Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. In spite of Jonas Prior disobedience, God does not write up Jonah. He graciously gives Jonah a second chance. we're going to discover this morning. That our God is a god.
of the second chance. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. We all make mistakes. But when it comes to obeying the will of God, what happens when we mess up? or choose to disobey.
Does God offer us a second chance? Today we'll discover that our God is a God of grace and compassion. And yes, of second chances.
So, to continue our study in the Book of Jonah, here's Pastor John Monroe with his message titled, A Second Chance. I'm sometimes asked if God gives people second chances. How would you respond? I think God not only gives second chances, but third chances, and fourth chances, and even more. Jonah is certainly an example of a second chance.
The former disobedient prophet Jonah has been rescued by God from the belly of a great fish. He's now ready to do the will of God and go to the wicked city of Nineveh and preach a message of judgment. Jonah has humbled himself. and is now placing his trust in God.
Sometimes we write off our fellow Christians who failed or who have led us down. Praise God for His grace and compassion to humble and repentant people. Listen carefully now as we look at Jonah chapter 3. Is there anyone here this morning who, spiritually speaking, has blown it? You're close to being a spiritual disaster.
You've been running from God, ignoring His will. Through your disobedience, serious consequences have come on yourself and on other people. I'm glad you're here this morning because I want to tell you a story. A story about a man, a man running from God, a disobedient man. Perhaps surprisingly, a prophet, a man who certainly should have known better, a man called Jonah.
And I also want to tell you about a city. A very wicked city, a violent city, a city called Nineveh. When we last saw Jonah, he was on dry land, having been thrown up by the great fish. Where he was ejected, we don't know. Josephus says it was on the shore of the Black Sea, but we simply don't know.
But we do know this. that he was a changed man. He may have been physically changed, bleached white from being in the stomach of the great fish. But he was certainly spiritually changed. In chapter one He is a man running from God.
In chapter three, where we are this morning, He is a man running with God. What a difference. The Ninevites also are changed. In chapter one The beginning of this little book. We read that the wickedness of the Ninevites rises up before God.
At the end of chapter three, They are turning from their wickedness, turning from their violence. And we ask What happened? Why the dramatic changes in Jonah? Why the dramatic change in the Ninevites? The answer is rather simple.
They both had dealings with God. They both did business with the gracious and compassionate God. a God who loves to forgive They repent, and as they repent and as they know God in a new way, their lives are changed. With that we understand this that there is hope for all of us. Whoever you are this morning, I want to tell you that our God is a God of hope.
And that hope is extended to you this morning. And is extended to me. Like Jonah, You may be running from God. You may have blown it. You may wonder if God will ever accept you, if God would ever bless you and use you.
You may be like the ancient Ninevites. and wonder if God's forgiveness and His grace and His compassion could ever extend to someone like you who have been so deep into sin. Against The black backdrop of such sin and violence and wickedness and disobedience and rebellion, God's grace. and God's compassion and and God's love brilliantly shine. We come this morning in our study of this little book.
To Jonah chapter 3. And if you have a Bible, I would like you to turn there and and read With me. Little chapter of only ten. Verses. We're going to discover this morning.
that our God is a god. of the second chance. Did you get that? Our God Is the God? The second chance.
I don't know how that strikes you, but for me, it is wonderful good news. It gives me hope. that God is a God of the second. Chance. Let's read, first of all, the last verse of Jonah two that we considered last week.
Then the LORD commanded the fish. And it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land. Chapter 3, verse 1.
Now the word of the Lord. came to Jonah. The second time Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation which I'm going to tell you.
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD.
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city. one day's walk and he cried out and said, Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown. Then the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes.
He issued a proclamation and it said In Nineveh, By the decree of the king and his nobles, do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth. And let men call on God earnestly, that each may turn from his wicked way. And from the violence which is in his hands.
Who knows? God may turn and relent. and withdraw his burning anger so that we shall not perish. When God saw their deeds, And they turned from their wicked way. Then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them.
And he did not. Do it. An amazing chapter in an amazing book. Here we see in the first four verses that God is gracious and compassionate to his disobedient servants. He graciously gives Jonah a second chance.
Chapter 1, verse 1: The word of the Lord comes to Jonah saying, Arise. Verse three, Jonah arose to flee. Chapter 3, verse 1.
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. Saying Arise, go to Nineveh the Great. Silly. Amazing, isn't it? In spite of Jonah's Prior disobedience, God does not write off Jonah.
He doesn't say, Well, I gave him a chance, he blew it, and I'm going to use one of my other prophets. After all, there are other prophets. Jonah isn't the only one. No, the word of the Lord comes to Jonah a second time. Here is a gracious recommissioning by a gracious God.
Jonah is getting a second chance, this runaway prophet. This man who turned his back on God, the word of the Lord is coming to him a second time.
Now Jonah is ready not only to hear the word of God. but more importantly to obey The word of God. Jonah, verse 3 arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of. The Lord. Don't we learn something about God?
And this, of course, we do. Let me tell you something about our God. God is lavish God is abundant. God abounds in His forgiveness and His grace and His compassion. Look at chapter four, verse two.
From Jonah's own mouth, as we'll see next week, in the middle of the verse, he says as he is praying to the Lord, Lord, you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant. That is abounding, lavish in loving kindness, the Hebrew word hesid. That wonderful word. Not just love, it's deeper than that. It is a loving kindness, God's covenantal relationship with His people.
Lord, you are that kind of God. You are abundant. You abound in love. You are lavish in love. and one who reliants concerning calamity.
Have you blown it? Are you now ready? to listen to the voice of God a second time? Will you now Obey. In the past, you've ignored the word of God.
In the past, you've run away from it. In the past, you've closed your ears to it. You may have hypocritically embraced it at a very superficial level to impress other people, but in your heart you disobeyed. Are you now ready? To obey?
Are you now ready to go forward with God? Are you now ready to obey God whatever the cost? Are you now ready today to abandon a life of selective obedience? That was Jonah. Bit like me.
I think probably a bit like you. Selective obedience. You say, what do you mean, John? Selective obedience. Jonah was a prophet.
We read in the first message that there was a time when you heard the word of God and you obeyed the word of God and the people were blessed. Ah, but this is a tough assignment. It's wonderful to be a preacher and say nice things and promise blessing and prosperity. Not so nice to be told to go to your enemy. Nineveh.
the centre of the Assyrian empire with all of their terrorists Skinning people alive, violent, wicked people. Another thing to go there and preach. and Jonah, like us, was selectively obedient. Are you now ready to abandon a life of convenient Christianity, selective obedience, and embrace total obedience? That's what the Lord wants from you.
He wants from us who know Him through faith in Jesus Christ total obedience. And now Jonah goes. The Nineveh And proclaims God's message. Not his own message, but God's. The message From the lips of Jonah, Was direct, it was simple, it was clear, it was courageous, it was authoritative, and it was powerful.
Look at the end of verse 4. Here it is. Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown. It's a short, easily understood message, isn't it? Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
Only five words in the original Hebrew.
Now this was probably a summary of his message, but there it is. But in that short message, there are three essentials. Three essentials that we see throughout Scripture illustrated in his message to the Ninevites. Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown. What are the three essentials?
Centrality of SEN. Shortness of time. Certainty. of judgment. Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
Centrality of saying Shortness of time. Certainty. of judgment. And God graciously gives Jonah a second chance.
Now to arise and now no longer to flee. But now turn his face towards God. And go to ancient Nineveh and declare this message. And hasn't it been true that God has been gracious with us? God has been gracious with you in your disobedience.
Today Today, yes, today, this moment, will you listen to God? Do you realize that he's speaking to you today, now, this moment, in this service? He stands ready to give you a second chance today. You may not have forty days. You may not have forty hours.
Job 33, verse 14: For God speaks once or twice, yet no one notices it. Isn't that the case that in the past God has spoken to you. And perhaps you've never noticed, you've never really paid any attention, but today God is speaking to you a second time, a third time, a fourth time. And God is now getting your attention, isn't that right? Isn't that why you're here?
He's been speaking to you through circumstances in life. He's spoken to you through your family, possibly. Through a godly mother. Through a godly grandfather. Through a spouse, through a child, to a friend, to a colleague at work, to a neighbor, God has been speaking to you.
He's been getting your attention. And now, today, He's speaking to you through His Word. Up till now, the problem has been that you've been ignoring Him. You've been shutting out these voices. And now, today, Not tomorrow, today.
Our gracious God is speaking to you a second time. Or a third time possibly, or perhaps a fourth or even a fifth time for someone here today. The scripture over and over tells us not to boast about tomorrow. You don't have tomorrow. You only have today.
I don't know about tomorrow. Tomorrow might be very similar to today, or tomorrow may be very different from me. Perhaps I'll never make it into tomorrow. I don't know, but today is the day that God has given us. Don't boast of tomorrow, the Bible says.
Today is the day of salvation. And throughout Scripture, we have this word: today, if you hear his voice, Do not harden your heart. Isn't it true that sometimes you've heard in your heart you've heard the voice of God? Your conscience and the word of God through a friend, and you've known exactly what God is speaking to you, telling you to do something, telling you not to do something, and you've even been convicted, but you have ignored it and you've chosen your own way. Today, God is the God of the second chance.
Today, in His grace and in His mercy, He's still pleading with you. today, this moment, is the day you must do business. With God. That's what I'm commanded from Scripture to do, just as Jonah. was commanded Paul says to young Timothy in 2 Timothy 2.
2 Timothy 4, verse 2. Timothy, preach the word in season and out of season. When Jonah went to Nineveh, he didn't come with his own message. It wasn't a particularly seeker-sensitive message, was it? Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
Not the kind of message personally I would like to preach. Not the message that Jonah wanted to preach. Nice to preach blessing, nice to say that the borders of Israel are going to be expanded. Oh, but this was a different kind of message. Paul says to Timothy in the first century.
He says, you know, Timothy, when you preach the word, Some people are not going to like it because people are going to have want to have their ears tickled or want you to tell them a nice story. And I think today in many churches We have people tickling ears rather than giving the exposition of the word of God. One of my professors at Dallas Theological Seminary, Howard Hendricks, known to many of you, said that the chief failure of the church today. is substituting man's word for God's word. If that is true, and I think it's true in many places, how sad.
No wonder we've got a weak church. Who would be so proud? Who would be so arrogant? to stand before a pulpit such as this and give His own ideas, his own agenda, his own techniques to help you live a nice, healthful life where you can smile all day. Who would want to do that?
rather than the declare. The word. Of God. And so often today in preaching, the message has been sweetened, it has been emotionalized, it's been sentimentalized, it's been commercialized. Lest someone be offended.
The greatest Insult to the preacher nowadays is that someone might be offended. Really? Imagine if Jonah had thought, you know, people They're going to be offended. You better believe it. They're your enemies, Jonah.
Yeah. No wonder you went to Tarshis. We understand. What we can't understand is why you would now go. But Jonah is under a burden from God.
The call of God is on his life. And he knows that this great God is giving him a second chance. And his concern is not whether the Ninevites would be offended, but whether he is faithful to God's call and his life. The Ninevites needed to hear God speaking to them. And although Jonah doesn't know it, A revival.
is going to take place. Today God is graciously speaking to many of you a second time. Will you listen? Will you get right with God? And will you obey God?
Now in verses five through ten we see that God is gracious and compassionate to wicked pagans. The Ninevites were a wicked and violent people. The king says that of themselves in verse 8. He refers to their wicked ways. He refers to the violence which is in his hands.
You better believe it. They were worse than the Hezbollah. These fellows, they skinned alive. They're prisoners of war. Blood was on their hands.
But in response to Jonah's message. In response to God's message. What happens verse five? Absolutely astonishing. The people of Nineveh believed In God.
This is astonishing. This is miraculous. People, when they hear the story of Jonah, get into a big debate of whether there's a fish big enough to swallow Jonah. You know, the biggest miracle in the book of Jonah is nothing to do with a fish or a whale. It's to do with thousands of wicked, violent pagans, idolaters.
worshiping false gods.
Now believing in the one true living God. That's a miracle, and it comes. through the faithful proclamation of the man. Of God. They hear the word of God.
They're convicted. They call on God and they trust in God, and revival comes to Mm-hmm. Violent Nineveh. You say, well, was this genuine? Of course it was genuine.
The text tells us in verses five through nine. The genuineness of their repentance is demonstrated by their turning from their sins. They fast, they mourn. These are not works done by them to merit favor with God. No, but rather these things are evidences of the genuineness of their repentance.
They feel the seriousness of their sin. They know that divine judgment is certain unless they repent. The king himself says that. Biblical repentance, such as we have in Jonah chapter three. Biblical repentance is godly sorrow Accompanied By a turning from sin.
That's repentance. Repentance isn't just crying and saying you're sorry. We've all done that, haven't we? We're being caught. With a hand in the cookie jar, as it were.
We're sorry. the fears. No, biblical repentance is, of course, sorrow where we understand the seriousness of our sin. We are humiliated before God and others, that is true. But biblical repentance is also a turning from sin.
Jonah is walking with his back To God. He now repents that's repentance turning round. dramatic change. Once I'm going in this direction. Once I am going west to Tarshis, now I am going east to Nineveh.
He repents. The Ninevites, they are violent, wicked people serving false gods. They repent. They turn from their sin, they believe in God, they mourn. because of the seriousness of their sin.
And the king said, You know, it may be Who knows? I don't know. Verse 9. But it might be that God will turn. It might be that God will relent and withdraw his burning anger.
So that we shall not perish. I don't know, but there's a possibility. But one thing I do know is we're going to repent because we have done wrong. That's repentance. And to reject God's message such as the Ninevites have done.
To reject God's message is to face certain judgment. Forty days. And Nineveh. shall be overthrown. You're holding on to something?
Holding on to some sin.
Some pleasure. You like it, don't you? You're holding on to it. Today Are you going to let go of everything? Everything that dishonors the Lord?
Will you? That is repentance, that is true conversion. This is the verdict featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever.
but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at the verdict. org.
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The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Can you relate to Jonah who tried to run away from the Lord? Have you experienced the grace and compassion of God in your life? If you've humbled yourself before God, And ask for his forgiveness through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. You're now ready to do his will.
Perhaps for years. You've been resisting the will of God. Isn't it now time to repent? and to humbly do the will of God. Join us next time as we learn four lessons about second chances from the life of Jonah.
Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
