—you go after them with harpoons.

The most beautiful music won’t save souls.

The greatest orator’s speech won’t save souls.

Only the message of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit will lead to true repentance and salvation.

It’s possible God chose Nineveh as the place that was least likely to repent.

In the account of the Ninevites repentance, we can see what true repentance should look like.

We’ll look at four things this morning.

The Ninevites Recognized that they had a Problem

Jonah 3:4–5 NKJV

4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

The first thing the Ninevites got right was that they saw there was a problem.

In 1970, Jim Lovell, one of the astronauts on Apollo 13, radioed Houston. ‘Houston, we've had a problem here', he said.

Actually, there had been an explosion and there was a real danger that the three astronauts would not be able to return to earth. The first and rather obvious step for everyone involved in the mission was to acknowledge that there was a problem.

The people of Nineveh did the same. They acknowledged that there was a problem.

Let’s apply this to people in our day. Do people face a problem? Answer, yes, people do face a problem. Jesus made it clear that there will be a day of judgement.

He said,

Matthew 25:31–32 NKJV

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

Many people will not fare well on this occasion. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

When Jim Lovell told Houston they had a problem, Houston listened. When Jesus tells the world that it has a problem, the world should listen. But it doesn’t.

At present most people are going about their lives blissfully ignorant of the danger they’re in. That will continue to be the case until Jesus comes again. It’s very sad.

The Ninevites took the essential first step. They recognized that God had given them a warning. They knew they had a problem.

JESUS has given US a warning. We need to go out into the world and do what Jonah did.

Let the world know there is a way of escape. They can be reconciled with God.

We need to spread the good news of the gospel so those around us can do the same as the Ninevites did, and believe him.

Next,

The Ninevites Recognized the Urgency of the Situation

Some people accept that there will be a day of judgement but they believe it will be a long time in the future. They think that God will only judge on the final day; he won’t judge before that.

The story of Nineveh shows us that such a view is wrong. God’s judgement was about to fall on Nineveh, but it wasn't the judgement of the final day. God was about to judge Nineveh then and there.

The people of Nineveh didn’t think it was ridiculous that God would act in judgement then and there. They believed that that was what would happen if they didn’t do something.

Let’s go back to verse 4,

Jonah 3:4 NKJV

4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

God gave the people of Nineveh 40 days.

Many people today think they have loads of time to sort things out. ‘Tomorrow’, they say to themselves. Within a week they’ve forgotten that they ever intended to do something. After a month it’s too late. The deadline’s passed.

How did the Ninevites respond?

Jonah 3:5 NKJV

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

The Ninevites took the essential second step. They recognized that they had limited time AND they then acted right away. When God gives us a warning, we need to do the same.

Our job is not to cast fear into the hearts of others. The Holy Spirit can do a great job of that on His own.

God gave the Ninevites 40 days to decide.

Your co-worker or neighbor may not have that long.

Tell the story about church members loved one dying in the hospital. Didn’t know Jesus. I put it off and they died before I had the chance to share the Gospel with them.

Let’s recognize the urgency of our mission.

Next...

The Ninevites Repented as Though they Meant It

Jonah 3:5–10 NKJV

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

The people responded to the prophets preaching. Jonah’s preaching did not fall on deaf ears.

Great Bible Truth: People will still believe God when they hear His word.

The word of God hit the people of Nineveh right where they were.

Great Theological Truth: God will use His word to draw sinners to Himself.

If we will preach what the Lord Jesus Christ commands us to preach, people will respond to our message.

It’s one thing to say we believe God. It’s quite another to actively change our behavior.

The Ninevites changed their behavior.

It’s true that repentance takes place in our hearts. But we need to show it.

Billy Graham would ask people to stand up or come to the front if they were committing themselves to Christ.

If nothing changes on the outside you would have to ask if anything has changed on the inside.

From the time of Jesus, the standard way for a person to show that he or she is serious about following Jesus is by being baptised.

‘Repent and be baptised’, Peter told the crowd on the day of Pentecost. Baptism shows you’re serious.

Jonah’s message brings an urgent action from the king.

Jonah 3:6 NKJV

6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.

The king showed great leadership skills as he humbled himself before God in front of his people.

Their repentance also brought about drastic measures required by the king.

Jonah 3:7–8 NKJV

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

The word of God affected the king and moved him to proclaim a city wide fast. The king cared for his city and the people in the city. The king took responsibility in leading the people.

The king had it proclaimed throughout. That means that every citizen of Nineveh heard the decree of the king.

The government had a repentant attitude and the people had a repentant attitude.

That is something you just don’t see everyday. When a pagan government confesses sin and calls for the people to confess sins that indeed is drastic measures.

What the people of Nineveh did was drastic to the people of the world, but it is expected from God in heaven.

Great Biblical Truth: Before we can ever receive the mercy of God we must first humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

Can you imagine if our government leaders made the same proclamation?

When you come to Jesus you’ll have to take some drastic measures in the worlds eyes.

So, the Ninevites took the essential third step. They made it clear they were serious.

If we want to sort out our relationship with God, we need to do the same.

And lastly...

The Ninevites Changed

Jonah 3:10 NKJV

10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

We’re saved by grace through faith, but the faith MUST be expressed in obedience.

But faith needs to be expressed in obedience to God. We were going our own way; now we need to go God’s way. There has to be a change of course.

So the Ninevites took the essential fourth step. They changed. We all need to do the same.

Last week we looked at the responsive servant. Today we’ve seen responsive sinners.

God was impressed with the Ninevites. What did they get right?

1. They recognized that they had a problem.

2. They recognized the urgency of the situation and took action immediately.

3. They repented as though they meant it.

4. They changed.

God was happy with what he saw. He relented. The disaster was averted.

The Ninevites are a great example. Let’s learn from them. If we hear God warning us, let us do what they did.