Jonah chapter 3, page 928, as we follow in our studies there, so we can look that up.
So Jonah chapter 3, Jonah goes to Nineveh.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.
How Nineveh was a very important city.
A visit required three days.
On the first day, Jonah started into the city.
He proclaimed, 40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned.
The Ninevites believed God.
They declared a fast and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal rugs,
covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
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.
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.
Who knows?
God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger, so that we will not perish.
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.
Thank you.
Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verses 3 to 10.
2 Peter 3, verses 3-10
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
They will say, where is this coming he promised?
Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.
But they deliberately forget that long ago, by God's word, the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
By these waters also, the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
By the same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends.
With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
The heavens will disappear with a roar.
The elements will be destroyed by fire.
And the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Thanks, Harry, and thanks, Graham.
Keep it open, please, a tune of three.
That's the chapter we're going to be focusing on.
We've been taking a chapter each Sunday.
The first one we were looking at was Jonah running from grace.
Then the second one was about submitting to grace.
And then today we look at speaking of God's grace.
So let's just pray and we'll ask for his help as we look at this together.
Father, we ask that you would be generous to us by giving to us your Holy Spirit.
that we may be generous.
That we may understand the words that you have written and recorded for us.
That we may be able to see how it applies to our lives.
We ask that you would open up our minds to understand.
that it would be a word that changes us
and transforms us,
giving us a greater appreciation
and understanding of your grace
so that we may be able to speak your grace
to those around us.
So please help us as we do this together.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, a very funny incident happened on BBC News 24
not too long ago.
A man by the name of Guy Goma
arrived at the BBC offices
to attend for an interview for a job.
But present in the same building and unknown to him
was another man with exactly the same name
who was to be interviewed on BBC News
about the computer company Apple.
So the first Alan, who was there for the job interview,
was left in this waiting area
when the next thing he heard over the speaker system
was his name being called.
Well, you can guess what happened.
He ended up in the news studio
where he was mic'd up and all his makeup put on
and there he sat on live TV
being asked his views about some internal debate
with the Apple computers,
of which he knew absolutely nothing about.
And the most amusing thing that happened
was he actually tried to answer the questions
when it was quite clear.
He knew nothing about the subject.
The point is, you've got to know your subject
before you can speak about it.
There's no use in bluffing.
Well, Jonah was a prophet called by God
to speak on his behalf to the people of Nineveh.
His subject, God's grace in judgment,
of which it seems Jonah knows nothing about.
In chapter 1, verse 2,
we're told that he was told to go and preach to Nineveh
because of its wickedness.
Verse 3, but Jonah ran away from the Lord.
And we ask the question,
well, why did Jonah run away?
And the answer comes in chapter 4, verse 2,
where he prays to the Lord,
O Lord, is this not what I said
when I was still at home?
That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.
I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
I knew you are a God who relents from sending calamity.
Jonah was quite happy to speak against the city.
His problem was, he knew there was a good chance
his God was going to forgive this city
and not bring about his promised judgment.
It seems that Jonah can't handle this God of grace
because he himself hasn't come to understand grace.
Before Jonah can speak about grace,
he's got to learn it for himself.
And that's what happened in chapter 2,
where Jonah was swallowed up by the big fish.
And inside the belly of the big fish,
in the storm and all that happened,
he learns and experiences God's intervening grace
for himself.
And in the midst of all of that darkness,
he comes to grasp a little bit more.
And in chapter 3, he continues to learn.
Because in chapter 3, God continues to speak his grace.
He speaks his grace to Jonah.
He speaks his grace to Nineveh.
And then surprisingly, God even speaks his grace to himself.
So let's have a look at those in order.
First, God speaks his grace to Jonah.
Chapter 3, verse 1.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
Go to that great city of Nineveh
and proclaim to it the message I give you.
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord
and went to Nineveh.
Now these first few verses are almost identical
to the opening verses of chapter 1.
Except for there's one difference.
This time Jonah did not disobey.
But he obeyed.
Literally, in chapter 1, verse 3, it says,
Jonah arose and fled.
And in chapter 3, verse 3, it says,
Jonah arose and went.
So what caused this change in Jonah's heart?
Was he afraid that God was going to send another big fish?
Maybe a flying fish this time and swallow him up?
Well, I'm quite sure he didn't want to go back inside the belly of the fish again.
But I think his motivation to obey was because of God's grace in his life.
Look at verse 1 again of chapter 3.
It says,
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
God is giving Jonah a fresh start and a new beginning.
God had every right to reject Jonah.
But he doesn't give up on his people.
He perseveres with us.
He's patient and he's long-suffering.
It would have been so easy to give up on Jonah and go off and try and get another prophet and say,
Well, no, sorry Jonah.
I've employed somebody else.
If you can't be bothered with me, then I can't be bothered with you.
But we're introduced to a God who is a God of second chances.
He perseveres.
He doesn't give up.
Now what's our experience or what's our response when we experience God's grace in our life?
Well, the response should be one of obedience, just like it was for Jonah.
In fact, this is what God demands of us.
He doesn't persevere with us so that we can go off and just disobey and live however we want to.
No, God shows his grace in our lives so that we will obey him, so that we will follow him.
I remember learning something of grace from my father.
In his kindness as a younger person, he allowed me to drive his car to go where I wanted to when he wasn't using it.
Recklessly, however, I managed to crash his car.
But rather than come and say to me, you're never going to drive this car again, which is what I deserve,
he gave the car back to me and said, you can use it again.
He never said these words, but this act of grace demanded of me that I drive responsibly, not recklessly.
Although no words were said, my father's forgiveness demanded a certain kind of behaviour from me.
Now Jonah wrote his life off.
But God showed forgiveness so that Jonah would go and obey and do what he called him to do.
And this is the kind of God that we have.
This is the God who deals with us.
He is persevering.
He doesn't give up on us.
He is the God of second chances.
And if we stop and reflect, he is the God of third chances and fourth chances and however many more chances.
He gives us a new beginning.
He gives us a fresh start so that we will learn to obey him and do what he calls us to do.
So God speaks grace into Jonah's life.
But he also speaks grace into Nineveh's life.
The message that Jonah was to speak has not changed.
Verse 2, he says, go to that great city of Nineveh and proclaim the message I give you.
Now that wasn't going to be easy for Jonah.
Nineveh was one of the cities of the great Assyrian Empire.
It was the superpower of the day.
All the surrounding nations lived in fear of Assyria.
They lived in fear of its king and they did whatever the king asked.
So to go and tell this city that God is going to judge you, well that is going to be hard.
But yet Jonah, motivated by grace, goes and preaches.
And this is what he says, verse 4.
On the first day Jonah started into the city and he proclaimed, just simply summed up,
40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned.
Well you say, where is the grace in that?
It sounds a bit severe.
Well God didn't have to give any warning to Nineveh.
Its wickedness was very evident to all.
But yet God in his grace says, 40 more days.
It's as if God is saying to them, can't you see Nineveh?
You deserve to be wiped out.
But I don't want to destroy you.
I want to save you.
I want to rescue from the judgment that you deserve.
Rather than overturn you, I am persisting with you that you turn to me.
40 more days.
And it had a profound impact upon the people because turning is exactly what happens.
They repent, verse 5.
The Ninevites believed God.
They declared a fast and all of them from the greatest to the least put on sackcloth.
Now fasting and sackcloth, putting that on, was this outward expression,
a very visible demonstration of an inward reality that they had repented and had turned to God.
In fact we're told their repentance was genuine.
Look at verse 10.
Because we're told there that when God saw what they did and how they had turned from their evil ways.
You see, a sign of repentance isn't just words.
It's a change of action in our life.
A completely 180 degree turn of doing opposite to what we were doing.
And repentance is what God demands of all people.
Whatever nation we belong to and whatever social class we belong to.
Verse 5, look at it again.
It says, from the greatest to the least put on sackcloth.
It even applies to the king.
Verse 6, when 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.
You see, God in his persistence of showing grace to his people,
he demands that people repent.
And it's what he demands of each one of us and of our nation
and whatever social class we come from.
Nobody is off limits.
He calls everybody to repent,
to put their life in order,
to change things around
and to turn back to God.
The story is told of a very patient king who was ruler of a very large city.
And he was wondering where he could station his large army of troops.
And after much thought, he decided to locate them,
not in the city,
but a day's march from the city.
So that on occasion of civil disobedience,
it would take time for the troops to march in and restore order.
In the interim, the rebels would have opportunity to come to their senses
and back down.
Nineveh, in God's grace,
was given 40 days
to change her way.
I wonder, how much more grace
are we being shown today?
Well, keep your finger in Jonah chapter 3
and flick over to Matthew's Gospel,
chapter 12.
Because in Matthew 12,
in verse 40,
Jesus actually uses the story of Jonah.
He uses the story of how the people of Nineveh repented
to teach us something.
Matthew 12, verse 40,
it says,
For as Jonah was three days and three nights
in the belly of a huge fish,
so the Son of Man,
that's speaking of Jesus,
will be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
Now in this verse,
Jesus is referring to his resurrection,
that he's going to die,
that he's going to be buried for three days.
He's going to rise again.
And after his resurrection,
is going to come the final judgment
that will follow at the end of time.
Whenever you see the phrase,
Son of Man,
it's always talking about the coming ruler.
So in verse 41,
it says,
At the judgment,
the men of Nineveh
will stand up at the judgment
with this generation
and condemn it.
For they repented
at the preaching of Jonah.
And now one greater
than Jonah is here.
It's as if Jesus is saying,
look,
if the people of Nineveh repented
after hearing this little prophet Jonah preach,
and they were given only 40 days
to turn their lives around,
but they did it within 40 days,
and they did it through Jonah's preaching,
how much more should we repent
when we have one who is greater,
the Lord Jesus?
God,
who came as a man
into the world,
the one who died for us,
and who is still,
not just 40 days later,
but 2,000 years later,
is delaying his return,
is delaying his judgment,
so that we will turn to him.
Every day that passes by
is another day of grace.
Every day that Christ does not return
is another opportunity
for people to repent.
If people could do it with Jonah
after 40 days,
how much more should we repent
when we have Jesus,
who has delayed it for 2,000 years?
This is the kind of God that we have.
He is persisting.
He's not wanting anyone
to be overturned.
He is the God who longs
for people to turn back to him.
He gives opportunity,
delaying his judgment,
so that people will repent,
change their ways,
and be able to live.
So God speaks grace to Jonah.
He speaks grace to the city of Nineveh.
And then surprisingly,
and I,
if you want to come back to me
on this one,
I hope I've got it right,
that God even speaks grace
to himself.
We should not underestimate
what a wicked city Nineveh was.
We're told that in chapter 1, verse 2.
Its wickedness had come up before God.
In fact, history records
just how brutal
an empire they were.
History tells us
that when the Assyrian king
captured another city,
they would mutilate
all the men.
They would cut off their hands,
they would cut out their tongues,
and they would gouge out their eyes.
And then they would be left
in a great big pile
to die a very slow,
painful death
in the sun.
They were brutal.
The women and children,
well, they would be burned alive.
And anything of value
would be taken.
This is the kind of nation
that they were.
So when God threatens
to overturn
or destroy the city
in four days,
you would hardly say
it's without reason,
because they were a violent
and evil race.
But here we're told
the king takes Jonah's message
seriously, verse 8.
He gives this message
to all the nation
in verse 8.
Let everyone
call urgently on God.
Let them give up
their evil ways
and their violence.
Who knows?
God may yet relent
and with compassion
turn from his fierce anger
so that we will not perish.
They deserve
not even one day's grace,
let alone 40 days' grace.
In fact,
they know they deserve
to be wiped off
the face of the earth.
But knowing what they deserve,
they repent
and they throw themselves
on God
in the hope
that God might not do
what he said he would do.
Verse 9.
Who knows?
If we turn back to him,
if we change our life around,
who knows God?
God might relent.
He might have compassion
so that we will not perish.
You see,
God's justice demands
that he deals
with all wickedness.
He can't pretend
it's not there
and look the other way.
Sin must be dealt with.
It cannot be tolerated.
But look at verse 10.
When God saw
what they did
and how they turned
from their evil ways,
he had compassion
and he did not bring upon them
the destruction
that he had threatened.
sins.
It's quite an incredible verse.
Literally,
it's saying
that God
repented.
Not that the threat
of his judgment
was wrong
or that his response
to their sin
was over their top.
No, it means
that he turned
back on his decision
and instead
of judgment,
he had compassion.
because when God
sees people
turn to him,
his character
demands
that he has
compassion.
It's as if God
is having this
sort of conversation
with himself.
On the one hand,
he sees the wickedness
and he says,
it's got to be dealt with.
But then,
on the other hand,
he's saying,
but they've turned.
I've got to show
compassion.
And God
speaks grace
to himself
to show
that he's got
to relent
from sending
the destruction
that the people
deserve.
Of course,
we might not be
as barbaric
as the Ninevites.
Now,
we've become
much more
sophisticated
and intellectual
for that,
but we are
no less
evil
or wicked.
We might not
mutilate people
in war,
but abortions
are carried out
at a rate
of 180,000
a year
in Britain,
many of whom
are travelling
from Ireland.
One doctor
has even suggested
that there should
also be a choice
to kill a disabled
child after birth.
And we are
an increasingly
violent nation.
Listen to your news,
read the paper.
Murders by drug gangs
or an out-of-control
husband or wife
is a regular item
on the news
just as much
as the sports results.
every day
we hear
of violent crime
as yet another
innocent victim
is beaten up
and jumped on
until their head
turns to pulp.
And we mightn't
burn our children
and our women,
but as the recent
primetime
investigate showed,
in a period
of 30 days,
over 1,000 people
in Ireland
were downloading
and sharing
explicit
and violent
child porn.
And they are the ones
that they can manage
to track.
In one day,
last November,
368 women,
291 children,
one day,
receive children
and women
receive support
because of
domestic violence,
many of whom
are going to end up
in long-term care.
And then there's
our desire
for the latest
mobile and fashion
accessories,
which comes to us
at affordable prices
because children
or women
are stuck down
mines,
digging out
coltons,
while others
are dying
in the sweatshops
of China.
What does God
see as he looks
down on our
so-called
Christian
nation?
What does he see
when he examines
our own lives?
When he looks
into the privacy
of our own
homes?
What does he see?
The truth is,
we are no different.
The message
that Jonah preached
also applies
to us.
God's
promised
judgment
is coming.
God's
just
and fair
response
to the evil
and the violence
that he sees.
It's amazing
that God
has not yet
returned
and put an end
to the suffering
that goes on
in our lives.
What's our response?
God's
love?
Well, it should
be no different
to that of the
king,
verse 8.
Let everyone
call urgently
on God.
Let them
give up their
evil ways
and their violence.
Who knows?
God may yet
relent.
God may
be no different
reality
is,
one day
we will all
have to deal
with God.
The whole
nation of
Ireland is
going to have
to stand
before God.
What will
that be
like?
Well,
as we
close,
turn over to
Revelation
please,
chapter 19.
Here we
are given
a picture.
We are
given a
vision from
the risen
Lord Jesus
through the
words of
John of
what that
day is
going to
be like.
Yes,
there's lots
of imagery
here,
but I
think it
presents a
picture of
just how
serious
Christ's
coming
will be.
Chapter 19
verse 11.
I saw
heaven
standing
open,
and there
before me
was a
white horse
whose rider
is called
Faithful
and True.
With
justice he
judges and
makes war.
His eyes
are like
blazing
fire,
and on
his head
are many
crowns,
he has
a name
written on
him that
no one
knows but
he himself.
He is
dressed in
a robe
dipped in
blood,
and his
name is
the word
of God.
The
armies of
heaven were
following him,
riding on
white horses
and dressed
in fine
linen,
white and
clean.
Out of
his mouth
comes a
sharp sword
with which
to strike
down the
nation.
king of
kings.
He will
rule them
with an
iron
scepter.
He
treads the
winepress of
the fury of
the wrath of
God Almighty.
name written,
king of kings
and lord of
lords.
One day we
will have to
face him.
One day the
island of
Ireland will
face him,
the people of
King Thales
will face him.
But in his
grace he is
given warning
of his coming
judgment,
life.
That we
should repent
and if we
do,
who knows?
God may
yet relent.
That he
would have
compassion,
that he
would bring
forgiveness
so that
people would
change their
ways and
live and
know the
joy of
eternal life
and the
blessing of
obeying and
walking with
God.
grace.
Before we
can speak of
grace, we
need to learn
of God's
grace and
experience it
deeply in
our own
lives.
Let's pray
together.
Amen.
Father, sometimes we struggle
with the fact that your words speak so much of a God who is one day going to come and judge.
We don't like to think of a God who will judge.
But yet when we look at the state of our nation,
when we see the suffering and pain in our world,
when we examine our own lives,
we are amazed that you have not yet come already.
Father, help us to take seriously your warning.
Help us to take seriously your amazing grace,
that you would give us chances, that you would give us opportunity.
We pray that we would learn your grace more and more,
speak your grace into our lives.
If we come today and we're feeling we need that chance yet again,
Lord, be gracious and give us that second chance.
Give us that chance to turn,
to obey, to follow you,
to live out your grace in our own lives,
so that people will know you and follow you.
Please be at work by your Holy Spirit, we pray.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
We're going to take a spin together.
We're going to spin together.