Jonah 3

Let's pray.

Father God, we're very aware of the silence in our city right now,

the silence of worship and praise of your name.

You have people in this city that are singing your praises right now,

that love you, that are seeking to lift your name higher and higher and higher.

But God, we believe you've placed us here as a church

so that more and more and more people will sing your name higher, higher and higher.

God, we believe that there are people in our city that are perishing

who await to hear the Gospel message.

And when they hear, Lord, we believe that they will repent.

And they will repent unto you and that they will believe in you

and that, God, you will relent of them.

You will turn your fierce wrath away from them

and turn your wrath onto Christ for them.

God, I pray that you would impress upon us, your people, this morning

that we are here sent by you with a message you've given us

to speak to a people that are perishing.

We used to be numbered among them.

God, would you make us your ambassadors to the city of Kenosha?

And God, our prayer is something big and it's something beyond us.

We can't conjure up what we're about to ask.

We know that only you can.

God, if you are able to bring about the repentance of 120,000 people

in the 8th century B.C.

through just five words of a Hebrew prophet,

God, you certainly can bring about a revival in the city of Kenosha

in the 21st century A.D.

when we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So God, would you by your Spirit,

would you please make your appeal through us

to those who are perishing.

God, help us to say with all boldness and love,

you're going the wrong way.

God, would you do a work in our city?

God, we want you to add to our number.

Not for number's sake,

but so that more people would be saved.

And more people would be able to say

salvation belongs to the Lord.

That more people would know the sweetness

of sins forgiven.

Of righteousness imputed.

Of a confidence that

you're for us forever.

Forever.

God, would you do a work in us?

Would you move the needle in us?

Would you move us from being unwilling and silent

to being willing and vocal?

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, before I start preaching,

I want to introduce to you all a couple.

Josh and Christy Anderson.

They're sitting right here.

Josh and Christy,

will you please stand up?

Josh and Christy are missionaries

and they will be going in just a little bit

to a big country in East Asia.

And we have the privilege of a church

as joining them,

as ministry partners,

and sending them.

And so they'll be joining us

for the next few weeks

before they leave.

And in July,

they're going to share a little bit more

about what God is calling them to.

But I want you to see them

and meet them.

They're going to be in our midst

for a little bit this summer.

Josh and Christy,

thank you for being here.

You are so welcome here.

Now, if you would open up your Bibles,

if you haven't already,

to Jonah chapter 3.

Jonah 3 · chapter mention

I'll get there myself.

Do you know,

outside this building

and around Library Square

is a one-way street.

And it's like clockwork.

Every week,

at least one person

is going the wrong way

on this street.

And there's not unusual,

I'm running out of the building,

you're going the wrong way.

Yesterday,

I'm on my way to the building.

This is early Saturday morning

and I'd stop to get my chocolate milk

at South Court Pantry,

coming in on 7th Avenue.

And I'm taking the corner around there

by M&I Bank,

BMI, excuse me.

And there's a dark SUV

going the wrong way.

So I slow down,

roll down my window

and I see this couple

in the front seat

and I can tell

they're already kind of like,

oh no.

I'm like,

you do know that you're going

the wrong way

on a one-way street,

don't you?

And they were like,

oh yeah,

we figured it out.

And so as I drove away,

I looked in my rearview mirror

and you know what I saw?

I saw that SUV turning around.

It started going the right way.

Salvation is a one-way street

called Jesus.

And for those yet to be saved,

those who are perishing,

they're going the wrong way.

They're on a path of destruction.

And so this morning,

what we're going to see

from Jonah 3 is,

God has put us here

to tell people

that they're going the wrong way

so that they would turn around,

that they would trust in Jesus,

and that they would experience

what we've experienced,

deliverance,

and welcome into the family of God.

This morning in Jonah 3,

we'll see how God used

this reluctant prophet

to speak His message

to these Ninevite sinners

who repent.

It's amazing.

They repent.

And God turns from His great anger.

He relents.

When sinners repent,

God relents.

When sinners repent,

when they hear the message of God

and they believe,

they repent,

God relents.

So this morning in Jonah 3,

we're going to see three moves.

Jonah is resent.

That's chapter 3, 1-3.

We're going to see Nineveh repent.

That's verses 4-9.

And then we'll see God relent

in verse 10.

God relents

when a sinner repents

after believing the Gospel

from lips of those God has sent.

So let's look at

this first little snapshot

when Jonah is resent.

In chapter 3, verse 1,

we read,

Then the word of the Lord

came to Jonah.

That's the identical words

of chapter 1, verse 1,

with the exception of one thing.

So he says,

The word of the Lord

came to Jonah the second time.

Instead of saying,

The word of the Lord

came to Jonah,

son of Amittai,

he says,

The word of the Lord

came to Jonah a second time.

You see,

the first time,

Jonah wasn't ready.

God knew it.

Jonah hit the bricks.

He went to the farthest city

possible away from Nineveh.

That's where he's heading.

And then God caught him

on that boat

called the prophet catcher.

Got him into the drink,

and while he's in the belly

of that big fish,

God changed Jonah.

Jonah repented.

He realized that he was resisting God.

And so his last great exclamation

of chapter 2 is,

Salvation belongs to the Lord.

It's his.

It's his.

And so he gets spit up on a beach,

presumably somewhere close to Israel,

and now he's ready to be recommissioned.

Jonah's been changed and sent.

We have been changed and sent.

We say that salvation belongs

to our Lord God.

And He has given us a message to proclaim.

He has sent us.

You know, in 2 Corinthians 5,

we have this great passage

about Christians being commissioned

with the ministry of reconciliation.

Did you know that God has entrusted us,

Christ the King Church,

with a ministry?

It's the ministry of reconciliation.

To call sinners back to God.

Well, in chapter 3, verse 1 and 2,

God says,

Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city,

and call out against it

the message that I tell you.

Nineveh's a great city.

It's big.

120,000 people.

We see that in chapter 4, verse 11,

which means in that day,

it was huge.

It was expansive.

It was a three-day journey

from one side to the next.

The best way to think about that is this.

You know, when we talk about Chicago,

we talk about Chicagoland.

And when we talk about Chicagoland,

not only are we talking about,

we're talking about the downtown area

as well as the surrounding towns and suburbs.

You know, the whole Chicago metroplex.

And so when the author of Jonah

is talking about Nineveh,

he's talking about the Nineveh metroplex.

It's a big area.

And so not only did it cover downtown Nineveh,

it covered some towns in close proximity to Nineveh.

So it was an expansive area.

That's why it takes so long to cross it.

It was also prominent.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria.

It was the heartbeat of that nation.

A nation that I told you last week

or the week before was a brutal nation.

Devastating.

There were killers.

Early terrorists.

They wreaked havoc wherever they went.

They wanted people to be afraid of them.

This was an important city.

It was an important city.

But what I want you to see in verse 3

is that it's important to God.

The city of Nineveh is important to God.

And I've got to explain,

I've got to get a little technical with you

to help you see it.

Because you can't see it in English.

If you're reading out of the NIV in verse 3,

it says,

Now Nineveh was a very important city.

You see that if you're reading the NIV?

And if you're reading the ESV,

it says Nineveh was an exceedingly great city.

Exceedingly great.

Very important.

And so you have these pile-ups of adjectives.

Very, exceedingly.

This is a big city.

It's very important.

Now if you're reading out of the ESV

and you look down at the footnote,

you're going to read the literal English translation

of the Hebrew.

It says this,

Now Nineveh was a great city to God.

You don't see that in English.

But it's there in Hebrew.

When you were listening to Lou Reed,

did you hear the words that he was using

to describe God?

Yahweh, the personal name of God,

the deliverer of God.

And then he said four times that word Elohim.

Do you remember him say that when he read that?

Elohim is another word for God.

And I learned from Samir Masu this week

that at its core it means great.

And so what happens here,

what the English translators decided on

was that this word Elohim

was actually describing the city.

It's like a really strong adjective.

It's very exceedingly great.

But there's another way to understand it.

Because in chapter 3,

and this is where we get a little technical,

Elohim shows up four other times.

The same word.

And each time it's used,

not as an adjective,

but as a noun.

About God.

God himself.

See that in verse 5, 8, 9, and 10.

God, God, God, God, God.

So why am I making a big deal about this?

Here's why.

Nineveh was important to God.

Nineveh was important to God.

He was concerned about Nineveh.

Not the city.

Not its botanical gardens, which it had.

Not its impressive architecture,

which I'm sure it had.

God wasn't like,

ooh, nice city.

Well, God was interested

as 120,000 people of the city.

They were very important to him.

You know, Nineveh, the Assyrians,

were not God's covenant people.

They were the Jews of the time.

God had bound himself to the Jews,

saying, I am your people,

and you are mine.

And so what we see happening here

is that God is actually concerned

about people who are outside of the covenant.

And so the question is,

why would God be concerned about Ninevites

if they're not his covenant people?

And the answer is,

because he's their creator.

He made them in his image.

They are of intrinsic value to God.

They bear his image.

They are designed to worship.

And they are worshiping things

that are not him.

It's a very important city to God.

Because it is a concentrated place

of worshipers who are not worshiping him.

And he wants to warn them

and change them.

So the city of Nineveh

is important to God.

It is a big city.

It is great.

It's a great city of great importance to God.

These are people

that should be worshiping him,

but are not.

You know, the whole book of Jonah

is about God's heart for all people.

And so that alone

helps us understand this little phrase

that this city was important to God.

How do we bring that home?

God loves his covenant people.

We are his covenant people in Christ,

the new covenant people.

But you know,

God is more concerned

about more people than just us.

Did you know right now

we're surrounded by 100,000 people

in the city of Kenosha?

And each person is important to God.

Do you know why?

They're an image bearer of God.

That's why God

is insistent

upon sending Jonah to Nineveh.

Nineveh is important to him.

All people everywhere

must someday give an account

to the God of creation

who's made himself known

as Yahweh

and Jesus Christ.

All people are important to God.

Every resident of Kenosha

is important to God.

So let me try to bring this home

a little bit more

in your everyday life.

Do you have a neighbor?

Maybe they live next door to you.

Maybe this neighbor

is someone you work with.

Maybe this is a family member.

They just rub you the wrong way.

You see them and you're like,

oh man.

I'm going to go the other way.

Did you know this neighbor

is an image bearer of God

and that God sees this person

as important to Him?

You know, there are people

that have different political positions

that we do.

Different positions

on important social issues.

But you know what?

Those people are image bearers of God.

They're important to God.

They have intrinsic worth.

As God sent Jonah

2,800 years ago

to the city of Nineveh,

God is sending us today

to the city of Kenosha

because we're surrounded

by image bearers

important to God.

What will happen?

What will happen

if we start to see people

as God starts to see people?

What will happen?

We're going to start talking more.

We're going to start

opening our mouths.

We're going to start

saying things.

And that's what God does

in Jonah.

He needed to get something

done in Jonah

in chapter 2

so that He could send him

back in Jonah 3

so that He's just even

willing to open up

His mouth.

It says nowhere

He was excited

to go back.

But He was willing.

God

resends

Jonah

in chapter 3

1-3

and in verses

4-9

we see

something

amazing.

Nineveh repents.

And so what I want

to help you see

in this passage

is the message

that was proclaimed

and the response

of the Ninevites.

And in so doing

I'm going to seek

to address

two obstacles

that we all deal with

when talking to others

about Jesus.

Okay?

So let's look

at this message.

It's really interesting

because the author

of Jonah

he doesn't mess around.

And so like

verses 1-3

presumably Jonah's

in Israel

being recommissioned

and then in verse 4

all of a sudden

he's like on the

outskirts

of the metroplex

of Nineveh.

He's not wasting

any time.

So there he is.

And the first thing

I want you to see

is that this message

that Jonah

is to preach

and that he calls out

yet forty days

and Nineveh

shall be overthrown.

That's in verse 4.

In Hebrew

it's just five words.

It's just five words.

But what you need to see

from the get-go here

is that this message

was not Jonah's message.

Jonah didn't think this up.

This was a message

that God gave Jonah.

Look back

in verse 2.

Arise,

go to Nineveh,

that great city,

and call out against it

the message

that I tell you.

God told Jonah

to speak

these five words.

We don't know

if there's any more.

We know that there

were these five words.

This is God's message.

And as Christians,

God has given us

a message to proclaim.

His message,

not ours.

We proclaim the gospel.

The message

of reconciliation.

That there is a God

and He is holy and just.

He created us

in His image,

but we have rebelled

against Him.

And there's a just

consequence for that.

But God,

even knowing that,

sent Christ

to die in the place

of sinners

so that those who believe

and turn

will be saved.

And so the call is

respond in repentance

and faith.

Turn from your sin

and turn to Christ.

We've been given

a message

just like Jonah

was given a message.

And our message

focuses on Jesus.

The good news

for those who are

perishing.

And what I just want

to see here is that

it started with God.

God wants to get

a message

to the Ninevites

and He calls

and sends Jonah

to do it.

That's God's M.O.

And that's one

of the biggest reasons

God has us here.

Now,

this message itself

is just five words

in Hebrew.

And it's like

one of the shortest

messages on record

and it has one

of the biggest effects.

Five words

and 120,000 people repent.

120,000 idolaters.

120,000 evildoers.

It's terrorist-like folks.

They repent.

I mean, seriously.

It's like Jonah

shows up and say,

hey, Nineveh,

40 days

and you're done.

And they respond.

God

has been preparing

Nineveh.

40 days

and you'll be overturned.

The same word

overturned

used of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now,

for Jonah to show up

and say,

hey,

40 days

and it's over,

it's not the most

tactful way,

is it?

not the most

sensitive message.

It doesn't seem like

Jonah cared

all that much

of what it meant

to be relevant

to Assyrian culture.

You know,

next Sunday

is the civic parade.

I really love

the Shriners

flying carpets.

You know what I'm talking about?

Those little go-carts

that are retrofitted

with kind of

that red carpet look

and they weave

in and out

of each other.

Well,

let's just say

that next Sunday

we're all sitting

on the side

of 60th

watching the Shriners

come down

and they pass on

by us

and right behind them

is just this very

kind of

no big deal

pickup truck.

No fanfare.

no fancy float.

But on

the back

of that

pickup truck

is Jonah.

And Jonah

is decked out

with some very

simple things.

He's got

a generator,

a microphone,

and a speaker.

And as he's

coming down

60th,

do you know

what he's saying?

Over and over

and over again.

Kenosha,

40 days

and you're done.

Kenosha,

40 days.

It's over.

40 days

and you'll be

overturned,

overthrown.

Disaster

is pending.

You've got

40 days,

Kenosha.

If we're

in the crowd,

what are we

thinking?

Who is this guy?

Is he serious?

I'd be asking

questions

something like this.

Do they let

anybody into

the parade?

How can I

get in the

parade?

Where are

those shriners?

I'd like to

see them back

right now.

Quite a

message,

isn't it?

Simple,

clear,

and

confrontational.

The message

that Jonah

proclaimed

confronted

the Ninevites.

It confronted

them.

When we

hear the word

confrontation,

if you're like

me,

you're kind

of like,

I don't

like being

confronted

with the

word

confrontation.

I don't

like that.

I don't

like

confrontation.

The gospel

message that

God has

entrusted to

us

is

confrontational

in its

nature,

in its

essence.

If we

try to

de-

confrontationalize

the gospel,

we de-

gospel

the gospel.

If we

try to

remove sin

from the

gospel,

we no

longer have

a message

for sinners

who are

perishing

to be

saved.

we

cannot

de-

confrontationalize

this message

entrusted to

us.

So the

faithful

proclamation

of the

gospel

will

confront

sinners

with their

real sinfulness

against their

real holy

God in

order to

expose their

real need

for a

real

savior.

The

gospel

message

confronts

those who

are perishing

in their

sins.

It

confronts

them with

their

sinfulness

to expose

their need

for a

savior.

So here's

what I want

to get you

to this

morning.

To

proclaim

the gospel

faithfully

in the

city of

Kenosho,

will run

risk.

And here's

what the

risks are.

When we

confront

someone with

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ,

when we

tell them

God says

you're going

the wrong

way.

God's

word says

you're going

the wrong

way.

When we

confront

somebody

with the

gospel of

Jesus

Christ,

we run

the risk

of offense.

Don't we?

Because we

say things

like Jesus

is the

only way

to heaven.

He's the

only one

who can

forgive your

sins.

That kind

of exclusive

language is

offensive to

people in

our culture.

So for us

to even

proclaim it,

when we

confront people

with that,

people will

take offense.

we run

the risk

of introducing

strain into

relationships,

with

relationships

with people

we love.

I know

in our

family,

we've had

conversations

with people

we love,

and it's

been awkward.

It's

resulted in

strain.

And

I think

our biggest

fear,

the biggest

obstacle we

face to

speaking the

gospel is

all out

rejection,

isn't it?

We tell

people about

Jesus,

we say,

hey,

God's word

says you're

going the

wrong way,

you need to

turn to

Jesus,

and we

get rejected

for it.

Like,

I don't want

to talk to

you anymore.

You're not

going to hear

from me,

befriended,

off my

phone,

not going to

talk to you

again,

turn the

other way.

Isn't that

our greatest

fear?

It's one of

the biggest

things that

keeps us

from telling

other people

about Jesus.

So let's

ask this

question this

way.

Why would

we risk

something like

that?

Why would

we risk

offense,

strain,

rejection

by confronting

people with

the gospel

of Jesus?

Why would

we risk

that?

Let me put

it to you

another way.

What's more

important for

our non-Christians,

friends,

and family,

and coworkers?

What's more

important?

To be at peace

with you,

or to be at

peace with

God?

What's more

important?

What's more

eternally

significant?

significant?

That we

have a

temporal

peace now,

or that

they

experience

an eternal

peace forever?

What's more

significant?

Our fear

of rejection

will keep

us from

lovingly

confronting

those who

are perishing.

It keeps

us from

speaking

words that

can result

in people

turning around

to Jesus.

If we're

more concerned

with what

people think

about us

than what

God thinks

about people,

we will

remain silent

in this

city.

and God

would not

have us

do that.

So the

question is,

how do we

get over

our fear

of rejection?

Because

if you're

not ashamed

of the

gospel,

you're going

to find

a way

to communicate

it.

How do

we get

over

the fear?

Here's how.

Here's one

way at

least.

We begin

to purposefully

concern

ourselves

more and

more with

a person

standing

before God.

More and

more we

see people

as God

sees them.

More and

more we're

like asking

the question

when we

meet somebody,

I wonder

if they're

saved.

I wonder

if they're

at peace

with God.

I wonder

if they

know the

sweetness

of deliverance

and forgiveness

of sin.

The

Apostle Paul

helps us

out in

2 Corinthians

5.

He says

this.

He talks

about the

love of

Christ

controlling

us,

that Christ

died for

all,

that those

who live

might no

longer live

for themselves

but for

him or

for their

sake died

and was

raised.

And then

he says

this.

Therefore

we regard

no one

according to

the flesh.

We don't

regard people

the same

way we

used to.

We don't

see them

the same

way.

God is

calling us

and helping

us to see

people as

he sees

them.

It's

image

bearers

who are

perishing

apart from

Christ.

So when it

comes to

those who

are perishing

our foremost

in controlling

concern must

be their

standing with

God, not

our standing

with them.

Our

relationships

serve

God's

gospel

purposes.

So can

we just

agree to

something?

It's

going to

cost us

something.

It's not

if there's

going to be

cost.

It's

is the

cost

worth it?

That's the

question.

We will be

rejected.

we will

experience

strain.

Things will

get awkward.

But is

sharing the

gospel with

people who

are going

the wrong

way with

the hope

that they'll

turn to

Jesus and

experience

eternal life,

is that

worth the

awkwardness?

If we

asked the

apostle Paul

that, he

would say

yes.

If we

asked Jesus

that, he

would say

yes.

Jonah 3

has a

way of

exposing

us

because we

tend to be

more concerned

about our

own reputation

than God's

reputation.

We tend to

be more

concerned about

what people

think about

us than

what God

really thinks

about them.

And so if

we concern

ourselves more

and more with

what God

thinks of the

perishing,

our hearts

are going to

follow his

heart.

The want

to see

them

turn

and experience

salvation.

We've

looked at

one obstacle

and that's

our fear

of what

people think

about us,

fear of

rejection.

There's

another

obstacle

to our

evangelism,

to our

communicating

the gospel

to people.

And it's

something

different than

the fear

of what

other people

think.

It's called

unbelief.

faith.

And here's

how it

works.

We see

people around

us and

we wonder,

I wonder if

they're saved.

And then what

follows that is

something like

this.

God can't

save him.

God can't

save her.

They're

unsavable.

We think

things like,

he's too

entrenched in a

homosexual lifestyle

to ever

repent.

We think

things like,

she's just

too liberal

to respond.

He's too

absorbed with

himself.

She loves

money too

much.

He's too

into his

career.

She's too

scientific.

He's burned

after burn

after burn

from church

after church

after church.

She's a

Muslim.

She would

never,

ever repent.

That's what

we think.

These are

examples of

excuses

born of

unbelief.

An unbelief

in the power

of God

unleashed

through the

gospel of

Jesus Christ.

Paul says,

I'm not ashamed

of the gospel

for it is

God's power

unto salvation

for all

who believe.

So I want

to encourage

you.

I want

Jonah 3

to encourage

you along

these lines.

If God

could turn

Nineveh

bring about

repentance,

he can do

the same

in Kenosha.

Look at how

the Ninevites

respond to

Jonah's

preaching in

verse 5.

Jonah

proclaims

these five

words,

and Nineveh,

we read,

the people

of Nineveh

believed God.

They

believed God.

They heard

the message

and they

believed God.

Notice the

wording.

They believed

God,

not

Jonah.

They believed

that it was

God speaking

to them,

that it was

God making

his appeal

through Jonah

to them.

God.

They believed

and they

repented.

And they

believed that

they were on

the road of

destruction,

that they were

in sin,

and that they

needed to

turn around.

So look at how

they responded

in verse 5.

It was an

immediate response.

Verse 4,

he proclaims,

40 days,

you'll be

overthrown.

Verse 5,

and the people

of Nineveh

responded.

They believed

in God.

It was immediate.

It was a

real response.

They called

a fast.

They put on

sackcloth.

Eventually,

the king of

Nineveh would

sit in ashes.

Do you know

what all that's

about?

Repentance.

Humbling

oneself under

God's mighty

hand.

It's all

demonstrations of

humility.

It's not a

time to eat.

It's not a

time to be

comfortable.

It's a time

to cry out

because God

has addressed

us and has

warned us

that we're in

the path of

destruction.

We must turn.

It's a broad

response.

From the

greatest,

verse 5,

from the

greatest to

the least.

And then in

verse 6,

we're brought

into the very

throne room

of Nineveh.

To the king

of Nineveh.

The greatest

Ninevite.

He represents

his people.

And we read

in verse 6,

the word reached

the king of

Nineveh.

And literally,

that word means

touched the

king of

Nineveh.

He was cut

quick.

Those five

words,

God packed

a punch.

And the

king arose,

removed his

robe,

put on

sackcloth,

and sat

in ashes.

A clear

demonstration

of repentance.

The greatest

of all

Ninevites

was humbling

himself.

And he

makes a

decree that

every,

all Ninevites

stop eating.

Call out

mightily to

God.

It's a

desperate

response.

It's urgent.

It's sobering.

Who knows?

God may

turn and

relent and

turn from

his fierce

anger so

that we

may not

perish.

They

realized

that they

were about

to be

destroyed.

They

destroyed.

You know

what it all

points to?

their response

was God

word.

Theirs

was a

repentance

born of

God.

Their

immediate

response

was belief

in God.

It was a

real response.

They put on

sackcloth and

fasted unto

the Lord.

It was a

broad response

from greatest

to least

to God.

It was

desperate.

They're

crying out

to God.

Elohim.

In

2 Corinthians

7, Paul

makes a

very important

distinction

between two

types of

grief.

Godly

grief

and worldly

grief.

A

godly

sorrow

and a

worldly

sorrow.

The

difference

is

orientation.

What it

is oriented

to.

Godly

grief

is

God

word

in its

orientation.

It's the

recognition

that first

and foremost

I have

sinned

against a

holy

God.

Psalm

51

4

Against

you

and you

alone

have I

sinned

and done

what is

evil

in your

sight.

Godly

grief

recognizes

and takes

responsibility

full

responsibility

for all

of one's

sins.

It's

me.

I have

sinned

against

you.

Godly

grief

leads to

true

repentance.

Worldly

grief

can be

described

as a

sorrow

a real

sorrow

a real

sorrow

for getting

caught.

A real

sorrow

for seeing

the consequences

coming and

know that

you're going

to get

hurt for

it.

But what

godly

grief is

missing

or what

worldly

grief is

missing

is God.

You don't

care.

Worldly

grief is a

godless

remorse.

And what

we see

Nineveh

doing

is a

godly

grief.

Godly

sorrow

sorrow

which leads

them to

a true

repentance.

Here's why

I'm telling

you this.

This

godly

sorrow

that results

in a true

repentance

this

god

word

repentance

is a

god

wrought

repentance.

God's

behind

this.

God's

bringing

this

about.

And here's

why I'm

telling you

this.

When we

make excuses

under our

from our

unbelief

they'll never

turn.

They won't

respond.

It's no point

telling them

they won't

respond anyway.

Let me decide

for them.

They're not

going to

respond.

God's

God's

God's

able to

turn

people.

God's

able to

bring about

repentance.

He's just

calling us

to speak

the message.

We can't

make someone

experience a

godly grief.

God does

that.

What we

can do

is tell

people that

they're going

the wrong

way and

that they

need to

turn to

Jesus.

While the

people of

Nineveh

recognize that

God is

making his

appeal to

them through

Jonah.

And in

310,

God

relents.

When God

sees how

they turned

away from

their evil

way, how

they repented,

God relents

of the

disaster.

He turns

his just

anger, his

wrath, from

the Ninevites.

It raises

a question.

Did God

just change?

Did God

just change

his mind?

And is it

okay that

God changes

his mind?

Well, let

me just say

it this way.

What we see

happening in

Jonah 310

is not so

much God

changing his

mind as

the Ninevites

changing their

mind.

God's the

same.

I'm the

Lord, I

do not

change.

Malachi 3.

There's no

shifting shadow

in God.

He's the

same.

today,

tomorrow,

forever.

And so

what we see

happening though

is God

who is

who he

is responds

in his

purpose to

respond to

unrepentance

one way

and his

purpose to

respond to

repentance

another way.

And so

when the

Ninevites

repent,

God

relents

just like

he said

he would.

Jeremiah

18,

7-8,

I don't

have time

to go

into it.

Just

encourage you

to look

at it.

But what

I want to

point out

in Jonah

310 is

that God's

nature hasn't

changed.

What has

changed in

Jonah 3

are the

Ninevites.

They've

turned away

from evil

and God

relents.

He's a

God who's

gracious and

merciful,

slow to

anger and

abounding in

steadfast love,

relenting from

disaster when

there's

repentance.

Is God

still a

God of

fierce anger?

Yes,

He is.

Yes,

He is.

Is God

storing up

wrath over

people of

Kenosha?

Yes,

He is.

Yes,

He is.

Will God

relent today

if people

repent?

Yes,

He will.