God is Merciful to Those Who Change

1:08But spiritually, there are plenty of things that you can change. The problem isn't that spiritual change is impossible, but most of us are just not convinced that we can change. And maybe that's true of you. You may want to change, but you're not convinced that you can change, or you're not convinced. That you will change. And if you're in that place this morning, I think the third chapter of Jonah has some very good news for you. We're in week three of our series through the book of Jonah that we've called Compassionate God.

1:44In chapter one, we saw God command Jonah to go to the Ninevites, who were wicked people, the enemies of Israel. But Jonah disobeyed, and he sailed in pretty much the opposite direction, all while calling himself a man who feared the Lord. We saw in chapter one that Christians can't just talk the talk, we have to walk the walk. In chapter two, we saw that God rescued Jonah from his rebellion by appointing a great fish to swallow him alive. That was a loving act of discipline from a loving father.

2:19And we learned that God disciplines us for his glory and for our good. Now, today in Jonah 3, Jonah has been regurgitated by the fish and recommissioned by the Lord to go and preach to the Ninevites. And just like the pagan sailors in chapter 1, the Ninevites respond with faith and repentance. And as much as anything, the book of Jonah shows us that all people can change. Our minds can change. Our hearts can change. Our lives can change. All people can change.

2:58That's true of you too. You can change. Or perhaps stated more accurately, you can be changed by God. That's what Jonah 3 is all about. So here's what we'll see in the text this morning. This will serve as our outline. God's word does not change. God's spirit produces change. And God is merciful to those who change. So let's begin at the start of chapter 3 here in verse 1, that first point. God's word does not change.

3:34Chapter 3, verse 1 says, 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. So after the fish vomits Jonah up somewhere on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, God speaks to Jonah again. And what you notice about this second time that God speaks to Jonah is nothing has changed. His command is exactly the same.

4:09And so we notice a couple of things here. First, God makes no reference to Jonah's previous disobedience. And second, that nothing changes about his assignment. So first, God makes no reference to Jonah's previous disobedience. Do you see here that God does not bring up the fact that Jonah attempted to flee from him? He doesn't mention that he put the sailors' lives in danger with his rebellion. He doesn't remind him that the Ninevites are still waiting for him, still waiting for this message from God. I mean, just think about how different God is from the gods that we invent.

4:49Every Christmas season, children receive a stern warning. You better watch out. Why do you need to watch out during the Christmas season? Well, it's because Santa is making a list and he's checking it twice. And he's going to find out who's naughty and nice. Santa is keeping a strict record of all your wrongs and your bad behavior. But thankfully, God is not like Santa. God does not keep a record of our wrongs and hold them against us. Look at the word of God in Psalm 103. This is what David says. Saw this in the call to worship. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. Look what he says in Jeremiah 31: For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

5:59God promises. David and Jeremiah, who spoke God's word before and after Jonah's lifetime, that he would forgive and remove our transgressions from us. And friends, God's word does not change. He demonstrates that in Jonah's life and in the life of all believers. We see here he does not hold Jonah's sins against him. And think about what we see in the rest of the scripture. The Apostle Peter sinned multiple times in his life because of his fear of man.

6:31He denied knowing Jesus three times because he was afraid he would be killed. He withdrew fellowship from the Gentile Christians because he was afraid of what his Jewish brothers would think about him. And yet God greatly used Peter to preach the gospel and establish churches. Many of you are familiar with Chuck Coulson. Chuck Coulson was President Richard Nixon's hatchet man. He went to prison for obstruction of justice during the Watergate scandal. And yet during that season, he came to faith in Christ. And in prison, he learned more about Christ through reading the scriptures. And when he got out of prison, he established prison fellowship. Tens of thousands of inmates have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior because of Chuck Coulson's ministry.

7:23Praise God that he promises to remove our transgressions from us, to remember them no more. And he keeps his promises. His word does not change. God makes no mention of Jonah's disobedience, and he redeploys him for service. Even when we disobey God, he can still use us. The second observation I want to make here is that nothing changes about Jonah's assignment. Back in chapter 1, God commanded Jonah, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.

8:01And now, after Jonah attempted to flee from God's presence and God rescued him from himself, God says, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, the message that I tell you. It is the exact same assignment as before. Neither Jonah's disobedience nor the passage of time caused God to change his command. And friends, that is because God's word does not change. Look on the screen at Numbers 23:19. God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

8:38Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Look at Isaiah 40, verse 8. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Look at Matthew 24:35. Jesus says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Friends, God does not lie or change his mind. He will fulfill every word that he has spoken. Heaven, earth, everything on earth will pass away, but the word of God will stand forever. It will never pass away. And in the book of Jonah, we see that God has spoken his word to Jonah. God chose him to bring his word to the Ninevites and to bring them to repentance and faith, and that was not going to change.

9:38Jonah could disobey. Jonah could put off his obedience. He could do anything he wanted to, and yet God's word would remain the same. And brothers and sisters, the same is true for us. Whether we disobey God's word, whether we delay our obedience to it, his word does not change. No matter how much time passes, God's word will always say that Christians are to be disciple-making disciples. We are to be preaching the gospel everywhere we go and teaching people to obey God's commands. No matter how much time passes, God's word will still say that children are to honor their parents, that husbands are to love their wives, and that wives are to submit to their husbands. No matter how much time passes, God's word will still say that... Christians should not enter into relationships with non-Christians, that we should not get drunk, that we should not steal the words of others and pass them off as our own.

10:42No matter how much time passes, God's word will still say that Christians are to store up treasure in heaven, not on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. So, friends, God's word does not change. And whether you've been disobedient to it or you've been putting it off, which is its own form of disobedience, his word does not change. It will remain forever. Our job is to hear it and to obey it. So, that's the first truth. God's word does not change. Join me now in the second part of verse 3 where we see that second point: God's Spirit produces change.

11:26We'll pick up in the middle of verse 3 there. 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. So, after God repeats his command to go to Nineveh and preach, Jonah goes, and the ancient city of Nineveh was large. It's described in the scripture here as a city that is three days' journey in breadth.

12:01We don't know the exact distance that that conveys. A three days' walk across the city would be roughly the size of Houston. So that could be the case, but it's going to take three days, whatever that means. If he's walking kind of throughout the city and preaching, it's supposed to take three days. But you notice in the text, in verse 4, Jonah just begins to work his way through the city. He goes a day's journey. So, whatever the size of Nineveh is, he's a third of the way through it. And what does he preach?

12:32Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. That's it. In Hebrew, the sermon is five words. In English, it's eight. Now, it is probably correct to assume that Jonah said more than this, that he offered further explanation when asked. I mean, after all, there is no direct mention of God or why the city would be overthrown or what the people needed to do or what might happen if they did what God required. But remember, in chapter 4, if you've read Jonah before, we learn that Jonah's heart was not really in his preaching. He didn't really want to see the Ninevites repent. So it's hard to think that whatever he preached, he preached passionately.

13:19And yet, what is the effect of Jonah's preaching? Look at verse 5. And the people of the Jews. Of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them. Again, Jonah makes it a third of the way through the city, preaches a one-sentence sermon, maybe. And the effect is that the people believe God. This is enough to make any preacher want to retire. The effect is that the people believe God. From the poorest among them to the richest and the most powerful, they fast and they put on sackcloth. Now, notice that the people of Nineveh are not responding to an edict from the king. This is not because of a law that they are doing these things. They are doing this out of faith in God and his word. Think about that. They know Jonah is a foreigner.

14:21They have no obligation to listen to him from a cultural, religious, or legal standpoint. Knowing the madness of crowds, it's a wonder that they didn't just kill Jonah on the spot. But they don't do that. From the greatest of them to the least of them, they believe the message. They believe God. They put on sackcloth. They repent. And look what happens next, 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. 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. 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.

15:34So God's word reaches the king of Nineveh, and he goes even further than the people. Not only does he cover himself with sackcloth, the most important man in the most important city of the most powerful nation in the world gets off of his throne, sits down on the ground in ashes. He issues an official proclamation, a royal decree that every person and animal is to fast from food and drink. Do you ever think that the animals are like, What did we do? What did we do? We've been doing the right thing the whole time. Why do we have to do this?

16:14And they cry out to God. But the king doesn't stop there. The king declares that every person should turn from his evil way and the violence that is in his hands. In other words, the people are to repent. That word repent means a change of heart and mind. A change of heart and mind where one renounces sin in order to walk in obedience to God. That's what that word conveys in the scripture: a change of heart and mind, where you renounce sin and walk in obedience to God. So, repentance includes sorrow, it includes feeling sad about sin, but it is much more than that. Look on the screen at 2 Corinthians chapter 7.

17:04Paul wrote, As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. So, in these verses, Paul is distinguishing between what he calls worldly grief and godly grief. And with worldly grief, it's nothing more than sorrow. You feel sad. You feel sad about what you did. You feel sad that you got caught. You feel sad about the consequences that you're going to face at home or at school or at work. But that's it. That's worldly grief. Every person. Person in the world feels worldly grief at times.

18:05But godly grief is different. It includes sorrow. You feel sad about what you did, about getting caught, about the consequences that you're going to face, but it leads to repentance, a change of heart and mind that leads you to turn away from sin and to obey God. Godly grief, Paul says, leads to repentance without regret. It leads to a change in behavior. As the king said, every person is to turn from his evil way and the violence that is in his hands. That's godly grief. That is repentance.

18:47Now, here's what I want you to see. The people of Nineveh repented. Their hearts and their minds were changed. But how did that happen? Can we attribute it to Jonah? Certainly not. Jonah only made it a third of the way through the city and might have preached a five-word sermon. And whether he preached more than that or not, we know his heart was not in it. We can't attribute this change to Jonah. Well, can we attribute it to God's word?

19:26Not exactly. And here's what I mean. Let's assume that however long Jonah's message was, he preached every single word that God gave him to say. But that's what all prophets do. Elijah did that. Jeremiah did that. Isaiah did that. And to greater or lesser degrees, every one of those prophets was rejected. Their message was rejected. The people turned away from the word of the Lord. They persecuted those prophets. Same with the apostles. Paul was often rejected and persecuted. Nearly all of them were martyred for their testimony to Jesus. Think about faithful Christians around the world that we pray for every Sunday morning and every Wednesday morning at our prayer meeting. These brothers and sisters are faithfully proclaiming God's word to the people, and yet the people are not responding. They're rejecting it.

20:28So what happened in Nineveh? Here's our second truth. God's Spirit produces change. God's Spirit produces change. God's Spirit produces change through God's Word, but God's Word alone doesn't produce change. If God's Word alone produced change, then every person who had ever heard the word of the Lord would be changed. But we know that's not the case. There is not a one-to-one correspondence. Between preaching God's Word faithfully and people responding. Take a look on the screen at 1 Corinthians 2. Paul explains why this is the case. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him. And he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

21:24If you came to faith in Christ later in life, you may know that from experience. I remember that experience. Reading the Bible as a non-Christian and being like, what is this talking about? I have no idea what's going on here. And then, after coming to faith in Christ, reading some of those same passages and going, huh, that makes perfect sense. Look what Jesus says in John 6: It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

22:02So, friends, what we see is that God's Spirit is the one who gives us the ability to understand and accept spiritual truth. God's Spirit is the one who gives us new life, who gives us new hearts that not only desire to obey God's Word, but have the ability to obey God as well. So, brothers and sisters, the truth that God's Spirit produces change should be a great encouragement to you. When you think about the people in your life who are not responding to God's Word, maybe family members, maybe friends, maybe coworkers or classmates, when you think about the people in your life that are not responding to God's Word, you can grow discouraged thinking that the problem is you.

22:51You're not saying the right words in the right way at the right time. Now, of course, we should do our best to say the right thing in the right way at the right time. There are better and worse ways to share the word of God with others. But understand that what we are called to is faithfulness as Christians. We are called to faithfully proclaim God's word and leave the results to him. So whether a non-Christian responds to the gospel or whether a Christian responds to the word of God when you bring loving correction from the Bible, that's not up to you. You and I are called to faithfully proclaim God's word and allow the Spirit of God to produce the change that God wants to see.

23:41I have preached many sermons that I think would have gotten an A-plus in a seminary classroom. And as far as I can tell, nobody was changed by them. I have preached sermons that I thought were terrible and had a line at the door. People with tears in their eyes telling me how God ministered to them through that sermon. It is not up to us. Our calling is to be faithful. We plant, we water, but God alone gives the growth.

24:19So we've seen that God's word does not change, that God's spirit produces change. And now let's see that final point in verse 10: God is merciful to those who change. Verse 10. 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. So remember, the king of Nineveh has commanded every man, every animal, to fast and put on sackcloth, to repent. And in verse 9, he says this: who knows? God may turn and relent from his fierce anger so that we may not perish.

25:13Once again, you have an unbeliever in the book of Jonah who demonstrates that by God's grace and spirit, he is coming to understand spiritual truth. And the truth that the king of Nineveh understands is that God cannot be controlled. God cannot be controlled. Think about the world that the king of Nineveh lives in. Think about the entire pagan world of these times. They are all worshiping false gods. And the whole thing about those false gods is they all have power over something specific, something very particular. So if you want an abundant crop, if you want the wives of your country to be fertile, if you want victory on the battlefield, there is a specific God that you pray to. And as long as you say the right words, as long as you go through the right motions, as long as you do the right stuff, you're going to get that thing.

26:15You're going to get crops or babies or victory. That's how that worked in the pagan world. But Yahweh, the one true God of the universe, is not like that. We cannot control him. We do not manipulate him by saying the right words or going through the right motions or doing the right stuff. That is not how he works. And so the posture of the king of Nineveh is one of humility. He recognizes that God is not obligated to do anything in response to their fasting, their praying, their repentance. But he's hopeful that they will. Who knows, he says, God may. Turn and relent from his fierce anger so that we may not perish. And sure enough, when God sees how the Ninevites turned, how they repented from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

27:22That's our third truth. God is merciful to those who change. God is merciful to those who change. Look on the screen at James chapter 4. The Apostle James says, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

28:04James teaches that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us in return. That if we humble ourselves before him, he will exalt us. Friends, that is remarkable because we have sinned greatly against God. Did you ever play with magnets in science class? Magnets have a north pole and a south pole. And if you try to put the two north poles or the two south poles together, the magnets repel each other. You can't get them any closer.

28:39And that's what you'd expect with God. We sin and we try to draw near to him, but the more we try to draw near, he just gets pushed away. But what James says is that the opposite is true: that when we draw near to God, he draws near to us. When we repent and exhibit godly sorrow and humble ourselves, he draws near. It's like the opposite ends of those poles. You draw near to God, and he draws near to you. That is not at all what you'd expect. Again, the gods we invent are nothing like the God of the scripture. What an amazing God. We have sinned greatly against him. We do not deserve to have him draw near to us, to have him exalt us. We deserve punishment. We deserve justice. But what wonderful news. Think about what we heard in Psalm 103. Let's be on the screen for you. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

29:49How does he deal with us? He deals with us mercifully. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. And more than that, God treats us. Graciously, he pours out blessing, the blessing that Jesus alone earned through his sinless life and his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. Friends, our repentance does not obligate God to do anything for us, to show us mercy, to show us grace. No amount of praying, no amount of repentance, no amount of tears will obligate God to do anything or will it remove the guilt of our sin. When we sin against Him, the only thing that God owes us is justice.

30:38But thankfully, God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He is full of mercy and compassion for sinners. So when we repent of our sins, God relents and draws near to us. God is merciful to those who change. And so as we close this morning, I want to address first those who are already followers of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, this chapter should be a great encouragement to you in your own life and ministry.

31:18Isn't it wonderful that God is a God of second chances? Even after Jonah tries to run and hide from God, even after Jonah disobeys. Even after Jonah attempts essentially to kill himself, God still uses him. Oh, friends, no matter how badly you've sinned, no matter how big of a mess that you've made in your life, no matter how many times you've screwed up, God is not done with you. That doesn't mean you won't experience his discipline. It doesn't mean you won't face consequences for what you've done. It doesn't mean any of that. It just means that if God can use Jonah, if God can use Peter and Chuck Coulson and me, then he can certainly use you.

32:11And he will use you. Because God's only choice is to work through sinful, broken people. If he's going to use people at all, those are his only choices. And isn't it wonderful that even though Jonah may have preached a half-hearted one-sentence sermon, God still brought the Ninevites to repentance through him? Brothers and sisters, this reminds us that we are not responsible for the results when we preach the word of God to others. When you share the word of God with friends and classmates, with neighbors and co-workers, we are not responsible for the results. If people respond negatively, that is not because you are. Unfaithful. And if people respond positively, that's not because you used the best words.

33:08God's Spirit produces change. Our calling is just to be faithful, to preach the unchanging word of our unchanging God, and to leave the results to him. If you are here and you are not yet following Jesus Christ, this passage should serve as an encouragement to you as well, but also as a warning. First, it should serve as an encouragement to you because the Ninevites were about as bad as people could be. Their sinful ways were legendary.

33:50Their cruelty in war and its aftermath were infamous. And yet, when they repented, God relented. He heard their cries. He turned from the wrath that he was going to pour out on them. He did not treat them as their sins deserved, but he showed them mercy and grace. And friends, he will do the same for you. He will do the same for you, no matter what you've done, no matter what you are currently doing. Be encouraged that if you draw near to God, he will draw near to you because his word doesn't change. He promised, and he will keep his word.

34:32But this passage should serve as a warning to you that judgment is coming. The Ninevites were given 40 days. You may not have 40 hours left on this earth. You are not promised tomorrow. And so you need to take the word of God seriously. We do not know when we will die. We do not know when Jesus will return. And so consider what Peter wrote in his first letter. He says this in chapter 4. This will be on the screen. For the time that has passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.

35:30But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Oh, friends, the word of God is so clear. It is appointed for man to die once and then to face judgment. Every one of us will stand before the living God of the universe, and we will give an account for every careless word that we've spoken, for every thought that we've had, for everything that we've done. No one will escape that judgment. And standing before the Lord of the universe, The Almighty Holy God, what are you going to do? Point to your good deeds?

36:07Point to the fact that you went to church once in a while? Point to the fact that you read your Bible and prayed occasionally? Oh, friends, no amount of good deeds will overcome our sin against the holy God of the universe. Our only hope is the sinless, perfect life of Jesus Christ. He said that he came to live for you. He said he came to die for you. He said he came to rise again for you. And so this morning, do not put any hope in religion. Do not put any hope in yourself. Put all of your trust, all of your faith in Jesus Christ, the one who lived and died and rose again for you. So that when you stand before God on the day of judgment, you are not left with nothing to point to. But you can point to his Son, whom he sent for you. Trust in him today. Friends, God's Word does not change. God's Spirit produces change. And God is merciful to those who change. So repent and believe in Jesus this morning. Let's pray.

37:46Father, we read your word and we hear it preached, and we are aware that we are people who need to change. There is not a single one of us here who perfectly embodies all that you've commanded us. We fall short. We fell short before we came to faith in Christ, and for those of us who are Christians, we still fall short after we have come to faith in Christ. And so, Lord, we are thankful that you have offered up your only Son so that we would not be judged on our own performance, but on the basis of his perfect performance.

38:37We pray that every man, woman, and child here today would repent, that our hearts and minds would be changed, that we would turn from our sin and toward you in faith. God, I pray for those particularly who have lost hope that they can change. I pray for those who are beset by a certain sin. It might be lying, stealing, it might be coveting, jealousy, envy, sexual sin, pride, or any number of other sins. I pray that people who have lost hope that they can change, that you would infuse them with hope this morning, that through your word and through your spirit, they can change.

39:38And so, Lord, would you help us? I pray that we would not struggle alone, but that we would struggle together as a church family, seeking to honor you and obey you in every area of our lives. We are so thankful that you don't change, that your word doesn't change, that you are not trendy. There's nothing about you that we can't trust is going to be the same. You are trustworthy. And in a world that is constantly changing, we are so thankful for that.

40:17Thank you for your word and your spirit. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs. net.