Do you ever feel like you're too far gone to experience God's grace? What if God could use your biggest failure as the launching pad for His greatest work?
Well, today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl reveals how Jonah, a reluctant prophet who tried to run from God, Delivered the shortest sermon ever preached and sparked the most remarkable transformation in scripture. In just five Hebrew words, an entire city of rebels fell to their knees in repentance. It's a powerful reminder that God specializes in using imperfect messengers to accomplish the impossible. Back in ancient days, there lived a prophet. Who was given a second chance?
By the Mercy and grace of God. He heard the same call the second time. He was given the same commission. The second time. The first time he ran in the wrong direction, thinking he could escape.
But this second time He heard it. And he did it. And the result To the surprise of many people, Was the greatest revival ever recorded in the history? of the Bible. There's no greater revival.
than is recorded in the third chapter of Jonah. where the entire city of Nineveh Repents. In fact, over one hundred twenty thousand people. From the greatest to the least of them. Came to the Lord their God.
and trusted in him. as a result of one man's Message that came from God. We're going to read of it in Jonah. Chapter 3. Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time.
Get up. and go to the great city of Nineveh. And deliver the message I have given you. This time, Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh. A city so large that it took three days to see it.
On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted. to the crowds. Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed. The people of Nineveh believed God's message. And from the greatest To the least they declared a fast.
and put on burlap. to show their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh Heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne. and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap, and set on a heap of ashes.
Then the king and his nobles sent this decree. throughout the city. No one Not even the animals from your herds. and flocks. may eat or drink anything at all.
People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning. And everyone must pray earnestly. to God. They must turn from their evil ways. and stop all their violence.
Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God God will change. His mind. And hold back his fierce anger from destroying us. When God saw what they had done And how they had put a stop to their evil ways.
He changed his mind. and did not carry out the destruction. He had threatened. Uh You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the story of Jonah on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org/slash offer.
Chuck titled today's message, Proclamation, Transformation, Compassion. God is pleased whenever and wherever his message is proclaimed. That simplifies everything, doesn't it? He has promised to bless his word. and to use it in the lives of other people.
So he is forever looking for someone. Who is willing to take his message? and declare it. One-on-one. One with a few.
Several at a time Sometimes one with many. But a faithful messenger is the way God wants it to be. handled. We don't have to be cute or clever or super creative. The messenger doesn't have to be perfect.
or profound or all that persuasive. Mm-hmm. The messenger doesn't need to be eloquent. or impressive. or brilliant.
But we need to be willing. We need to be available. And we certainly need to be humble.
However, God may choose to use us. And you and I would agree that it's always a delight. to meet up with someone who is being used of God as his messenger. In whatever may be the capacity. And yet the person remains Real.
Very human. Just what he or she is. I don't know of a better example of that in my lifetime than what I witnessed. In the late great evangelist Billy Graham. A man who had addressed on his feet.
Alive with audiences that sometimes numbered into the millions. Certainly electronically, it was in the millions. And yet was never impressed with Billy Graham. He was pleased to be one of God's messenger boys. As he often put it, and then to deliver it.
Deliver the message and then get out of the way. Leaving the glory with God. The same was true of D. Martin Lloyd-Jones. That name is not as familiar as the name Billy Graham.
Martin Lloyd-Jones took the place of G. Campbell Morgan. At Westminster Chapel in London, England. He stayed there after Campbell had left. For almost 30 years, faithfully expositing the word of God.
A doctrinal preacher. often stern and determined in style. but reliable. Faithful. Accurate.
And yet a humble man of God. I understand Alistair Begg said in one of his broadcasts. That D. Martin Lloyd Jones made the statement. That Only twice in his entire life.
Did he remember preaching a great message? And both times were in his dreams. Isn't that a great lion? Both times were in his dreams. It would surprise most people, including Christians, to know.
That one of God's most significant spokesmen. Was a man who is not remembered. as a prophet of God. His name was Jonah. Jonah's name has been besmirched in so many ways.
He's only remembered as one who disobeyed. How few people would tell you he's the one who led the greatest revival. in the recorded pages of the scriptures. Even though he delivered that message. having been commissioned for the second time.
Because the first time He tried to escape from it. Let me be honest. Jonah was a racist. He was a Jewish prophet living in a Jewish community. And what interested him was the Jewish people.
and declaring the message among his Jewish contacts. God told him to go to Nineveh, which was the Hotbed of Gentile country. Capital city of Assyria, soon to be named that. It was a city known for its violence. If we could use the word logo.
The logo of the city of of Nineveh was a s A pyramid stack of human skulls. That often came in the wake. of their overwhelming their enemy. annihilating them, beheading them. and then taking the skulls and stacking them in a pyramid.
They fillet the bodies of those that they defeated.
Sometime they skinned them alive. The atrocities Here we And the violence was known all over the ancient world. Not only were they people he didn't want to be around because they were Gentile. They were violent people. It was dangerous territory.
So Jonah got busy trying to find his way to Escape that call and And God brought him right back. To the place where he had begun. And gave him the message the second time. Yeah. When I read that, that God spoke to him, chapter 3, the second time, where he's back where he started.
I thought of the words of one of my favorite theologians, Wayland Jennings. Jennings writes in one of his songs. Look how far I had to come. to get back where I started from. Jonah could say that.
Look how far I had to come. Jopper A ship Headed for Tarshish. 2,500 miles in the other direction. A storm at sea. Thrown overboard.
Swallowed by a great fish. and in the innards of this great fish, Finally, it clicked. And Jonah realizes I cannot escape. The call of God. And so Jonah repents.
In the fish. Chapter 2 tells the story in his own book. As Jonah writes of saying, I remembered the Lord. I will offer sacrifices. To you, O God, you alone are my salvation.
I will fulfill my vows. That did it. God directed the fish to come near the shore. It vomited out Jonah on the shore. And here he is, right back where he started.
Listening to the voice of God. The second time. God hadn't changed his plan.
Now, when I thought about this. This messenger that God wants to use. The thought hit me that God could have much more easily used an angel. In fact, the meaning of the word angelos Which is the Greek word for angel. His messenger.
God could have used the perfect messenger. Who would have delivered the perfect message? Flawlessly. No argument. No reluctance, no resistance.
An angel from heaven could have been dispatched to Nineveh. And in all of his glowing presence. He could have spoken like the voice of a Thousand waterfalls. and the voice would have echoed through the city. How effective would that have been?
God chose not to do that. He chose to use A very human individual. A flawed Messenger. A failed Messenger. A man who had to be convinced that God means business.
And so the Lord got a hold of Jonah. the second time and said once again, Get up. And go Verse 2 of chapter 3. Go to the city of Nineveh. Declare the message I have given you.
Now I'll read that slowly and deliberately on purpose. Jonah didn't have to create the message. God gave him the very words He was to use. And I repeat, they were not complicated. They were not lengthy.
He didn't have to be that creative. Yeah. Get to Nineveh, which was a 500-mile journey. from Jerusalem. Northeast he gets to Nineveh.
Someone has calculated it took probably about a month. for him to get there. conditions being what they were. and he without transportation.
So after the fish After the storm, After the first time of failure, The second time he makes his way to Nineveh. And begins to deliver the message. God gave him. I love it that uh Jonah didn't try to change the message. By now, he realizes God means business.
And so he goes with confidence in the Lord. to declare his message. This is a great time for me to add, for the sake of all God's messengers today. Nothing gives you confidence like knowing you have a message from God. Nothing makes you more uneasy than being unsure.
that what you're delivering is a message from God. God wants his messengers to carry His message. Even though it is not a popular message. Jonah was to deliver. Take my message and deliver it to them.
I like the way verse three begins. This time. Jonah obeyed. He obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh, a city so great. It took three days to see it all.
And on the day Jonah entered The city He began to deliver God's message.
So I take it, when he got to the suburbs, We would call them. The suburbs of Nineveh he began to shout, The message of God. 40 days, and Nineveh will be destroyed. Period. He could have said more.
He may have said more. But the core of his message. Was a very severe Warning of divine judgment in forty days. How gracious of God to give them. Forty days.
He could have said by nightfall He could have said by the end of the week But he says in 40 days Judgment will fall on this city of Nineveh. Jonah faithfully delivered that message. Unpopular though it was. I appreciate the words of John Stott in a book he wrote back. He titles the book Between Two worlds.
It's a book written to preachers. Four preachers. We're the ones who stand between the two worlds. If you will. The ancient world For the Bible Is written, recorded.
for us to find the message That's one world, and we're to deliver it. to our world. We're in between the two worlds. We bridge the worlds. We take you to ancient truths.
And we carry the message across the bridge. of time. to this generation. to this century. From the ancient days of Jonah.
to the present world of the 21st century. I stand between these two worlds. My responsibility. is to declare God's message. Start writes of that.
I quote. There is an urgent need. For courageous preachers in the pulpits of the world today. Like the apostles in the early church who were filled with the Holy Spirit. and spoke the word of God with boldness.
Neither men pleasers nor time watchers. ever make good preachers. We are called to the sacred task a biblical exposition And commissioned to proclaim what God has said. Not but human beings. What to hear?
Many modern churchmen suffer from a malady called. Itching ears. Which induces them to accumulate for themselves. teachers to suit their own likings. But we have no liberty to scratch their itch.
or pander To their likings. Close quote. You'll observe that Jonah didn't hold back when he declared. his extremely confrontive message. to a city that was known for violence.
He doesn't mince words. Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed. Being something of a worried vulture, I was attracted to the term. destroyed. I found this out.
It is often used of catastrophic judgment. Just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Same word, Genesis 19, 25. The New Living Translation renders that in Genesis. He utterly destroyed.
Sodom and Gomorrah. You cannot find Sodom and Gomorrah today. They're under the Dead Sea. Any messenger who delivers this kind of bold message. has no concern for winning a lot of friends, and being light.
by his audience. Jonah doesn't know a soul in Nineveh. And they never heard of him. Stranger with strangers. Nevertheless, he speaks with a boldness as if he had known them all of their lives.
He doesn't tell them what they want to hear. He tells them what they must hear. What they need to hear. The series, A Passionate Call. for expository preaching.
Said this regarding Jonah's courageous preaching to the Ninevites. as he throws in a little humor I thought was worth reading to all of you. Such direct preaching Has always marked the proclamation of God's men down through the ages. Noah's message from the steps going up to the ark was not.
Something good is going to happen to you. Amos was not confronted by the high priest of Israel. for preaching confession is possession. Jeremiah was not thrown into the pit for preaching. I'm okay, you're okay.
Daniel was not put into the lion's den for telling people possibility thinking will move mountains. John the Baptizer was not forced to preach in the wilderness and eventually beheaded. Because he preached, smile. God loves you. The two prophets of the tribulation will not be killed for preaching.
God is in his heaven. and all is right with the world. Pastors who are committed to biblical exposition. must have a confrontive element to their preaching. If they are to emulate the prophets, and the apostles.
He goes on. Regrettably, this kind of reproof and rebuke are often missing. from present-day preaching. It is better to be divided by truth. than to be united in error.
It is better To speak the truth that hurts. and then heals. than falsehood that comforts and then kills. It is better to be hated for telling others the truth. than being loved.
for telling them a lie. To stand alone with the truth. than to be Wrong. in the midst of a multitude. How right Those words are.
You might want to place a bookmark in this passage because Chuxmundahl has much more to show us in Jonah chapter 3.
Some people wonder why Chuck is so bold with his expositional preaching style.
Well, his approach was shaped by these abiding principles. As Chuck said a moment ago, it's better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. If you agree with these biblical convictions, we would invite you to join Insight for Living in our mission to preach and teach the truth of God's Word even when it's unpopular. You can do that by sending a contribution to support the ministry of Insight for Living. Today we'd like to say thanks for your financial support by providing a brand new booklet from Chuck Swindahl.
It's called Look Beyond. Will You Focus on Eternity? This insightful booklet features the final sermon that Chuck delivered on the weekend of his 90th birthday to the church he founded and loves. Chuck cited the wisdom that Paul shared with his protégé Timothy to brace himself for the storms that were coming, but never lose sight of the rewards of eternity. This is the enduring application in Chucksmindahl's booklet called Look Beyond.
And we'd love to send you a copy today with our thanks for your financial support of Insight for Living. To send a donation in the mail, you can write to us at InsightForLiving. Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034. or just go to insight.org slash donate.
By the way, only two weeks remain in our study on Jonah. If you thought about requesting the Searching the Scriptures Bible study for this series, well, now's the time to get in touch. The spiral-bound format of the Bible study allows you to lay the workbook on a table or your lap so you can jot down your thoughts and observations. and it contains studies for all nine of Chuck's messages in his Jonah series. To purchase the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study for Jonah, call us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/slash offer.
I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues his biographical study on Jonah, the reluctant prophet. Tuesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message. Proclamation, transformation, compassion.
Was copyrighted in 2018, 2019, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
