GOD GIVES SECOND CHANCES
Jonah 3:1-10
WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU IS FOR YOU
V:1-2. " Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a
second time:
2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it the message I give you."
A. Jonah fresh out of the mouth of a great fish was given a
second chance to
obey God's
command.
1. Inside the belly
of the fish, Jonah prayed, confessed his sins and vowed to
follow God.
2. We serve a God
that chastises us to bring us into a
close relationship with Him.
3. It is His mercy
that allows for our forgiveness.
B. At one time Ninevah was the capital of the Assyrian
Empire.
1. Since The
Assyrians were the enemies of Israel ,
Jonah didn't think they
were worth
saving.
2. To do God's
work, we have to come to the conclusion, that none of us
deserve the
mercy of God.
3. To do God's
work, we have to submit to the will of God.
4. To do God's word
we cannot consider that we are better than anyone.
C. A second time, God commanded Jonah to go proclaim His
message to
the Ninevinites.
1. This time he
went, but his heart was not changed about the Assyrians
deserving God's
mercy.
2. God blesses who
he wants to bless and cruses who He wants to curse.
3. God does not
need our approval to bless others.
4. Just as God has
bless us, there my be others who don't think we are
deserving.
GOD USES US TO SPREAD THE WORD
V:3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh .
Now Nineveh was a very important
city — a visit required three days."
A. Ninevah , by the account of some was 60 miles wide with
150000 to
600,000
inhabitants.
1. We have to be
careful that we don't judge everyone of a race by the
reputation of
a few.
2. No matter how
bad we judge a person to be, we don't know what God has
done to change
their hearts.
B. God can take a prostitute and put her in the choir sing
praises to Him
1. He can take a
drug dealer and make him a Deacon in the church.
2. God took each
of us and made us His disciples.
THE POWER OF YOUR TESTIMONY
V:4-5. " On the first day, Jonah started into the city.
He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh
will be overturned."
5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all
of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. "
God "
A. The Ninevites worshiped idol god, yet the proclamation of
Jonah about God
impending wrath
cause fear in their hearts.
1. They abandon
their beliefs in idols and believed the Word of God.
2. There is power
in the Word of God to change hearts.
B. Don't ever underestimate the power of your testimony
about God.
1. By the time you
open your mouth. God has prepared the hearts of others
to receive your
testimony.
2. Whatever God has
call you to do, He has prepare the way for your success in
the ministry.
3. All of The
Ninevites put on sackcloth and fasted as a show of their repentant
hearts.
4. Sometimes God
will put fear in us to cause us to seek
His forgiveness.
IF YOU START AT THE BOTTOM YOU WILL REACH THE TOP
V:6-7. " When the news reached the king of Nineveh ,
he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with
sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh :
"By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast,
herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink."
A. To get to the man at the top, God can start a revival in
those at the bottom.
1. You may at
times feel like there is no value in your devotion to God. but others
will notice
what you are doing.
2. There had to be
one Ninevite who first believe God and everyone else followed.
3. If you going to
follow a crowd you ought to follow one
that is following God.
B. When the king heard the message of the Lord from Jonah,
he put on sackcloth
and prayed and
made a law that everyone do the same.
1. when you act on
what you believe, others are affected.
2. Jonah's journey
started with the local people and end up with King
taking a stand
for the righteousness of God.
EVERYBODY OUGHT TO PRAY
V:8-9. " But let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways
and their violence.
9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn
from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
A. The fear of the Lord's Word of wrath cause the King to
realize His corruption'
and the
corruption of his people.
1. The king made
up his mind to change for his sake and the sake of his people.
2. A responsible
leader looks out for the welfare of his people.
B. It is a wise man
who receives the council of the Lord.
1. Absent of the
Word of God, we have nothing to compare evil with
righteousness.
2. There is non
righteous, no not one.
3. All have sinned
and fall short of the glory of the Lord.
4. You will not
find righteousness in the heart of man unless he is changed
by the Lord.
C. God promises the best for us if we will turn from our
wicked ways.
1. 2 Chronicles 7:14 states;
"if my
people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves
and pray
and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways,
then will I
hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will
heal their
land. "
2. The king recognized this doctrine and put it into
practice
3. We must learn
that our greatest prosperity is found in the Lord.
GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS
Verse 10. " When God saw what they did and how they
turned from their evil ways, he
had compassion and
did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. "
A. The Lord is
always true to His Word.
1. There is no
failure in the Lord.
2. The Lord
loves us so much that He exchanged the life of His
Son for
ours.
B. God gives mercy
to those who call on Him.
1. When everyone
else gives up on you, God is on your side.
2. God does not
consider the opinions of man against His elect.
3. In Jonah's
mind all the people of Ninevah deserved
death for
sins against
man,
4. But God
determine that He would redeem them.
THANK GOD FOR HIS GRACE
AND MERCY
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