The God of the Second Chance

Introduction

We’ve been studying Jonah for a little while, and we’ve looked at several thoughts out of this amazing book…We began by looking at how Jonah run for God at one time in his life, but he run from God when he said no, I’m not going to preach to Nineveh, we then looked at how it wasn’t long that Jonah was running from God ‘til he was running into God.

Today, I want to begin looking at what happens when Jonah starts running with God!

I saw a sign on a church the other day, and I would say amen to this, it said, “Every great move of God began with a man on his knees.”

When I think of that quote, I think of how the great moves of God I have experienced personally were first sought with great prayer and fasting, but not all great moves of God were sought after…Jonah is a good example, oh, Jonah was on his knees praying to an almighty God, but as I’ve mentioned previously, the whole reason he was in the whale’s belly was because he had refused to go cry to the wicked city of Nineveh.

The real miracle of Jonah is not the great fish but the revival that brought a hundred and twenty thousand people to their knees in repentance.

Jonah 4:11 KJV 1900

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

This was not a revival meeting; it was a revival. Now we will get to the revival in another message, but for now...

Notice verse 1 with me this morning:

Jonah 3:1 KJV 1900

1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

I want to just say thank God that He is the God of the second chance! When we mess up and blow it He does not discard us or destroy us! God is a God of grace and mercy and forgiveness. These qualities are not something we see in the world very often!

I mentioned this the other week, but I bet Jonah was glad the fish obeyed the Lord better than he did!

How gracious it is of God to give us another opportunity after we fail! This lets us know that God is just as concerned about the workers as He is the work!

He could have left Jonah for dead and sent someone else to preach to Nineveh, but He didn’t, and Jonah would have missed this tremendous lesson if God had sent someone else.

Here’s the lesson: God wants to work in us as well as through us!

I sure am thankful that we have a God of second chances!

Now Jonah didn’t deserve a second chance, neither do we….

This leads us into our first point this morning, this shows us:

The Strong Mercy of God

Mercy is mentioned around 247 times in the Bible and it means kindness, pity, favor, loving, and tender compassion.

Ephesians 2:4 KJV 1900

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

God loved Jonah, that’s why He give him a second chance, and God loves us today!

If God can use Jonah after his disobedience, then He can use anybody!

What a picture of mercy! Look at what Jonah says in chapter 4...

Jonah 4:2 (KJV 1900)

2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

Thank the Lord this morning, He not only forgives, but He forgets our sins!

There are three types of forgiveness that we see here:

Forgiveness dealing with Jonah’s Righteousness.

The sins of a Christian are cleansed by the blood according to:

1 John 1:9 KJV 1900

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I’m glad that God doesn’t kick us out of the family when we go astray…I’m glad we don’t lose salvation!

John 10:28 KJV 1900

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

I want you to know though that we should hate sin!

Spurgeon wrote: “Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Saviour.”

We should view sin in our lives as “crucifying the Son of God afresh” according to Hebrews 6:6…

We should hate sin and turn from sin!

So we see forgiveness dealing with Jonah’s righteousness, then, we see:

Forgiveness dealing with Jonah’s Relationship:

As I mentioned just a moment ago…Jonah didn’t lose salvation; sin doesn’t break our relationship with God…We are always His children after salvation, but sin does break our fellowship with God.

When a Christian is forgiven he does not receive salvation, he never lost that, he receives the JOY of salvation...

David, after committing the great sin that he did when he was consumed with lust for Bathsheba; he didn’t beg God for salvation again...

Psalm 51:12 KJV 1900

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit.

He begged God to give him the joy of salvation back! What had happened, sin in David’s life had destroyed his fellowship with God, but not his relationship!

We have forgiveness dealing with Jonah’s righteousness and relationship, but also:

Forgiveness dealing with Jonah’s Reinstatement:

Full reinstatement means that God trusts us with His work once more…We don’t want just enjoyment, but we also need employment! This is why looking on in Psalm 51, David says:

Psalm 51:13 KJV 1900

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; And sinners shall be converted unto thee.

You think about Peter...

He had forsaken our Lord, he even denied that he knew Him…As soon as he had denied Him three times, he sees our Lord being taken away in shackles. I’m sure Satan told him he blew it, I’m sure Satan told him there was no coming back from this, but in John 21, we find our precious Lord reinstating Peter to service. He tells Peter, “Feed my sheep.”

We see, the strong mercy of God, but we also see:

The Specific Mandate of God

When God recommissions one of his sheep, He gets straight to the point of our defection and return. I want you to notice, Jonah was given:

The Same Method “Go”

God’s word to the church is still “Go ye”...

Matthew 28:18–20 KJV 1900

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

God does not tell the lost to “come and hear” but He does tell the church to “go and tell.”

Nineveh didn’t come to Jonah, but Jonah went to Nineveh...

Jonah had...

The Same Mission “Go…to Nineveh”

The place of desertion is the place of return!

We are to return at specific points and confess specific sins and return to specific tasks!

Jonah had...

The Same Motive “Go to Nineveh…The Great City”

Let’s look at some things concerning Nineveh...

It was named after the goddess Ishtar.

It was so large that it could house 120,000 people according to Jonah 4:11

It was a three day journey around the city according to Jonah 3:3…It’s circumference was around 27 miles...

It took a day’s journey to reach the center of the city from the outlying suburbs.

It was a city of idolatry and false worship...

So, why was Nineveh great in God’s sight?

Was it architectural greatness? political? cultural? No!

Its greatness was that of sin and therefore of need.

Jonah had...

The Same Message

In chapter 1:2 God told Jonah to arise, in verse 3 Jonah arose and went his way.

In chapter 3:2 God told Jonah to arise, in verse 3 Jonah arose and went God’s way.

In Jonah 1:1, the message was to cry against Nineveh’s sins and the message is still the same now that God is recommissioning Jonah for service.

Jonah preached the love and mercy of God (4:2) by preaching the wrath and judgment of God (3:4).

The biggest heresy being preached in modern pulpits is “God is love!”

The heresy is that the love implied is one that loves people “in their sins” and one that “would never let anyone go to hell.”

We need more preaching of what sin is, what sin will lead to and the necessity of repentance. The love of God is a demanding and a delivering love.

Jonah 3:2 KJV 1900

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

This should be in every pulpit…preaching should be the “thus saith the Lord” proclamation of a herald…This is what Moses preached, Jeremiah preached, Paul preached, and even our Lord Himself preached...

The Bible is like the sunrise…it’s ever new, ever fresh, and ever beautiful!

Spurgeon said, “Give me the Bible, and I could preach forever!”

We see the strong mercy of God, the specific mandate of God, and then we see...

The Strong Man of God

Jonah was tried in the furnace of the fishes belly...

1 Peter 1:7 KJV 1900

7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Like Job after suffering and David after sinning, Jonah would never be the same again...

No doubt, we find:

A Stronger Man:

His faith in God was giant sized! He who had been thrown into the waves and swallowed by a fish had no problem walking into the heart of heathenism and proclaiming judgment. He did not fear those who could destroy the body because he feared Him who can “destroy both soul and body in hell”...

We find:

A Submissive Man:

Jonah went because he was told, where he was told, when he was told, as he was told, to do what he was told, in the way he was told.

He learned the hard way that the best thing we can do for God and ourselves and others is to obey Him. But still and all, Jonah was...

A Sinful Man:

Jonah is not much better as a person. He goes to Nineveh because he has to. His was a “wind me up, have to do it” ministry. He preaches with no love or emotion (3:4).

We will see in a future message that He pouts when God spares his converts.

It’s been said that evangelism is “one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread”...

God really does draw beautiful straight lines with a lot of crooked sticks...

And because of all this, Jonah was:

A Seasoned Man:

He was ripe and ready for the Master’s use...Preaching from the mind reaches minds; from the heart reaches hearts; from the soul reaches souls.

Jonah had sinned and been forgiven; had suffered and been delivered; had prayed and been answered … and that made him a powerful preacher.

Conclusion

At the end of verses 1-4 of this chapter, the bottom line is that God is saying to Jonah, “Let’s try this again...” I’m glad God just doesn’t throw us away when we disobey...

The Bible tells us that we are His hands and feet...

If the church does not accept the mission of God and begin to announce the message of God, then people will not be able to respond to the call of God.

What kind of message are we giving the world? People still must be born again to go to heaven! God’s word and requirements have not changed.

Would you accept the mission of God and begin to announce the message of God?

Would you become a responsive servant?