God's Amazing Grace

I want you to pretend with me that when I was sitting on the end of that pew, I had one foot stuck in the aisle.

And one of the ushers, as he walked by, tripped and fell flat on his face.

If it had been Tyler, we'd have just laughed.

Or what if I got up and I looked down and I said, I'm sorry, Tyler.

Sorry.

Got back in that pew and stuck my foot out again.

Do you think he should take my apology seriously?

No one would, would they?

It's obvious.

I'm not sorry if that's how I reacted.

But what if he fell and I jumped up?

I am so sorry, Tyler.

I did not mean to do that.

I didn't mean for my foot to be out there.

Let me help you up.

And I sit back down and I even scoop down now to make sure my foot's not out again.

That ought to be believable, shouldn't it?

In the tone of my voice, my response, that would be genuine sorrow, even repentance, because I'm changing my action, getting a foot out of the way.

Now, let's don't pretend.

Think to yourself, when I realize that I have sinned against God or another person, how do I respond?

Boys and girls, when you know you've done something that God doesn't want you to do, or your parents don't want you to do,

or you know you've done something to wrong somebody you go to school with, one of your classmates.

And you're made to feel guilty.

Either God convicts you, inflicts guilt on you, or your parent confronts you, or a teacher confronts you.

What's your normal response?

Do you just mouth a meaningless, I'm sorry?

But you're not.

And you don't intend to even change your behavior.

If you're doing that, you're not fooling anybody.

I want to say this to boys and girls especially.

Every teacher in this room, and probably most parents who have more than one child,

something's happened, and you've told one child to say to another, you're sorry.

Boys and girls, if you've been there, you're the one, and you looked at them and said, sorry, you just lied.

And everybody knows it.

Your facial expression, your tone gave you away.

You didn't mean it.

Or, when you sin against God or another person,

does the way you respond,

your voice, your tone, your facial expression,

what you do afterward,

does it demonstrate true sorrow and repentance?

Well, this morning we're going to look at what real repentance looks like

in Jonah chapter 3.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

Turn with me if you would.

Jonah chapter 3.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

If you're here for the first time in a long time,

we're in a study of the book of Jonah.

We're in chapter 3 today.

And what we're going to see is that

Jonah preached.

The people of Nineveh

truly believed God

and repented,

turned from,

changed their mind and life

toward their sin.

This chapter

provides us with a clear picture

of what real repentance looks like.

And

I want to see as we go through this,

everything that happens

is a demonstration

of God's grace.

God's amazing grace,

like I titled this message.

Read with me.

We're in Jonah chapter 3.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

Last week,

we just looked at the first few verses

with a focus on

God gives us a second chance.

God gives His people

second and third

and on and on chances

when we truly

confess our sin,

turn from it,

and seek His forgiveness.

Jonah had a second chance.

God called him to go to Nineveh

the second time,

and he went.

Verse 3 tells us the message.

So Jonah arose

and went to Nineveh

according to the word

of the Lord.

Now Nineveh

was an exceedingly

great city.

Some translations

would say

great city to God.

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

or destroyed.

And the people of Nineveh

believed God,

and they called for a fast

and put on sackcloth

from the greatest of them

to the least.

The people in general

responded to the preaching

of God's word

by believing God

and demonstrating repentance.

And then

the king got in on it.

The people responded first

is what I want us to see.

Verse 6.

The word reached

the king of Nineveh,

and he arose

from his throne,

removed his robe,

covered himself

with sackcloth,

and sat in ashes.

In his day,

he couldn't show

more humility

and repentance

over his sin.

Verse 7.

And he issued

a proclamation

and published

through Nineveh

by the decree

of the king

and his nobles,

let neither man

nor beast,

herd nor flock

taste anything.

Let them not feed

or drink water,

but let man

and beast

be covered

with sackcloth

and let them

call out mightily

to God.

It was highly unusual

in reading

what was going on

in that day and time

for such public

humility,

sorrow,

brokenness

to include animals.

But the king

issued this decree

as a way

of saying to the people,

we've got to let

God know

that we are serious.

We want God

to know

that we are truly

broken,

repentant

in hopes

that he will not

destroy us.

Look back now.

Verse

8.

Let everyone

turn from

his evil way

and from

the violence

that is in

his hands.

Who knows?

God may

turn

and relent

and turn

from his fierce

anger

so that we

may not perish.

When God

saw what they did,

how they turned

from their evil way,

God relented

of the disaster

that he had said

he would do

to them

and he did

not do it.

This is a

chapter that tells

us a lot about

repentance,

but it also tells

us a lot about

grace.

Let's look at it.

Number one.

God graciously

warns us

of the final

consequences

of our sin.

That's what

he's doing

in verses

3 and 4.

God sent

Jonah to

this city

to preach

a message

of judgment

and look at it

verse 4.

And he called

out yet

40 days

and Nineveh

shall be

overthrown.

Was this

all that

Jonah said?

Well it

doesn't say.

We don't

know.

Is it

just a

summary?

I think

it is.

I think

it's just

a summary

of what

all he

preached

because

this phrase,

this sentence

doesn't mention

God's name.

But in

verse 5

we read

that they

believed

in God.

How could

they believe

in Jonah's

God if

they had

not heard

of him?

So Jonah

said more

than just

this one

sentence,

but the

point is

this was

the essence

of his

message.

It was

a message

of

destruction,

of judgment.

Jonah

told them

in 40

days you're

going to

be overthrown.

The word

overthrown

is the same

word used

in other

passages in

the Old

Testament to

describe

destruction.

But I

want you to

think of

this.

The fact

that God

told them

warned them

40 days

in advance

means that

he was

giving them

time to

repent

and Jonah

knew that

and didn't

like it.

In chapter

4, which

we'll look at

next week,

we'll start

in chapter

4 next

week,

Jonah

was mad

because the

people of

Nineveh

heard God's

word and

responded

positively.

He was

mad because

they repented

and God

relented.

We'll get

into that

next week.

What I want

to point out

here is that

Jonah knew

that his

message of

judgment

was in

effect a

warning.

It was

God's way

of being

gracious.

Look at

what Jonah

said in

chapter 4

verse 2.

He said,

I knew that

you are a

gracious God

and merciful,

slow to

anger and

abounding in

steadfast love

and relenting

from disaster.

And in the

context,

that's why

he's mad.

Jonah went

and preached

this message of

destruction hoping

they wouldn't

believe, that they

wouldn't change,

they wouldn't

repent.

But he knew

when he preached

that message

that it implied

there's 40

days left for

you to repent.

He knew,

look at that

verse,

he knew that

God's gracious,

merciful,

slow to

anger and

abounding in

steadfast love,

relenting from

disaster.

He knew

these people

may believe.

They may

take God's

gracious

offer.

There's 40

days and so

they're going

to repent.

And they

did.

And for

everybody but

Jonah,

that's great

that God

is so

gracious,

so merciful,

so slow

to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love.

I want you

to understand,

if you are

running from

God,

God,

for whatever

reason,

you're trying

to ignore

Him.

You're trying

not to

obey Him.

You're trying

to get out

of what you

know He

wants you

to do.

If you're

running from

God,

the fact that

you are

alive and

hearing this

message this

morning means

that God is

showing you

grace.

He's showing

you mercy.

He's being

slow to

anger.

But,

God will

not patiently

wait on

you to

respond to

Him forever.

We've seen

some of that

in our study

so far.

If you're

not a

Christian,

but you

know,

God has

been calling

you to

real faith

in Jesus

for years

maybe.

But you've

not responded.

Maybe you

are a

professing

Christian,

even a

member of

this

church,

but you

know I'm

not really

a Christian.

I have

never truly

turned from

my sin

and trusted

Christ.

I'm more

interested in

pleasing me

than pleasing

God every

day of the

week.

If you know

you're not a

Christian,

and it may

not be every

week, but

from time to

time, maybe

riding down

the road,

maybe in a

church service,

God convicts

you to

Jesus points

out to you

that you

are not

his child,

but you

could be

if you'd

humble

yourself,

turn from

your sin,

and trust

Jesus.

I want to

encourage you

to do that

now while

you have

the opportunity

because you

may not have

that opportunity

much longer.

If you

continue to

resist his

call and

die,

not trusting

Christ,

you will

spend

eternity

away from

him in

hell.

That is

the bad

news of

the Bible,

but the

good news

is what

you see on

the screen,

God is

gracious,

and he is

patiently

waiting for

you to

come to

him right

now if

you're not

a believer,

if you are

a Christian.

But there's

something in

your life that

you're just

unwilling to

obey God

about.

You're just

refusing to

do his

will about

a particular

matter with

a certain

person maybe.

I want you to

understand that

God will not

allow you to

disobey him

without

consequences

forever.

We have

seen in

earlier messages

that God

disciplines his

children.

God disciplined

Jonah.

Jonah didn't

want to go do

God's will.

God put him

in a position

where doing

his will

was what he

wanted to do

rather than

die.

One of our

church members

mentioned to

me after that

message,

say it in

this service,

I ran from

God for years.

I refused to

listen to him

as he called

me to faith in

Jesus, but God

broke my back,

put me in the

hospital where

all I could do

was look up

and look up I

did.

That's when he

saved me.

God has a

way for us

as Christians

I'm talking

about.

God can

discipline us

severely if

necessary.

Some of you,

some of us,

have experienced

severe discipline

from a parent.

They loved us so

much, they took

the car away for a

month and put the

driver's license on

the mantle.

Some of us, our

parents loved us so

much that they

were willing for us

to be just mad and

angry and say all

kinds of things, but

they wouldn't give

in.

They wouldn't let us

have our way because

our way would have,

if it didn't kill us,

it'd hurt us.

God loves us so

much that he's

willing to pay the

price.

He's willing for us

to pay the price

for our long-term

benefit of obeying

him and honoring

him because he's our

heavenly father and

we want his will.

Jonah came to the

point where he

wanted to preach.

He didn't want these

people to believe.

We'll come to that

next week.

He didn't have the

best attitude, but he

had repented.

He had come back to

the Lord.

He was showing some

good signs, but not

all the good signs by

a long ways.

We need to learn

from Jonah's message

that God graciously

warns us of the

consequences of our

sin so that we will

repent of it.

And now I want us to

look at repentance in

more detail as we look

at this next point.

God graciously gives us

opportunities to repent

of our sin.

What we're looking at,

verses 5 through 9,

how they responded.

That's his whole point.

He sends Jonah to

preach so they will

respond this way.

They believed that the

message Jonah preached

was from God.

So they took it

seriously.

They put their faith

in him.

Look at the verse in

verse 5.

And the people of

Nineveh believed God.

These people were not

followers of Jonah.

After he preaches,

when it starts talking

about him believing,

Jonah passes off the

scene here.

We're not going to see

Jonah anymore in

chapter 3.

It's all about the

people's response to

God.

They immediately began

to demonstrate that they

meant business by

publicly humbling

themselves like they

did.

Look at the last part of

verse 5.

They called for a fast

and put on sackcloth.

God was obviously at

work.

This was not something

they just decided to do

on their own.

God was doing a

miraculous work of

grace, opening their

eyes to see the truth

and want to respond

because everyone did.

Look at the last part

of verse 5.

From the greatest of

them to the least of

them.

Even the king got in

on this.

He followed the

people's example.

They did this first.

That's important to

note.

But look in verse 6.

The word reached the

king of Nineveh and he

arose from his throne,

removed his robe,

covered himself with

sackcloth,

sat in ashes.

These people truly

believed God's word of

warning and they

responded by doing

what they knew to do

as signs of humility,

brokenness, and

repentance.

Let's look at this

picture of real

repentance now.

I want to begin by

defining it.

J.I.

Packer gives us a real

concise definition.

Repentance is a change

of mind, issuing a change

of life.

You may have heard it

spoken a little bit

differently.

Repentance is a change

of mind or heart

resulting in a change

of life.

Wayne Grudem expands

this.

He includes a lot of the

aspects of repentance.

Look at this.

Repentance is heartfelt

sorrow for sin, a

renouncing of it, and a

sincere commitment to

forsake it and live in

obedience to Christ.

What we're looking at is

how these people

repented of their sin

against God.

That's the primary

application.

We need to think about

do we truly, when we're

convicted of our sin,

repent?

But I want you to apply

this in personal

relationships.

When you and your

spouse, one of your

family members, one of

your friends, one of

your enemies, when you

truly have conflict and

you feel guilty, you get

convicted that you've

been wrong, do you show

genuine repentance?

Keep that in mind as we go

through this.

The people of Nineveh

demonstrated what repentance

looks like.

I want us to look at three

things.

Number one, when we

repent, we will feel

genuine sorrow over our

sin.

They called for a fast and

put on sackcloth.

In the ancient world, that

was their way.

It was a known way for

expressing humility, sorrow.

It was just the way.

When we truly repent, we

will be genuinely sorry that

we have sinned against God

or another person.

And we will show it in our

own way in the way that we

act toward the person.

And the way we act toward

the person, I'm talking

about the way you look at

them, the way you express

yourself, words, tone, body

language, and then what you

do, how you respond going

forward.

There's a lot of

difference between genuine

heartfelt sorrow over sin and

genuine sorrow that you got

caught and had to pay the

consequences.

If I get stopped for speeding

going home today and I get a

ticket, I will be sorry that I

got caught, that I've got to

pay a fine.

And if they turn it in on my

insurance and it goes up for

three years, I'm going to be

real sorry that I sped going

down Highway 8 on the way home

today.

I hope there's no city policeman

or highway patrolman in this

room.

But I'm going to let you in on a

secret.

I like to drive fast.

And if I get caught, I'm going

to be sorry I got caught and

got fined as my insurance goes

up.

But I'm going to be real

honest.

I'm not going to be sorry I

drove fast.

I like to.

And if I can get by with it, I

will.

I don't just fly and do bad

things.

I don't drive through

neighborhoods like a wild man.

But I figure on a four-lane road,

just take your chance.

I don't go 100 miles an hour,

except sometimes on the

interstate, but not around here.

You see what I'm saying?

We can truly be sorry, feel

terrible, guilty for consequences

that we suffer from our sin.

Boys and girls, there's no doubt

you are sorry when you are

disrespectful to your parent or

teacher and you get grounded at

home, stay in for recess.

You're sorry for sure.

But are you repentant?

Is there a real heartfelt sorrow

that leads to the next point?

We will turn from our sin.

Look what they did.

The king issued this decree.

He says, let everyone turn from

his evil way and from the violence

that is in his hands.

I pointed out in one of the first

couple of messages that Nineveh is

a very important city in Assyria.

And the Assyrians were notorious for

their brutality.

One of the ancient world's most evil,

ruthless empires.

They were known to sometimes skin people

alive.

Cut off an enemy's head, stick it on a

pole and make a family member of that

person carry it around, parade it around.

Well, the king demonstrates repentance

by calling for these people to turn from

their evil and the violence that is in

their hands.

When God convicts us of sin,

we will stop our sinful behavior.

We will have a desire to turn away from it

and we will put forth the effort to turn away

from it.

For example, if you've been lying,

you've been convicted of your sin of lying,

you will stop lying.

That's how you'll show repentance.

If you've been disrespectful to your parents,

you'll stop being disrespectful to your parents.

If you've been talking about people,

you're just a gossip, a slanderer.

And you really get convicted about it,

you'll close your mouth.

And you won't do that anymore.

Now, some things are more difficult to stop than

others.

And I want to point this out for a moment.

I know some people who have struggled with alcohol

and drug abuse for years.

And if they ever become repentant and want to stop,

they're most likely going to need help.

Certainly they need God's help.

They're going to need other people's help,

family members, friends.

They may need professional help.

They may need the help of a professional,

of a medical doctor,

a professional counselor,

psychological, spiritual.

If God is convicting you of your sin,

whatever it is,

it's important that you express

heartfelt sorrow.

And then you've got to ask God to help you

to stop the sinful behavior.

You change your mind about it.

You turn from it.

And if you need help,

you seek help.

You just say,

I can't help it.

You seek guidance,

help,

correction in some way.

If you're on the receiving end of somebody

coming to you and expressing sorrow for something,

and it appears they truly are repentant,

but next week or next month,

they fail you again,

don't give up on them.

None of us,

none of us,

when we truly repent,

we don't walk away from it

and never go back.

We fail.

We struggle as sinful human beings,

even as Christians.

And just as God gives you

second and third

and 20th and 50th chance,

you've got to give people

other chances.

It can't just be one and done.

You don't want God to do you that way.

You can't do people that way.

But let's not take advantage of this.

I cannot,

if it's my problem,

I cannot go to somebody and say,

hey,

you've got to be patient with me.

I'm just a sinful person

and I'm going to fail you all the time.

You don't mean it if that's what you say.

That's an excuse.

We are that way,

but we can't accept that in ourselves.

We work on it.

We continuously,

Martin Luther,

the reformer,

said the Christian life

is a life of repentance

before God,

before others that we wrong.

There's one more part

of real repentance here.

We must turn to God in faith.

We've already seen that in verse five.

The people of Nineveh believed God.

But then in verse eight,

the king again said,

let them call out mightily to God.

Repentance is a turning from sin

and turning to God in faith,

or if you're a Christian,

in renewed faith,

if you're coming back to him.

The Christian life

is more than a life of do's and don'ts.

Far more.

It's all about a relationship

and fellowship

with our heavenly father

and the Lord Jesus.

Our sin hinders our fellowship

with our father and our Lord.

It doesn't destroy the relationship,

but it does hinder close fellowship.

And we ought to all be able

to understand that.

Sin hinders fellowship

in every relationship.

When children disobey their parents,

it hurts the fellowship.

When children disobey,

parents have to punish,

discipline.

There may not be a whole lot

of touchy-feely,

lovey-dovey things said.

Same thing true

with husbands and wives.

Sometimes these things

hinder our fellowship,

but they don't destroy

our relationship.

Well, repentance

is the key to restoring fellowship

in just about every relationship

in life.

It's important that we learn

to express sorrow,

that we stop it,

we change,

we turn,

that we come back to God

if our issue is with him,

or that we come back

into a right relationship

with another person

if the other person is involved.

If you're not experiencing

close fellowship

with God right now,

and you know it's because

of a certain issue

in your life

that you won't obey him about,

I want to encourage you,

if you want things

to be ready with God,

right with God,

repent now.

Express genuine sorrow

to him,

and turn from it.

Change your mind about it.

Turn to him

in renewed faith,

love,

commitment.

That's what it means

to repent.

There's one more thing

in this passage,

one more aspect

of God's grace.

Let's look at it real quick.

Verse 10,

God graciously withholds judgment

and forgives us

when we repent of our sins.

Look at the verse.

When God saw what they did,

how they turned

from their evil way,

God relented

of the disaster

that he had said

he would do to them,

and he did not do it.

God demonstrated

his grace.

He withheld judgment

from these people

because they truly repented.

This is how God desires

to work in everybody's life.

I want you to look

at this word

from Jeremiah chapter 18.

Jeremiah 18 · chapter mention

God says,

if at any time

I announce

that a nation

or kingdom

is to be uprooted,

torn down,

and destroyed,

and if that nation

I warned

repents of its evil,

then I will relent

and not inflict

on it

the disaster

I had planned.

Going back

to what Jonah says

in chapter 4,

God

is

and desires

to show us

grace

and mercy,

but God

is also

holy

and just,

and God

cannot

and will not

overlook

our sin.

He must,

to be true

to who He is,

He must

punish it.

Well,

God has graciously

provided a way

for our sin

to be punished

and Him still

remain just.

What He did

is He sent

His perfect

Son,

the Lord Jesus,

into this world

to take

our punishment

by dying

on the cross

for our sins.

That satisfied

God's justice

Jesus paid

the penalty

for sin.

It's not

overlooked.

Now God

graciously offers

to forgive us

and make us

His children

if we'll repent

of our sins

and put our

trust in Jesus

because when we

trust Jesus,

we're one with Him

and the penalty

for our sin

has been paid.

We have His

righteous character

credited to us.

Have you come

to the place

in your life

where you know

that you're

a child of God,

that Jesus Christ

is Lord of your life?

If you know

He's not,

I want to encourage

you to put your

trust in Him now

while you have

the opportunity.

If you're a child

of God

away from Him,

you're not close

with Him now

and it's because

of your sinful

attitude,

your sinful

behavior,

come to Him

now.

Truly

repent.

Renew your

faith in Jesus.

Draw near

to God

now.

The Scripture

says if we draw

near to God,

He will draw

near to us.

Let's pray

together.

Dear God,

show us now

how we should

respond.

Lord,

help us all

to understand

that this is

a message

for Your

people.

Repentance

is to be a

part of our

lives and our

relationship with

You and our

relationship with

other people.

Father,

help us to let

it sink in

what it truly

means to be

repentant.

Help us,

Father,

to be honest

about if

that's true

about us

as we seek

Your forgiveness,

as we admit

our sin,

as we seek to

be reconciled

with other

people.

Let's just

in an

attitude of

prayer respond

to the Lord

about this.

Maybe repent

for the first

time in your

life or maybe

for the first

time in a

long time.

and maybe

make the

commitment that

when you get

home, you're

going to express

genuine repentance

to a person that

needs to hear it

and see it in

you.

If I could pray

with you this

time, I'd be

happy to do

here.

Let's just

pray.

Let's pray.