Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. God's grace, that is His undeserved kindness, echoes throughout the book of Jonah. He showed grace and compassion, yes, to pagans. And God will forgive and save and change you. He will give you.
A second chance. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Senior Pastor at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our God is righteous. Yet despite our sinful and rebellious hearts, God provides a way of salvation and then chooses to work through us, showing us incredible kindness and grace.
Today, we're looking at a powerful example in the life of Jonah. Here's Pastor John Monroe with his message, a second chance. We've been studying the fascinating little book of Jonah. Jonah learned the hard way that it is impossible to run away from God. When God asked Jonah to go and preach a message of judgment to the enemies of Israel, he jumped on a ship to get as far away from God as he could.
Jonah then found himself in the middle of the ocean, And then in the middle of a huge sea monster. When God graciously delivered Jonah, he was a changed individual. He learned that God is a God of second chances.
Now Jonah is ready to preach a message of judgment to the wicked city of Nineveh. Let's see how the Nunavites respond to the preaching of Jonah. God graciously. gives Jonah a second chance.
Now to rise. And now no longer to flee, but now to have his face towards God. And go. to ancient Nineveh and declare this message. 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. 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. What are the three essentials? Centrality of sin.
Shortness of time. Certainty. of judgment.
Now in verses 5-10, 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. They feel the seriousness of their sin. They know that divine judgment is certain unless they repent.
The king himself says that. They repent. They turn from their sin, they believe in God, they mourn. because of the seriousness of their sin. And the king says, You know, it may be Who knows?
I don't know. Verse nine, 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 stood. shall be overthrown. This morning, as someone listens to this message, you say, Well, you know, this is a little. Too much of old fashioned preaching about judgment and sin. That's not what I came to church from.
I came to get hyped up. I'm a salesman. I need to be pumped up so I can do better. I didn't come to church to hear something like this. I'm a follower of Jesus.
Get out of the Old Testament, Monroe.
Okay, let's go to the New Testament. Let's listen to Jesus that you say you follow. Luke 11. Verse twenty nine. The sign that Jesus referred to in Luke chapter 11, perhaps you want to turn there, Luke chapter 11, verse 29.
The sign is a call to repent. And as the crowds were increasing, he began to say, This generation is a wicked generation. The generation in the time of Jesus was a wicked generation. How would you characterize our society? our generation, wicked or not.
What do you think? It seeks for a sign, and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah. Interesting, isn't it? The only one of the minor prophets that Jesus ever refers to. And just as Jonah became assigned to the Nineveh, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation.
Verse thirty two, the men of j of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it. Because they repented that the preaching of Jonah And behold.
Something Greater. Then Jonah is here. Of course it is. The Lord, Himself, the greatest teacher. The Ninevites, Jesus says, repented at the sign of Jonah.
But many of you are not repenting at my Teaching, and Jesus is saying that if you reject my words, you will be judged. And if you reject the word of God, there is judgment. If the Ninevites rejected the words of God, they would have been judged. This is what Jesus is saying. Each of us here deserves judgment because of our disobedience.
But God has done a miraculous thing. Done a wonderful thing. Seeing our weakness, Seeing our disobedience, Seeing our self-centeredness and self-absorption, He has sent His Son, His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, God the Son, into this evil world. The only one whose face was always to God. The only one who always did the will of his father.
He lives a sinless life. Dies on the cross. For your sins. and mine. Experiences the judgment of God.
on the cross that you deserved and I deserved. Dies, physically dies on the cross, in fact, is swallowed by death. Just as Jonah Who is the anti-type of Jesus Christ? Just as Jonah is swallowed by the whale for three days and three nights, so Jesus is swallowed by death, goes into the very heart of the earth, as he says, in the parallel passage in Matthew chapter twelve. But he conquers death.
Conquers death. And on the third day, that first Easter Sunday, rises from the dead, eternally alive, now there to save and to transform those who come to him, but those who come with repentance, those who come grieving over their sin, those who come who are brokenhearted. Those who come. To do business with God, turning from their sin and embracing Christ. This is our God of grace.
This is our God of compassion. This is our God of the second chance. And so we read in the book of Acts, Acts 20, verse 21, that biblical salvation is repentance towards God. and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith, two sides of the one coin.
When I repent, I turn. That's repentance. His name is Jesus, for he will save. His people from their sins, not to continue in their sins. No.
Genuine repentance is a turning from sin and is a trust in Christ. You say what comes first?
Well, logically, repentance comes first, but theologically, they happen together. There is a turning from and a turning to. There is an opening of our eyes to the seriousness of our sin, and there is an opening of our eyes to the loveliness and the beauty of Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And we cry out to Him for mercy, realizing that by ourselves. We've blown it.
Not once, but over. and over again. And letting go of our sin. And an embracing of Christ, that's true, genuine. Salvation.
Little boy. was playing with His parents' vase, it was a very, very expensive vase, had been in the family for generations. He got his hands stuck in the vase. His parents tried to pull his hand out, but they were unable to do so. They put in soapy water, but they were still unable to pull it out of the the vase.
They were a Scottish family, so they didn't want to break the vase. And they thought, what can we do? This is too valuable to break. Until finally the little boy said to his dad, Daddy. Would it help?
If I let go of the penny. 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. We Play around, we dabble, we go through some cultural Christianity, and then someone says, as they said to me this week, I don't see any change in my life. The reason why we're not seeing any change in our life is we have never truly repented and believed in Jesus Christ. We're still clinging on.
Faith without works. Is that And here God, as he sees this repentance, And this belief in God, what does he do? When God saw, verse 10, their deeds, that they turned from their wicked ways, then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them, and he did not do it. Praise God. He showed grace and compassion yes to pagans.
God's grace, that is, His undeserved kindness, echoes throughout the book of Jonah. The king recognizes that they don't deserve the Lord's compassion, verses 8 and 9. He's correct. But he has to understand that God is abundant. God is lavish, God is abounding in His compassion, in His grace.
And then his forgiveness. And God will forgive and save and change you. He will give you. a second chance.
Someone says, Well, didn't God say through Jonah? 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. And then we read at the end of the story that he didn't overthrow Nineveh. What kind of God is this? Did he really change his mind?
Did he really relent? Did he. Reconsider a harsh verdict. Perhaps God is a rather fickle, capricious individual. Supposing I take a thermometer.
And I put it in ice. And I get a reading. Freezing point, thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, zero centigrade. I take the same thermometer and I put it in the hot Charlatan sun. And is it hot?
And it goes right up. Right up. You say, Well, has the thermometer changed? Yes and no. We understand that the laws of science are unchangeable, and what the thermometer is doing is just reflecting that change in the outward circumstances.
In the real sense, the thermometer hasn't changed. What has changed are the surroundings. Did God really change? Not really. When the scripture talks about God changing his mind and God relenting, such as we have here, we have a figure of speech called an anthropomorphism.
Anthropos is a Greek word for man. Anthropomorphism, which all of you are going to forget, but I like big words, particularly if I don't understand them. An anthropomorphism is a figure of speech. Where God uses human language To explain some divine action or attribute. After all, God is spirit.
How is God going to condescend to our level? When you speak to a little two-year-old, you speak in a different way, don't you? You condescend. You accommodate that individual. God is accommodating us.
He's using these anthropomorphisms to so that we will understand. Yes, from our perspective, it seemed as if God changed his mind. But the fact is, the theological truth, what we know about God is this: that God always forgives those who repent. The question wasn't that God changed. In Jonah 3.
The question was, the real fact was that the Ninevites Change.
Someone's a little sceptical, you want some Verse from it, here it is. Jeremiah chapter 18. Verse 6, listen to it. Jeremiah 18, verse 6: Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does? declares the Lord.
Behold, like the clay is in the butter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot it, to pull down or to destroy it, e.g., Nineveh. Verse eight. If that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. And we say how like God That is.
Forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Why forty days? Why not forty hours? Why not four hours? In fact, why not?
Immediate judgment? I mean if God wanted To judge Nineveh because of their wickedness and their violence, particularly as they were enemies of his people, why did he not obliterate them? Completely. Why send Jonah in the first place? Ah, because of the character of God.
implied in the giving of the forty days warning Is the promise of salvation if there is humble repentance? The king, the pagan king, was on the right track. He's saying, We're going to repent. Who knows? Maybe God will relent.
But whether He does or not, we still know that we have done evil, he writes. And in a sense, he threw himself On the mercy and the grace of God, which is the only place. of salvation. No, it wasn't God who changed. It was Nineveh.
Peter says in 2 Peter 3, verse 9: God is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come. to repentance. God doesn't want anyone here to perish. God wants all of us to repent and to come to a knowledge of the truth, because God is always a gracious and a compassionate God. The question is, what is your response?
Will you repent? Will you trust God? As we conclude this morning, I have four Simple lessons. To wrap this up, lesson number one. God gives disobedient servants another chance.
God gives disobedient servants another Chance. E. G. Jonah. Another example, Jacob.
Think of that deceiver, manipulator Jacob. in the book of Genesis. What about King David? Adulterer Murderer? God used them, a man after God's own heart.
What about Peter who sh knew so much better, who was warned by the Lord and yet denied the Lord three times? All receive Second chances. Why? Because of the character of God God is not a petty God. God is not like us.
God doesn't discard People like that, listen to Isaiah and Isaiah fifty-five, verse six: seek the Lord. while he may be found. Today the Lord will be found. Tomorrow, you may not find the Lord. Tomorrow, your heart may be harder than it is today.
You don't have an opportunity, but seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him and to our God, for he will do what? He will abundantly pardon.
There it is. If you seek the Lord, you turn from your evil ways. If you cry to the Lord for mercy and salvation and renewal, He will abundantly pardon because that is a kind of God. That we have. If you've run from God, will you stop running?
Will you turn from your disobedience today? God will certainly welcome you. God will forgive you. God will recommission you. That's God's grace.
That's God's compassion. You say, I've blown it, John. I've totaled my life. I've made a right mess of my life. I've run away from God.
Will God use me? Can God bless me? Yes, He will. He will forgive you, He will use you, He will bless you abundantly if you repent, and if you turn from Him, and if you commit your life to Him on His terms and not yours. To a people of Israel.
Who had turned their back, the people of Judah. Who turned their back on God and God put them into Babylonian captivity for seventy years. Abbot God wasn't finished with these people. And so we read that verse that some of you know, but that's the context. Jeremiah 29, verse 11.
I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. When he says for you, he's talking to a people who turn their back on God. Plans for welfare and not for calamity. to give you a future and a hope. Not only does God long to forgive you, He has plans, wonderful plans, plans of hope.
and the future for you. Here is the second Lesson and conclusion. One person obeying God. in impossible situations can accomplish incredible things. One person Obeying God in impossible situations can accomplish incredible things.
Read your Bible for numerous examples. Read Christian biography, the biography of missions, and it is full. Of examples of one individual obeying God, taking God seriously in impossible situations and being abundantly blessed. Jonah running away from God ends in disaster. Jonah running with God sees an amazing revival of thousands of pagans.
That's the way God works. John Wesley, the great Methodist preacher, said, Give me a hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. I've been reading that little book. Power Through Prayer by E. M.
Bounds. He writes the Church is looking for better methods God is looking for better men. Better woman. better boys, better girls. God's method.
is to take ordinary people. People who run from him, people who blow it. People who turn their back on him. The most unlikely of characters. God takes such people.
ordinary people. To do extraordinary things. Why? So that God And not man gets all of the glory.
So Paul can say, We have this treasure, that's the treasure of the gospel. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God. And not Of ourselves. You believe that? Here's the third lesson: don't write people off.
It seemed that wicked pagans who were Israel's enemies would never repent. Why tell them of God's love? They deserve judgment, not salvation. Is that how you view some people, your enemies? You don't want God to love them.
You want God to zap them. You want God to condemn them. Who wants the Hezbollah for example? These evil men are a mas? Who wants them to know God's love?
God should judge them. That's what we think. Here is an individual in your life who's harmed you, who's betrayed you. Who's Malay and Jew? Who's put the dagger in your back?
You don't want God to love them, do you, really? You want God. To condemn them, you want to expose them for who they are. This passage is saying wait a minute. Don't write people off.
Jonah is the Old Testament example of John 3:16, for God so loved the world. For God so loved the Ninevites that He sent a man like Jonah Who was a type of our Lord Jesus Christ?
So that they would know his salvation. Don't write. any person off or any group of people. Trust God. To do the impossible.
And the fourth lesson is this: those who experience God's grace and compassion. are transformed. To those who have God's love and God's forgiveness in their heart, things are different. Lives are changed. And ask yourself this question before God.
God, am I changing? Am I More and more. Turning from my sin and more and more hearing your voice. Humble yourself before God. Ready to turn from sin, ready to hear his word, ready to obey.
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 theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam.
It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. 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? Aren't we sometimes like Jonah, and right off some people like the wicked Ninevites? But by so doing we forget our own sin and failures. Are you ready to share the good news of Jesus Christ with someone you've written off? Remember, the power of salvation comes not from yourself, but from God.
Take that step of faith today. Obey God. Tell others about the Lord Jesus. And don't miss next time as we see Jonah in self-pity focusing on himself rather than seeing what God is doing. 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.
