The God Of Second Chances | Jonah 3.1-10 | Pastor Dave Hentschel

Allow me to begin this morning with a true story.

Travel back with me to the year 1956.

When you get there, you're gonna find five young missionaries who landed on a sandbar in the Ecuadorian jungle.

Among them was Jim Elliott.

Jim Elliott was convinced that there was this one tribe who never had heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The tribe was known as the Warani people.

Back then they would refer to them as the Alka Indians.

Everyone knew about this tribe, everyone knew the danger.

The tribe had this reputation for violence.

Their friends warned them not to go.

Their families understood the risk that was involved here as well.

But for Jim and for his friends, he believed deep down in his heart that there wasn't a people that were beyond the reach of God's amazing grace.

Years earlier, he had famously written some words down that we all probably know when he said this he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim understood that his life didn't really belong to him, that his life belonged to Jesus Christ, who had purchased him.

And if Christ had given him his grace, how could he now withhold that grace from others who had never heard?

So on January 8th, 1956, Jim and the team of four other missionaries made contact with the tribe.

Instead of receiving them peacefully, what we know is that the missionaries were speared to death.

There was a documentary produced which told that entire story called The End of the Spear.

Many people back then, and maybe even many people today, conclude that that was a tragic waste.

But the truth is that God was just beginning to write that story.

It was just a few years later when Jim's widow, Elizabeth Elliott, along with Nate Saint's widow, Rachel Saint, decided that they were going to go back, that they were gonna return to pursue the very people who killed their husbands.

They did not come there seeking revenge.

They came there offering this tribe a second chance.

They came there offering this tribe the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And by God's grace, over time, through a miraculous series of events, a great number of Warani people, including the very men who were involved in those killings, placed their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The tribe has been transformed by the power of the gospel today.

Here we are, a generation later.

There are Warrani believers, there are Warani pastors, there are churches amongst the Warani people, and they are there because one person believed that God's grace was worth risking something to proclaim it.

He is no fool who gains what he cannot keep, who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Amen.

But we are all sent.

We all have neighbors, we all have coworkers.

You like me, all have family members that are far from God, and God has placed them around us, and some of them may be difficult to love at times.

So this morning I want to ask you a simple question, and I think it's driven from the text.

The question is this Where is God calling you?

But you're kind of afraid to go.

Where is God calling you, but you're afraid to go?

A family member, a friend, a coworker, maybe it's even somewhere beyond those individuals.

The book of Jonah is asking a very similar question.

God had told Jonah to go to a people who were violent, to go to this people who were wicked, to go to this people who were dangerous.

Nineveh was the last place that Jonah wanted to be.

Yet God's purpose was not merely to go there and announce his wrath and judgment, it was to extend grace.

It was to offer them a second chance.

And that's what this passage is about.

And so the title of my message today is The God of Second Chances.

And as you read through the text, it pretty easily divides into three distinct movements.

You're gonna see God calls, you're gonna see the people repent, and then you're gonna see God forgives.

That's the plan.

Let's pray and ask the Holy Spirit for help here.

Heavenly Father, as we open your word, give us ears to hear what your spirit is not only saying to your church, but to us, to our hearts.

Just as you call Jonah a second time, I know that your grace pursues undeserving people like me.

So humble our hearts, where we have maybe become resistant to your will, and strengthen us again in a fresh way to obey your voice without delay.

Would you fill us with the compassion of the Savior for those that are far from you?

Forgive us for relating to this thing like it's a burden and not a blessing, like it's a pain and not a privilege.

So may your word accomplish exactly what you intend today.

If there are folks here today who don't know you, would you draw them to repentance?

Encourage weary saints here with your mercy.

And make us all into a church, into a people, eager to proclaim the best news in all of the world, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Savior who offers a second chance.

For we pray it in his name.

And everyone said, Amen.

All right, we left off last time.

Oliver Aridi did a fantastic job.

What an amazing young man.

He ended with chapter 2, verse 10.

Remember what that said?

It said this, and the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Jonah was vomited up onto the beach.

Beach barf.

Pretty gross.

But there's really only two ways you could get out of that whale, and I guess this is be the preferred way that you would want to get out of that whale if you had to choose.

Now, I recognize this account in the Bible, like maybe some other miraculous accounts in the Bible, seem extreme.

And for that reason, I recognize that some people find this story to be very hard to believe.

And I want to encourage you just with a little fact here.

There have been documented cases, they are rare, but there are cases of human beings surviving, being swallowed and vomited back up by whales.

You probably saw this one last year, it caught my attention, February 2025.

There was this 24-year-old kayaker, his name was Adrian.

He was in the Strait of Magellan near Punta Arenas, Chile, and this humpback whale suddenly surfaced right underneath of him, swallows him and his kayak, and the whale engulfs the whole person and then releases him a little while later.

His dad was kayaking right next to him, and he had his phone and he videoed the whole thing.

Go to YouTube and just watch that video.

And it's unbelievable.

As they interviewed this young man later, he described it.

He described the darkness, he described the stinkiness, he described the slimy surface that he experienced in there before he was spit back out.

And amazingly, this dude was uninjured, but understandably shaken up a little bit.

Just go to YouTube after church, enjoy that story.

It's unreal.

I say that just to say that's not the only documented case.

This has happened, it's rare, but the story's not as far-fetched as you might think.

It reminds me of a funny story about a little girl who was riding on an airplane.

The little girl was reading her Bible, and she happened to be sitting right next to an older man who was skeptical.

And the older man who was skeptical turned to this little girl and said, What are you reading?

She said, Well, I'm reading my Bible.

And he said, Oh, I, you know, I don't know if I believe that book.

I don't know if I believe that Bible.

What are you reading in the Bible?

She goes, Well, I'm I'm reading the book of Jonah.

He goes, That's a perfect example.

Do you really believe that?

Do you really believe that a man could get swallowed by a fish and somehow survive all of that?

And the little girl was, yeah, I believe it, and it's in the Bible.

And the guy goes, Well, how's that possible?

How could he possibly survive that?

And the little girl goes, Well, I don't know.

When I get to heaven, I'll ask him.

And the guy goes, Well, what if you get to heaven and he's not there?

She goes, Well, then you ask him.

All right, these are the jokes, folks.

For context, remember, there are two major scenes in the book of Jonah.

Some of you'll get that later.

There are two major scenes in the book of Jonah, scene one, scene two.

They are almost identical in their structure.

I love a good chart, but this is not just to show you a cool literary device.

What this chart is showing you is demonstrating a theological principle that happens all over the Bible.

And the principle is this: first, God does a work in you, and then he uses you to do a work in others.

That's what our God loves to do.

He loves to take a person, to redeem them, to clean them up, to take them out of a certain environment, and then after having done his sanctifying work, calls them back to go back into that same environment and carry his news of grace to others.

That's what's happening right here.

As we enter into scene two, we realize Jonah first was saved himself, and now who better to carry the message of salvation than him who had just experienced that?

Jonah is now more prepared than anyone else to go.

Jonah had sinned and Jonah was forgiven.

Jonah had suffered and Jonah was now delivered.

Jonah had prayed and Jonah received an answer, and now that experience has now uniquely qualified him to bring that same message of God's grace to the people of Nineveh.

What past experiences might you have that have uniquely qualified you for God to use you in your life?

And that brings us to our text today.

As we look at scene two, we pick it up with chapter three and verse one.

You say that was just the introduction?

Yes, that was just the introduction.

Buckle your seatbelts.

Chapter three, verse one says this.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.

Everybody say, second time, second time, yes.

Notice carefully what came the second time.

Not forgiveness, not comfort, not an apology, not a new assignment.

The word.

Friends, God's grace often comes to us in the form of the word every Sunday, every quiet time, every conviction, every rebuke, every gospel invitation, the word comes again a second time.

How many of you in here are thankful for second chances?

How many in here are grateful that we serve a God who not only calls, but he calls back?

Can I get a good amen?

We couldn't save ourselves.

We all needed a do-over.

We all needed a second chance.

We're not saved by works, we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

We come to this God and we thank him that no matter who you are and what you've done or how much you messed up, we have a God of second chances who says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved.

In some ways, this is the story of the whole Bible.

The Bible's filled with people who needed a second chance, who failed, and God in his grace pursued them a second time and he used them.

Moses was a murderer.

David was an adulterer.

Rahab was a prostitute.

Zacchaeus was a corrupt tax collector.

Peter denied the Lord three times.

Thomas doubted the resurrection.

Yet the God of the Bible displays his grace for his people again and again and again.

Isn't that your story too?

I thank God for the story of my own salvation in my life.

I thank God that the word of the Lord came to me a second time.

That's what's happening here.

And what did God say to do?

Look at verse 2.

It says, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.

Notice a couple things going on here.

First, that phrase at the beginning, arise, go, means go, go now, go immediately, go today.

This is an imperative command.

No time to waste.

I think there's a principle here that we need to learn, and it's this whenever God speaks to you, do it now, do it immediately, do it today.

Whenever God prompts you to do something, do it now, do it immediately, do it today.

Not later.

You know, sometimes Julie and I would run into these other parents that had this technique of parenting their little kids and they had the counting method.

You know the counting method when kids are disobeying?

They're disobeying and then the parents start this countdown, like one, two.

Julie and I were not having any of that.

We had something called first-time obedience.

We're not counting to nothing, okay?

That's what God wants.

God wants us to have first-time obedience.

Now we all know Jonah did not have first-time obedience.

But here, this second time, it's a different story.

And what a different scenario it is.

Now, Jonah gets this message, and his response is, here I am, send me.

And that needs to be our response to.

In fact, church, would you say that with me?

Here I am, send me.

Amen.

Notice the message that Jonah's supposed to give.

Jonah's not to give his own message.

Did you see that?

The message that I will tell you.

This is God's message.

Jonah does not get to decide the content of the preaching himself.

No, his conscience is held captive by the word of God.

And my friends, the same is true today.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is ours to proclaim, it is not ours to edit.

My friends, there is not anyone, no matter how great of a minister you are, or how learned you are, or how acute you are, or how educated you are, that you don't have to observe this same exact rule.

Whether that's James, whether that's Peter, the rock, whether that's Paul the Apostle, or any preacher today, Galatians 1 says, if anyone comes preaching another gospel than the one you've already received, let them be accursed.

We are to give the message that God tells us to give.

Verse 3 continues.

It says this, 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 breath.

Jonah began to go into the city going a day's journey.

This is fascinating.

First of all, notice it says Jonah arose, and you may remember from back in chapter one that Jonah was constantly going down, down, down, down.

Here we have the opposite.

Now Jonah is beginning to obey, and he's going up, up, up.

And that's what happens when you get back into the will of God.

You go up, up, up.

Jonah arose.

Secondly, here is a man who has crossed into enemy lines.

He is now into Assyria, and he is deep into this strange territory.

He's a third of the way in.

And he's bold, but he's alone.

Think of what he might be seeing here in this great city.

As he looks around, what a contrast to Joppa or to Jerusalem.

Here he would have seen pagan temples dedicated to false gods.

Here he would have come across tombs and monuments to other deities.

He probably saw great military power as he walked through this city.

And he probably also saw terrible things happening in the city of Nineveh.

So Jonah goes and he preaches this message.

And what does he say?

What is his message?

Now, if you go to seminary and you want to be a pastor, they have these preaching classes and you're supposed to learn how to preach.

And they teach you how to do introductions.

And usually they say you should craft an introduction with some care and some skill.

And the common advice is to start with something soft.

Start with a story or start with something inviting, some kind of hook or something like that.

Give a gentle intro.

If you're given the gospel, you know, start with this: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, that kind of thing.

So this is the way they teach you to craft sermon introductions.

I just want you to notice that Jonah completely missed that preaching class.

Okay, so uh the text goes on to tell us this.

This is what he said.

It says, and he called out, quote, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Now Jonah probably said more than this, but this was the summary, this was the gist of his message.

And so he goes around to different locations throughout the city preaching with this warning: This city will be overthrown or destroyed.

Same Hebrew construction as we read in Genesis 19, with the city of Sodom and Gomorrah being overthrown or destroyed.

That's his message.

Here it says that he gave them 40 days.

40 days in the scripture is oftentimes a period of time associated with having an encounter with God.

And so Jonah wants these people, God, through Jonah, wants to give these people an encounter with himself.

And I wonder as Jonah goes around preaching this message, what in the world is going through his mind?

I wonder, what is he thinking?

Well, he's probably thinking, this is so dumb.

These people hate God.

These people hate me.

There's no way they're gonna listen to me.

This isn't gonna work.

Now, some of you, you might be thinking the same thing.

In other words, you've got somebody in your life and you're like, I don't think this person's gonna listen to me.

Maybe it's your parents, maybe it's your friend, maybe one of your siblings, maybe one of your children.

Whoever it is, I want to encourage you not to underestimate the power of the word of God.

God's word does what he wants it to do.

The scripture tells us really clearly: God's word never returns empty or void.

It accomplishes his purpose.

The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.

Here we have one of the most powerful moves of the Holy Spirit in the whole Bible, at least in the whole Old Testament.

Nineveh was 500,000 strong.

That's the size of Atlanta, Georgia.

Just imagine all of Atlanta, Georgia turning to God.

Just imagine a revival of that size.

And here, Jonah preached like the shortest evangelistic sermon I think I've ever seen.

There's no invitation, there's no stories, there's no illustrations, there's no worship team.

John and Amy aren't coming up afterwards to have a closing song.

There's no altar call.

Yet we see revival.

And do you know why?

It's because salvation belongs to the Lord.

I say that to encourage you.

You might be a lay person, you may have an opportunity to share Christ.

You're not formally trained in the ministry, you're not exactly sure what you're gonna say, and you're going, Do I really have what it takes to articulate the gospel?

The answer is yes.

You do not need a lot of sophisticated information to be able to share the simple message of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What happens here comes from a simple message.

What happened to the Warani people when Elizabeth Elliott and Rachel Saint went back to minister the gospel to them was a result of the simple grace of God.

And God used them mightily, and God wants to use you too.

Here at NBC, we have one of the most robust missions programs that I have ever encountered.

And we are doing this each and every day.

So good to hear from missionaries every single week during this series.

Now, some people struggle with this.

Some people struggle with the whole concept of missions.

And especially if you look at the data and the statistics, there are people, especially in the younger generations in Gen Z who object to missions in general.

So when we hear stories like Jimmy Elliott's story or some other missionary work, they perceive that as a form of cultural imperialism or colonialism.

And if that's your perspective, I just want to lovingly argue with you for just a minute by answering that question.

Is global Christian missions unethical?

Well, the first way I would answer that question is I would say, actually, let me acknowledge that sadly, there have been times in history where political conquest and the spread of Christianity have become intertwined in unhealthy ways and in sinful ways.

And Christians should be honest about those failures and never defend coercion or exploitation.

But I also want to say that that's not what happened with Jim Elliott.

They were not backed by an army or a government or economic power.

This wasn't the Crusades.

They didn't come to seize land or extract resources or impose political control.

Actually, they came willing to give their lives, not take somebody else's life.

And because they simply believed the message of the Great Commission that every single people, regardless of culture or language, deserved an opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and freely respond, they decided to go.

In that sense, Jim Elliott's story is closer to Jonah than colonialism.

Jonah, like that, was sent not to conquer Nineveh, but to Preach.

God did not send an empire, he sent one prophet.

His mission was not domination, it was an invitation.

And we have the same kind of message when we engage in global missions today.

It's an invitation.

So this was Jonah's message.

It was blunt, it was brief.

By all human reasoning, this should have failed.

But what happens next is one of the most surprising moves of God in all of history.

Part two.

The people repent.

Jonah preaches.

Look what happens.

Verse 5.

It says, And the people of Nineveh believed God.

This is a miracle.

They didn't just believe in God, they believed God.

Hebrews chapter 11 says, if anyone wants to come to God, first they must believe that he is and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Until you start there, there's no spiritual beginning.

They believed God.

They believed what he said.

They believed who he was.

They believed what he says about people.

They believed what he says about sin.

And this is what happens.

They believe God.

Now you might be sitting back going, how?

Like how did this happen?

How did this one prophet go take this one simple message?

And all of a sudden there's all this fruit.

How could we explain this?

Well, historians actually point out that during this time, the nation of Assyria was experiencing a series of famines and plagues and other natural disasters, which they would have seen as omens of worse things to come.

And so in that way, it appears that the God of all creation was preparing the ground in advance before his prophet came.

That's a sociological explanation.

But then, of course, there's also the spiritual explanation that we serve a God who has perfect timing, who sends his prophet Jonah and pours out upon them his grace.

He shows mercy to whom he shows mercy.

And we know repentance is also a work of God.

2 Timothy 2.25.

Repentance is a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God.

And so the people respond by believing God.

And that's not all.

It goes on to tell us more.

It says they called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Now, back then, fasting and sackcloth, that would have been a posture of grief.

That would have been a posture of mourning.

That would have been a posture of repentance.

That would have been a posture of seeking mercy from God.

They are mourning over their sin.

And this is what God calls us to do.

King David, after he sinned, cries out to God with a humble and contrite spirit and says, Quote, I acknowledge my transgression before you, and my sin is ever before me.

This is why the Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

There is a time for mourning and humbling ourselves before a holy God.

And when people do that, heaven takes notice.

There's a poem written about those who humble themselves that really is wonderful.

It says this, quote, on bended knee, replete with godly grief, see where the mourner kneels to seek relief.

For from his full heart pours forth the gushing plea, God of the lost, be merciful to me.

The light of life descends in heavenly rays, and the angels shout and sing, Behold, he prays.

This is the response of Nineveh.

And that's not all.

It also tells us in verse 6, it says, the word reached the king, the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removes his robe, covers himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

Now many scholars believe the reigning monarch at this time was probably Shalmaneser III, or one of the two who followed him, Ashur Danil or Ashur Nirari.

We're not totally sure, but those are the kings that overlap with Jonah's ministry, and history tells us that Assyria during their reigns experienced a series of crises, military setbacks, internal unrest, a significant plague, and there was actually a solar eclipse in 763 BC, which ancient peoples often viewed as an ominous sign.

All of those events together, combined with Jonah's preaching, makes the king of Nineveh take notice, and he has this unusually receptive response to Jonah's message.

Secondly, notice that this king removes himself from his throne.

This king gets up off of the throne in an incredible act of humility in that time.

This was a very powerful person.

Here he is, humbling himself.

These ashes, they would have been symbolic, meaning when something is burned like that, the symbol is that everything worthwhile is gone.

So here is this king humbling himself in ashes, leading by example, providing really a model for government officials.

Kings can lead their nations into sin.

Kings can be responsible for leading a nation into misery, and kings and leaders can lead nations to a time of national repentance and prayer.

Here we have an example of the latter.

And he invites the whole nation to follow him in his example with this big proclamation.

Take a look at verse 7.

And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, quote, by the decree of the king and his nobles, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock taste anything.

Even the animals are going to fast.

Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God.

Let every one turn from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their his hands.

Who knows?

God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.

This is the proclamation.

The key term in this whole text is the term turn, or the Hebrew word shoev.

It means to turn, to turn around, to turn aside, or sometimes it's translated to repent.

And it is an absolutely central concept for what's going on here and what God calls us to do as well.

Repentance is saying, I am sorry for the wrong that I have done.

No apologies, no excuses, no equivocations, just I am sorry, period, full stop.

Is it possible that you're here today and you've presumed?

You've assumed that things were right between you and God, but you have never truly repented of your sin.

I encourage you to do that today.

This is what they choose to do.

Second, I want you to notice they turn from their evil ways and their violence.

The term violence there is the Hebrew term Hamas, same root as the Arabic cognate that we hear often today.

That's what they were known for: violence.

But here they turn from their violence.

So just step back and observe this just for a second.

Against all odds, against all expectations, including Jonas, this powerful city of Nineveh turns to God and repents.

Can we just pause and thank the Lord for his mercy?

Oh, thank you, Lord, for your mercy.

Would you say that with me?

Thank you, Lord, for your mercy.

Think of it.

Nineveh, proud in its invincibility and power, is now humbling themselves.

They turn.

Now, if you were God, how would you respond to their repentance?

If you were God, how would you decide to act?

Maybe if I was God, I'd be like, all right, prove it.

If I was God, I'd be like, okay, I'll give you a year of probation.

If you're serious, we'll be able to tell over time.

But you gotta make sure you tell tell everybody that this is really serious, this is really gonna be true.

Maybe that's how I would respond if I was God, but that's not what our God does.

Part three.

God forgives.

Take a look at verse 10.

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented.

God relented of the disaster that he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Notice those first three words.

When God saw, it's all over the Bible.

God and his eyes move to and fro throughout the earth that he might strongly support the one whose heart really belongs to him.

God looks down and he sees, and he sees they repent, and he shows them compassion.

It's absolutely amazing.

And I want to focus on that because that's really the whole point.

But you might be looking at this verse and you're feeling a theological tension with the word relented.

What does it mean that God relented?

Jonah 3.10 is a text that people point to as they struggle with what's called in systematic theology the doctrine of God's immutability or the doctrine that God does not change.

Relented?

Does God relent?

The NIV has a very similar translation.

It also uses the word relented here.

If you go back to the King James in 1611, what they did was they translated the term with God repented, which seems even more confusing.

If you go to a more modern paraphrase like the New Living Translation, not really a paraphrase, it's a translation.

The New Living Translation says this: He changed his mind.

Which doesn't seem to make me have any less of a headache.

Some of you are looking at this going, okay.

The Bible's really clear.

God does not change.

The Bible says God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

Malachi chapter 3 is unequivocal.

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

I, the Lord, do not change.

So how does this work?

And that is an excellent question.

Throughout scripture class, we learn that God is immutable.

He doesn't grow wiser because he already knows everything.

He does not become better because he's perfect.

He doesn't revise his plans because he already knows the perfect plan.

And so theologian Herman Bavink writes in his Reformed Dogmatics, God remains who he is.

If he could improve, he wasn't perfect before.

If he could deteriorate, he would cease to be God.

I mean, do you really want to fickle God who changes his mind willy-nilly?

I don't think you do.

So what does Jonah 3.10 mean when it says God relented?

Well, the answer is that the Bible accommodates human beings.

That the Bible often describes God in ways we can understand from a human perspective.

And the big word that they use to articulate this is an anthropomorphism, or ascribing to God characteristics that are human characteristics.

From where we stand humanly, it appears that God has changed.

But what's really changed is actually the people standing before him.

Again, Bob Ink is helpful here.

He compares this to the sun.

Like a sundial.

The sun does not change.

Yet if I step out of the shade and into the sunlight, my experience of the sun changes quite dramatically.

Now the sun hasn't changed, but I have.

If you put wax and clay under the same sun, one melts, one hardens.

The sun hasn't changed.

What has changed is the nature of the object before the sun.

In this way, the real point of God's doctrine of immutability is that God's character never changes, that God's nature never changes.

God is always going to be opposed to evil.

God is always going to delight to show mercy to those who are repentant.

God didn't change.

Nineveh changed.

God didn't change.

Nineveh changed.

Friends, God didn't change.

Nineveh changed.

They moved from rebellion to repentance.

Their relationship to God was reoriented.

And therefore, God's dealings with them made an adjustment.

This is what football coaches say.

You don't change, you make adjustments.

So God made an adjustment.

Jonah's warning, I think, in itself, you could read it as carrying with it an implied condition.

This is common for prophetic warnings.

There's an implied invitation here.

There's an implied contingency in his prophecy, and that's common throughout the prophets.

God's threats of judgments are meant to drive sinners to repentance.

Jeremiah chapter 18 makes this very explicit.

Jeremiah 18 · chapter mention

In fact, let me put it up on the screen and just read this to you.

I think this will make sense in light of our text.

Jeremiah 18, 7 says this if at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, or destroyed, and if that nation I warn repents of its evils, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

This is exactly what's going on in Jonah chapter 3.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

Friends, God isn't changing his mind.

This is God acting consistently according to his unchanging character.

God in the Bible is called many things, but one of the things we call God is the rock.

He's called the rock because he doesn't change.

He's called the rock because rocks don't wake up in a different mood.

He's called the rock because the mountain you climbed when you were 12 years old is still there.

He's called the rock because the cliff doesn't suddenly turn into sand tomorrow.

It's still a rock.

Like that, God being the rock has character that doesn't change based on shifting shadows or changing emotions.

God is immutable, he's unchanging.

And that's actually why repentance works, because God never changes.

And that's wonderful news.

Because if God's mercy depended upon his changing mood, none of us could have any assurance when we come to him in repentance.

But his mercy flows from his unchanging character.

The whole reason repentant sinners can come to him is because he doesn't change.

It's because he's always the same.

Look at the verse again.

The real surprise here in Jonah chapter 3 is not that God relented, it's that our God delights to do so.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

This isn't a reluctant God looking for an excuse.

This is a gracious God who sends a prophet because he loves a people and he wants to draw them in repentance.

In the very same way, when you and I repent, God shows compassion.

Now, how can he do that?

These Ninevehes had committed terrible evil and violence.

Why can God do that?

The answer is because someone else would bear the judgment in their place.

Nineveh escapes judgment temporarily, but one day there would be a sin bearer that would come that would bear that judgment in a permanent sense.

God never ignores justice.

Every sin is judged.

The question is where will it be judged?

Either it will fall upon the sinner or it will fall upon the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is good news.

It means when I mess up, when you mess up, it means the word of the Lord comes a second time.

A second time.

And when you repent, it means God shows compassion on you.

Friends, this is the good news of the gospel, and this is who our God is in the whole Bible.

When he reveals himself to Moses, what does he say?

I am the Lord, the Lord, gracious and compassionate abounding in steadfast love.

2 Peter 3, the Lord is not slow about keeping his promise, but he's patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

And when his wrath is averted, and when we experience his mercy, we say, like the scripture tells us in Isaiah chapter 12, verse 1, I will praise you, Lord.

Isaiah 12:1

Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me.

Can you imagine one day when we enter into the gates of heaven and we experience the glory of paradise, and we're surrounded by others who've also been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Can you imagine saying, Oh Lord, I will praise you.

Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me.

Friends, this is the kind of God we have.

We have a God not just of second chances, but third chances and fourth chances.

He doesn't give up on the Ninevites, He didn't give up on Jonah, and He didn't give up on you.

So if you're here today and you've drifted away, you're far from God right now, and you think you messed up beyond His ability to forgive you, that's not true.

I want you to hear this message from Jonah chapter 3 right now.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

His grace is greater than your sin.

If you're here today, brother or sister, and you need a second chance, you need to repent today, then today is the day.

Back then they heard the preaching of this man named Jonah, but someone greater than Jonah is here now.

He's greater in his person, he is greater in his office, he is greater in his power, and he is greater in his influence.

I'm talking about the true and greater Jonah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

May I ask you, have you been resisting him?

If they could not escape, for resisting this prophet back then who spoke from earth, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

Maybe today's the day where you need a second chance, and today's the day where you decide I'm gonna repent of my sins.

I encourage you to do so.

As the songwriter says, Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus is ready, standing to save you, full of pity, joined with power.

And let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream, because all the fitness he requires is to feel your need of him.

My brother or sister, if you're in need of that grace, the God of second chances stands ready to receive you today.

And if you're here today and you've already received that grace, may we also remember that his grace is greater than the sins of the people that he has placed around us.

And so who are they?

This week we have this VBS program, 150 kids coming through.

We get to share the good news of Jesus with them.

We have a few open spots.

If you know kids around you that would benefit from a week like this, throw out the invitation today.

Who is it around you that needs a second chance?

Some of you, as soon as I asked that question earlier, a face came to mind, a name came to mind.

It was a coworker, it was your neighbor, it was your family member, somebody you've been avoiding because that conversation is uncomfortable, someone you've quietly maybe even assumed they're beyond hope.

But the Jonah chapter three message is that they are not.

That they are not beyond God's grace.

And so let me ask you one more time.

Where is God calling you?

But you're afraid to go.

Maybe some of you, God's calling you out on missions.

I want you to come to our missions conference this fall, consider going with our team when we go to Senegal next year, talk to the McLeans at the table in the back after service and learn more about what steps you would need to take to answer a call like that.

You never know how God would want to use you.

Jim Elliott, never live to see the harvest.

But God did.

That's the question I think Jonah chapter 3 leaves us with.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

And it's a con it's a question that should haunt us today.

Will I carry God's grace to the people he has placed around me?

The gospel reached me when I didn't deserve it.

It reached us when we didn't deserve it.

And now we have the privilege of sharing the greatest news in all of the world that we have a God of second chances to those around us.

Today we've seen Jonah do great things.

But from our perspective, in the New Testament, after the Lord Jesus has come, the true and greater Jonah, we know that he's done even greater things.

Jonah walked into the city that his enemies built, but Jesus walked into the city that would crucify him.

Jonah announced judgment when he got to that city, but Jesus got to that city and he bore the judgment in their place.

Jonah offered them 40 days.

Jesus offers eternal life.

Jonah reluctantly enters into Nineveh, but Jesus willingly gave up his life.

Because Jesus Christ came, we now can go and take this message of the God of second chances to all of those around us.

My challenge today is may we be a church that goes and tells others about this God of second chances.

Amen.

I'd like to invite the worship team to come right now as we pray and respond in worship.

Would you pray with me as we close?

Thank you, Father, for reminding us today who you are.

You reminded us that you're a God of second and third and fourth chances.

Thank you that your mercy is greater than all of our failures.

Thank you that your patience exceeds our rebellion.

Thank you that your grace is sufficient for every sinner who turns to you.

Forgive us for the times where we've acted more like Jonah than Jesus Christ, reluctant to obey, slow to forgive, and hesitant to share the hope of the gospel.

Instead, would you give us hearts that reflect your heart, reflect your compassion?

With every head bowed, every eye closed in this place, if you're here today and you need a second chance from God, would you just place your hand over your heart as a quiet way of saying, Lord, I'm turning to you.

Would you just take a moment and tell the Lord that you're asking him for a second chance?

Would you just do that right now in the quietness of this moment?

Just go ahead and do that and let God know.

And Lord, we also pray for those in our lives who seem so far from you.

Help us not to assume that they are beyond your reach, or someone else will get to them.

Give us courage to enter into that city and to speak your truth with love.

Trusting your word is powerful to save, just as it was back then.

For we pray all these things through the mercy and grace and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.

And everyone said,