Jonah: A Man Who Ran & A God Who Chased – Week 3 (09/04/2022)

Jonah: A Man Who Ran & A God Who Chased – Week 3 (09/04/2022)

September 4, 2022

OPENING SCRIPTURE:

Now THE WORD OF THE LORD came to Jonah the SECOND TIME (Jonah 3:1 NKJ)

  • We serve a God of second chances!
  • We serve a God who pursues us!

The purpose of his PURSUIT is NOT JUDGMENT but FORGIVENESS!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NKJ)

  • The purpose of confession is repentance.
  • The purpose of repentance is that you can hear the God’s call a second time!
  • Jonah repented and he heard God’s call a second time.

1st part of God’s call for Jonah

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city (Jonah 3:2 NKJ)

  • The call did not change. Jonah gets a second chance to fulfill that same call.
  • Your starting point is right where you left off with God. The last place where you last heard His voice.

2nd part of God’s call for Jonah

PREACH to it the message that I tell you.” (Jonah 3:2 NKJ)

  • The message will come as you arise and go. Obey!
  • The word “preach”: to proclaim, to tell someone about Jesus.
  • As a believer, you also have been called to preach – tell someone the good news.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19 NKJ)

  • That’s the call we have all been given: Tell someone about Jesus

You and I are better equipped than Jonah ever was to preach

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that WE LIVE IN HIM and HE IN US. (1 John 4:13 NKJ)

When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13 NKJ)

  • Arise and Go. He will tell you what to do and what to say.

So Jonah AROSE and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.  And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:1-4 NKJ)

It was simple from God – Repent!

So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. (Jonah 3:5 NKJ)

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. (Jonah 3:10 NKJ)

  • We serve a God of second chances but also a merciful God

CONCLUSION:
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *