Jonah
Triumph of God’s
Grace
Chapter 3
Jonah Chapter 1 revealed Jonah’s Rebellion to us
Jonah Chapter 2 revealed God’s love for Jonah and Jonah’s
Repentance
Jonah Chapter 3 will show us that God restores us when we repent and set us back on a path of holiness and purpose.
Jonah 3:1-10
1 {Jonah
Goes to
Did you catch that…”A second time”
He should have listened the first time!
Usually I wish it only took two times to get my attention! Unfortunately, I am a little hard of hearing and stubborn – like most of us.
The “second time” is Grace for Jonah.
The grace of a second…and third…and twelfth, is a very precious gift from God that we require far to often and take advantage of daily without a second thought. I think it was Jesus who said – “count the cost”
Luke 14:28 “But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?” (NLT)
Granted this is slightly out of context, but the warning is valid. We take advantage of the love of God on a daily basis and never give a second thought to the cost Jesus paid so we could receive such a precious and powerful gift.
He counted the cost before He gave His life on the Cross. You were who He was paying for and the cost was His breath, His blood and His life.
Count the cost. Not the price you will not have to pay for
your iniquities (even though it is very high), but the expense of
Oh, how the human condition cheapens the grace of God. We sin profusely and figure that it is ok…God will forgive us. We never stop to consider the terrible price He paid for our restoration nor the reality that if we can sin so easily maybe we are not under the grace of God but still under the law which we so regularly break.
A second time. I thank God for the second times of my life. We all need them.
2 "Get up and go to the great city of
“O.K. Jonah, Now go do what I told you to do in the first place”
Ø This is grace for Jonah.
Jonah had:
Ø Wasted time
Ø Jeopardized his own life
Ø Jeopardized the life and livelihood of others
Ø Damaged (but not destroyed) his relationship with God
Now that he had once again turned his thoughts toward God he was told to go do what God had called him to do.
No punishment
No payback
No penalty
Nothing
This is one of those times that Jonah had better be glad that one of us are not God. He would have to pay for his crime! Justice must be served! We would make him DO SOMETHING! Probably something religious like walking the aisle and making a profession of faith and repentance before the church or serving on the building and grounds committee for 3 years.
But that is not how God works. He simply wants us to turn our hearts towards Him and live our lives for Him.
We need to understand here that we are no better or worse than anyone else, including the people God used in His Word.
Bible characters are not above us – they are not somehow “holier than thou”
They are just like us. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.
God has a long history of using imperfect people to accomplish His perfect Will.
The characters of the Bible had dirty feet, just like we do.
The good news of this is that the grace and mercy God poured out on Jonah is available to us today. Same God, same issues, same response, same results.
God desires a righteous
relationship over either a religious reaction or religious retribution.
1 John 1:7-9 “But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” (NLT)
God is not after some sort of “religious retribution”, He is after a better relationship with you. If we confess our sins He will forgive us.
God never gave up on Jonah – He wanted a restored relationship.
That is grace for Jonah.
That is grace for us today. No matter how dirty or vile our sins are, if we confess them to God He will forgive us through His love poured out in the shed blood of His Son Jesus.
Ø
Grace for
God had not forgotten about them because of all the turmoil and conflict Jonah had caused.
Ø
God still wanted these angry and violent people
in what is now
Ø They were still on God’s “radar”
Ø They were targeted for destruction, but there was one more plan for “diplomacy” in the works.
3 This time Jonah obeyed the LORD's command and went to
Good job Jonah!
“This time Jonah obeyed”
Such a simple statement. Such a rare occurrence in Jonahs day…and even more rare in today’s self focused society.
The weird thing about a rare object is its value.
The harder it is to acquire, the more money you will pay for it.
I was watching the “Antique Roadshow” the other day and was AMAZED at the prices they were giving for the junk out of someone’s attic or garage. One of the major rationales for their pricing was its rarity.
How valuable is an act of simple obedience to God? As far and few between as they are, I would bet that God considers each and every one of them as a very valuable action.
Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume. In the same way, the day you die is better than the day you are born.” (NLT)
What type of reputation do you have with God? The reputation of being faithful and obedient…a behavior Jonah is NOW modeling for us…. or of running from every assignment given you…like Jonah was before God sent him to “time out.”
This brings to mind the picture of an employer/employee relationship. How long would Jonah remain employed any where if he ran away every time his supervisor gave him an assignment? Not very long.
"This time Jonah obeyed" - Good Job Jonah! God’s grace is poured out upon His repentant and now obedient servant.
Jonah is a book about grace. The grace of second chances.
I am very thankful for all of the undeserved second chances God has afforded me over the years. I say afforded because they may have not cost me anything, but they cost Jesus Christ His very life.
His Blood was shed so I could have hope in my failures. He paid the price for my mistakes; gladly and joyfully. He bled and drown in a cruel mixture of blood and body fluid. He was beaten, humiliated and scourged; all for my opportunity for second chances.
These second chances are very valuable, yet we treat them as cheap as a penny candy.
The next part of this passage
gives us a little more information about the city of
It took three days to see it all.
I have spent some time walking
around strange cities in
The average person walks 2 - 3 MPH
This was a city of considerable geographic size. And we know from later in this text (Chapter
4)
Main point being that this was a thriving metropolis for the day – a major river city with lots of commerce, government and activity. Maybe the Chicago or Houston of its day.
How would one person ever reach each and every person in a city this size?
Ø Regardless of the time allotted Jonah could not do this task alone
Ø Regardless of the available resources Jonah needed some time
They work together. They are both necessary.
Picture the church body.
Ø All parts are necessary and have a purpose
Ø Not all parts are prominent, yet they are important
Ø Some parts become broken or weak and need a little help until they build their strength back
Ø Some parts are sick and need restoration
Ø Some parts become sick/infected and need surgically removed so the body may heal
Ø Some parts have little value and the body may be able to live without them but would not be complete.
Ø We have some parts that we are not sure what they are for or what they do.
Ø Some parts are stiff and require a lot of massaging and “warming up” to get them to work
Ø Some parts are missing and cause the body to not function correctly or completely
Ø Some parts are artificial
Ø When our body parts are new we have little control over them
Ø When our body parts are young they tend to be strongest, but they lack discipline
Ø When our body parts are mature they work well together, are coordinated in their efforts and have their maximum potential
Ø When our parts are old they have great experience and wisdom, but little strength.
One BIG problem in today’s churches is that there are bunches of people sitting in pews on Sunday morning but few are willing to yield any of their time (except for 1 hour on Sunday Morning – if it is relatively convenient) to God.
Think of the impact we could have on our city if we applied the tithe principle to our time, our abilities and our full resources, just as we should apply it to our money. (Recognizing that most do not practice the tithe principle with their money helps us understand why they will not apply it to the rest of their life either.)
10% of your time – talk Show host Shaun Hannitty wants three hours a day – Maybe you
could give God 2.4 out of 24? 16.8 hours a week out of 168? 67.2 hours a month
out of 672? 806 hours a year out of 8064? Time spent in prayer, Bible study,
meditation, visitation, sharing and caring, serving, or any other of thousands of
possibilities.
10% of your job skill (Doctors commit 10% to charity/med missions, same with
accountants, teachers, farmers, lawyers, etc) Your work and skills are gifts from
God given to you for the purpose of providing for you and your family,
supporting His ministry and reaching out to serve others.
10% of your hobbies – like to work on cars or do carpentry work? There is a mission.
How about quilting or other sewing? Another mission? Maybe you just like to talk – another powerful ministry/mission waits for you sharing the gospel or sitting with people in nursing homes, hospitals or shut ins.
Each of us has some special gift from God…a passion in our lives that we are to use in ministry to others.
10% of your vacation – Go to church on your holiday! Share the gospel. Read your
Bible. Don’t forget that God is the Lord of your “free time”, vacations and holidays.
4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the
crowds: "Forty days from now
Jonah brought a very powerful and prophetic word to the
people of
How would we react if this stinky, wild looking, slightly bleached and blotted and strange man came up to us in Wal-Mart shouting this message? We would not listen, we would call the police.
What if he came to your church?
What if he wanted to preach?
That is what I thought.
This was no “gee, you really
aught to think about this” sermon, nor was it a stage show or theatrical
production with bongo the clown and chi-chi the wonder dog. This was good old-fashioned hell fire and
brimstone preaching.
The message of God brought by God’s appointed and anointed messenger to a dying people who so desperately needed to hear it before their time had run out.
That is the problem with salvations offer – there is a time limit and none of us know what that time limit is. It may be mere moments or years; but we all have a limit to the time we have to believe in Jesus Christ and receive the salvation of God.
There is also a time limit on how long God will leave us here to share His Word with this destructive and dying world who so desperately need to hear it. We need to make the most out of every opportunity we are given and boldly proclaim the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Yet, many times we don’t want to hear the message or the messenger. We need to, we should; but we do not.
I am sure that there was much more to Jonah’s message than is recorded here.
Ø Pastor’s almost always say more than they need to
Ø This message alone would have been confusing and brought anger and ridicule
Ø Jonah had to say Who was going to be their Destructor and why He was going to bring His righteous judgment upon them.
I think the people of
The time limit brought a sense of urgency and importance to Jonah’s message that we are missing today.
If you knew that you only had 40 days to live would you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Even in the hopes that He might give you grace and mercy for a longer life?
Christian, if you knew that you only had 40 days to live would you change some things about your lifestyle? Would you be nicer? More compassionate? Share the Gospel more? Maybe even actually live like a child of the King for the next 40 days?
One thing we must realize is that we may not even have those 40 days! True, we may have 40 years, but we DO NOT KNOW! We should live every day like it was our last!
I was eating with a group of pastors one day when one of them said, “We need to develop a heart for the world and share the gospel with everyone. We must care deeply for the condition of their souls” (maybe not an exact quote – but close). He sounded bold and devoted until I questioned him a little about what he had done or was going to do about the other 60 or so souls in the restaurant with us right then. Nothing.
I bring this to expose religions dirtiest little secret – we talk a good talk at our meetings and conventions, but 90% of us rarely – if ever – actually do anything to share the Gospel; even in the ranks of the “men of God” – the pastors/prophets of today.
We are so worried about making everybody happy and comfortable that we rarely, if ever, preach a good old-fashioned “Jesus is coming soon” type of message. This is not the Biblical example.
God told Jonah to bring a message of impending destruction
Both John the Baptist and Jesus
Christ came preaching the message, “Repent, for the
The Apostles preached the return of the King and our need to be ready.
Where is the prophetic witness of
the Word of God today in
Pastors – SHAME ON US! Shame on us for watering down the message and bowing down to the false gods of fear and numbers and acceptance.
Shame on us for not boldly standing on the incorruptible and all powerful Word of Almighty God and shouting from the pulpit’s, the mountaintops and the steps of City Hall, “Thus Says the Lord”!
People need the Lord.
Romans 10:13-15 “For "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (NLT)
How pretty are your feet today? Are they moldy and crusty from not being used or are they strong and shapely from going to and fro across this community and the world telling people about Jesus?
5 The people of
The people heard God’s message from God’s prophet and responded in God’s Will.
Remember that the power is always in God’s Word and never in the messenger.
Please try to remember to NOT SHOOT THE MESSENGER! A pastor or prophet is there to bring you God’s Word – not his own. There are far too many preachers out there boldly proclaiming their opinions and ideas instead of God’s. This is just wrong!
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.” (NLT)
Maybe the reason there is so much power in the Word is that it is much more than mere words on paper – it is God!
John 1:1-18 “In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. God sent John the Baptist to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was only a witness to the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world. But although the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan-- this rebirth comes from God. So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. John pointed him out to the people. He shouted to the crowds, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'Someone is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.' " We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us-- one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart; he has told us about him.” (NLT)
The Word says that from the greatest to the least, the people believed.
With God it is never about class or income. He does not care what color you are or what language you speak. He is not interested in your politics or your position. You may be gay or straight, strong or weak, introvert or extrovert, homebody or homicidal; He wants you to believe in Him. He can deal with all the rest of the mess after you are one of His kids.
Remember that God desires that each and every person on the planet now and in the future come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, His Son.
1 Timothy 2:2-6 “Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, for he wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and people. He is the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message that God gave to the world at the proper time.” (NLT)
This is grace for us – even though we are all sinners and make a mockery of His love, He still wants us to be saved!
I am thankful that in the great
city of
6 When the king of
Here we get to some of the help Jonah needed. God used the king of a violent and cruel people to model the attitude and reality of humility and repentance. The king!
The king of the vile, evil and violent people of
He led by example.
Ø The king threw off everything that identified him as their king and all-powerful ruler and became just like they were.
Ø He stepped down from his lofty throne – the seat of all his power and authority and was among his people.
Ø He took on the appearance, lifestyle, sorrow and pain of each one of his subjects
Ø He became like they were.
Ø He was still king – but he came down to their level and lived in their world.
Does this sound familiar. I seem to have heard a story like this before. Where was it again? OH YEA – The Bible. God did this for us.
Ø Jesus threw off everything that made Him God and King and came to live with His creation.
Ø He stepped down from His lofty throne room in Heaven and lived here on earth.
Ø He took on our appearance, lifestyle, sorrow and pain.
Ø He became like we are
Ø He is still King of kings and Lord of lords.
Ø He remained God
Today in
What would it take today to get a president or king to humble themselves before God in front of their entire kingdom like this? What kind of impact would it have? We need men of God to take the leadership role God has given them with humility and respect. Men who will boldly stand firm on the Word of God and not back down to political pressure or “politically correct” policies.
Often we have leaders who proclaim faith but their lifestyles and ideals show us the truth of their lives. Their selfish and/or political desires control their decisions and they conveniently forget their faith (if it ever really existed) and fall into the lust of their flesh.
7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout
the city: "No one, not even the animals, may eat or drink anything at all.
Now there is even more help for Jonah…the king AND his nobles. Nobel’s were either elder rulers/statesmen (maybe like governors or legislators today) or princes of the kingdom. Either way they were high-powered governmental leaders who held great authority and power over the city. The people tended to do what they said, usually quickly and fearfully.
Through the prophetic preaching of Jonah, God was able to reach these leaders who then sent the message throughout the entire city.
These men risked being laughed at, removed from power and killed for their new faith in God. They had just come to faith in God and they were giving their everything to Him in trust and humility.
This is truly being born again. Their old nature was gone and they were brand new from the inside and were not ashamed to show their new inside on the outside.
Where have we missed the mark?
Have we truly been born again? OR has satan fooled us into a sickly misplaced faith that only imitates the true salvation experience?
We must examine ourselves closely for the fruit of the Spirit that testifies in us that we are indeed children of the King.
If we only had some sort of emotional experience, but no rebirth, then we are not saved and it does not matter what we do in the name of Jesus we will NOT ENTER His Kingdom.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not all people who sound religious are
really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the
Are you saved or synthesized? Is your salvation real or simply a satanic special effect that will leave you powerless and destined for the eternal fires of hades?
This is indeed a life or death question that must be answered thoughtfully and correctly. Your eternity hangs in the balanced.
Are you Born Again?
John 3:1-7 “After dark one evening, a Jewish
religious leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to speak with Jesus.
"Teacher," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach
us. Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you." Jesus replied, "I assure you, unless
you are born again, you can never see the
There must be a real and measurable change in your life, from the inside out. You must be born again.
This does not mean that you will become suddenly perfect at everything. The process of sanctification takes a lifetime. What it does mean is that your needs and desires are changed, your outlook is different and your life will never be the same again.
If there is no change in your life then you are NOT born again.
8 Everyone is required to wear sackcloth and pray earnestly
to God. Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.
Lets break this down into two parts:
1. The exterior – that which everyone can see.
This is usually the easy part for us people. We can fake anything for a little while. We can look like a Christian, smell like a Christian and act like a Christian – but that does not mean we are a Christian.
We can act civilized for a while. At least not kill anyone or beat them up and steal their stuff. Anyone can behave for a certain period of time.
Many people have either grown up in the church or been around it for long enough to pick up the language and learn how to act - that is no big deal.
But an outward change does not save us, as we talked in verse 7 it must be an inward change that manifests itself in our outward actions and appearance.
2. The Interior – that which only you and God can see.
Here is the rub! This is where the rubber meets heavens highway. Is your inside changed? Remember – you must be born again.
If you are indeed born again your character will change. The traits that mark your life will be different. People will notice that something is different about you.
You will not desire to hurt people, only help.
You will seek the needs and desires of others above those of your own.
You will love God and love your neighbor.
Love and service will replace pride and greed.
You will pray earnestly, not treat God like some sort of cosmic candy machine.
Then, when your inside has changed you will not be able to stop your outside from following suit. You will indeed be different. You will be born again.
I think this is what James is teaching us in his “self titled” book of James in verses 2:20 and 26: Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless? Just as the body is dead without a spirit, so also faith is dead without good deeds.” (NLT)
When you have true faith on the inside it will gush out to the outside and have a positive affect on the world around you.
9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will have pity on us and
hold back his fierce anger from destroying us."
Who can tell indeed? Only those with true faith in God will always have mercy on them.
God can tell. And He has promised that if we have the faith to believe He WILL HAVE pity (mercy) on us, hold back His anger about our sin and deliver us from the destruction we deserve.
Grace is when we get what we don’t deserve.
Mercy is when we don’t get what we do deserve.
If you hear the Word of God and obey it you will be safe; every time!
The center of God’s Will is the safest place to be!
10 When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he
had mercy on them and didn't carry out the destruction he had threatened.
Catch that? Even though they were evil, God knew what His plan and purpose was for them and He was watching to see how they would respond.
God Almighty was watching them – those vile and despicable sinners!
I think many of our more fundamental faiths who think we must completely separate ourselves from all sin, and appearance of sin, and anything that might possibly someday be a sin ARE GROANING IN AGONY! Why would God want to watch them? We are far too holy to communicate, observe or interact with those filthy sinners!
The good news for all of us is that God loved those sinners! Just as He loves you and I. God did not want them to die forever. God wanted to save them.
Here is the formula:
Ø The people were sinful
Ø God saw their evil sin and knew it must be removed
Ø God sent them the message that could save them
Ø They heard the message and responded with repentance
Ø God saw their repentance and saved them from certain destruction
God is good!
When they changed their lives, in God’s Will and in His way, God changed His plan for their destruction.
A very important doctrine needs to be discussed here. Does God indeed know all? Or is He guided by the choices we make and can be “surprised” by some action or response.
The truth is that God does indeed know all. We make our choices and He knows the result of each and every one we make.
In our text here in Jonah, Gods
deepest desire was for the people of
They choose wisely.
Chapter 3 review (or sermon
outlione)
Second Chances Yield First Rate Results
Jonah Chapter 3
Review:
Jonah Chapter 1
v Jonah trying to run from God
v Jonah going down, down, down
o Down to the seacoast
o Down into the hold of the ship
o Down into the depths of the sea
o Down into the belly of a great fish
Jonah Chapter 2
v Jonah hits rock bottom
v He turned towards God and found God waiting to lift him back up
o Jonah cries out to God
o God heard Jonah’s cry
o God delivered Jonah to the safety of dry land
Now here we are at Jonah Chapter 3
I need second chances!
Without God’s second chances I would have disappeared from the ground of this planet long ago; but God was not through with me yet!
How comforting it is to me to know that FAILURE is not FINAL!
Listen to what God Himself says about our true nature and His provision
of second chances:
1 John 1:8-9 “If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” (NLT)
We all need these opportunities to make wrong things right and then go on with our lives living the right way.
This is what Jesus was teaching us in John Chapter 8 when He instructed the woman caught in adultery to “Go and sin no more”. She was being given a second chance.
v
God gave Paul a second chance even after he
persecuted, imprisoned and killed Christians.
“Why are you doing this to Me”
v
Our own experiences with mistakes and
forgiveness teaches us these same lessons
v
God gives each of us a second chance even
when we are sinners and enemies of His Kingdom and love.
v Know
that second chances are a gift from God
o He gives them to us out of His Love, Mercy and Grace
v Make
the most of the chances you are given
o Jonah was now willing to be obedient to God’s direction for his life.
o Why are we so willing to accept second chances – but very stingy in giving them to others?
§ How dare they!
§ Your on MY LIST now buddy!
§ Think of the opportunities for life and joy you have been given by God – 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 158th chances
§ Don’t you think you have a responsibility to love your neighbor the same way?
§
v Reap
the fruit of your newfound faithfulness
o
Because of Jonah’s 40 days of preaching the Word
of God in
40 Days Is A
Spiritually Significant Time Period
Ø Noah’s life (and the entire planet) was changed by 40 days of rain (Genesis 7:12)
Ø
Moses’ life was transformed by 40 days of
fasting in the presence of God on
Ø
God spoke to Elijah after 40 days of travel and
fasting as he traveled to
Ø David was transformed as a result of Goliath’s 40-day challenge. (1 Samuel 17:16)
Ø The disciples were transformed by 40 days with our Risen Lord. (Acts 1:3)
God has a way of using 40 days to
transform lives and return His people back to His paths. This is the key reasoning behind our campaign
called “40 Days of Purpose.” We
believe that God can change your life and the life of
Jonah found his second chances in the love of God. Where are you looking for yours? He did it for Jonah; He will do it for you!