WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Guys, I I have a confession before I get started. 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:05.200 I just thought of this. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:09.359 Um I quit coffee like at the beginning of June. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:12.000 And if you know me, I've attempted this. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:17.760 I'm like an old addict with uh cigarettes or anything, coffee and caffeine. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:19.120 I'm like, I I gotta quit. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:20.480 It's not good for me. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:23.679 And this isn't a personal conviction on anybody else. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.280 This is my own personal thing. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.120 I gotta stop drinking coffee and I stopped at the beginning of June. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:38.159 So you're getting probably um, this is the first time I've ever preached before chugging um a large double double from Tim Hortons. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:46.320 So this is probably gonna be a little bit more subdued version because I'm not amped up on caffeine, or maybe this is this the true me. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:47.520 This is just who I am. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:51.840 Um, but either way, just I just wanted to warn everyone and just let you know. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:54.719 If I seem off a little bit, it's still a little bit cloudy. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:08.079 It's been four weeks, and um I I still I still think about that red cup with that sleeve on it and sipping that coffee from Tim Hortons, but um I'm trying to put those things behind me. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:14.239 But and it was just for June, so if you'd see me with a cup of coffee after this, please don't judge me. 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:14.959 I'm okay. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:18.319 I'm just okay, I'm trying to control it a little bit. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.319 Uh okay, so we're in Jonah. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:24.159 We've been uh I've been walking through the book of Jonah with you guys. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:27.599 Uh we are in Jonah chapter three this morning. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:35.920 Um, and I wonder, I see people with glasses, and I can't see people with contacts unless you get up really close and and look at them, which is weird. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:39.040 But I I wonder how many of us have been to the eye doctor. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:02:03.599 You don't have to raise your hand or anything, but if you've ever been to the eye doctor, they bring down, at least at mine, I go to like kind of an old school person, which I like, and they bring down that giant thing and they sit it down over your eyes and right over your whole entire face, and they start clicking different lenses, and they're trying to see which lens you can see uh the most clearly out of. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:05.760 So they ask you, what looks better? 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:07.200 A or B? 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.919 One or two, C or D. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:16.960 They're trying to figure out which lens will help you see the things around you the most accurately. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:29.039 Um, and when we think through who God is and what God is like and what that means for us in our life, we want to make sure that we have on the correct lenses, so to speak. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:38.159 If I if my kids pick up my glasses and they do this a lot and they put it on, they can't see anything because it's just it's too much. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:44.400 And if I take my contacts off and I don't, if I take them out and I don't wear my glasses, I can't see anything. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.719 I don't have the lenses on that I need. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:52.240 And we need to put the correct lenses on when we're we're walking through God's word. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.199 And look, we live in a broken world. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.599 So so we're not gonna get this completely right. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:04.159 1 Corinthians 13, 12 says, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:09.919 Now I know in part, then I I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:21.680 So we can't see perfectly, we can't see through God's word perfectly who God is, because we live in this broken world and our lenses are are, you know, they're blurred. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:30.800 But if we lean in to God's word and we lean into prayer and we lean into what God has for us, we can see a little bit more clearly each day. 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:39.039 So as we look at Jonah chapter 3 this morning, uh, I want us to try to put on the best lenses possible. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:50.319 We we have seen for starters in this book that this book, the book of Jonah, isn't so much about Jonah as it is about God. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:56.319 It's not so much about a big giant fish as it is about God's mercy. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:06.479 So we we want to read through the scripture this morning with our God with God lenses on, so to speak, not man lenses. 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:24.240 We we look for what these passages are saying about God, uh, what they are telling us about Jesus, how this scripture fits into the narrative of the Bible, that God is saving a people, that he's reconciling them, that he's redeeming them back to himself. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:30.959 So we're not reading these texts, and anytime you read God's word, you're not reading the text looking for a superhero in the Bible. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:33.519 We already have our superhero. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:37.680 Well, we're not looking in these texts and trying to make much out of man. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:41.199 Man is broken and needs saving. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.959 We are looking for the savior in these texts. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:05:03.680 So let's look at this passage this morning, Jonah chapter 3, verses 1 through 5, and see what those this passage tells us, five verses, and I'm gonna share just three things that I see about God, and I'm gonna tell you right up front what I see. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:17.199 Um, one, I see that our God is three, I two, I see that our God loves mercy, and three things that this text, without God, is wrathful towards sin. 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.800 Those are the three things that in this text about our God. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:24.720 And I'm gonna read uh these five verses now in Jonah chapter three. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:34.800 It says, 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. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:38.079 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, journey in breadth. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:46.879 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey, and he called out, Yet forty days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:49.519 And the people of Nineveh believed God. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:55.680 They called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:59.040 So in this text, this is what we're gonna look at. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:04.720 God is our God is unchanging, our God loves mercy, and our God is wrathful towards sin. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.839 Uh and verse number one, it says, this kicks us right off. 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:18.959 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, So what does this verse tell us about God? 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:25.759 Uh you will hear this cliche sometimes, that we serve a God of second chances. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:27.519 Is that true? 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:32.000 If you think about that, do we serve a God of second chances? 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:39.839 And I would say, yes, I'm absolutely that is true, but I would like to discuss what that means a little bit further. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.160 Uh, when we think about a question like that, like do we serve a God of second chances? 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:48.079 We can't view that through the lenses of our own experience. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.439 We must try to see that through God's eyes. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:54.079 Jonah ran from God. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:56.639 Jonah said, throw me overboard. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:01.199 Jonah whined and pouted throughout these first uh this first bit. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.079 We don't know how long this took, but some amount of time. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:06.240 Jonah whined and pouted. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:12.160 He he was um actively running away from God in disobedience. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:15.040 And you think about your own life for a second. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:20.240 I know that I have knowingly made wrong decisions. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:27.199 I have willingly turned one way when I know what pleases God is in the opposite direction. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:32.560 So in reality, he's not just the God of second chances. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:36.720 Every second for us is a second chance. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.920 Every second that we breathe is a second chance for us. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:44.079 If God didn't give us second chances, we'd all be in hell right now. 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:49.120 So he most certainly is a God of second chances, but it goes beyond that. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:51.839 How many chances has he given you? 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.560 I mean, it's this through our own eyes. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:08:00.399 And we think, well, you know, he's a God of second chances because he's given me a second chance to really make myself great. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:12.079 Like I missed out on this opportunity one time, and then it came back around, and God has given me the opportunity to make myself great, and I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity from God. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:13.519 And that's nice. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.000 And we should give God the credit for the opportunity if that is a good thing. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:23.199 But what about the 15,000 other chances that God gave you? 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:25.439 Every day his mercies are new. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:30.000 We just read uh in our call to worship, Lamentations 3, 22 and 23. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.519 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:37.120 They are new every morning. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:39.360 Great is your faithfulness. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:52.480 So it is important for us to have the appropriate lenses on so that we can see that everything good belongs to the good God that gave it to us. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.559 Every opportunity, every situation, all of it. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:03.279 Not just the ones that you're noticing, but the ones that go unnoticed, not just the ones that you think, man, this is a big opportunity here. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.039 This is a second chance from God. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.360 All of the chances belong to God. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:14.320 It has all been set up so that God, so that we can then turn back and give that glory back to God. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.080 We can boast in Him. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:26.240 He is a God of second chances and third and fourth and an infinite amount of chances because He is a God that loves to give us opportunity. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:27.600 He loves mercy. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.039 He loves this. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:35.360 So here we have uh the word of the Lord coming to Jonah for the second time. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:38.080 This isn't the second time ever. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:42.799 It's not like this is only the second time that Jonah's ever heard from God. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:48.320 Uh we know that in other parts of scripture, he can turn back into 1 Kings and see those things. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:54.879 But this marks the second time about this specific prophecy that the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:58.000 Uh, he's so he's more than a God of second chances. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:01.600 Jonah gets another opportunity to obey this specific time. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:08.159 And the Ninevehites, they have disregarded God chances they have, they have lived a lifestyle of violence. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:09.360 Repent. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:15.840 He is a God that loves mercy and deals it out more than just a second chance. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:17.440 It's not just a second chance. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.440 And that brings me to the second thing. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.639 Our God, is that the first thing? 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:25.039 No. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:26.240 I'm sorry. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:27.519 I got lost, guys. 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:29.200 Our God loves mercy. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.559 That was my first point. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:31.759 Our God loves mercy. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.759 He is a God of second chances because he loves to show mercy. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:52.639 He he we can see throughout the book of Jonah how many times he has been merciful, how many times he could have lowered the boom, how many times he had every right to do whatever he wanted, but he loves mercy, so he gives second and third and fourth an infinite amount of chances. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:54.720 Um, verse number two. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:04.720 Jonah chapter three, verse two, it says, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, the message that I tell you. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:09.440 God's message does not change. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:14.399 If you look at Jonah chapter one, verse number one and two, I'm gonna read that. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:24.320 It says, Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:34.000 And then if you go to Jonah chapter 3, it says in verse 2, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, the message that I tell you. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.600 God's message does not change. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.799 We, our God is unchanging. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:46.639 So we see in the text, our God loves mercy, and our God is unchanging. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:55.759 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, and he told him to do the same exact thing that he told him to do the first time. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:02.080 It is, it should be a great comfort to us to know that the God that we serve does not change. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:10.720 He isn't just dish dishing out an assignment today and then tomorrow saying, you know what, on second thought, completely forget that. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:12.879 You forget everything that I said yesterday. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:14.000 Do this thing. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:19.919 It isn't the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time and said, You know what, Jonah, forget about the Ninevites. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:20.720 We're we're done with that. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:21.840 I'm moving on. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:23.519 He is unchanging. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.120 There is sureness in that. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:28.799 That is why his love is called steadfast love. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:30.960 That speaks to his character, character. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:37.759 He's immutable, he's unchanging, he's not fickle or flaky, he is an unchanging God. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:40.879 And I think there's a lesson in that for us. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:45.759 Um, and I just want to take a second here to speak to those of us with young children. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:47.279 There's a great lesson in that. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:51.600 And even those of you with kid children, there's a lesson in that too. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:58.879 But we are giving our picture, we're giving our kids to think of God in the same way that they think of their earthly father. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:07.679 If your dad was distant, disengaged, unattached, you probably have to fight against the attached. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:14.080 On the contrary, if your dad is present, caring, loving, your thoughts will be bent toward him. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:27.279 So to have a God that doesn't change the assignment is pick up your toys and wipe the meatball off of the side of the launched it onto the side of the wall. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:32.879 And then your kid and so many best for for our kids because no. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:40.559 We it is best if we don't say, okay, okay, I'll pick up the toys and I'll wipe up half the sauce. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:45.120 If you can just wipe the lower part of the wall because I can't bend down that far. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.240 So you get part of it and I'll get part of it. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:58.720 No, it is best, it is in the best interest of our kids if we do not change the assignment because we are we are displaying a God who is unchanging. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:14.799 God is not negotiating our terms, He's not looking to barter over commands, and for that we know that we have a steadfast, faithful, reliable, strong God that has our best interest in mind. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:26.879 I know for me personally, this is my MO as a parent sometimes, and it's sinful because I'm not God, I'm giving a broken picture of God, but I will let something go. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:27.840 You know, I'll let it go. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.320 My kids and my wife especially can attest to this. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:35.840 I'll let it go, like something that shouldn't be let go because I just don't want to right now. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:48.399 And I'll let it go and I'll let it go, and then it starts boring down into my mind, and then like the fifth time they do it, I get feeling annoyed and I'm moody, and I'm like, that's it, that's it, we're done. 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:59.120 And that uh thing that I let go five or six times, now I decide that I'm going to be moody and I'm going to punish that thing. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.279 That is not God. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:03.200 He is unchanging. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:14.799 He's not commanding Jonah to do something today, and then Jonah not doing it, and then the next day punishing Jonah for not doing the thing that he told him to do in the first place. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:16.399 No, he's unchanging. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:31.679 How disheartening would it be if God would have said, you know what, Jonah, don't worry about the Ninevehes, because it would have been like, well, wait a second, God, I are you telling me that you told me to do something in the first place that really wasn't all that important, that didn't have much meaning? 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.799 No, our God does not change. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:49.120 So when we give our kids and when we give um those in our household something, uh a good and right command that's in the best interest of them, and it's in everyone's best interest if we stick to that command. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.600 Now look, we are a broken picture of God to our children. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:54.960 So we're gonna get that wrong. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:56.320 We're gonna have to apologize. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.200 We're gonna have to sit down and say, yeah, that was wrong about that. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:00.399 I'm sorry. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:03.840 There's that's just our broken human nature. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:08.320 God doesn't need to sit down and apologize to us because he never gets it wrong. 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:12.960 We are just trying to give a picture of our God to our children. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:17.200 We're trying to be formed a little bit more into his image every day. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:24.480 So the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, and it was the same thing that he said the first time. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:29.440 And that shows us the steadfast sureness of our God. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.559 Our God is unchanging. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:42.240 This time, when the word of the Lord come to Jonah, uh, instead of running in the opposite direction, verse 3 says this. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.679 Uh, so Jonah arose and went up and go according to the word of the Lord. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:52.639 So Jonah actually great city, three days' journey in breadth. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.879 So Jonah listens to God this time and he heads to Nineveh's journey. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:02.720 So it takes three days for someone to travel through the city of committed. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:06.079 He's not, you know, have you ever have you ever seen a fight? 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.160 If you went to public school, you probably have types of fights that people get into. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:11.839 There's different different types of fighters. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:23.440 Some people just go right in, some people are kind of dancing around, and sometimes you'll see these guys that they just kind of circle the guy that and then the guy comes at them and they just they split up a little bit and they walk a little bit faster. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:27.039 They don't actually want to get in there, they don't they don't want to fight. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:44.799 This is not how Jonah approached the city of Nineveh II, committed to what God was uh prepared to tell the Ninevites, and it would be different, uh it wouldn't seem quite as bold, but he goes in with this in verse number four. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:54.480 It says, Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey, and he called out, Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:02.400 Jonah journeyed into Nineveh to tell them that God was going to destroy them in 40 days. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:14.319 He went among people that hated him and that he actually hated to tell them that God was wrathful, that he was going to pour out his wrath on them. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.240 And that is a pretty bold move. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:23.680 That's not circling around the outside, that's going right in the middle and just saying, in 40 days, God's gonna blow this mess up. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:26.720 I'm sure he said some other stuff in there too. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:34.319 It's not like he just went in with one line, just with a bullhorn, saying, Yeah, 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:37.279 He he he said some other stuff. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:43.039 This isn't his only line, but his message is the message of God's wrath. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.200 God is going to destroy this place if you guys don't repent. 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:51.119 He's angry about the way that things are going here in Nineveh. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.359 Now, and I mentioned this back in Jonah chapter 1. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:57.920 This shows us God hates sin. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.480 He has no place for sin. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:04.319 He is actually wrathful towards sin. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:06.559 He wants to crush it. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:15.680 God's wrath will be poured out onto sinners that are not covered in the righteousness of Jesus. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:19.359 And yet, people don't want to hear about God's wrath. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:26.640 We get very uncomfortable in these passages where God is going to destroy people because of their wickedness. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:35.920 But this is the message that Jonah went in to the city of Nineveh to proclaim a message of God's wrath to come. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:39.680 And I just want to talk a little bit about God's wrath. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:46.559 Um, Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew chapter 26. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:51.839 And in verse 39, he says this, and going a little farther, he fell on his face. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:52.880 This is Jesus. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:20:03.680 He fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:09.279 What does Jesus mean when he says, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me? 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:10.160 What cup? 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:12.480 What is Jesus talking about? 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:17.200 Well, let's look at some other prophets and their messages that they proclaimed. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:30.720 Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 25, 15, Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me, Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:45.039 The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 51, 17, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:21:05.680 And then in Revelation 14, 9, it says, And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast in its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, pour it out full strength into the cup of his anger. 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:12.079 Jesus praying in the garden is talking about the cup of God's wrath. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:16.319 If it is possible, let this cup pass from me. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:22.640 Don't pour out your wrath on me if it is possible, but nevertheless, not my will, but your will. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:31.759 He knows that going to the cross means that he is drinking down the full cup of God's wrath towards sin. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:43.119 This is anger that God pours out onto Jesus Christ on behalf of our sins because of his hatred to sin. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:50.799 And because of that hatred, he must drink the cup of God's wrath till the very last drop is gone. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:54.000 If those sinners are to be reconciled back to God. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.519 So if we want to be reconciled back to God, Jesus must have drunk the cup of God's. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.720 Wrath. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:06.319 And on that cross, Jesus Christ took every drop of God's wrath. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:15.680 He paid for all the anger and hatred that God has towards sin so that we don't have to drink from that cup. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:24.880 Those of us that have been granted faith and repentance will know nothing of God's wrath because Jesus drank the cup. 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:26.799 That's the cup that we're talking about. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:34.000 And here in Jonah chapter 3, Jonah is going about the city of Nineveh preaching God's wrath. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.200 Repent, or God will destroy this place. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:45.279 If you're like me, that just seems like a not a great strategy. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:52.160 It doesn't seem like a really good evangelistic strategy to go in and say God's gonna destroy you, you better repent. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.319 Why would people repent without hearing about how loving God is? 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:01.839 But, and in verse number five, we see that quite the opposite happens. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:04.720 Verse five of Jonah 3. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.920 And the people of Nineveh believed God. 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:14.480 They called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:27.759 The Ninevehes, this this wicked, disgusting people of Nineveh, the place rampant with violence and anger and hatred, repented when they heard of God's wrath. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:29.279 They repented. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:31.920 What like what made him do that? 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:38.880 What when it says that the the that they believed God in chapter 5, what what did they believe? 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:40.880 What was their belief in? 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:44.720 And I just want to touch on two things about the Nineveh's belief. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:49.920 The first thing is the Nineveh's belief was in God. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:54.160 And the people of Nineveh believed God. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.039 That's what it says in chapter 3, verse 5. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:57.759 Why? 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:02.640 Belief in what God is saying is actually supernatural. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:07.359 The natural man does not just believe God. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:14.799 First Corinthians folly to him, and he does not, and he has not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they discerned. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:21.279 If belief in what God is saying is supernatural, that makes my job a whole lot easier. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:25.839 And that makes your job as someone that's proclaiming the gospel a whole lot easier. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:32.240 We don't have to be God's publicist, we're not his PR campaign manager. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:38.319 We don't have to dress God up and try to make him look a little bit more easy to handle. 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:43.359 We're simply sharing the truth of who God is and what he has done. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:45.359 Now, it better be accurate. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:49.680 You better stick to what he actually is doing and is saying. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.960 But the work of the belief is in God's hand. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.039 I mean, look at here in Jonah. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:57.599 We just said he went into the city a day's journey. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:59.440 He wasn't even happy about it. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:00.960 He didn't even like the people. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:03.599 He wasn't excited that the Nineveh were repenting. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:05.920 We'll definitely see that in the next chapter. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:12.240 He was simply saying what God wanted him to say, and they believed God. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:13.599 That is a lot of pressure. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.960 I'll tell you what, as a preacher, even, that's a lot of pressure off of me. 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:25.279 Because I don't have to come up here and be anything other than just the person that's telling you what God has said in his word. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:29.440 God has told us what he thinks and what he has to say. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:30.880 It's right here in his word. 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:40.240 Say this stuff, read this stuff, live this, leave the per the persuasion of mankind's heart up to God. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:42.880 The Ninevites believed God. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.519 Their belief first was in God. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:51.519 The second thing about the Ninevehites' belief was that it produced action. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:55.920 The Ninevehites' belief produced action. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:02.000 Do you know that the root of all of your sin and apathy is unbelief? 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:05.279 Because belief produces action. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:12.319 The Ninevehes called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:16.319 When we believe something, it moves us to action. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:20.799 If you came up to me and you said, Man, I'm so tired. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.359 I just want to take a load off and rest my feet. 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:27.200 And I pulled out one of these chairs and I said, sit down here. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:28.960 I mean, go ahead and sit down. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:31.440 And you're like, no, no, no, I'm not gonna sit down. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:32.640 My feet are tired. 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:36.720 I'm sick of just carrying this weight around, but I'm not gonna sit down. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.319 And I'm like, well, why not? 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:40.079 This is a nice sturdy chair. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:40.799 Just have a seat. 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:42.079 And you're like, yeah, I know. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:44.160 I know that those chairs are really nice. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:48.079 That one in particular has a weight capacity of 1,500 pounds. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:52.319 Um, I'm well under that, so I know that it will hold me. 00:26:52.480 --> 00:27:04.160 It's made by one of the top three manufacturers in all the chair industry, so I I'm very aware of the work that this chair company is doing, but I'm just I'm not gonna sit down. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:06.079 And I'm like, well, sit down. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:07.200 And you say, I can't. 00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:08.240 I can't sit down. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:13.119 I've had a couple bad experiences with chairs in the past, so I cannot sit down. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:14.400 I know it'll hold me. 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:17.039 It's made of nice material, very sturdy. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:24.880 I like the way it looks, smells nice, all things are great, but I've been burnt by chairs in the past, and I'm not gonna sit down. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:29.440 Listen, you don't believe that that chair is gonna hold you. 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:35.519 You can look around and see that, but you don't believe it because belief moves you to action. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:40.799 If you believe the chair would hold you, you would sit down and rest your feet because that's what you want. 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:47.599 This is what Jimmy has been saying, that James has been saying, that God has been saying in the book of James. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:50.559 Moves when he has been walking through the book of James. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:53.680 Faith works, belief moves. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:59.279 The Ninevehites believed God and they were moved to do something about that. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:06.880 I know I should live a holy life, but I just believe that God doesn't have my best interest in mind, or or he's gonna steal all the fun. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:13.599 I I know I should read his word, but I just I really don't think it's worth the time that I have to put into it. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:16.880 I know I should share the gospel, but I really don't think it matters. 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:18.319 It doesn't make any difference. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:24.640 Even though that's what God's telling me to do, he's telling me to go and make disciples, I just I don't believe it. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:26.319 We don't believe God. 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:28.640 That's at the root of our sin. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:35.359 And some of us, some of you, maybe even in this room, are in a scarier place yet. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:39.839 Because you know that Jesus died on the cross. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:45.119 You know that he drank the cup of God's wrath, but you don't believe it. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:52.960 You don't believe he has done this to save you, and so you go about still trying to save yourself. 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:58.960 You're carrying around the weight of your sin because you don't believe it. 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:14.400 Or you're going about with some false sense of security that because you acknowledge that you know about the cross and you know about Jesus and what he's done, and you come in here and you sit and you listen, that somehow you and God are good. 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.720 You've got this false sense of security. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:28.400 That's a scary place to be because some of you don't believe this, and you sit under the wrath of God, and you will drink from the cup of his wrath. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:31.839 You will pay the price for your sin. 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:44.400 And if that's you, if you're like, I don't believe my belief in Jesus has never pushed me to do anything, then I would encourage you to cry out to God, ask him to give you the faith to believe. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:48.400 And then cry out to him again until he gives you that faith to believe. 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:50.720 He is not willing that any should perish. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:57.279 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:08.000 The cup of God's wrath has been drunk for all of those who believe to God through the faith that we have in Jesus' work on the cross. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.480 We have a better lens now. 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:12.559 We have a better lens than Jonah had. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:14.240 We see the whole picture. 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:24.160 I've been Jesus throughout this series that Jonah isn't the best version of the true and better Jonah. 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:25.759 He is enough. 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:30.880 He attempted to look for it, but that Jesus is uh the true and better Adam. 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:33.359 And Jesus is also the true and better Jonah. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:39.839 Jonah came to the Ninevites with the message of God's wrath and believe the gospel. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:57.279 He wouldn't just say, flee from the wrath to come, but he would actually carry our cross and the weight of our sin to Calvary and drink to the last drop the cup of God's wrath for all who would believe. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:05.279 He would do that, would he would do that which Jonah could never only question He is the better Jonah. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:07.200 He is enough. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:08.720 Let's pray.