Thank God for Second Chances

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.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

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.

Jonah 3:1

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.

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.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

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

John 21 · chapter mention

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

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

Acts 10 · chapter mention

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.