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Jonah - Jonah 3 - How To Save A City | Warren Wiersbe Sermons
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3 and the word of the Lord came unto
Jonah the second time
saying arise go unto Nineveh that great
City and preach unto it the preaching
that I bid
thee so Jonah arose and went unto
Nineveh according to the word of the
Lord now Nineveh was an exceed ing great
city of 3 days journey that me it took 3
days to get through
it and Jonah began to enter into the
city of days journey and he cried and
said yetep 40 days and Nineveh shall be
overthrown so the people of Nineveh
believed God and proclaimed a fast and
put on sackcloth from the greatest of
them even to the least of them for word
came unto the king of ninev and he arose
from his throne and laid his robe from
him him and covered himself with
sackcloth and sat in
ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed
and published throughout Nineveh by the
decree of the king and his Nobles saying
let neither man nor Beast herd nor flock
taste anything let them not feed nor
drink water but let man and Beast be
covered with sackcloth and cry mightily
unto God y let them turn everyone from
his evil way and from the violence that
is in their their
hands who can tell if God will turn and
repent and turn away from his Fierce
anger that we perish
not and God saw their works that they
turned from their evil way and God
repented of the evil that he had said
that he would do unto them and he did it
not this chapter
describes probably the greatest missionary
missionary
miracle in all of recorded
history here is a
city of probably a million people when
you get to the end of chapter 4 you
discover there were 120,000 children who
didn't know their right hand from their left
left
hand and you have some older children
and you have to have some parents and
some aunts and some uncles and it's a
possibility we have anywhere from
650,000 to a million people
all of
whom repented and turned from their evil
way a whole Wicked City
repented and the Judgment of God was
averted I say it again this is probably
the greatest missionary miracle in all
of recorded history and
yet and yet the preacher was reluctant to
to
preach and he hated the people he was preaching
preaching
to we'll find that in chapter
4 God honored his
word god worked and a city was
saved the word of the Lord came to Jonah
a second time I'm glad that our God is
the god of the second
chance now some of the Saints won't give
you a second chance in fact half of them
won't even give you a first
chance Saints are very skeptical of each
other we have Saint Watchers these days
who have their binoculars they're
watching the Saints don't you dare
stumble you're done
for Jesus said to Peter we ought to
forgive each other 70 times
seven by the time you have forgiven
somebody 490 times you're pretty well in
the habit of forgiving aren't you God
forgave Jonah and God gave Jonah another
chance because Jonah disobeyed the will
of God it didn't end Jonah's
life the will of God is not a machine
machine that falls apart if one part
isn't working the will of God is a
living relationship and if some part of
that relationship is not right God
compensates for it until he can make it
right it's like your body when your
gallbladder starts hurting and starts
causing problems the rest of your body
compensates until you can get that thing
fixed the will of God is this way I say
it again the Saints aren't this way
David said let me not fall into the
hands of of men let me fall into the
hands of God greater his mercies and God
was merciful to Jonah and God gave him another
another
chance let's consider the factors that
are involved in this Mar marvelous
Miracle of the repentance of an entire
city we don't see things like this
happening today we see great Citywide
meetings but sad to
say 3 months after the meeting is
over life is back where it started
except EX for the people that got saved
we haven't seen entire cities
repent what are the factors that are
involved in this magnificent amazing
Miracle well there are at least five
factors that are involved fasten your
safety belts here we
go Factor number one a great
City God says this arise go to Nineveh
that great City he said the same thing
back in chapter 1 verse two arise go to
Nineveh that great City when God looked
down upon Nineveh he saw a great
City great in several respects it was a
great City historically one of the old old
old
cities Christian archaeologists are not
quite sure how old Nineveh was some go
back 3,000 years some say 4500 years
suffice it to say that Nineveh was an
old city Genesis chapter 10 you find
a great City in history all down through
the years there had been this city of
Nineveh the city was not only great in
history it was great in size and in
splendor the archaeologists tell us that
the city of Nineveh with the suburbs the
other cities that were around it formed
a 60m radius if you want to if you want
to go right through Nineveh take you
three days to get through there
in one section of it there was a wall 8
miles in
circumference and I read somewhere that
in the walls of Nineveh there were, 1500
Towers so when Jonah came to Nineveh he
was coming to a great metropolis a major
city surrounded by some suburbs and it
would take 3 days to walk through that
City great in size and in splendor
the Lord tells us over in chapter 4: 11
it was a great City with 120,000 little
children and much cattle it's
interesting that God's concerned about
the animals this city was great in
power the city of neveh was no small
power in its day it was the capital of
the Assyrian Empire it would be as
though God said to one of his servants
arise go to Moscow arise go to London
arise go to Paris arise go to Nineveh
that city of great power and the
Assyrian Empire was growing about that
time which explains why Jonah didn't
want to go he would have been very happy
to have all of his enemies destroyed you
know God asks us to go to people who are
our friends and our relatives and share
the gospel with them we don't do
it God asked him to go to his enemies
and share the go goel that's a real test
of Love isn't it the city was great in
sin I will not um frighten you tonight
with accounts of what the Assyrians used to
to
do you can read about them in the
encyclopedia they were known for their
violence in fact the king mentions the
violence in verse 8 turn every man from
his evil way and from the violence
that's in their hands uh later on nahem
the prophet announced the Doom of
Nineveh if you want to read the little
book of nahem and find out all the
things that the people of Assyria did
alive used to cut their tongues
out used to even take little children
and impale them on stakes and let them
hang out there in the sun until they
died they had no mercy they'd bury
people alive they had no Mercy they were
known for their violence and their
wickedness it was a city great in sin
now if I were God it's a good thing I'm
not it's good thing you're not if I were
God I would have said arise and watch me
wipe Nineveh off the face of the
Earth Jonah I want you to see what I can
do I'm sending down one angel that one
Angel is going to wipe that place clean
but God didn't do that God's not doing
that to Chicago why why should he do it to
to
Nineveh you know why God didn't do that to
to
Nineveh two little verses from the New
Testament tell us why Jonah could never
have quoted these verses he didn't know
them but he knew the truth of
them God is not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to
repentance you see they say in verse 9
we want God to turn away from his Fierce
anger that we perish not they were
perishing and my Bible says God is not
willing that any should perish God who
will have all men to be saved God's
attitude toward
them was one of great
kindness chapter 4: 2 Jonah said I knew
that thou art a gracious
God and
merciful slow to anger and of great
kindness and God looked upon a great
City and saw it great in history and
great in size and great in power and
great in sin and he matched all of that
greatness with the greatness of his
grace and his mercy and his kindness a
great City I wonder what God sees when
he looks at
Chicago many many many times I have
flown over Chicago day light at night
beautiful at night Chicago is just
beautiful at night if you come in from
Michigan over the lake and you fly into
Chicago that Skyline is I think the most
beautiful in the United
States you people from San Francisco can
argue with me afterward it's gorgeous
and I've looked down upon the city of
Chicago and my first response has been
what a beautiful city and I've said to
myself what does God see when he looks
at this city
does he see great violence and great
wickedness Jesus looked upon the city and
and
wept Jeremiah looked upon the city and
wept a great city which leads us
secondly to another factor a great
concern God was concerned for Nineveh
now Jonah wasn't concerned don't you kid
yourself the only reason Jonah went to
he went against his
will you see this book begins with
chapter 1: 2 arise go to Nineveh then
you read in verse three but Jonah now
whenever you find a but in the Bible
you've got a contrast but Jonah in other
words I'm not going to do what God told
me to do well if you're going to be but
Jonah then in verse four of chapter 1
you've got but the Lord you start
butting up against the Lord he'll bought
up against
you but the Lord sent a storm down Jonah
went down down down and God spanked
Jonah God chasen him finally Jonah said
I quit I quit I will I will I
will God spoke to the fish and the fish
vomited him up and God speaks to Jonah
the second time and in verse three of
chapter 3 you don't find butt Jonah you
find Soul Jonah big
difference if you had a sow Jonah back
in chapter 1 you wouldn't had to worry
about chapter
2 that's a trouble with our lives God
but God says all right you're going to
fight me I'll fight back you know God
him okay I'll fight back and so he did
then finally we have so Jonah Jonah
didn't want to go to
Nineveh Jonah went because he had to
that's the reason most people do the
things they do they have
to well I better read my Bible I don't
enjoy it but if I don't the roof May cave
cave
in oh I better go to church somebody
will miss me and they'll think I'm a
hypocrite why do we do what we do you'd
think Jonah would have said Lord thank
you for the privilege you've given me of
taking your message to a people who are
perishing oh what a privilege to be an
ambassador for God instead he said I'll
go I don't want to I've told you the
story about the little girl who was
standing up in the front seat of the car
his father was driving down the
highway this was before the days of
safety belts and he said to Honey sit
down she said
no he said sit
down she said
no he said if you don't sit down I'm
pulling over to the side of the road and
you won't be able to sit down
so plop she sat down and she drove along
very primly for a while and she said I'm
inside it's the way the Saints are it's
the way God's people are I'll
go we don't sing I'll go where you want
me to go dear Lord we sing I'll go
because you're making me go dear
Lord God was was
concerned for Nineveh chap 4:1 God knew
how many children were in Nineveh isn't that
that
interesting Mr Moody came home from a
service one night and his wife said were
there any decisions he said yes there
were two and a
half she said two adults and one child
he said no two children and one adult
the fella is half lived his life and
he's only got the other half left to
live for God the kids have got a whole
life to live for the Lord God's
concerned about the
children when the mothers and dads
brought the children to Jesus when he
was here on Earth the disciples said get
away get away he's not concerned about
children Jesus said you permit those
children to come to me don't you forbid
them God knew how many children there
are there God knew how many children
there were in Nineveh he knew how many
animals there
were God's concerned about animal life
you know why the wickedness of men touches
touches
nature we are in a mess today with our
sin and people to make more money make
more money are pouring all this glop
into our
water make more
money the land is being ruined and the
air is being
ruined the animals are being
ruined I took a spring walk last night
little chil I bundled up for
it and my wife and I just walking around
the neighborhood it was very quiet and I
said you know one of these days Rachel
Carson's prediction may come true A Silent
Silent
Spring there may Dawn a spring one day
when there won't be any life we've
killed it all God's concerned about the
animals and God's concerned about the
men and God's concerned about the children
children
God's concern for the
city evangelicals by and large aren't
city our churches are escaping the
cities as fast as they can I know there
are problems involved I live in the city
of Chicago my children have gone to
school in the city of
Chicago I pay taxes in the city of
Chicago I know what it's like to live in
the city I was born in the city I was
raised raised in the city and with the
exception of 5 years of my life I lived
in the
city i' I suppose I have breathed enough
pollution to at least give one part of me
me
something I'm sure in the I'm sure in
one week's time here in the city of
Chicago as I go around visiting Pastor
filin has the same experience I'm sure I
must breathe a pack of
cigarettes just just breathing the air of
of
Chicago God God's concerned about the
city whenever Paul went preaching he
went preaching in the cities did you
ever know I that I was reading in the
book of Acts where he bypassed a couple
of towns Paul you should go to those
towns oh no I'm going to go to this big
city over here they'll reach out to
cities a great concern I think God's
still concerned for people don't you I
think God is still concerned for
children I was glad to hear what F had
to say about Ministry among the Indian
children a great concern now this lead
us to our third factor a Great
Commission arise go to Nineveh that
great City preach unto it the preaching
that I bid thee and so Jonah arose and
went and he got there and said man is
this a big
place you know the little town he came
from in Galilee wasn't anything to brag
about it was just one of those small
Street Great City now this commission is
ridiculous look here is one man versus a
million here is a man without an
automobile a PA system a flannel graph
board a track a radio a TV set a
printing press an airplane a telephone
not even a mograph machine not even a
piece of carbon
paper and one man reluctant as he is
crazy you if you and I had been in
Galilee when our Lord was about to
ascend up to heaven and he looked out
and here were more than
500 of his
followers and he said I'm sending you go
into all the world preach the gospel
crazy our missionary friends can do this
much better than I can wherever you go
in this world you're going to find
Coca-Cola I saw Coke bottles and Coke
signs in in weird places in Africa
Singer sewing machine is there a place
in Africa where you don't find Singer
sewing machine there must be I'm sure
but it's hard to
find when my brothers were in the Marine
Corps and got shipped off to some
forgotten place not even on the map in
China here was Standard
Oil you know how they get
there F calls in his board and says okay
man here is an area where we haven't penetrated
penetrated
yet get over there and do
it and they do
it and we can sell sewing machines and
oil and soft drinks all over the world
we can get in we can't get there with the
the
gospel it was a rather audacious thing
it was a rather ridiculous thing a Great
Commission you one man facing a million
people how in the world can you do it
I'm sure that you felt this way I felt
this way going into highrises you know
you stand there look at these highrises
you get
dizzy how in the world can one person or
one Church do anything about the six
million people in this greater Chicago
area well there were several things that
were in um Jonah's favor
several things that were not in his
favor he was a Jew going to
Gentiles he was an enemy going into the
enemy camp he was one man facing a million
million
people and um he had a very unpopular
message if he had gone in and said God
has said you will defeat the Jews that
would have made him a hero but his
message was very unpopular in 40 days
Nineveh is going to be overthrown people
don't want to hear that but he had some
things in his favor you know what they
were you never want to forget this
number one God had called
him God had called
him when he stood by the walls of
Nineveh and said I'll never make it God
said look I have called you when Paul
found himself in the wicked city of
Corinth surrounded by all kinds of foul Wicked
Wicked
sewage and they began to oppose the
Apostle Paul and he was ready to
quit God appeared to him and said Paul
don't you leave this city I've called
you here and I'm with you I have many
people here and Paul stayed for 18
months and build a
church I'm sure there are times in our
lives when we say I can't knock on one
more door I can't do one more thing
except for one thing God has called
me Jonah had the Assurance of the
calling of God had something
message now Jonah didn't go in and say I
think I'll get myself
elected to the junior Chamber of
Commerce then I'll start influencing
people I'll penetrate the structure we
hear a lot of this today the way to win
people to Christ is to penetrate the
structure my Bible says arise and go and
preach don't you ever minimize the
preaching of the word of God the
teaching of the word of God the sharing
of the
gospel God not only told him where to go
but God told him what to do you preach
the message that I give
you but he had a third thing in his
favor he was a walking
miracle I told you last Sunday evening
that there's no doubt in my mind that
Jonah actually died in that great fish
during those three days and three nights
he was in the innards of that great fish
I don't doubt that the gastric juices
went to work on
Jonah then Jonah woke up and found
himself alive and said Lord I'll do it
I'll do it out he
came and when he came out he didn't come
out the way he went
in he was different he was a walking
Miracle Nineveh
worshiped a goddess
whose image was a
fish it's
remarkable and when Jonah came and
showed up people looked at him and said
man what has happened to you I was dead
and now I'm alive they said we can sure
see that Jonah was a walking
Miracle God's commission involved a
mandate you go a message here's what you
preach and a miracle you
live in such a way that people will
notice the difference I think we need
Chicago a Great
Commission would you notice a fourth
Factor as we hurry
on a great change what happened the
people of Nineveh verse 5
believed verse
n they talked about God repenting and in
verse 10 God saw that they had repented
there are actually three
repentances three repenting in chapter 3
Jonah repented and Nineveh repented and
God repented now when God repents God doesn't
doesn't
change God does not repent of sin the
way you and I do the word repent just
simply means to change your
mind in the Bible repentance is simply
changing your mind and the people of
Nineveh changed their mind they had been
worshiping a false god now they're going
to turn to the true God they had been
full of violence now they turned away
from their violence they had been guilty
of sin they turned away from their sin
they had been ay and proud and arrogant
now they humbled themselves even the animals
animals
repented there's some animals in my
repent they cried out to
God you see something happened to their
emotions fear of judgment in 40 days
ninev is overthrown and something
happened to their emotions fear nothing
Jesus preached about
judgment in fact Jesus said more about
judgment than he said about heaven Paul
preached about judgment and as he
reasoned of
righteousness and Temperance and
judgment to come Felix trembled the
prophets preached about
judgment nothing wrong with a Godly
fear I went to the doctor the other day
and had my annual autopsy
and I do this every year for one reason
I want to stay
well pain
hurts sickness hurts and surgery costs
money fear of sickness sends you to the
doctor fear of accident sends you to the
mechanic fear of starving to death send
you to the
table nothing wrong with fear
something happened to their emotions
they were afraid something happened to
their minds they said we've been
thinking wrong all of our thinking has
been wrong and something happened to
their will they did something about
it the Sunday school teacher said to his
class what is
repentance a little boy said repentance
means to be sorry for your sin and a
little girl spoke up and said please it
means to be sorry enough to
quit that's what they did
they said we're going to quit our
violence and quit our sin a great change took
took
place true repentance is beautifully
pictured here the King on the throne got
on the ash Heap he leveled himself he
sinner and God repented that means that
God changed not his attitude but his
actions God's nature never changes God
can't change for the worse because he's
holy and God can't change for the better
because he's
perfect his nature never changes but
God's workings with men change I'm glad
they do Jonah is glad they do God said
Jonah either you repent or you're going
to get it and Jonah repented and God
repented Nineveh either you repent or
you're going to get it and Nineveh
repented and God repented you know why
God repented because he's the kind of a
God that Jonah talked about in chapter
4: two
a gracious God merciful slow to anger of
great kindness and repentance the of the
evil God in his grace gives us what we
don't deserve and God in his Mercy does
not give us what we do deserve and God
in his kindness graciously forgives
us a great
change I'm going to go one step step
further and ask you to turn now to Matthew
12 Matthew 12 there is a fifth factor
involved we'll touch upon
condemnation Jesus said
this Matthew 12:38 then certain of the
scribes and of the Pharisees answered
saying teacher we would see a sign from thee
thee
but he answered and said unto them an
evil and adulterous generation seeketh
after a
sign and there shall no sign be given to
it except the sign of the prophet
Jonah for as
Jonah was three days and three nights in
the belly of the great fish so shall the
son of man be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth
speaking about his death burial and
Resurrection now verse
41 the men of Nineveh shall rise in
judgment with this
generation and shall condemn
it wait a minute you mean those Pagan
Heathen Assyrians are going to judge and
condemn the Pharisees and the scribes
with their Scrolls of the law and
they're tithing and they're washing and
they're praying yes
and not only that generation but this
generation I want you to know that the
people of the city of Chicago are facing
a great
condemnation by the people of Nineveh
let's finish the verse the men of
Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this
generation and shall condemn it because
they repented at the preaching of Jonah
and behold a greater than Jonah is here
Jesus talks about three greaters in this chapter
chapter
talks about a greater than Solomon and a
greater than Jonah and a greater than
the temple back in verse 6 he's greater
than the temple he's the
priest verse 41 he's greater than Jonah
he's the prophet verse 42 he's greater
than Solomon he's the king he's greater
what's he saying he's saying if the
people of Nineveh repented at the
preaching of Jonah how much more will
this generation be damned that did not
repent at my
preaching greater than
Jonah now Jesus is greater than Jonah
greater in his person he's the very
perfect Son of God Jonah wasn't perfect
if the ninevites repented at the
preaching of a rebellious reluctant
Prophet how much more should you repent
at the preaching of the perfect holy
spotless Son of God greater in his
person greater in his love Jonah didn't
love the people he preached to Jonah
chapter 4 we find him sitting outside
sulking watching to see if God's going
to blow the city up and hoping that he
will Jesus looked upon the city and wept
greater in his love greater in his
message Jonah came preaching judgment 40
days and Nineveh is going to be a stack of
of
Ashes Jesus didn't preach that for God
sent not his son into the world to
condemn the world but that the world
through him might be saved he came
preaching a message of Grace and
greater Jonah said uh throw me out of
the ship and kill me and they'll be
they'll be
calm he made a sacrifice to bring
calm Jesus made a greater sacrifice to
bring peace he died on a cross and bore
on his body my sin and the sin of the
whole world Jonah died for his own sin
Jesus died for our sins therefore the
judgment is
greater Jonah just preached to a million
people he had a message for one city
Jesus has a message for the whole world
too bad the whole world can't hear
it all Jonah offered to them was a stay of
of
judgment this doesn't mean that the
whole city was saved in the Evangelical
sense he just offered stay of judgment
Jesus Jesus in his message offers
abundant life eternal life today and
forever and so I say there is a great
condemnation because Jesus is greater
than Jonah and Nineveh condemns us
today Nineveh heard one preacher one
preacher and repented Chicago has heard
everybody and still won't
repent you can punch punch your radio on
any time of the day and hear somebody
preaching the gospel you can walk into a
bus station you find the gospel you walk
into a Walgreens drugstore there's a
Bible here's a city that heard one
preacher preach one sermon no
repented by the way how many preachers
have you heard have you repented
yet Neva heard a message of judgment and
repented and yet we're preaching a
message message of Grace and love and
forgiveness Nineveh had no evidence that
what Jonah was saying was true they said
it may be if possible God will repent
and God will change his mind we can give
to any Lost Sinner absolute assurance
that if he trusts he'll be saved they
had no
be there's a great condemnation
here these people had 40 days in which to
to
repent but they didn't wait 40 days when
they heard that message it began to
spread from mouth to mouth in the orient
things spread quickly and before you
know it the whole city the King on his
throne the slave in the street was
bowing before God in Repentance they
didn't wait 40 days how many days have
you got before judgment's
coming you don't know
clue somebody could walk out of this
church tonight and be gone you don't
know you don't know they
knew and didn't
wait do you know that uh lost sinners in
the city of Chicago who have heard the
gospel and they've been witnessed to and
they've been prayed for are going to
face a greater condemnation than some of
these people we hear about in South
Africa or Central African Empire or
Ethiopia who perhaps have never seen and never
never
heard if there are such
persons as I leave through the Himel
week by week and Pastor den and I pick
out some of the songs it's interesting
to see how many of these old missionary
hymns talk about the Heathen Nations you
ever notice that the Heathen Nations I'm
living in a heathen
Nation America today is a heathen Nation
we may have in God we trust and our
currency that's as far as it
goes there is going to be more judgment
on the Sinners of Chicago because they
have seen a flood of light there's a great
condemnation now the story doesn't end
there God is more concerned about the
worker than he is the
work and so next week the Lord Lord
willing we're going to look at chapter
4 and see how God had to save his own
preacher and deal with him now is God
dealing with you tonight God has dealt with
with
me in the preaching of these missionary
messages God has dealt with
me God says there's a great City all
over this world there are great cities
that need the gospel there's small
places that need the gospel too There's
a Great Commission let's go there's a
great concern God is burdened to see
people one there can be a great
change and if there isn't there's a great
great
condemnation where are you in the
picture God has written each of us
somewhere into the script where are
we you say well I've never been saved
then come and give your heart to Christ
you say well I am saved but I'm not
dedicated to the Lord I don't really
care about lost souls then get it
straightened out you say I'm trying to
serve the Lord and I'm fighting a battle
that's all right God's given you his
mandate and his message and his Miracle
go right ahead preach the word share
it and God will do the
rest Heavenly Father we would not be
reluctant Witnesses like
Jonah yet even in his
reluctance you did something great oh
how much you can do in the power of your
spirit and your word
I pray father for the one who needs to
be saved tonight you'll speak to that
heart for The Reluctant rebellious
Christian who needs to be yielded you'll
speak to that heart speak to us as a
church family surrounded by a great City
that needs the gospel I ask in Jesus
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