The Great City
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 3 viewsNotes
Transcript
Through the pitch-black night, the captain sees a light dead ahead on a collision course with his ship. He sends a signal: “Change your course ten degrees east.”
The light signals back: “Change yours ten degrees west.”
Angry, the captain sends another signal: “I’m a navy captain! Change your course, sir!”
“I’m a seaman, second class,” comes the reply. “Change your course, sir.”
Now the captain is furious. “I’m a battleship! I’m not changing course!”
There is one last reply: “I’m a lighthouse. It’s your call.”
Living for Jesus is about surrendering to His will, no matter the cost. Even if it costs you something you’ve earned. The Lord can ask you for anything. The question is whether or not you are willing to surrender that thing to Him.
If you’re reading through the rooted book, you would have read a story at the end of this week written by a Pastor in Uganda who lived through the dictatorship of a man named Idi Amin. He was in control of the country for 8 years. During that time he made it his goal to transform Uganda into a muslim nation. His plan was to eradicate all the Christians. He ended up putting Christians in prison. He then told the vice-president to see to it that these imprisoned Christians would be executed.
On the day he was to sign the execution order the vice-president was in a terrible car accident that broke both of his legs. Well, after many days of no instructions of what to do with these christians, they were released. Eventually, the dictator was removed and the gospel of Jesus has expanded in Uganda. There are now thousands of churches and the Lord is moving there in a great way. In fact, the church GREW during the time of great oppression.
Here are the lessons this Pastor gave us about the oppression and eventual spreading of the Gospel in his country:
1) Hard times grow us, even life threatening ones, and they transform us into what God created us to be.
2) God is sovereign. He reigns above all rulers of the earth. He is good, but He has not promised us only peace. He has promised to be with us, even in times when our lives are threatened.
I’m going to come right out with a difficult question: Are you ready and willing to be locked up for your faith in Jesus?
I have been thinking about that question all week. Personally, I’ve been searching my heart for my level of dedication to the Gospel. And then as a Pastor, I’ve been thinking about the church. Part of my prayers each day is that people would come to church each Sunday. It’s such a BLESSING when EVERYONE comes to worship and hear the Word of God preached each week.
But it’s also disappointing when people don’t come. For whatever reason, something else has taken priority over meeting here to worship Jesus for this one hour on a Sunday morning.
What are you willing to surrender for your faith in Jesus?
I’m afraid that if we aren’t willing to spend one hour per week with like minded believers raising our voices, and hands in worship then we might not be willing to pay the price of our life for our faith.
Freedom reveals motives. When you are free you have the opportunity to choose. But when you are oppressed you are searching for truth. I think freedom can make us lazy. We don’t search for the truth because we don’t need it to live a comfortable life.
Today I want to talk about a great city. I was a real city in the old testament. In fact, it was one of the largest cities ever built up to that time in history. It was located on the east bank of the Tigris River downstream from the Kurdish mountains in modern day Mosul, Iraq. This city was beautiful and had every modern advancement available to it’s inhabitants. It was like the New York City of it’s time. It was a marvel to see.
They have restored one of the gates of that great city. Here’s a picture:
Picture
There was only one problem with this “great” city…
“Great” isn’t always Great
“Great” isn’t always Great
The city I’m talking about is the historical Assyrian City of Nineveh.
In the book of Jonah the key word to describe the city is great.
1 Once again the Lord told Jonah
2 to go to that great city of Nineveh and preach his message of doom.
Jonah came to the great city to preach the message of God. There were nearly a million people in and around Nineveh, and the city itself had great walls and towers. It was the center of the rising empire of Assyria. But it was a sinful city.
If you read through the book of Nahum you will see the depravity of the “great” city. Nahum says it was a city of blood. The King there and the people were know for their lust and murderous ways.
I don’t want to be too graphic but History tells us that they had a practice of cutting off hands and feet, ears and noses, gouging out eyes, lopping off heads, and then binding them to vines or heaping them up before city gates. For people they held captive they would skin them alive!
They reason I tell you this is to give you an idea of the kind of evil that was happening in this so called great city.
We live in terrible times, but I can’t begin to imagine a place like Nineveh where you enter the city by passing through human body parts! It’s insane, gross, and sinful.
The king was known to lie to his allies. He sold his military aid to other nations to end up controlling the nations who purchased the aid. And on top of everything, Nineveh was a great enemy to Israel. They were always threatening and causing issues.
God was certainly not pleased with Nineveh. He was tired of their violent ways.
God gave Jonah a great commission, to preach to these Gentiles that they could escape the wrath of God and be forgiven.
Let’s read from Jonah 3:1-10
1 Once again the Lord told Jonah
2 to go to that great city of Nineveh and preach his message of doom.
3 Jonah obeyed the Lord and went to Nineveh. The city was so big that it took three days just to walk through it.
4 After walking for a day, Jonah warned the people, “Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!”
5 They believed God’s message and set a time when they would go without eating to show their sorrow. Then everyone in the city, no matter who they were, dressed in sackcloth.
6 When the king of Nineveh heard what was happening, he also dressed in sackcloth; he left the royal palace and sat in dust.
7 Then he and his officials sent out an order for everyone in the city to obey. It said: None of you or your animals may eat or drink a thing. Each of you must wear sackcloth, and you must even put sackcloth on your animals. You must also pray to the Lord God with all your heart and stop being sinful and cruel. Maybe God will change his mind and have mercy on us, so we won’t be destroyed.
10 When God saw that the people had stopped doing evil things, he had pity and did not destroy them as he had planned.
The “great” things of this world aren’t so great if they go against God. Even in all the glory of that great city of Nineveh the message was clear:
4 After walking for a day, Jonah warned the people, “Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!”
If they continued to live in a sinful way they would be destroyed. All the great walls, towers, and all their greatness could be destroyed in a moment by God.
Now, I need to tell you what I want us to consider here today:
What kind of City are you building? Not a physical city, but you’re building a life. Is your life “great” in the eyes of the world or is it “great” in the eyes of God?
Are you living for yourself or for others? Is the goal to build a life that people would envy or a life that is surrendered to God’s will?
Are you surrendered to Jesus in all areas of life?
Here’s a truth that Jonah preached to the great city and that’s true today:
What Can be Shaken WILL be Shaken
What Can be Shaken WILL be Shaken
In Hebrews chapter 12 we are reminded of God’s great power and authority.
In verse 18 the writer reminds the reader that when Moses stood before the Lord at mount Sinai there was flaming fire, darkness, gloom, whirlwinds, and the voice of the Lord was so loud and terrible they begged God to stop speaking!
21 The sight was so frightening that Moses said he shook with fear.
The Bible tells us that we don’t have to be afraid like Moses because we have Jesus. Who makes us right with a Holy God.
24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
This is the good news of Grace! Today, we have a spiritual experience greater than that of Israel’s at Sinai, for we have a heavenly priest, a heavenly home, a heavenly fellowship, and a voice speaking from on high that gives a message of grace and love.
This is wonderful, but it’s not the whole message of the passage. There’s an eerily similar message to the reader of Hebrews as the message given to the people of the great city of Nineveh.
25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!
Remember Jonahs’ message to people who had a opportunity to experience grace? He told them that if they continued in their evil ways that they would be destroyed!
You see, God is love, He is full of grace. He saves those who call on His name and repent of sin, BUT He will NOT tolerate sin. Sin leads to destruction every time!
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
That great city thought they were doing what was right until they realized that they were going to be destroyed unless they change their ways.
Let’s go back to Hebrews:
26 When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”
27 This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
29 For our God is a devouring fire.
There is a day coming when this earth is gone. And it will be at just the VOICE of the Lord.
My question to you is still the same as when I started this message:
What are you willing to surrender for your faith in Jesus?
Surrender is the Key to Life
Surrender is the Key to Life
5 They believed God’s message and set a time when they would go without eating to show their sorrow. Then everyone in the city, no matter who they were, dressed in sackcloth.
In other words, they surrendered to God. How did God respond?
10 When God saw that the people had stopped doing evil things, he had pity and did not destroy them as he had planned.
This is the nature of God. He is full of mercy.
When you confess Jesus as your Lord, you are now part of a new family. You’re like the people of that great city. You see that your life was leading to destruction. That you needed to be saved.
Jesus is our salvation. We are now part of His great kingdom.
28 Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakeable kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe.
And that’s the point: we lay down our lives in absolute surrender.
Think again about those Christians in Uganda: because of their faith they were imprisoned and faced death.
Are you willing to do the same?
This world is being shaken. Are you?
1) Hard times grow us, even life threatening ones, and they transform us into what God created us to be.
2) God is sovereign. He reigns above all rulers of the earth. He is good, but He has not promised us only peace. He has promised to be with us, even in times when our lives are threatened.