Jonah 1:1-2 NIV – The word of the LORD came to Jonah…,2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Jonah 2:10 NIV – Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah 3:1-2 NIV – Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2“Go to the great city of Ninevehand proclaim to it the message I give you.”
What do you do when God’s Grace Gives You A Second Chance?
- The Gift of a Second Chance
- A SECOND Urgent Call to “Go”
Jonah 3:2 ESV – “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
2 Corinthians 6:2 NIV – I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Hebrews 3:15 NIV – “Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion.”
Jonah 3:2 ESV – says, “Arise, to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
Jonah 3:3 ESV – So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.
Jonah Gets It Right!
God blesses “Go Now” people
Luke 9:62 NIV –Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Jonah 3:4 ESV – Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
Jonah 2:8 ESV – Jonah prayed, Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
Q: How is God saying, “Let go”?
Jonah 3:4 ESV – Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
Jonah Share’s God’s Message
1 Corinthians 1:22-24 ESV – For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God
Jonah’s Message– Simple. Direct. Clear.
Jonah 3:4 ESV – “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
Jonah 3:5 ESV – And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
Nineveh Responds
Jonah 3:6 ESV – The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Jonah 3:7 ESV – And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
Jonah 3:8 ESV – ….but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.
James 4:9-10 ESV – Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Jonah 3:9 ESV – Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
The Picture of Repentance
- Urgently call on God
- Radically change behavior
- Humble attitude
Psalm 51:17 NIV – The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contriteheart, O God, you will not despise.
Jonah 3:9 ESV – Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
Jonah 3:10 ESV – 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.
How Does God Give a Second Chance?
- God Uses Messed Up People
Jonah 3:1-2 ESV – 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.”
- God Uses Messed Up People with a Clear Message
Jonah 3:1-2 ESV – 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.”
1 Corinthians 1:22-24 ESV – For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God
Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”
God Uses Messed Up People with a Clear Message who GO!
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV – Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
