A young man from Anderson, South Carolina, came home from World War II and realized his dream of playing professional baseball.
After a few years in the minor leagues' lower levels, he realized, I'm never going to make it to the major leagues.
And so he gave up baseball, settled down in Anderson with his wife and young son, went to work, and became a committed Christian.
But not long after he left the baseball world, he found out that his wife was cheating on him.
When he confronted her about it, she said she was going to leave him because, in her words, I married a baseball player.
He was devastated, as anyone would be, but it hurt even more to be told that working a regular job and living a faithful Christian life
was not what this woman wanted in a husband.
Well, a few years later, he met a single lady who was looking for someone just like him.
Committed Christian, committed to home and family.
They were married for 52 years until her death just a few years ago.
Now, this man is 96 years old, and he tells everyone who will listen that the Lord blessed him with 52 years of marriage to a perfect wife.
He emphasizes 52 years of marriage.
He emphasizes 52 years married to a perfect wife.
Now, it's obvious to anyone who knows this man's story that God gave him, that God graciously gave him a second chance at marriage.
And he made the most of it.
Have you ever thought about how God is in the business of giving people second chances?
Well, that's going to be the focus of our study in Jonah chapter 3 this morning.
If you would turn to the book of Jonah as we continue our study.
We're now in chapter 3.
And what we're going to see is how God gave Jonah a second chance to do his will.
Read with me.
Jonah 3, verse 1.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.
Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth.
Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey, and he called out,
Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
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.
We're going to stop there this morning.
The point that we are going to look at, what I want to really major on this morning,
is that we serve a God who has a habit of graciously giving us second chances.
And the last word is plural.
Because God gives us more than just one second chance, doesn't he?
So what I want us to do is to look at this with the idea of,
God has graciously given me chance after chance after chance after I've blown it.
I need to be thankful, and I need to learn to make the most of the second chances he gives me.
Number one, I want us to say that God often gives us second chances.
Note in this little chart that will be on the screen,
God's call to Jonah is nearly identical from chapter one to chapter three.
Note in chapter one,
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it,
for their evil has come up before me.
Then in chapter three,
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,
and call out against it the message that I tell you.
Jonah heard that call at the beginning,
but he rebelled.
He tried to get away from God.
He didn't want to do it.
And then in chapter two, or the end of chapter one and chapter two,
God pursued Jonah, broke him, humbled him.
And Jonah responded by confessing his sin and coming back to God in a renewed commitment.
Well, now in chapter three,
he is given for all practical reasons,
the same call.
That's a sign of God's grace to Jonah.
God is giving his rebellious prophet a second chance to be faithful.
A commentator by the name of O. Palmer Robertson says,
This helps us see some of the qualities of God's grace.
I want you to look at some of the qualities of our Heavenly Father's grace
that we need to be so thankful for.
Look at it.
God forgets and never holds the things against you.
Think of how wonderful are the implications of that one fact for your life.
God simply does not hold grudges against people who humble themselves
and ask his forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Some of you may need to let that really sink in.
God forgets when he forgives.
God doesn't hold grudges against us.
He doesn't keep throwing it up to us.
There may be someone in your life
who refuses to forget your sin or your failures.
And they make it their point to not let you forget.
Such people, I want you to understand,
they are not God's messengers.
They're the devils.
When God forgives,
He cleanses us.
He puts it in the past.
He will not remember it anymore.
And I want you to understand,
if there's someone in your life that just won't forgive you,
always bringing it back up,
always implying something about your past failures,
don't listen to them.
They're not worthy of your time or your attention.
And they are certainly not God's spokesperson.
That's just the devil talking through them.
They may not be to the core evil,
but they're acting in an evil kind of way.
And I want to encourage you,
don't listen to them.
There's some people who like to be that way.
Don't listen to them.
God gives us second and third and tenth and twentieth
and hundreds of chances
when we truly humble ourselves,
repent of our sin,
and come back to Him in obedience.
Jonah is a great example
that God forgives.
And God gives us fresh starts
in serving Him.
You know,
this is really not an unusual thing
what we see in Jonah.
Jonah, I mean,
God has a track record
of giving His people second chances,
some of the most important people in the Bible.
Abraham.
He was chosen by God
to be the father
of what would become the nation of Israel.
Paul tells us in the New Testament
that Abraham is also the father
of all people of faith.
He's our father as Christians as well.
When God first called Abraham,
he didn't obey God fully.
I want you to look with me.
It's going to be from Acts chapter 7.
Stephen is sort of giving us
an oral history of the people of Israel.
He tells us this about Abraham.
When he was first called,
he was living in a place called Ur,
and God said,
go out from your land
and from your kindred
and go into the land
that I will show you.
That was the promised land,
what would be called that later on.
But Abraham stopped short of it.
Abraham settled hundreds of miles
from where God was going to take him
in a place called Haran.
Look at this from Genesis 11.
Talking about Abraham and his family.
They went forth together
from Ur of the Chaldeans
to go into the land of Canaan,
but when they came to Haran,
they settled there.
They shouldn't have.
That was not where God was leading him.
That's not where God was going to do
what he was going to do
through Abraham.
Now, later on,
God called,
his name is Abram
at this point in time.
He called Abram
a second time.
And look what happens.
Genesis 12.
Now the Lord said to Abram,
go from your country
and your kindred
and your father's house
to the land I will show you
and I will make of you
a great nation.
So Abram went
as the Lord had told him.
Abraham.
He disobeyed at first.
He didn't do all
that God told him to do,
but God gave him
a second chance.
The Apostle Peter
is well known
for the way that he failed
the Lord Jesus.
He denied,
not once, not twice,
but three times
that he even knew Jesus.
Well, shortly after that,
Peter was broken
in his own spirit.
He repented
of what he had done.
And after Jesus
arose from the grave,
Jesus made it a point
to restore Peter.
We did a series on that
from John chapter 21
a few years ago.
Peter had denied
Jesus three times,
so three times
Jesus asked Peter,
do you love me?
And three times
Peter said yes.
Jesus not only
restored him
to fellowship with him,
but Jesus also
commissioned him
or recommissioned him
to feed his people,
feed his sheep.
Peter received
a second chance
to be faithful.
And that's what we see
in chapter three.
Jonah receives
a second chance
to be faithful,
and this time he is.
Look again.
He obeyed God's call
in verse three.
So Jonah arose
and went to Nineveh
according to the word
of the Lord.
We need to,
we need to look carefully
at how God gives
his people,
you and me,
second chances.
God often
gives us second chances
when it comes
to obeying him,
but,
and this is
an important but,
he does it always.
One of the most
shocking examples
of God's
ultimate discipline
is found in
the book of Acts
chapter five.
I encourage you
to read it today
when you go home,
the first part
of Acts chapter five.
A husband and wife
named Ananias
and Sapphira,
they were church members.
Well, they sold
a piece of property,
but held back
some of the prophets
and told the apostles
they'd gave it all.
They'd given it all.
It was their property
and they didn't have
to sell it.
When they did sell it,
what they got
was their money.
They didn't have
to give any of it.
But they,
for whatever reason,
maybe to look
like someone special
in the eyes
of other church members,
they lied
to the apostles
about what they had given
and as soon as
they were confronted
about their lie,
they fell down dead.
God killed them.
God did not
give them a chance
to repent.
God did not
give them
a second chance.
I say this
to say
we need
to be careful
that we do not
presume upon
God's grace.
Daniel Aiken
points this out.
He says,
we should never dismiss
God's call
or delay
in responding
to Him.
God does not
guarantee
a second chance.
Sin and disobedience
have consequences
and it is possible
to miss
God's best
when we refuse
His plan
or attempt
to run
from His presence
like Jonah.
We cannot
make too much
of God's grace
and God's mercy
because the Bible
from cover to cover,
the Bible
emphasizes
our God
is a God
of grace
and mercy.
I am not
in any way
trying to
de-emphasize that
but at the same time
God does not
choose
in every instance
to show
grace
but sometimes
to give
justice
just like He did
with Ananias
and Sapphira
and others
that you
probably can
think about
as you think
about what you
know about
the Bible.
But while God
does not guarantee
us second chances
He does
often
choose to
show us
patience
and grace
just like He did
with Jonah.
I am so
thankful
right now
that God
has been
patient with me
all my life.
I am so
thankful
that He has
shown to
show me
grace
and not
justice.
I am so
thankful
for the
opportunities
He has
given me
to confess
my sin.
For the guilt
He has
inflicted on me
to cause me
to want to
turn from it.
I am so
thankful
that God
has allowed
me to come
back to Him
to make
new commitments
to serve
Him
afresh.
I hope
you are
because if
you're
here
that means
you have
experienced
God's
multiple
chances
multiple
new
starts.
More often
than not
God does
offer us
second
chances.
You may
have never
thought about
it this way
but John
is describing
God's
second chances
in one of the
most important
promises in
all the Bible.
Look at this
in 1 John
1.9
I've put it
on the screen
probably a
hundred times
over the
years.
If we
confess our
sins
He is
faithful
and just
to forgive
us our
sins
and to
cleanse us
from all
unrighteousness.
that's God's
promise of a
second chance
a fresh start
if we
confess our
sin.
He is
faithful.
He is
just to
forgive us
and not
just forgive
us but
to cleanse
us
and give us
that fresh
start.
God
forgave
Jonah.
God
restored him
to fellowship
with himself
and God
recommissioned
Jonah
to useful
service.
That's what
I want us to
look at next.
God
sometimes
blesses our
second chances
with great
success.
Jonah
obeyed God's
call to preach
to the people
of Nineveh
and look
how God
blessed
his efforts.
Verse 5
again
and the
people of
Nineveh
believed
God.
They called
for a
fast
and put
on sack
cloth.
They
publicly
demonstrated
their
repentance
and this
happened
from the
greatest
of them
to the
least
of them.
We're
going to
go into
more detail
next week
about how
they responded
how God
worked
and they
responded
what I
want us
to see
here is
God
blessed
Jonah's
second
chance
in a
tremendous
way
and that's
not unusual.
The Bible
reveals that
God greatly
blessed some
of his
greatest
leaders
when he
gave them
the second
chance.
Abraham
the father
of the
nation of
Israel.
Well
Abraham
had the
promised
child
Isaac
after he
got the
second
chance
and went
to that
place.
God
did this
real work
of establishing
Abraham
in this
what would
become the
promised
land
after
Abraham
responded
to God's
call
the second
time.
Peter
his greatest
success
came after
the Lord
gave him
the second
chance
and
recommissioned
him.
You can
read about
it in
Acts
chapter
10
God
used
Peter
to
preach
the
gospel
in the
home
of a
Gentile
named
Cornelius
which was
God's
way of
just sort
of
announcing
the
gospel
is for
all
people
not just
Jews
and he
used
Peter
to do
that.
Later
on
God
used
Peter
to write
two
letters
to
churches
that
are now
part
of our
New
Testament.
Later
on
God
made
Mark
the
traveling
companion
of
Peter
and as
Mark
listened
and wrote
down
what
Peter
was
preaching
Mark
put
that
in
what we
call
New
Testament
today
in the
form of
his
gospel
of
Mark
that
all
happened
after
Peter's
second
chance.
Here's
what I
want you
to
understand
God
may
greatly
bless
your
second
chance
effort
but you
won't
ever know
until you
try
and you
won't
ever try
unless you
trust
God.
Richard
Phillips
points this
out in
terms of
our
willingness
to be
the
Lord's
faithful
witness.
Look at
what he
says.
Many
of us
do not
expect to
see mighty
works of
God
looking at
things as
we often
do from
a strictly
human
perspective.
So we
do not
expect to
see our
witness
blessed
with the
salvation of
a neighbor
or a
friend.
I want you
to think
about this.
Are there
people in
your life
that you
really love
and care
about who
are not
Christians?
And maybe
you pray
for them.
Maybe you
pray that
God would
send
someone
to share
the gospel
with them
and they
would be
saved.
Maybe you
even pray
that God
would allow
you to
share the
gospel with
them and
they would
be saved.
Have you
ever attempted
to share
the gospel
with the
expectation
that God
would work
through you?
That that
person would
listen and
believe and
you'd see
them change?
They'd see
their life
change?
Why is it
that we
if we're
Christians
our faith
is something
supernatural?
We're
believing in
a supernatural
God, a
supernatural
Lord.
Why can't
we believe
that God
could use
us, would
use us
in supernatural
ways like
he did
Jonah?
Jonah was
just being
obedient.
Jonah was
just sharing
the good news
that God
gave him.
actually, Jonah
preached a
message of
bad news
as we'll
look at
next week,
but God
even used
that.
We are
right to
think that
on our
own we
are unable
to bring
meaningful life
change to
other people.
We can't
do that on
our own.
But we're
wrong to
think that
God cannot
use us,
that God
cannot work
through us
to make
life
changes
in other
people.
You as
a parent,
you need
to understand
that God
can use
you to
powerfully
impact your
children,
your
grandchildren,
the children
that you
teach at
school.
You need
to think
that God
can use
you to
powerfully
influence
your
friends.
I like
the way
Warren
Wiersbe
makes this
point.
He says,
the will
of God
will never
lead you
where the
grace of
God
can't
keep
you
and the
power of
God
can't
use
you.
God
uses
people
just like
us.
And He
uses
people
just like
us
who have
failed Him
at first,
who have
failed other
people at
first.
God is
the God
of the
second
chance.
We see
in verse
five that
Jonah was
not responsible
for the
way people
responded to
the message
he preached.
They didn't
just believe
Him.
They heard
this as a
message from
God and
they believed
God.
It says
that.
And the
people of
Nineveh
believed
God.
I want
to ask
you right
now,
are you
willing
to be
used by
God
to make
the most
of your
second
chance?
Will you
trust God
to use
you
to make
a difference
in your
home
as a
husband,
as a
father,
as a
wife,
as a
mother?
Will you
trust God
to use
you to
make a
difference
in your
home
as a
child
who honors
your
parents,
who
obeys
your
parents?
Will you
trust God
to use
you to
make a
difference
among your
friends at
school,
or at
work,
or wherever
else God
wants to
use you?
You know,
what we see
here,
Jonah chapter
three,
verses one
through five,
the way
God used
Jonah is
supposed to
encourage each
one of us,
no matter how
strongly we
have rebelled
against God,
no matter how
far we have
run from him
and what he
wants us to
do,
no matter how
sinful we
have acted
or have
become,
if we're
still breathing,
it's not
too late for
us to
humble
ourselves
before the
Lord,
come back
to him,
confessing
our sin,
turning from
it,
and renewing
our trust
in Jesus
and commitment
to him.
And I want
you to
understand,
when God
forgives you,
he forgets.
He's not
going to
throw it
back up
in your
face.
He's not
going to
use it
against you.
And I
want you to
understand,
when God
forgives you,
he restores
you to
full fellowship
with him
as your
heavenly
father.
You don't
have to be
away from
him and
stay there.
And you
need to
understand who
you are if
you are a
Christian.
If you're
truly trusting
Jesus Christ,
and if you
have a real
relationship
with him,
you need to
understand your
sins are
forgiven.
He paid the
penalty for
them when he
died on the
cross.
His blood
cleanses us,
we can think
of.
And his
righteousness,
the perfect
life he
lived,
that is
credited to
us.
It's like
we're clothed
with his
perfect life.
Don't you
let anyone
ever tell you
that you are
disqualified from
serving God.
God, because
of your past
sin or
failure.
God
graciously
gives us
second chances,
just like he
did Jonah,
just like he
did Abraham,
just like he
did Peter,
just like he
did David,
just like he
has me and
everyone sitting
on the road
with you.
But like
Jonah, we've
got to obey
God.
God, we've
got to make
the most of
his gracious
second chance.
And that's the
question I want
you to answer
before you leave
today.
Will you make
the most of
the grace God
is showing you
right now?
God, we
do it in a
tangible way
where you
live, where
you work, the
people you're
already involved
in.
God is the
gracious God of
the second
chance.
And a part of
the grace he
gives us is the
grace to make
the most of
it.
Will you
embrace it?
Will you act
on it?
Let's pray
together.
Dear God,
help us to
see right now
what it means
for us to
make the
most of
the second
chance you've
given us.
And help us to
make that
commitment.
Lord, if there
are people in
this room who
are not
Christians,
help them to
understand that
it is by your
grace,
through faith
in Jesus,
that they can
be saved,
forgiven,
made your
child.
Help them to
do that now.
Well, Lord,
help us all
to identify
how we
need to make
the most
of your grace,
of your
forgiveness,
of your second
chances.
And help us,
Lord, to do
it.
In an attitude
of prayer,
you just do
what God's
telling you to
do.
I'd be happy
to pray for you
during this time.
I'll be here
at the front.
You just
listen to the
Lord and obey
Him.