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00:00Repentance is not as highly emotional
00:05nor as complicated as we think.
00:08All repentance is, is surrendering to the wisdom of God.
00:16And the wonderful thing about God
00:20is no matter how far you have gone down the wrong road,
00:25God is always there to help you turn it around.
00:30Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.
00:44Now, since this is part three of the series,
00:48you guys remember in the first part,
00:52when God spoke to Jonah, he was like,
00:55Lord, I don't want to be bothered.
00:58But how many know God is the God of a second chance?
01:05And after Jonah turned back to the Lord,
01:07not only was he forgiven, he was restored to his office
01:13and he received a fresh commission.
01:17How many of us agree if God didn't give us second chances,
01:21we would have no chance at all?
01:23The writer says the word of the Lord
01:30came to Jonah the second time.
01:34Again, God is the God of second chances,
01:39third chances, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chances.
01:44And if you're like me, you seldom make a mistake twice.
01:51You make it six, seven, or eight times just to be sure.
01:58And he told Jonah to go to Nineveh
02:01and he called it that great city.
02:04And this is the second time in the book of Jonah
02:07that God calls Nineveh great,
02:11despite the fact the scriptures called that city wicked.
02:17Somehow God sees all our faults,
02:20but also sees all of our potential.
02:25He sees our many weaknesses,
02:28but he also sees hidden deep down within our greatness.
02:34Then he said, and preach to it the message that I tell you.
02:41Never compromise the message.
02:45The method may change,
02:47but God's message always stays the same.
02:51Keep this in mind.
02:52By definition, God is perfect.
02:55And if he ever changed at that moment,
02:58he'd become less than perfect and less than God.
03:02And that is why scripture says
03:04Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
03:09Heaven and earth will pass away.
03:13Culture and societies will pass away.
03:17Fashion and trends will pass away.
03:21But God's word remains the same.
03:25So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh.
03:30You know, when I look back over my life,
03:33the time I wasted most in my life
03:36was the time I wasted not getting started.
03:41And instead of arguing like last time,
03:44Jonah decided to put on his sneakers.
03:48The Bible said, and he went according to the word
03:52of the Lord.
03:54You see, we cannot resist God
03:57and overcome the devil at the same time.
04:01God and his word are one.
04:05And when God's word guides us,
04:08absolutely nothing can stop us.
04:12Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,
04:17a three-day journey in extent,
04:20meaning it took about three days
04:22to get through all the streets of the city
04:25as well as the surrounding suburbs.
04:29And Jonah began to enter the city
04:32on the first day's walk.
04:35So here we have this prophet
04:37who's traveled all the way by fish,
04:40Iran, Iraq area, if you will.
04:44And at this time, this was the most powerful city
04:48in the world.
04:50The buildings were impressive.
04:52The people were bustling.
04:55But there stood this man with his face bleached
04:58from the stomach acid of the fish,
05:02probably all of his body and facial hair gone.
05:07This man was a sight to behold.
05:11But I want to tell you something.
05:13Sin never ends well.
05:17It will always take you further than you want to go,
05:21keep you longer than you want to stay,
05:24and cost you more than you want to pay.
05:29When he got to the city,
05:31scripture says he cried out.
05:36Few things are more boring than an uninspired preacher.
05:41Speak with conviction and courage
05:43or sit down and be quiet.
05:47And he opened his mouth and said,
05:50yet 40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown.
05:54This was a tough message.
05:55This was a hard message.
05:57This was not a pleasant, soft, motivational message.
06:03But somebody said the truth will set you free,
06:07but first it will make you mad.
06:11But watch this.
06:12Watch this.
06:13Watch this.
06:14So the people of Nineveh believed God.
06:21When Jonah stuck to the script, the people responded.
06:28It might surprise you how many people would respond
06:31if we would just stick to what God says about the matter.
06:38The word wasn't sexy.
06:40It wasn't attractive.
06:42But he spoke it.
06:44And when the people heard it, they proclaimed a fast.
06:49People turned over their plates to turn their hearts to God.
06:53But please understand this because people sometimes
06:56get mismotivated in their prayer and their fasting.
07:00Fasting is not designed to change God.
07:03God cannot change.
07:05It's designed to change us.
07:09And the people put on sackcloth.
07:13Sackcloth was a thick, scratchy material made from goat skin.
07:20And the point of them doing this was saying,
07:22Lord, I really don't care how uncomfortable it makes me.
07:26I'm willing to pay whatever price it costs to get my life right with you.
07:32You know, growth always happens right at the edge of our comfort zone.
07:40A writer said this.
07:41He said, whenever we lose our hunger for God,
07:45it's only because we got full of ourselves.
07:50And they put on sackcloth in ashes.
07:57From the greatest to the least of them, nobody was too important.
08:01Nobody was too busy to participate.
08:05One word came to the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne
08:10and he laid aside his royal robes.
08:15And you know God is at work when politicians start turning to God.
08:21And by the way, hugs and kisses to all of the elected officials
08:25that are in the room and live streaming.
08:27A couple came up to me after last service saying,
08:30you talking about me?
08:31No, I'm not talking about you.
08:33I'm talking about everybody else.
08:40And the king covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
08:47When real revival hits a church, a town, a city, a nation,
08:55it impacts the least to the highest.
09:04This very imperfect man that we've studied already for two Sundays
09:10was armed only with the word of God,
09:14and simply this man and the word of God
09:18was enough to save an entire city from ruin.
09:24It doesn't take as much as we think to make a difference.
09:31And the king calls it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh
09:34by the king in his noble saying,
09:37let man and beast be covered with sackcloth.
09:40So you know the king was really, really serious
09:43if he's got Fido and Kitty involved in the fast and all the rest.
09:50And here's the king's instructions.
09:54He said, and cry mightily to God.
10:00There's a place for quiet prayer,
10:03but there are times that you've got to cry aloud and spare not your voice.
10:10Sometimes there are cries so deep within,
10:16it's not responsible to try to just quietly say it.
10:23And in those moments, often tears are running
10:26and mascara, wigs turned, shoes kicked off, all that.
10:33But the Bible said the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
10:36and the violent take it by four.
10:39And sometimes it requires a little something-something
10:44to get hold of God.
10:47He said, and cry, not just cry, but cry mightily to God.
10:52So this was a prayer meeting like none other.
10:56And as the psalmist said, out of the depths of my heart,
10:59God, I've cried to you, O Lord.
11:03And there is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary.
11:08If we would just learn to cry out to our God.
11:14He said, cry mightily to God.
11:15Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way.
11:20So it wasn't just about prayer.
11:25It was also about action.
11:29So they cried out to God, but then they made some adjustments.
11:33So if you say you're praying, but your life never changed,
11:36I kind of question your prayers.
11:43He said, cry mightily to God.
11:44Yes, do that.
11:47Let everyone turn from his evil way.
11:49So if you're heading in the wrong direction with God,
11:54you turns are always legal.
11:58And here's what they said.
12:00Who can tell if God will turn and relent
12:05and turn away from his fierce anger
12:08so that we may not perish?
12:11We see here that this pagan king had more faith
12:15than many of us in this room and many of us live streaming.
12:21The king thought, you know, hey,
12:24if this is the God that created the heavens and the earth,
12:27and the earth can spin and God can turn night into day
12:32every 24 hours, how come God can't turn it around also for me?
12:37You see, broken things become blessed things
12:40when we let God do the mending.
12:46Then God saw, watch this, their works.
12:53So God didn't just hear their prayers.
12:57He saw their action.
13:00They turned from their evil way, but watch this.
13:05And God relented from the disaster that he had said
13:10he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.
13:17Our sins are never greater than God's mercy.
13:22But here's the deal.
13:25You got to get back on the right track.
13:28I think it was Will Rogers that said,
13:31after you get on the right track, keep moving forward
13:34because otherwise you're going to get run over if you sit there.
13:38Jonah 4 and 1.
13:40Now we're at our focus today as we wrap up Jonah.
13:47But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry.
13:50Here's the problem.
13:53Jonah wanted God to have mercy on me and mine,
13:57us four no more.
14:00But when God had mercy on people who sinned differently
14:04than he did, he started to question God's justice.
14:09I'm preaching good even if you're not saying amen.
14:16So he prayed to the Lord and said,
14:18our Lord, was not this what I said when I was still
14:22in my country and I fled previously to Tarsus?
14:25So he's about to explain the reason he ran from the Lord.
14:29For I know that you are gracious and a merciful God,
14:35slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness,
14:38one who relents from doing harm.
14:41God, I wanted justice.
14:43God, I wanted you to get them Democrats.
14:46I wanted you to get them Republicans.
14:48I wanted you to get them, whoever's not us, get them.
14:52Have mercy on us.
14:56But God smite them.
15:05But Jonah, you know, for him it was okay when he was at the
15:11belly of his fishy situation when God had compassion on him.
15:16But he got angry when God showed the same compassion
15:20to the Ninevites.
15:21Here's the big question today.
15:24What if God held your sins against you the way you're
15:30holding other sins against them?
15:37I'm preaching better than you saying amen.
15:39Y'all was shouting a minute ago.
15:45Therefore now, oh Lord, please take my life from me for it's
15:52better for me to die than to live.
15:55What a drama queen.
16:02But drama usually starts where our reasoning ends.
16:08So in God's mercy, he starts engaging Jonah's mind and starts
16:12asking him some questions to help Jonah think.
16:17Then the Lord said, and by the way, if I were God, I would
16:21have certainly sent a lightning bolt.
16:24And, you know, even though I didn't want to do the lightning
16:27thing, at least an earthquake.
16:30And even if, you know, it was just a super good day, at least
16:33a rash.
16:34I mean, at least make them itch or boil something.
16:39But God is so patient, so patient.
16:44He engages his intellect and he gets the prophet to start
16:48thinking.
16:49He said, Jonah, is it right for you to be angry?
16:54God was like, bro, look in the mirror.
16:57It's okay for me to be patient with you but not to be patient
17:02with anybody else.
17:04So when God said this to Jonah, Jonah stuck his lip out and
17:08he went up out of the city and sat on the east side of the
17:12city on a hill where he could look down on it upon everybody
17:16else.
17:17But I remember somebody saying, don't look down on people unless
17:20you're willing to lift them up.
17:24There he made himself a shelter and sat under its shade till he
17:30might see what would become of the city.
17:35And as he sat there, the Lord prepared yet another object
17:40lesson for the prophet.
17:42And you know, God didn't give up on you so please don't give up
17:46on him.
17:48The first chapter of Jonah, God prepared a fish for him.
17:55And in a moment we're going to see him prepare a plant.
17:59And here's the big point.
18:01God is prepared to prepare whatever it takes to reach you.
18:07And the Lord prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah
18:14that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his
18:19misery.
18:21Now this is the first time in the entire book that Jonah was
18:25happy.
18:27He was only happy when it was about him.
18:32So Jonah was grateful for the plant.
18:37As long as Jonah got help, he was good.
18:41But the problem was he didn't care about God helping anybody
18:45else.
18:47Watch your attitude because it's the first thing people see about
18:51you.
18:55But as morning dawned the next day, there's only a few verses
18:58left.
19:00God prepared a worm.
19:03God prepared a fish.
19:05God prepared a plant.
19:07Now God prepares a worm.
19:12Might some of the challenges in your life be God trying to tell
19:17you something?
19:22And the worm so damaged the plant that it withered.
19:27And it happened when the sun arose that God prepared a
19:30vehement east wind.
19:33God prepared a fish.
19:35God prepared a plant.
19:37God prepared a worm.
19:40Now God prepared a vehement east wind.
19:46And the sun beat on Jonah's head so that he grew faint and weary.
19:55Then he wished death for himself a second time and said, it's
20:01better for me to die than to live.
20:05Jonah got suicidal.
20:08But Jonah also got so caught up in himself, he was not just
20:13missing a screw, he had lost a whole toolbox.
20:23But the Lord was using life to teach Jonah a lesson.
20:31And God used the situation.
20:33He said, you have had pity on the plant for which you have not
20:37labored, nor made it grow, which came up in one night, which was
20:41a miracle, and perished in the night.
20:44You made no investment in the plant, but you act like you care
20:48about it.
20:50But for me, I invested life, limb, sunlight, rain, in every
20:59person in that city.
21:02Don't you think they matter to me?
21:08And should I not pity Nineveh?
21:14Many scholars are frustrated with how Jonah ends, because it
21:17just ends flat.
21:19It ends with God counting the number of people in the city and
21:24stating, should I not pity them also?
21:29Should I not pity that what great city?
21:32And what he was saying to Jonah is, Jonah, you know I got you
21:35despite your self-righteousness, your attitude, and all the rest.
21:40But what about you helping others get me too?
21:45Repentance is not as highly emotional nor as complicated as
21:51we think.
21:54All repentance is is surrendering to the wisdom of God.
22:02And the wonderful thing about God is no matter how far you have
22:09gone down the wrong road, God is always there to help you turn
22:13it around.
22:16What we see in the book of Jonah is a self-righteous man that God
22:26uses despite himself to reach wicked people who had no disposition
22:34to hear, but by the grace of God they heard anyway.
22:42And what God is trying to say to each of us, he's not requiring
22:47perfection.
22:50He's simply saying if we would surrender.
22:54Jonah's problem was Jonah was all about me and mine, us four
23:00no more.
23:03He was all about I want to get my blessing.
23:07But couldn't understand how in God's economy others matter.
23:15And my simple message today is that the book of Jonah is not
23:18about a distant prophet.
23:22It's about you and me.
23:26We want God to have mercy on us.
23:30But smite them.
23:32Kill them.
23:34Get them.
23:37So the book ends suddenly so that all that's left is reflection.
23:45So each of us, you know, might be sitting at the top of our own
23:49building looking down on some other folk wishing they ought to
23:52get it right.
23:54What's going to happen with them.
23:56God kill them.
23:58But all the while God is looking at you, trying to work with you
24:03to get you right.
24:05Did you get anything out of that quick message today?
24:08I made it nice and short for you.
24:10Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
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24:20has blessed you.
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24:46I hope to see you back here again.
24:48God bless you.
25:09♪♪