WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:05.839 We are in Jonah chapter 3, and I have not been up here in a minute. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:15.279 Um, so I want to kind of recap where we're at in Jonah, and really where we're at in scripture. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:26.879 It's a goal of mine to help us as a church and even remind myself of this that scripture isn't about you and me. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:29.920 It's the revealed word of God. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:32.960 It is God revealing to us who He is. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.679 So when we read Scripture, we look for God in Scripture. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:42.479 We don't look at mankind and say, man, I want to model my life after that person. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.479 We look past the person in the story to God. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:52.399 So for instance, we don't look at David versus Goliath and say, David was very courageous. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:53.840 I want to be like David. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:55.520 We look past David. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:05.920 And while, yes, David was courageous, we look past him and we see that there was a powerful God behind that that was pushing his plan along, and he used David to do that. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.840 And the same in the book of Jonah, we don't get fixated on Jonah. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.519 We don't look at Jonah and say, man, Jonah got swallowed by a big old fish. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:20.640 And then then he stayed alive in the fish, and then he got up in the middle of puke and everything, and he just went on about preaching God's word. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.439 We look past Jonah to see the God that orchestrated all of that. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:29.920 That is my goal, really, as I stand up here and preach once every five weeks. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:33.120 And if this is your first time with us this morning, I'm sorry. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:34.480 You drew the short straw. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:35.760 I'm not the paid guy. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.239 I'm just here once every five weeks. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.920 So you luck, I'm sorry about your luck, but that's just the way it is. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:49.040 Uh we look past Jonah and we look for the God that has designed all of this. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:54.000 So to catch us up, we're in Jonah chapter 3, verses 6 through 10. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:59.359 And uh let's recap the book of Jonah up to that point. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:04.319 In Jonah 1, we looked at God's call to Jonah. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:10.319 He said, Arise and go to Nineveh and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.039 And then we saw Jonah's flight from God. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:18.400 Jonah heard that that call and he turned and went in the opposite direction to Tarshus. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:22.400 But God is a God that loves mercy. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:32.879 And in God's mercy, he sent a storm that caused the mariners of the boat that Jonah was on to wonder who did what to bring this storm about. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:34.400 This is a different kind of storm. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:36.000 Somebody has done something. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:39.120 And Jonah said, It's me, I've done it. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:43.120 Throw me overboard because God is after me. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:48.719 And the mariners, they tried hard to row through the storm, but they they couldn't overcome it. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:52.159 So they said, Okay, we're gonna throw the guy overboard. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:03:00.560 And they throw him overboard, and Jonah sinks, and God told a fish to go swallow Jonah. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:09.280 And all of this caused us and probably caused the mariners on that boat to ask this question: Who is this God? 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:19.680 Who is this God that controls storms and controls fish and yet shows patience and mercy to disobedient, arrogant mankind? 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:30.719 Who is this God that is willing to use a broken man to tell broken and violent people that they need to repent of their sins so that he can bestow mercy on them? 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:32.400 Who is this God? 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:39.360 And we read a little bit about who this God is in 1 Chronicles 16, verses 23 through 31. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:44.639 I want to read that to remind us who this God is that we come and we gather to worship. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:55.680 It says this Sing to the Lord, all the earth, proclaim his salvation day after day, declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among the all peoples. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.719 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:09.759 He is to be feared above all gods, for all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens, splendor and majesty are before him, strength and joy are in his dwelling place. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:18.319 Ascribe to the Lord all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, ascribe to the Lord the glory do his name. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:25.360 Bring an offering and come before him, worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness, tremble before him, all the earth. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.800 The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved. 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:35.759 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let them say among the nations, the Lord reigns. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.560 That's who that God is that we worship. 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:43.759 And then in Jonah chapter 2, we saw that Jonah finally prayed. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:49.839 And God heard Jonah's prayer from the belly of a fish at the bottom of the sea. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:57.120 And we saw that Jonah didn't deserve to be delivered, and the Ninevites didn't deserve to be rescued from their sin. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:03.360 But in Jonah chapter 2, verse 9, it says that salvation belongs to the Lord. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:15.439 And then we made our way to chapter 3, where in the first five verses we see that, yes, God is a God of second chances, but he has also been in control the whole time. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.920 He has given us second chances and third chances and thousandth chances. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:25.040 And that Jonah came to the Ninevites, but the Ninevites believed God. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.399 They believed the message of God's wrath. 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:34.399 And that on this side of the cross, we see now, we see a better Jonah. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:35.519 We see Jesus. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:48.319 We see that he has drank the cup of God's wrath, so that those who believe will know nothing of his wrath to come, because he has drunk that cup to the last drop, and we know nothing of his wrath. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:06:00.480 So what I see as we come to Jonah chapter 3, verse 6 through 10, what I see is that, and in all of this, is that it's God's words that matter. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:03.920 What he has to say is what actually matters. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:09.199 What he has planned and what he has set forth is what actually matters. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:10.560 He's in charge. 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:13.839 It's his words that carry the weight. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:18.399 And now we come to Jonah chapter 3, verses 6 through 10. 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:30.079 Jonah is in the city, he's in Nineveh, he's preaching God's wrath, and he's saying that this place is going to be destroyed in 40 days if you don't repent. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.279 He's preaching the message that God told him to. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:36.800 He is saying what God said, preaching God's words. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:40.560 He's just passing along the words of God's uh the words of God. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:46.639 And this is what happens in verse number six through ten of Jonah chapter three. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:56.639 It says, The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat and ashes. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:06.079 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:13.839 Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.600 Let every one turn from his evil way, and from the violence it that is in his hands. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:20.560 Who knows? 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:26.000 God may turn and relent, and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:36.319 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he said he would do to them, and he did not do it. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:43.759 So in this text, the word reached the king of Nineveh. 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:50.240 God's word moved in a way that it reached the king of Nineveh. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:54.399 God's word is very effective when it moves. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.000 It's always moving. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:08.720 If you have ever, if you've ever owned a business or been involved with marketing, you know that getting people to hear about your business is it's hugely important. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:11.519 It's a lot of what you think about. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:17.279 If you're the owner of the business or if you're in marketing, you're thinking, how do I get people to hear about my business? 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:20.079 How are they going to receive it well when they do hear about it? 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:23.600 Do I get a billboard to let people know what we're doing here? 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:27.600 Man, I gotta I gotta post on social media more so people know that we're here. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.000 Do I take an ad out in the newspaper? 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.320 Is the newspaper still a thing? 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.559 Are people still buying the newspaper? 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:43.600 All of this is is has consumed your mind because you want customers to know where you are, what you're doing, what you're about. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:50.879 You're trying to figure out the best form of advertising and how that is going to pay off to get you the most results. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:55.120 And we want those results to result in more sales. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.960 You want the word of your business to reach everyone. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:07.679 Well, here in Jonah, uh we have Jonah going into Nineveh and saying, yet 40 days and God will destroy Nineveh. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:14.720 That is not a great marketing strategy from a worldly standpoint. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:20.559 Uh, not a real appealing message to say, repent or God's going to destroy you. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:25.759 But the word of that reaches the king of Nineveh. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:32.399 And it's those words, the words of God, not the words of Jonah, the words of God that carry the weight. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:36.159 Isaiah 55, 10 through 11 says this. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:50.480 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:58.399 It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:04.720 When God's word goes out, we never have to wonder, is this is this really gonna pay off? 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:11.519 If you share the gospel with someone, you never are you never have to wonder, did it was that really worth it? 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:13.759 Did I say it the way that I should have said it? 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:15.840 Are they gonna receive it? 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:22.960 Well, every time God's word goes out, it does exactly what God has purposed it to do. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:31.679 Just like the rain, Isaiah just mentioned in Isaiah 55, just like that rain, not all of the rain that comes down makes plants grow. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:39.919 Some of it does other things, but it all accomplishes exactly what God sent it to accomplish. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:47.279 So if you're if you're a bubbly, happy, slightly annoying person, share God's word. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:53.120 It will go out and accomplish exactly what God has for it at that time. 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:59.279 That could be salvation, that could be repentance, it could be faith for the person that hears it. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:09.759 That could be a pebble in their shoe, and they can't stop thinking about that pebble in their shoe, and they eventually it leads to someone else telling them, and eventually that person comes to know Jesus. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:18.960 It could be that that is the time that they hear the gospel and it leaves them without excuse before God because you have shared the gospel with them. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:23.039 Whatever it is, it accomplishes its person, its purpose. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:30.879 If you're kind of grumpy, but you love the Lord, don't wait to get happy before you share God's message. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.720 If you ain't happy Jesus saved you, you ain't ever gonna be happy. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:36.799 Share God's word anyway. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:41.440 If you think, man, God's word's never gonna reach that person, share it anyway. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:43.440 God's word is powerful. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:44.320 Stop. 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.559 I would encourage us to stop acting like it's our words that actually matter. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:50.159 It is God's words. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:12:04.240 Acts 4.12 says, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and morrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:13.919 We can't claim to follow Jesus and then think that this book that we're gathering around is just another book with just more words. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:19.039 It's living, it is discerning our thoughts and our intentions. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:20.639 What else does that? 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:23.039 What else are we even gonna share with people? 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.720 If we're rejected in that, that's not on us. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:28.159 Share it anyway. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:38.480 With all of your annoying and grumpy and hyper, lethargic, technical, reckless, whatever you are, with all of yourself, share God's word. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:43.519 It is what has the power to bring people from death to life. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:49.120 Look what happens here in the book of Jonah when God just says, Share my word. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.120 I want you to send my word to the people of Nineveh. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:54.480 It says, The word reached the king of Nineveh. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:55.759 And what did he do? 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:03.919 What did the king of Nineveh do when he heard the message that God sent through a grumpy racist? 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:05.759 Really, that's who Jonah is. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.159 He sends it through Jonah, and what what happens? 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:17.759 It says that, and he arose, the king of Nineveh, arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:23.600 Verse 7, and he issued a proclamation and published it through Nineveh by decree of the king and his nobles. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:27.440 Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:34.799 Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:38.639 Let everyone turn from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:39.519 Who knows? 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:45.039 God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:59.200 The king of Nineveh got up from his place of authority and removed his robe, stripped himself of his authority, and exchanged his royalty for the clothing and symbol of ruin. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:08.720 Uh, you would put on sackcloth and cover yourself in ashes as a sign that you were ruined by your sin, and you are repenting and turning from that sin. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.559 And the king of Nineveh heard God's words and repented. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:17.360 That's what happened when the word made it to the king of Nineveh. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:23.200 Remember when Jonah ran from God, he he tried to go to Tarshus. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:37.440 He gets on the boat, he's thrown overboard, he spent, spends a few nights in the belly of a fish, he's puked up onto shore, and he was told to get up and carry on and take the word that I have for you to Nineveh. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:44.080 It seemed impossible that God's mission was going to be accomplished. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:51.519 That the words that that God told Jonah to tell the people of Nineveh were actually going to be fulfilled. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:53.440 That's it, seemed like it would never happen. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:58.639 If you were with Jonah, how many times would you have said, yeah, this ain't happening? 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:00.559 The words aren't getting to Nineveh. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:09.279 I mean, I would I would have been looking at God like, I know, God, that you had plans for Nineveh, and I'm sorry about that, but this isn't how this is over. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:13.200 The guy just got on a boat and went in the wrong direction. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:14.639 This isn't happening. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:22.080 And then you see God send a storm and you're like, okay, like the guy just got thrown overboard, God. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:24.240 Nineveh's not happening. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:29.600 And then you see a whale come up and swallow him, and you're like, yeah, there's no way now, God. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:30.879 He just got eight. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:32.480 The man just got ate. 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:33.360 He's dead. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:34.879 The word is not happening. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:36.559 Your words are not being fulfilled. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:37.279 Sorry about that. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.879 I know you had a plan for Nineveh and all, but it's not happening. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:45.039 But yet, here we are in Jonah chapter 3. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:57.120 After rebellion, after impossible circumstances, after storms and sickness, after a fish swallowed a person, God's mission is being accomplished. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:58.879 His words are standing. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:03.360 What he said is coming to pass is actually coming to pass. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:06.000 The king of Nineveh is repenting. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.759 And I really would like this to encourage us. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:18.000 Because some of us in here are still in the midst of a time where we are waiting on God's word to accomplish something. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:28.559 And it feels like the mission that God has sent out his words and promised and said, This is, you know, he says in his words, he's gonna take care of us, he's gonna do this or that. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:30.480 That feels like it failed. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:35.679 There's no way, like we're thinking, there's no way God is going to reconcile this. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:40.320 It's been years, and it just feels like it's too much of a mess. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:43.440 There's no way that God can accomplish something through me. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:46.240 I've been too far gone for too long. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:50.399 There's no way he will save my son or my daughter or my mother or my father. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:55.039 They're too cold, they're too hateful, they're too evil, they're too religious. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:06.799 May we look to the book of Jonah and see the words of God, living and active words, and be reminded that it looked impossible for the people of Nineveh. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.319 The person with the message wasn't even cooperating. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.240 He made a huge mess of things. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.200 The people that he was going to were evil. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:16.880 They loved wickedness. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:22.720 And in God's time and on his terms, the word reached the king of Nineveh. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:30.240 And the king of Nineveh took off his robe, covered himself in sackcloth and ashes, and was ruined by his sin. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:34.000 No one, no one is too far gone. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:39.519 No one is so stubborn or stupid that God can't use them to spread the gospel. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:45.599 No one is so much of a great, uh so great of a sinner that they have outsinned God's grace. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:50.640 Romans 5.20 says, where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.720 No one is so arrogant, no one is so tough that they can resist the call of the Holy Spirit. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:01.519 I love in these situations to think about even my own spiritual heritage. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:03.920 My dad was that guy. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:08.240 He was the guy that you're like, yeah, God's word is never getting through to him. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:09.279 Not that guy. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:14.799 He drinks too much, he cusses too much, he's too mad all the time, and he wants to fight everybody. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:16.319 Like, this isn't gonna work. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:17.680 Not that guy. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:24.480 And besides, the guy that's sharing the gospel with them isn't that good at sharing the gospel. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.880 He's kind of terrible at it. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.000 He's just sharing a verse here and there at work. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:36.400 In the middle of a shift in a factory, at lunch break, he's sharing God's word with them. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:46.079 I don't know if you guys know what normal conversation is like at factory, at a factory during lunch break, but typically it's not discussing the finer points of scripture. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.240 It just, that's not how it works. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:53.200 But it wasn't Russell's words that convicted my dad of his sin. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:19:00.960 It wasn't Russell's words that prompted my dad to confess his need for a savior and to repent of his sins. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.880 It was God's words. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:15.359 It didn't matter if they were in a factory, it didn't matter if there was all sorts of profanity and every imaginable conversation going on around him because God's words are what penetrated. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:24.160 So repentant was the king of Nineveh that he issued a proclamation that everyone needed to repent. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:30.559 Now, maybe that was a little overzealous, but he wanted, like, and this, it's so he wanted animals to repent. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:35.039 I mean, he's like, cover the animals in ashes, put sackcloth on the animals. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:39.519 I think I see all a bull out there unnecessarily goring another bull. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:40.640 That's probably sin. 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:42.799 He needs to repent, cover him up. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:47.519 He wants everybody in on the repenting, he wants other people in on the repenting. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.960 This is this is how affected he is by God's word. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:20:02.240 I like how in chapter one, when the the sailors were facing the big storm and they were afraid, it says in verse five that the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his God. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:09.920 And then in verse six, the captain tells Jonah to arise and call out to your God, lowercase G God. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:20.720 And now we have the Ninevehite captain, so to speak, the Nineveh king, in chapter three, he hears the actual words of God and he tells his people to call out mightily to God. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:24.160 Not a God, to the God. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:28.799 Don't worry about feeding your animals, don't worry about getting lunch or dinner. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:33.279 Turn from your evil way and call out to God. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:38.400 This God that he's talking about is worthy of repentance. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:42.720 This God is to be feared and to be worshipped. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:46.640 And I just, as we're down here, we come to verse 10. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:48.960 I just want to touch on verse 10 real quick. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:21:00.400 When God, it says, 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. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:07.279 This this isn't God lying or uh not following through on what he said he was going to do. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:12.880 When God sent a prophet in with a message, there was always a way out for the people. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:25.440 So Jonah's proclamation about Nineveh being destroyed would come with a clause, that if they turn from their evil, God would not do what he said he was going to do if they did not turn from their evil. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:36.799 So this isn't God changing his mind when it says that he said that he uh the last part, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:40.480 God said, if you don't turn from your evil, I'm gonna destroy this place. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:42.960 And they repented of their evil. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:47.759 So this is just again God's mercy on display. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.279 So God's God's word came to Jonah in chapter one. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:59.519 And finally, here at the end of chapter three, the people of Nineveh are reached with God's word, and they repent. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:06.880 God's word accomplished what God set it out to accomplish. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:10.319 And this is where I like would like to bring it to us. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:15.519 If you got like five more, ten more minutes, five-ish minutes of attention left. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:21.759 I look at the people of Nineveh here in this chapter and I notice something about what they did. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:28.480 It says the the king of N or the king told them to stop feeding the cattle. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:34.799 Stop eating and cover yourselves in sackcloth and ashes and repent. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.880 And I know to us that this sounds crazy. 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:44.079 Like go put on a burlap sack and sit down and cover yourself in ashes. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:47.599 But there's something, there is something here for us. 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:54.319 See, the Ninevites were so serious about God's word that they dropped everything. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:57.759 They literally stopped their daily routines. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:03.359 This feeding cattle and eating your own self, that's stuff that you do every single day. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:08.079 They just quit doing it and they turn their focus solely onto God. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:15.759 God said, This is what we need to do, and we will drop everything and make sure that we are taking this seriously. 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:23.200 And when I think about that, I really fear for us, especially us here in the good old USA. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:28.559 I fear that we are too distracted to repent. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:42.319 We're too distracted to take God's word, the words that He has, this seriously, where we are willing to drop everything in our daily routines and repent. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:24:03.519 I'm afraid that we have packed our days so tight and set up our time in a way that for us to repent and turn from evil, for us to get right with God, to even know what God's Word actually is commanding us to do would require us to give up more than we are willing to give up. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:09.279 We have oriented our lives around our schedule too much. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:18.160 We are too distracted by what our day-to-day has to offer that we often miss the sin that is right in front of our face. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:25.200 We miss the commands laid out in God's word because we don't have time to listen to God's word. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.920 May we not desensitize ourselves of evil. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:33.599 May we not let it creep in and get comfortable with sin. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:39.279 So much so that it begins to choke the life out of us and we don't see it. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:41.839 Repent, turn from your sin. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:50.240 May we not pack our days so full that we fool ourselves into thinking that we're too busy. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.640 We're too busy for time in God's word. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:56.400 Or we're too busy to spend time in God's word with our spouse. 00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:59.839 We're too busy to spend time in God's word with our kids. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:06.240 We're too busy to carve out time alone to sit with God and know what his words actually are. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:09.759 We are not too busy, we are too distracted. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:22.160 Look to the book of Jonah and see how seriously the Ninevites took the words of God and allow that to help you prioritize it in your own life. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:27.279 Prioritize knowing this book so that you can better share these words with others. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.880 You can share the gospel confidently because you see it all over these pages. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:35.359 And that brings me to this very last point. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:36.880 I see the gospel. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:43.680 And then even in these, in Jonah chapter 3, verses 6 through 10, I can see the gospel in this text. 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:47.680 Look where it says, we see the king of Nineveh. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:49.359 What's he do? 00:25:49.519 --> 00:26:03.680 He takes off his robe of royalty and he puts on the clothes of repentance and he sits in ruin as he asks God to forgive him and his people of their wickedness. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:05.759 I see Jesus in that. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:29.680 Now Jesus is a much better version of that, but I see Jesus in that because I see the King of the universe, Jesus, took off his robe of royalty and put on the clothes of a man, and he would go to the cross and be crushed by the Father, so that he would be able to forgive his people of their wickedness. 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:49.119 In closing, if you are here without Christ, if you are far from Jesus, if you have made a mess of things, maybe you're that guy or you're that girl that people are, you think that people are saying, yeah, preach all you want, but that person is never turning from their sin. 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:51.279 Look to Jesus. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:54.240 Look to the words of Jonah and repent. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:56.720 Look to the better Jonah. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:26:57.839 Jesus. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:00.079 Place your faith in Jesus. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.960 Turn from your wickedness and repent. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:06.240 God's word has gone out today. 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:09.039 We have shared God's word today. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:12.160 It has gone out for a purpose. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:17.119 And I pray that that purpose is so that you will hear it. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:23.200 You will repent of your sins and believe the gospel and be saved today. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:32.880 Think about when Jonah, or I'm sorry, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he sees Jesus and he's coming up to John to be baptized. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:38.319 And immediately John the Baptist says, repent and believe the gospel. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:42.400 We are to repent and believe the gospel. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:43.200 Actually, you know what? 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:44.480 That was Jesus' words. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:46.000 Repent and believe the gospel. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:47.759 That is my prayer for you today. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:56.240 As you have heard this word go out, you heard the word, I pray that you would repent and believe the gospel. 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:58.799 God's word will accomplish what it has set out to do. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:05.680 It will either pull your heart closer to him or it will harden your heart and you will stand before him judged for that. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:11.119 I pray that it softens your heart and you repent and believe the gospel and be saved today. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:12.480 Let's pray. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:35.759 God, I just uh come before you this morning and we just pray that it is your words that stick with us today, that as we read scripture, as we uh spend time in prayer and in your word, that it will be your words that convict people of their sins. 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:45.039 I pray that what I say today only pushes people to you through what your word has said. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:29:02.960 I pray that we would remember the Ninevehes and we would remember Jonah and see how powerful your word is, and that we would trust more in it, that it would push believers to be more bold and more confident to share the gospel, that it would convict non-believers of their sins and that they would repent today and believe the gospel. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:06.319 I pray that you would move in our midst. 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:12.960 I pray that you would uh help us remove the scales, help us to see you for who you are. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:16.400 We love you, we thank you for what you've done on the cross. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:19.200 I just pray that your word would stick with us today. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:20.880 We pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:21.759 Amen.