Mission Impossible: Nineveh
Notes
Transcript
Introduction- TIME CHAMGE NEXT WEEK
Introduction- TIME CHAMGE NEXT WEEK
ANNIE ARMSTRONG WEEK! What I love about Annie Armstrong is her story- she saw a need and she took ACTION!
Good morning! Would you turn with me to Jonah 3?
I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy a good movie. And when I started college at UW, they were showing movies on Friday nights in our union. They actually showed some really incredible movies and one that they showed was the new Mission Impossible movie.
Now, if you don’t know the plot of Mission Impossible, don’t worry, it’s simple- some evil organization is trying to take over the world and Ethan Hunt, played by the never-aging Tom Cruise, has to save the world, usually with no help from his organization which is part of the US government.
Now, the key to the Mission Impossible movies is the fact that it seems IMPOSSIBLE! The other key is the catch phrase- “This is your mission should you choose to accept it!”
It seems totally hopeless!
And yet, in the end, not to spoil anything, the good guys win!
Now, what brings people back to them? It’s the suspense and the action!
Jonah in many ways is similar. The setting seems IMPOSSIBLE!
How is Jonah, this Hebrew prophet EVER going to convince the mighty Assyrian empire to not kill him when he preaches against him? Let alone, how will they repent?
It really seems impossible! And Jonah has to ACCEPT THIS MISSION!
But, there’s a key thing in Jonah- JONAH HAS GOD!
And although this mission seems impossible for JONAH, it is not impossible for God! GOD is far bigger and far GREATER than the Assyrians!
Today, as we turn to Jonah 3, we really see the CLIMAX of the action of Jonah! Today we see the peak of what happens in Jonah and it can all be traced back to one key thing- GOD!
God is the reason for Jonah’s “success” in his mission! And today, as we walk through Jonah 3, we’ll also see how GOD is the reason that we can “succeed” in the mission that WE HAVE!
Jonah 3 itself is built on the idea of REPENTANCE AND GOD’S MERCY!
Last week we talked about how Jonah 2 highlighted God’s mercy to JONAH because God FORGAVE JONAH!
And in Jonah 3, we will see repentance and GOD’S MERCY!
That’s why our Main Point is:
REPENT AND ACCEPT GOD’S MERCY! THEN TAKE GOD’S MERCY TO THE WORLD!
Body
Body
As we dive in, let’s look at Jonah 3:1-2, which happens after Jonah has been VOMITED up by the GREAT FISH!
Jonah 3:1–2 (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.”
For the second time God gives a mission to Jonah!
Let’s look at the mission.
There are three parts to it.
Jonah is to:
Get up!
Go to the GREAT, or GADOL CITY OF NINEVEH!
PREACH THE MESSAGE THAT GOD TELLS HIM!
That’s Jonah’s task. He’s being given a chance to do things over and to ACTUALLY OBEY GOD THIS TIME!
Remember what Jonah does when the book starts. Jonah 1:1-3 says
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their evil has come up before me.” 3 Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence.
So Jonah heard the word of THE LORD and he knew what he was supposed to do!
He was supposed to do three things.
GET UP!
GO TO THE GREAT CITY OF NINEVEH!
PREACH AGAINST IT!
That’s been Jonah’s mission and look at how he responds in Jonah 1!
Jonah responds in OPEN REBELLION as we discussed! Jonah hears the word of God and does the opposite.
Instead of listening to God’s command, instead of obeying like he SHOULD HAVE, Jonah RUNS TO TARSHISH!
Remember, Tarshish is about 3,000 miles from Joppa. It is as far away as he could go!
This isn’t just a momentary lapse of judgement, Jonah’s actions show his rebellious heart.
Now, let’s see what Jonah does in Jonah 3.
In verse 3, we read Jonah 3:3
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.
Jonah obeys! This time, Jonah GETS UP AND GOES TO NINEVEH!
Notice what the writer highlights- he goes to Nineveh ACCORDING TO THE LORD’S COMMAND!
Jonah 1 is marked by rebellion against God and hatred for God’s mercy and grace. Jonah 2 is marked by Jonah NEEDING GOD’S MERCY AND GRACE and experience it and now in Jonah 3, HE HAS A CHANCE TO BRING THIS MESSAGE TO PEOPLE WHO NEED IT- THE NINEVITES!
Jonah hasn’t fully learned his lesson as we’ll see in chapter 4, but for now, he obeys.
He gets up and he goes to Nineveh.
Nineveh is considered an extremely great (gadol) city.
Remember, we talked about how this word for great- GADOL, is used 9 times in the book of Jonah to talk about GREAT OR VAST SIZE OF SOMETHING like NINEVEH OR THE FISH!
This city is said to be a “3-day walk” which implies its great size!
It is believe that Nineveh at this time had about 120,000 residents, so it was just a little bit larger than Springfield! In the ancient world, that was a GREAT city!
Jonah is going to cross that on foot while seeking to preach to all the residents!
That’s quite the task!
4 Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, “In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!”
So what does Jonah preach as he walks?
THAT IN FORTY DAYS NINEVEH WILL BE DEMOLISHED!
Now for perspective, around this time, Nineveh would have been struggling with some famines, some heavy storms and there was even an eclipse around this time. The Assyrian empire went through sort of a “dark ages” around this time period. Leaders were seen as ineffective and their society was almost on the verge of collapse. I spent some time this week reading about this time period, or at least reading what LITTLE is known about this time period in Assyria and it’s clear- ASSYRIA was PANICKING!
The Assyrians thought their gods were angry.
Not only was everything going on, one of their main goddesses was Nanshe who was a female fish! When people saw Jonah show up and heard that he was vomited up by a fish, they would have wanted to hear what he has to say!
What they don’t expect is that THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO PUNISH THEM!
Don’t miss all those details though! GOD IS WORKING BEHIND THE SCENES TO PREPARE THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH FOR JONAH’S MESSAGE!
And I’d argue that God is at work TODAY in OUR WORLD preparing hearts!
There’s hurt, there’s shame, there’s loneliness, all in HUGE AMOUNTS ALL AROUND US!
People want an answer and they need something MORE!
And we have something more! We’ll talk more about that in a bit, but for now, let’s refocus on Jonah.
Jonah goes preaching through Nineveh!
Jonah says that Nineveh will be destroyed in 40 days!
Throughout the Old Testament, there are some key references to 40 as a number for destruction.
17 The flood continued for forty days on the earth; the water increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth.
25 “I fell down in the presence of the Lord forty days and forty nights because the Lord had threatened to destroy you.
32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. 34 You will bear the consequences of your iniquities forty years based on the number of the forty days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know my displeasure. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”
That’s three references right there to forty and to God’s destruction! The flood- it rains 40 days and nights!
Moses pleads with God for 40 days and 40 nights for God to spare Israel!
God punishes Israel for their lack of faith in Numbers 12 by making them wander for how long? 40 years!
And now how long do the Ninevites have? 40 days!
Punishment is coming!
You can imagine Jonah’s fear as he starts proclaiming this! The Assyrians are feared for good reason after all!
And he is telling them that they will be destroyed! He probably thinks he will be killed!
Remember, Jonah is so terrified that he TRIES TO RUN TO TARSHISH TO AVOID DOING THIS!
But I don’t think that is just from fear. Jonah genuinely doesn’t want the Ninevites to be saved.
We’ll see that more clearly in Jonah 4, but even now, think about it with me.
If he runs to Tarshish then in his mind, God will be forced to PUNISH the Ninevites! Who else could tell them about God?
That’s really just a sign of Jonah’s pride.
Jonah seems to think that he knows more than God!
And let’s just boil it down to what it is. Jonah legitimately HATES the people of Nineveh!
Even though God has sent him to Nineveh, Jonah hates them.
But then something unexpected happened! Jonah 3:5
5 Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth—from the greatest of them to the least.
This is totally different than Jonah expected!
The people of Nineveh hear Jonah and they BELIEVE GOD!
Remember, Jonah isn’t preaching for his glory, but for God’s glory!
It doesn’t matter ultimately if Jonah is believed, what matters is that the people BELIEVE GOD!
AND THEY DO! THEY BELIEVE GOD!
Listen to what Collin Smith says about this. “At the heart of Jonah’s story is the remarkable account of how the preaching of God’s Word transformed a pagan city.”
And that’s exactly the case!
Nineveh is transformed not because of luck, but because of the PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD OF GOD!
So if we want to see our world changed, we need to PROCLAIM THE WORD OF GOD! WE NEED TO PREACH THE WORD OF GOD ON SUNDAY MORNINGS AND WE NEED TO LIVE IT ON A DAILY BASIS! (I saw someone this week on social media saying that the way to change the world was to play dodgeball because that would lead to salvation. But do you know what they left out? YOU STILL HAVE TO PROCLAIM JESUS! We HAVE TO BE BOLD AND PROCLAIM JESUS!)
And so the people do something fascinating!
Not only do they believe God, they BEGIN TO PROCLAIM THIS TO EACH OTHER!
They call for a fast and they dress in sackcloth, which was an uncomfortable fabric made from Goat’s hair.
Nineveh has declared itself guilty and is humbling itself BEFORE GOD!
Remember, this is the most powerful city on earth, but in the face of God’s judgement, all of that begins to feel very, very small and unimportant!
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.
Even the KING OF NINEVEH, the KING OF ASSYRIA humbles himself!
He leaves his throne, he takes off his robe and he sits in sackcloth and ashes!
He is throwing off his royalty and COMPLETELY HUMBLING HIMSELF!
This is the most powerful man in the world from a human perspective!
But he can’t stand against God!
How striking is that? Jonah tried to stand against God. That’s what he tries to do when he runs in Jonah 1. But even this evil king of Assyria repents when he hears Jonah’s warning!
He knows that he has done wrong and that he is facing just punishment from God!
But listen, he doesn’t just mourn, he does something for the people!
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.
This wicked king issues a decree!
Three times from verses 8-10 we will see a concept of things TURNING AROUND!
This starts in the kings decree.
Look at what he orders! He says that no person or animal, no herd or flock is to:
Taste anything
Eat anything
Drink Water
Everyone must be covered in sackcloth
Everyone must call out to God EARNESTLY- FOR REAL
Everyone must turn from their evil ways!
Everyone must turn from their wrongdoing.
That is 7 commands that everyone is to obey!
Don’t miss the focus in this though! The focus is quite clear- DON’T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT PLEAD WITH GOD!
And that’s made clear in how he ends his declaration! He knows that they need mercy and grace!
That’s what he’s saying!
He’s saying that if they do all this, MAYBE GOD WILL FORGIVE THEM!
Even with all of these actions, he doesn’t know that it will be enough to actually be spared!
The king and the people realize they’ve done wrong, so they repent!
They do a complete 180 from their sin! Because that’s what repentance is. Repentance isn’t just words, it is CEASING that behavior and doing the opposite!
It’s going and no longer sinning!
The Assyrians realize their guilt, so they call out to God pleading for salvation! THEY CALL OUT IN SHAME AND GUILT! THEY ARE ON THEIR KNEES AND THEY ARE DESPERATE!
Don’t miss what has just happened. These people who are so hard on the outside have JUST REPENTED!
Friends, let me encourage us with that.
That person that you know who hates God, who thinks less of you for your faith? That person that you think deep down is “too far gone?”
Yea, God can save that person!
Think about it! Jonah thinks that the Ninevites are unsaveable because of their sin and also because they are not a part of the Old Covenant made between God and Abraham about the Israelite people.
But GOD SAVES THEM! And God can save ANYONE! GOD SAVED US!
I think of Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 1:15
15 This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.
JESUS CAME TO SAVE US! AND WE CAN BE SAVED BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE AND MERCY, JUST AS THE NINEVITES WERE HOPING TO BE SAVED!
And all of that brings us to the climax of today’s passage. Jonah 3:10
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.
God sees the REPENTANCE of the Ninveites and HAS MERCY!
Look at the wording- GOD SEES THAT “They had turned from their evil ways.”
That is repentance! Repentance is TURNING FROM SIN!
Repentance is TOTAL TURNING! Remember that!
And as God sees the repentance of Assyria, he relents!
When God relents, it isn’t that God is surprised, it means that GOD HAS SHOWN MERCY!
It’s not like God says, “Well, actually, that’s not too evil!”
NO! Instead, it’s God saying, “I FORGIVE YOU!”
It’s MERCY!
That’s the KEY THING IN JONAH 3! WE SEE GOD’S MERCY!
Yes we see what REPENTANCE LOOKS LIKE, but HOW ABOUT THAT MERCY FROM GOD!
That’s the same mercy that you and I have! HOW INCREDIBLE IS THAT! It makes me want to celebrate and PRAISE GOD! It’s INCREDIBLE!
And that’s how we end Jonah 3! It’s a GREAT ENDING OF A CHAPTER!
But like with all of scripture, it is important that we not only KNOW IT, but that we APPLY THIS TO OUR LIVES!
God’s word is ALIVE!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Today as we move into a time of application, I have three applications for us. Each of these is two parts. These are:
Repent and Believe
Live and Proclaim
Mercy and Grace
Repent and Believe
Repent and Believe
The climax of Jonah 3 is really in the idea of REPENTING AND BELIEVING!
Think about it. If Nineveh doesn’t repent and believe, then this chapter ends with God punishing them. It’s not a story about mercy and grace, instead, it’s one that is about God’s RIGHTEOUS AND JUST punishment.
But, the Ninevites DO REPENT AND BELIEVE!
And when they do, everything changes!
And so I want to draw our eyes to what it repentance and belief look like in OUR LIVES…
As we’ve said, repentance means to do a 180 and turn from sin! DEFINE SIN
But it isn’t just about REPENTING! It’s also about BELIEVING! Here’s the wonderful thing about God and we SEE IT HERE in Jonah!
God isn’t distant, GOD IS PERSONAL!
God personally knows Jonah! God knows WHO JONAH IS AND GOD LOVES JONAH! Not only does God know and love Jonah, God knows and loves the Ninevites! And it isn’t only the Ninevites.
If you are here today, GOD MADE YOU! GOD CREATED YOU!
And friends, God can save you and can change your life forever!
You might be wondering how. Well, it’s really simple.
BELIEVE IN JESUS!
Paul David Tripp quote- “The Minimum bar to be enfolded into the embrace of Jesus is simply: open yourself up to him.”
Practically, let me call on you today, REPENT AND BELIEVE!
Live and Proclaim
Live and Proclaim
Secondly, I want to challenge us that if you have put your faith in Jesus, then Jonah 3 has another set of applications for you.
We need to LIVE AND PROCLAIM.
Let me explain.
Jonah is given a mission by God twice in Jonah.
What’s his mission? Get up, Go to Nineveh and PREACH WHAT I TELL YOU!
It’s a straightforward mission.
But as we saw, it didn’t go perfectly.
First, Jonah runs from God and then God has to redirect him!
But eventually Jonah goes and PROCLAIMS THE WORD OF GOD!
And to great effect! There is massive revival!
Hear me on this, if you want to see people coming to know the LORD, it WILL INVOLVE CLEAR PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL!L
In Jonah’s case, that’s his mission. But when Jesus gives us our mission, he adds another part to it.
We are not just to go and proclaim somewhere, we are to proclaim and MAKE DISCIPLES WHEREVER WE GO!
And that requires that we don’t just PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL, but also that WE LIVE THE GOSPEL!
So what does it mean to LIVE THE GOSPEL?
Grace and mercy as individuals, LOVING PEOPLE!
Practically, we’ve been praying for 1+1. In your context, who is 1 person/ family that you can come alongside and INTENTIONALLY DO LIFE WITH!
(Love them, grace and mercy, invite them to church!)
ANNIE ARMSTRONG- A REMINDER OF THE NEED THAT IS ALL AROUND US! And this offering, let me challenge you, it isn’t just about money! Annie Armstrong and WMU was founded because there was a need that wasn’t being met.
We have a need today. I shared late last year, demographics show that only about 20-25% of Champaign are evangelical Christians, people who have placed their faith in JESUS for SALVATION!
Friends, that is a need all around us. Our COMMUNITY NEEDS JESUS! And that’s why we are here! God has brought us here to BRING THE GOSPEL! AND I MEAN THAT! It is NO ACCIDENT!
That’s why we’ve been praying for 1+1! It isn’t a mystical thing, we are praying that God would REFOCUS our minds onto OUR Missionary call that we’ve been given!
Mercy and Grace
Mercy and Grace
Our final application today is MERCY AND GRACE!
In this point of application, I want to take a second to consider how MERCY AND GRACE must be cornerstone’s of CORNERSTONE!
See, it’s really easy for us to be like Jonah and to drag our feet, secretly wanting to avoid having to share the gospel with that person for whatever reason.
I knew someone who asked me once “what would you do if I brought my neighbor to church? They aren’t a good person.”
And I had two thoughts. First, good luck reaching that person with the gospel if you go around talking about how TERRIBLE they are! And secondly, THAT’S WHY WE ARE HERE!
Jesus himself in Mark 2 said: Mark 2:17
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Friends, if you are here today and you are saved, you have experienced that because of what Jesus did when you were sick!
Our job as a church is to WELCOME PEOPLE AND SHOW THEM GOD’S MERCY AND GOD’S GRACE!
So as a Church, our VERY CULTURE needs to be built off of mercy and grace!
Now, as we see in Jonah, this doesn’t mean that we cannot stand for truth, but it does mean that we need to be QUICK TO FORGIVE AND TO MOVE FORWARD!
Whether that is forgiving one another for hurt, or if that is welcoming in others who may have hurt us in the past, that is our job!
So let me challenge us, as a CHURCh, let’s wear MERCY AND GRACE! Let’s be marked by MERCY and GRACE as we seek to reach our community!
Let me pray for us.
Pray- would you please stand with us.
Communion
Communion
1. Transition to Communion
a. Explain why we are doing it
b. Have the deacons come forward
2. Lead believers in a prayer of repentance and for the bread, and pass out communion
a. After everyone comes up, Pastor Daniel passes Communion to the deacons and then takes the bread, (or is given the bread)
b. Pastor Daniel reads a verse from the Last Supper
c. Believers partake together
3. Pastor Daniel asks a deacon to pray for the Cup
a. Pass out the cup, Pastor Daniel serves the Deacons
b. Pastor Daniel reads a verse from the Last Supper
c. Believers partake together
4. Close Communion with a Word of Prayer
Prayer over Brad
Prayer over Brad
Read Matthew 28:18-20
18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
