Jonah: A Second Chance
Notes
Transcript
READ Jonah 3
God Calls
God Calls
vv1-2 God gives Jonah a 2nd chance
Illustration:
Illustration:
God is a God of second chances insn’t he?
Consider Peter’s story in John 21
how, even though he denied his master, Jesus restored him and gave him a second chance to take up his position and role in the church to “feed my sheep”
He gave Jonah a second chance to fulfill his mission too
Jonah is Obedient
Jonah is Obedient
vv3-4
Jonah travels to Ninevah
Walks into the middle of the city
and tells the people what God had called him to tell them
What is the message that Jonah was to carry?
God loves you?
God will accept you just as you are?
God just wants you to be happy?
NOPE
He says, “Get ready! God is going to destroy you in 40 days”
He probably said alot more than just the few words recorded
whatever he said, it helped cause the people to respond
How did the people respond?
People Respond
People Respond
Belief
Belief
v5
They believed God
Mourning
Mourning
v6-8a
fasting and sackcloth
even the king and everyone else by his decree
sat in ashes
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
They mourned over their current predicament
Mourned at how they had grieved God
Mourned at their sin
Do we mourn over ours?
RC SPROUL - “True repentance is not merely feeling sorry for our sins. It is a turning away from sin and a turning to God. The people of Nineveh are a powerful example of this kind of repentance.”
Repentance
Repentance
8b-9
let everyone turn from his evil ways
Maybe God will relent and have mercy
The Message of God’s Salvation
The Message of God’s Salvation
Believe in God
recognize your sin
Repent -turn from your sin and turn to God
Judgement is coming
The message of Jonah was obviously “repent”
In a world that wants to see God as a lovey dovey teddy bear
and Christians who sometimes want to soften the message
especially when it comes to calling that which Scripture clearly calls sin, sin
The message of Jonah is repent
The message of salvation includes what we are being saved from
God will have wrath on sin and sinner
NOW…
People say yes, but thats the Old Testament
Jonah was the old covenant, before Christ
We live after Christ and in light of the gospel of Christ
WELL…
you’re right.
but our gospel presentations often fall short.
regularly we share that you’re a sinner, that God loves you, that Jesus died for your sins.
sounds good right?
but WHY did Jesus need to die for your sins?
the message of Jonah is “repent! Judgement is coming!”
Illustration:
Illustration:
the greatest preachers of the church new this truth
Great awakening preachers of 18th century
preaching of the likes of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield
their preaching led to widespread repentance and revival
In fact: Jonathan Edwards preached one of the most famous sermons, perhaps of all time, “sinners in the hands of an angry God”
““The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.”
Whitefield said:
"It is the greatest mercy of God that the door of grace is still open, that you may come in at any time to Christ; but if you continue to neglect this great salvation, you will find the door shut and yourselves undone forever. Be not deceived; God is not mocked, nor will he always wait to be gracious."
This is the gospel message found in the pages of the New Testament
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
God calls people to leave behind their old selves and let him create a new self for them
God calls people to repent and be saved
JOHN MACARTHUR wrote: repentance is the doorway to experiencing the grace and mercy of God
God Saves
God Saves
v10
they repented
God relented
he poured out grace and mercy on them
God is willing to forgive
He desires all to come to repentance
His salvation is available to all who genuinely turn to him
When we repent and turn to God, we not only are pardoned of sin and judgement
but we receive his love, his peace, his joy, and a seat at his table, as one of his adopted children