Great Sin, Greater Grace

Great Sin, Greater Grace

“Great Sin, Greater Grace”
(Jonah 3) [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson, KY
June 25, 2017

 

Introductory Remarks

Before we get into the sermon, I wanted to let you know about a ministry of our WMU, called Pure Water, Pure Love.

Check out this short video.

Bottles and giving envelopes in the Missions Center. Giving envelopes in pews.

 

It’s my absolute pleasure to be with you this morning, preaching the Word of God!

Let’s turn our hearts and minds now to the book of Jonah, chapter 3.

 

Introduction to the message

Let’s review, for just a moment, what we have learned thus far from the book of Jonah.

So far we have learned that Jonah was called to deliver God’s message to the Ninevites, but he decided to disobey.

Jonah went the exact opposite direction from where he was called to go.

In fact, Jonah was in such rebellion against God and His plan that he chose to die rather than obey God.

But, God was not done with Jonah.

God, in His mercy, miraculously sent a great fish to swallow Jonah and redirect him on his journey.

You see, God had a great plan all along that He was working out according to His sovereign will. We’re going to see more of that plan today in this passage.
Well, we are starting the second half of this short book. Now we come to Jonah chapter 3. Let’s see what happens here with Jonah.

You’ll want to know that there are some additional resources available for this sermon at www.fbchenderson.org/greatsingreatergrace (show web address on screen)

Stand me with now as we read the passage.

Read Jonah 3:1-4; 10

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

Let’s pray as we begin to dive into this passage.

(Prayer)

 

The very first point of which we should take notice is that . . .

 

I. God’s Grace Leads to Jonah’s Redo (1-4) [on screen]

We see here that God gives Jonah a second chance; a redo. This is a prime example of the grace of God.

Jonah did not deserve a second chance.

But our God is a God of second chances, not only with Jonah but with many other biblical people, such as . . .

David

Abraham

Jacob

Moses

Peter (and all of the apostles)

Paul

When given this redo, Jonah chose to obey.

Instead of traveling West towards Tarshish, Jonah now travels Northeast towards Nineveh.

Here we see that Jonah repented; that is, he changed directions.

The passage tells us that he obeyed, “according to the Word of the Lord.”

Jonah finally decided to follow God’s Word.

It says that Jonah now traveled throughout Nineveh, this great city.

As we learned when Bro. Rich preached chapter 1, the term “greatness” used of Nineveh probably referred to its size.

Although the city was large, it probably didn’t take a full three days to walk across or around Nineveh. However, Jonah probably took his time as he preached throughout the city, causing his journey to last three days.

Illustration: I remember when I was in Jamaica, there were these men that drove around in cars with a loud speaker on top of their car and they shouted something from a muffled public address system. You can’t understand hardly anything that they’re saying, but they sure are saying it. Perhaps Jonah could have used a speaker like that, or perhaps at least a megaphone. But, he didn’t have that; he simply walked around the city and proclaimed the Word of the Lord.

Make no mistake, Jonah probably did appear to be a crazy man, similar to the Jamaican car speaker guys. He probably looked funny after spending time in a fish, he probably seemed strange shouting about the public areas, and his message would have probably sounded like something coming from a deranged fanatic.

Yet, he was proclaiming the word of the Lord!

As Jonah is traveling, he is proclaiming this message of judgment. “Forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown! Forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

This is a short message. “Turn or burn!”

This is a strong message, coming from a crazy man, to one of the most ruthless cities in the world.

Let’s see how they responded.

Read Jonah 3:5-9

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

 

II. God’s Word Leads to Nineveh’s Repentance (5-9) [on screen]

Wow! It’s apparent that Nineveh seemed to repent quite quickly.

The Bible tells us that Jonah proclaimed that God would give the people 40 days to repent. However, it seems from the reading of the passage that it didn’t take quite that long.

So, Jonah’s message, although short, seemed to be effective. It seemed to strike at the heart of the Ninevites.

In fact, we see that the people of Nineveh repented before the king even ordered it. In other words, everyone seemed to be repentant because the word of God struck at their hearts, not just because the king decreed it to be done.

However, notice that even the king repented, and the king also ordered for the people to repent.

The king got drastic with the repentance; he decreed that everyone fast and put on sackcloth, even the animals!

That’s a pretty serious repentance! When you repent and fast do you require it even of your animals? Sorry, Rover, you can’t eat this week because I’ve sinned against God 🙂

This was something that was probably familiar to the culture of that time. The point here is that the nation was all in when it came to repentance.

Of course, as we notice in verse 9, the king didn’t know for sure that God would relent from the judgment that was too come.

Look at verse 9.

9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

So, we see that the population of Nineveh, from the king all the way down to the livestock repented before the Lord.
Let’s discover how God responded.

Read verse 10

10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

 

III. God’s Love Leads to Great Forgiveness (10) [on screen]

As a result of the prophesied judgment of God, and Nineveh’s repentance, God relented of the disaster that was to come upon Nineveh.

He showed great forgiveness to the people!

We can learn that God is always ready to forgive, He is always ready to rescue; and His design is that we must come to Him for forgiveness, we must come to Him for rescue!

The Scriptures are clear about God’s forgiveness being available!

See Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

See Romans 10:13

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Anyone can be forgiven, anyone can be rescued; but not everyone will be forgiven, not everyone will be rescued; because not everyone will come to Him.

Nineveh came to Him for forgiveness and received it. God is still about the business of forgiving sinners today.
God’s design for salvation involves the proclamation of His Word, the repentance of the sinner, and the forgiveness of a gracious and merciful God.

I want to pause for just a moment to answer the question of what it means for God to “relent” in this passage.

Most translations use the word relent in verse 10. The New Living Translation says that God, “changed his mind.”
The meaning of relent means to become softer in a certain stance towards something, or to become less severe. In that sense, God indeed did become less severe in His judgement towards the Ninevites.

However, let’s point out that God was not caught off guard by that. God was not surprised. This was part of His plan all along.

The Reformation Study Bible speaks well to this passage. It says, “The prophetic warning had an implied condition, namely, that judgment was imminent—if the city did not repent. In turning ‘from their evil way’ the Ninevites met that condition. The Lord’s change of mind is fully compatible with God’s sovereignty and immutability, since He ordains the means as well as the ends of His sovereign will.”

Now, in that quote you heard the word immutability, which means unchanging. Think of the word mutate or mutation.

If you’re into super heroes you can think of the word, mutant; like the X-men cartoons, which my son Jeremiah and I enjoy watching together. A mutant is someone that changes in someway.

To mutate means to change. Immutable means it does not mutate, it does not change.

God is immutable; He does not change!

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He does not change, He is not caught off guard. He knows the end from the beginning. He knew Jonah would first disobey, He knew Jonah would eventually obey, He knew the Ninevites would respond in repentance, and He knew that He would forgive them of their sin.

Check out the additional study webpage at fbchenderson.org/greatsingreatergrace for resources about God’s immutability.

You might say, well how can this be? We must understand that God operates on a different level than us. Although He is not completely separate from our world and our ways of things, He is certainly much higher than our world and our ways.

I’ve developed a diagram to help explain how this works.

(Show and explain “God’s Ways Versus Our Ways” diagram)

By ordaining the forgiveness of Nineveh’s repentance, God also ordained Jonah being sent to them, as well as their repenting through fasting and prayer. This was God’s plan, and we can praise Him because He plans not only our salvation, but also the means by which we will receive His salvation.

Whereas, it may appear that God changed from our perspective, our perspective is limited. This was His plan from the beginning. His ways are higher than ours. He cannot violate His nature by changing; He is consistent and He not only offers forgiveness but He plans the means by which it will come. Praise God!

As the diagram shows, we have a limited perspective. God sees all! His ways are far beyond our own!

And so we see that the people of Nineveh repent and they receive the forgiveness of a merciful God!

Concluding thoughts:

As we come to a close, I would like to offer a few major takeaways as well as some points of application that we can take home with us.

Major Takeaways [on screen]

The Ninevites were completely undeserving of God’s grace and so are we.

The proclamation of God’s message was and still is the means by which we can be rescued.

40ByFall

Missions; Unreached People Groups: Punjabi, Isaan, Persian

Though our sin is great, God’s grace is greater.

 

Application [on screen]

Here are three applicational steps that you can take this week:

Be prepared to share your story of how God has changed you.

(Mention that the testimony brochures are available in the Missions Center and at the doors)

 

Be prepared to share how others can receive God’s forgiveness.

(Mention tracts available in Missions Center and doors)

 

Thank God every day this week for some aspect of your salvation.

I’ll remind you all to do this this week via email.

 

Conclusion

(Gospel Presentation)

As we sing this song of response let us surrender everything to Jesus, let our hope be in Him only.

In just a moment we will sing of the power of the cross. As we sing, let me remind you that the power of Jesus can change anything! It can change your life and it can change the life of anyone!

Sing with me now.

Response song – Power of the Cross

 

Last Things:

Take home your bulletin

I’ll be down front here if you need any assistance or have a spiritual question.

Connection Card

Two things before we go . . .

Backyard Kids Clubs – go to fbchenderson.org/BKC

Centri-Kid this week.

 

God bless you all! Have a great day!

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.