Power of Words
Notes
Transcript
What do I believe God wants us to know? Words have power and God uses us who been given a second chance of grace to share the power of the second chance with others
Why? We all want to be used by God and bless others to see them healed
What do I believe God wants us to do? Preach
Why? It brings life to someone who is living in death and destruction
ME/WE
How many of us remember when we were younger and we got into a verbal fight with a friend….Words were said that were not nice…that an adult would say, just say, there is this magic phriase that you can say that will make it all GO AWAY…what is that magic phrase…say it with me if you know it
Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?
How many of us said that?
And we would say it back to the person oh yeah…sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!
BUT DID IT WORK? NO
That phrase sound nice but is not biblical
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
God WORD says to us WORDS have power
Power to bring DEATH…when we use them to tear down others....we all have been on the receiving and giving end of that
POWER to BRING LIFE….when we use them to build others up or other people have built you up with a LIFE GIVING WORD
Receiving end of someone one saying some life giving words to you…that you matter, you are gifted, you are beautiful
Giving….you have text someone, called someone and given them life giving words
We see this truth all the way at the beginning of CREATION….
How did God create the world?
Words
Genesis
God said “let there be light” God said “let there be waters” “
God spoke it brought life
Today we are in chapter 3 of Jonah and we are going to see the POWER of WORDS in action that bring life.
Let us briefly remind ourselves were we are in the story.
Jonah receives a call to go to preach to Nineveh the wicked city.
Does Jonah want to go? NO
Why?
And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Jonah runs to Tarshish 2500 miles away from Joppa
God sends a storm on a boat. Jonah said the storm is because of him and throw Jonah over board to end his life and his life does end it is the end of the old Jonah….we have been here before…God appointed whale to swallow up Jonah and to bring repentance and new birth to Jonah for him to go back to Nineveh.
This is where we are in the story
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
This is almost identical to the first call in Jonah 1. The call of Jonah is still intact.
1. Jonah rebellion is not the end of the story
I preach on this last week how God still call us after OUR FALL, FAILURE, or REBELION.
Sometimes that call remains…I have know people who ran for 10, 20 40 years and God says same call.
Other times that first call is over but God has called you to go somewhere.
2. Theme of God is going to have the prophet Jonah who has given a second chance or grace to to preach to the EVIL city of Nineveh about the grace of the God of second chances.
What does Jonah do?
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth.
Where have we seen three days before?
Jonah in the whale for three days
Jesus in the tomb for three days
What does 3 days symbolize in the Bible?
Three days: often signifies a period of trial, death, or waiting, followed by deliverance, resurrection, rebirth or transformation.
What is the text telling us is coming to Nineveh?
What does Jonah do?
Jonah is going to live into the call and do it. Jonah preaches…Jonah preaches a 5 word sermon in Hebrew…I know some of you say…common Pastor Pete can’t preach a 5 word sermon? I’m not Jonah
Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
40 days were have I seen that before?
The flood. It rained for 40 days and nights
The people of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years
40 symbolize a: Judgment and renewal — God often uses 40-day (or 40-year) spans to bring both consequences and the opportunity for grace.
World was wicked in the days of Noah
Israel was disobedient to follow God into the promiseland and created a golden calf.
Jonah says 40 days Nineveh will be overthrown
The Hebrew word “overthrown” (haphak) has double meaning.
Like word destory
If I said I destroyed the kids chair by sitting on it that is a bad destoyied
If I said Mile Garrett of the Cleveland Browns destroyed the NFL single season sack record by having 30 sacks. that is a good use of destroy
At its core, haphak means:
1. To overturn, overthrow, destroy – often used in contexts of judgment.
Sodom and Gomora
And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
2. To turn, transform, or change – can refer to a radical reversal or renewal.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
Which haphak do you think Jonah wants and God wants?
Jonah wants destruction like Sodom and Gomora….we see this in Jonah 4
God wants haphak like transformation.
So what happens with this 5 word sermon?
And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Arose…to repent
Jonah arose to run
And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
There is nation wide repentence with over 120,000 people also animals repenting.
Can you image this?
A whole city repenting after a 5 words sermon!
Whoa it is the power of God’s word
What is God going to do?
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
They repented, God relented
The Hebrew word “נִחַם” (nikhám or nicham) is rich in meaning and appears often in the Old Testament. It’s commonly translated as:
• To relent
• To be sorry
• To have compassion
• To change one’s mind
What an amazing story….
Wicked city
Jonah preaches 5 word sermon and
Whole city of Nineveh of 120,000 people Repents, from least to king and the beast
God haphak, transforms not destroys Nineveh
So what does that mean for us?
God can use your Words like he did with Jonah to bring many people to the Lord.
you don’t need to be eloquent or perfect or lengthy
We have seen this, not just in Jonah
We have seen people say to someone “God loves you”
Changed
“God see you” “You are heading toward destruction”
I just heard story last week of man running from God’s call. He faithfuly attend church, but ran from the call got into business and while he was on a business trip at a resturant God
His mouth dropped and he cried
Challenge for Today:
Is there someone in your life who needs to hear a word of hope, truth, or warning?
Are you holding back because you think you’re not “ready enough” or “good enough”?
Or maybe like Nineveh—guilty, unsure if God still cares.
God is saying repent and He will adopt you and bring you into the family of God.
