July 27, 2025 • 40 mins
Jonah chapter 3 reveals the perfect picture of what repentance looks like as we witness the people of Nineveh respond to God's prophetic warning through Jonah. This sermon unpacks four essential characteristics of genuine repentance demonstrated in this remarkable biblical account.
• Repentance looks like belief in the truth of God's word - the Ninevites heard and believed Jonah's five-word warning
• Repentance involves godly sorrow over sin - even the king removed his royal robes, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes
• Repentance requires intentionally turning from sin - the people changed their behavior and walked in a new direction
• Repentance includes hope in the mercy of God - they threw themselves on God's mercy without any guarantee
• The empty tomb of Jesus stands as our ultimate assurance that there is no sin too great for God's forgiveness
• When we come to God in true repentance, we find a Father who delights to forgive
If you're in our area and don't have a church home, we would love to see you any Sunday morning at First Baptist, Eldorado.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello and welcome to the FBC Eldorado Sermon Podcast.
My name is Taylor Guerin.
I have the privilege of beingthe pastor here at First Baptist
and I want to thank you forlistening in to our sermon this
week.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist, elDorado.
(00:25):
Will you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Amen, and we'll be in Jonah, chapter 3 today as we
continue our journey through thebook of Jonah.
Jonah, chapter 3, verse 10,says this when God saw what they
did, how they turned from theirevil way, god relented of the
disaster that he said he woulddo to them, and he did not do it
.
Let's pray together.
(00:54):
Lord Jesus, we do thank you formercy and we thank you for what
this text has to teach us thismorning about repentance and
about your mercy, about yourgrace, about the love that is so
undeserved yet you delight togive.
So, lord, this morning wouldyou teach us anew, and teach us
(01:16):
in fresh ways, what it means tolive in the light of your mercy.
We ask this in Christ's name,amen.
In the light of your mercy.
We ask this in Christ's name,amen.
Most preachers, especially in,you know, baptist tradition,
come to a new church and theypreach in view of a call.
Over just a year ago I preachedin view of a call.
(01:36):
Here it's really a weekendevent of a lot of different
events packed into one weekendleading up to that Sunday which
is preaching in view of a call.
You give a sermon to yourpotential congregation.
I remember a professor earlierlast year giving advice to a few
of us on preaching in view of acall, and he said three things
(01:58):
that I haven't forgotten and wasquite useful.
Number one he said this whenyou're preaching in view of a
call, don't try anything new.
It's not the time for somethingbrand new, a new way of looking
at something or a new textyou've never explored before.
It's a big weekend.
The last thing you need to beworried about is you know what
is the second sub point of thethird point in my sermon on
(02:21):
Sunday.
Secondly, he said this don't doanything controversial.
In my sermon on Sunday,secondly, he said this don't do
anything controversial.
You're preaching in view of acall.
It may not be the time to givea Christian's guide to politics.
That may not be the weekend forthat.
And finally, he said this don'tdo anything too heavy.
He said, hey, there's a timefor this, but preaching in view
(02:48):
of a call may not be the time tounpack the mystery of the
Trinity.
It also may not be the time togo too heavy into sin.
It's a tough thing to call thecongregation sinners for 30
minutes and then ask for theirvote.
So don't do anything too heavy.
And I appreciated that adviceand, quite honestly, I used
every piece of that advice.
(03:08):
But as I think about Jesus inhis own ministry, when he was
quote-unquote preaching in viewof a call, we know, for Jesus,
that wasn't really the case.
Before the foundation of theworld he had the job.
But as he was giving his firstdeclaration, his first sermon in
the book of Mark, it's hisfirst moment on the scene as he
(03:31):
begins his ministry.
What does his sermon sound like?
How does he start off hisministry?
He does it in Mark 1, 15,saying this these are his words
the time is fulfilled, thekingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe the gospel.
(03:54):
The time is fulfilled, thekingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe the gospel.
So from the start, jesus isalready breaking some of the
rules I just mentioned.
Repentance, that's a key wordin his first declaration.
(04:15):
Clearly he is talking about thesin of those in his hearing.
Repent, the kingdom of God isat hand.
And it just strikes me that inJesus's first declaration that
word repent is there.
And it strikes me because, ifwe're honest, that word is not
as heavily used in our Christianvocabulary, or at least not as
heavily used as it should be.
And yet, from Jesus's firstdeclaration, there he is calling
(04:39):
us to repent.
And so what is the importanceof that word?
Why would Jesus be so adamantfrom the start that we
understand and really embracethe idea of repentance?
And my question is this today,what does repentance look like?
I believe Jonah, chapter 3, isgoing to give us the perfect
(05:01):
picture of what repentance lookslike.
What was so important to Jesusin his ministry was so important
that the same God that was withJonah wanted to teach him this
lesson, wanted to teach Ninevehthis lesson.
And the first point I want tosee today is simply this
(05:24):
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word.
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word.
Catching us up to chapter three,jonah, chapter one, jonah is a
prophet on the run.
God told him to go preach inNineveh.
Instead he went the oppositedirection.
(05:45):
He is thrown overboard of aship.
He thinks this is the end ofhim, the end of his life.
He's floating, not floating,he's sinking to the bottom of
the sea, and yet God, in hisgrace, provides salvation for
him in the form of a really bigfish.
God miraculously gets Jonahback onto dry land using that
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fish.
And now God is going to callJonah once again to go to
Nineveh, chapter 3, verse 1,then the word of the Lord came
to Jonah the second time.
The second time.
It's interesting to me sometimes, when you will hear this
language and I've talked aboutit before that people will use
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the language of that OldTestament God.
Have you heard that idea?
The New Testament God, he'ssure a nice one, but that Old
Testament God, he's a littledifficult to work with.
And from the start, when thatlanguage is used, we know it's a
fallacy, we know we are inerror, because we know we serve
one God, a Genesis through themaps.
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He is one God, always andforever.
But people will bring up thisidea that that Old Testament God
was full of wrath, not a lot ofgrace in the Old Testament.
And if you ever want to know ifsomeone has not done a ton of
study in the Old Testament,listen If they say something
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like this there's not a lot ofgrace in the Old Testament,
you'll know quickly theyprobably haven't read much of
the Old Testament.
Because as we flip through thepages of the Old Testament, all
we see time and time again isthe gracious activity of a
gracious God, and you see itright here in one small way.
(07:34):
In Genesis 3, chapter 1, theword of the Lord came to Jonah
the second time.
How does Jonah get a secondchance at this?
God came to him the first time,called him to go to Nineveh,
and what did he do?
He went the opposite direction.
Jonah doesn't deserve a secondchance.
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It's true, but it's also true.
Jonah didn't deserve a firstchance.
We don't deserve a secondchance, a third chance, a 52nd
chance.
We don't even deserve a firstchance because in our sin we are
so far from the Lord and yet inhis mercy, in his grace, he
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comes to us.
That's what we've been talkingabout throughout this series and
here in this moment, thegracious activity of God is so
present in the life of Jonahthat he gives him another
opportunity to go.
Verse 2, he says this arise, goto Nineveh, that great city, and
call out against it.
The message that I tell you itsounds so much like what he said
(08:41):
in chapter 1,.
Verse 2, arise, go to Nineveh,that great city, and call out
against it for their evil, hascome up before me.
It's interesting.
Maybe I'm speculating orreading between the lines, but
in that first chapter there'smaybe a little bit more freedom
with the message go call outagainst them.
In chapter 3, he says call outagainst them the message that I
(09:03):
will tell you to give.
It's almost in my mind, as ifGod is saying Jonah, I'm not
taking any chances second timearound.
You do exactly what I say.
As I say it when I say it.
Don't mess it up this time.
But the gracious activity ofGod, arise and go.
And so verse 3, jonah arosethat's a good step and went to
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Nineveh.
Now remember, the people ofNineveh are an evil people,
they're a dangerous people andfrom chapter 1 to chapter 3,
they haven't gotten any lessevil and less dangerous.
So Jonah is still going to apeople that he knows.
This is a tough assignment, buthe goes, he arose and he went
(09:49):
to Nineveh.
According to the word of theLord, there's a good start for a
prophet of God.
Now, nineveh was an exceedinglygreat city, three days journey
in breadth.
What I think this is referringto, it's a three day journey
across the city, not meaningthat it took a literal three
days from one side to the other,but three days to preach
(10:10):
throughout the city in going aday's journey and he called out
yet 40 days and Nineveh shall beoverthrown.
(10:31):
There's the sermon Yet 40 daysand Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Eight words in the English, fivewords in the Hebrew.
Jonah offers them a five-wordsermon.
That's not a lot.
(10:52):
Imagine if I stood up here on aSunday morning and offered you
a five-word sermon.
How would you like that?
Maybe don't answer thatquestion.
Don't answer that question.
Maybe you'd love it.
But five words, and maybe thoseare the five words.
And Jonah is obeying perfectlyto what God said.
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And God gave him five words andJonah spoke five words.
That could be the case.
That'd be fantastic.
Or maybe God gave him a wordand Jonah got to Nineveh and
said five words are enough.
Five words are all that I'mgiving to this people.
Whatever the story is what wesee, these are the words.
Yet 40 days in Nineveh shall beoverthrown.
But even in this moment, isthere not a hint of grace?
(11:38):
You say, well, where in theworld is it Yet 40 days?
You say, well, where in theworld is it Yet 40 days?
The Ninevites were evil.
They had committed great sinagainst God.
Why 40 days?
(12:00):
Why is the message from God notthis Right now?
Nineveh will be overthrown.
Maybe there's something in thatthat God, by saying yet 40 days
, that the Ninevites can hearthat, and clearly they did, and
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at least have the curiosity.
Could it be that if I could putmyself before the mercy of this
God, that within those 40 days,god might have mercy on us?
Could it be Yet 40 days andNineveh will be overthrown?
Verse 5, and the people ofNineveh believed God.
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Think about the book of Jonah.
Up to this point, we've seen aprophet on the run, disobeying
literally at every step alongthe way.
But if you're also keepingscore at home, you've also seen
unbelieving sailors suddenlyworshiping Yahweh.
(13:10):
And now you see the worst ofthe worst.
The people of Nineveh verysimply believe in God.
They hear the word of the Lord,they have a belief in the truth
of the word of God, and itchanges everything.
And so verse 5 continues.
(13:30):
They called for a fast, theyput on sackcloth from the
greatest of them to the least ofthem.
Simply put, they believed inthe truth of the word of God and
they reoriented their actionsaccordingly.
And we'll see that more andmore as the text goes on.
But I just want to ask you thisquestion, like a people in
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Nineveh.
Do you believe in the truth ofGod's word?
Do you believe it Not?
Do you know some of the stories?
Not?
Can you quote a few popularverses?
I hope you know the stories andcan quote verses.
I'm asking do you believe inthe truth of God's word, the
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word of God?
Do you believe it when it comesto offer you comfort and
encouragement?
Oh, I pray you do.
Do you also believe in thetruth of God's word when it
comes to offer you convictionand reproof and a need to
reorient your own life?
Do you believe in the truth ofGod's word?
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You may know the old phrase thatgoes around Baptist circles and
well beyond, but the simplephrase is this God said it, I
believe it, that settles it.
You remember that old phraseGod said it, I believe it, that
settles it.
I remember hearing Dr Rex Hornepreach at one point and he made
(14:59):
the excellent point that reallythat phrase is just a little
too long because there'ssomething in there that doesn't
need to be there, because reallythe idea is this God said it,
that settles it.
Whether I believe it or not,whether I respond to it or not,
whether it changes the realityof my life or not, the fact
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remains the same, that God saidit and that settles it, that
there is truth in the word ofGod.
No matter how I respond, butwhen I come to this book, what I
find is the truth.
And we live in a world and aculture.
I mean, it's always been thisway, surely it has, but even
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more and more does it not feellike that?
We live in a culture that justwants to tear down the truth of
God's word, a world that callswrong what God calls right,
calls right what God calls wrong.
All we have to do, really, wedon't even have to look at our
culture.
We can look at the story ofScripture and see all the way
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back on the first page or reallyabout the third page in the
Garden of Eden.
How did Satan first come to Eve?
He said this did God really saythe original sin happened
because Satan wanted to placesome doubt in Eve's mind about
the truthfulness of God's word?
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Did God really say Our job isnot to twist the word of God or
even apologize for the word ofGod.
Our job is not to take theparts of the word of God that
make us comfortable and leavebehind the parts that make us a
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little uncomfortable.
Our job is to come to the wordof God and acknowledge that it
is this the word of God, and itis true, and it is living and
active and sharper than anydouble-edged sword.
I think of Nehemiah, chapter 8.
After exile, the people of Godhave returned to Jerusalem.
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They have now completed thewall and Ezra grabs a scroll of
the law and he starts readingthe Word of God.
And as he starts reading, thewhole congregation in the town
square stands to their feet inreverence to the Word of God.
And they listen, it says, fromdaybreak until noon.
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They listen to Ezra read andthen explain the Word of God.
But then it doesn't stop there.
In chapter 9, the people haveheard the word of God and then
they see this We've heard theword of God, but now we've
looked in our own lives andrealized there's plenty of ways
we are not falling in line withthe word of God.
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Then the people of God repentof their sin.
So they believe in the word ofGod, even to the point of
letting its truthfulness changethemselves.
That repentance again lookslike belief in the truth of
God's word.
There it is in verse five.
The people of Nineveh, thesesinful, evil.
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People believed God.
People believed God.
But also, I believe thisrepentance looks like a godly
sorrow over sin.
Repentance looks like a godlysorrow over sin.
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Look with me at verse 6.
The word reached the king ofNineveh and he arose from his
throne, removed his robe,covered himself with sackcloth
and set in ashes.
There's been a lot of discussionon this king of Nineveh because
in reality, nineveh is not thenation.
Nineveh is a city withinAssyria.
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You would think of a king ofAssyria, but not necessarily a
king of Nineveh.
And yet I believe for Jonah,this is just his way of really
talking about the one who is inthe leading authority within
Nineveh.
This is the one who is overallin Nineveh.
And what does this person do,this king of Nineveh?
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He arises from his throne.
Now we might wonder whathappens next.
He maybe arises from his throneto let the God of Israel know
that he's in charge here, to letthe God of Israel know that
we're not going to change athing and, jonah, you can get on
about your way.
In fact, the king of Ninevehactually probably would not let
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Jonah get on about his way.
That would probably be the endof Jonah's way.
We have ideas of what the kingof Nineveh might say, but we
would not have expected this.
He arose from the throne, heremoved his robe, he covered
himself in sackcloth and set inashes these physical, outward
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signs of absolute sorrow oversin and repentance before the
Lord.
Do you notice this?
That there's no titles when itcomes to repentance.
There's not a king of Ninevehwhen it comes to repentance.
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There's no everyday townspeople.
When it comes to repentance,there's not the CEO of the
company, there's not the head ofthis or the captain of the team
, there's not whoever's incharge.
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There's not high, there's notlow.
When we get to the point ofrepentance, all titles are gone.
We get to the point ofrepentance, all titles are gone,
because repentance is somethingthat is called upon for every
single person who is in sin, andso all titles fade away.
So the king, in this moment,doesn't look and say hey, if
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those under me want to, you know, do some repentance on behalf
of all of us, fantastic, havefun.
But I'm the king.
No, no.
He says I'm in this with you.
I am one of you.
I'm not over anybody when itcomes to our sin.
I think there is a danger ofChristianity in the country that
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we live in and the danger is,all things considered, we're
doing all right, that even inour country, those among us who
have the least and hear meclearly, I am in no way saying
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we don't have poverty here we doit at such a deep.
I'm not saying we will not doeverything we can for those in
poverty.
We will at a deep level.
But even those who in ourcountry seem to have the least,
there are other countries thatwould look at them and say, my
goodness, I only dream of yourlife.
And then, for those who mayhave a little more, they might
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look at that life and say Ican't even fathom that.
There's a temptation and a fearwhen we're doing okay, when
maybe we have the title, whenmaybe life is going okay.
There's a temptation there, why?
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Because we can let it sink intoour minds, even in the deep,
dark places, that maybe I don'tneed a Savior, that maybe I can
do this thing called life on myown.
There's a temptation to not putour full dependence on the
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mercy and grace of God, becausesurely I'm doing okay.
Even the king got to a point ofrepentance.
Repentance looks like a godlysorrow over sin.
Why do I make that point, agodly sorrow, because this is a
sorrow over sin that has theright motivation.
There may be many motivations asorrow over sin that has the
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right motivation.
There may be many motivationsfor sorrow over sin.
Maybe we are sorrowful becausewe've gotten caught.
We are sorrowful because now wehave to bear the consequences
of that sin.
And I'm not saying thosesorrows can't exist, I am
certain that will be part ofthings.
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But there better be an ultimatesorrow that exists and it is a
godly sorrow that says this Ihave sinned against the Lord,
god, my Father.
Isn't this what David says inPsalm 51?
What does he do in verse four?
Against you, you only have Isinned and done what is evil in
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your sight at the end of the day, against you, and you only have
I sinned.
Do you have a god disobedience?
That your sin is against theGod who loves you, the father
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who saved you, the Lord whocares so deeply for you?
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word.
It looks like a godly sorrowover sin.
But it also looks like this.
It looks like intentionalturning from sin.
Look with me at verse 7.
This is the king still, and heissued a proclamation and
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published through Nineveh by thedecree of the king and his
nobles.
Let neither man nor beast herdnor flock taste anything, let
them not feed or drink water,but let man and beast be covered
in sackcloth and let them callout mightily to God Look at this
.
Let everyone turn from his evilway and from the violence that
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is in his hands.
Let everyone turn from his evilway and from the violence that
is in his hands.
Let me tell you what repentanceis.
It is turning from your evilway.
Repentance is this If I amwalking this way in sin, I am
now walking this way out of sin.
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Repentance is not walkingtowards sin and every few days,
weeks or months, looking up toGod and asking for forgiveness
and just keep on doing the sameold thing walking towards sin.
That's not me saying.
Forgiveness will never bepresent.
We have a Lord that delights toforgive.
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But repentance looks like more.
It looks like now I'm not justasking for forgiveness, I'm
turning from sin, I'm walkingaway.
I'm putting things in placethat will keep me from going
back to the places I used to go.
For the people of Nineveh, theking told them your actions are
about to look different.
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You're going to turn from yourevil ways.
And he told this to the men,the women, the children, and you
read that right.
He told it to the animals.
He told Fluffy back home thingsare about to look different.
We're making a change in thishome.
This is full-scale repentanceof not doing the things we used
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to do, pleading for the mercy ofGod and changing our ways
according to his word, andchanging our ways according to
his word.
How do you know if it's truerepentance?
As you look at your own life,how do you know if you truly are
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repenting?
Are you starting to lookdifferent?
Are you starting to walk awayfrom sin and sin less in that
way?
Have you desired to putsafeguards and barriers in place
to keep you from sin?
Will this be easy?
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It is not.
Is it easy living under theconviction of sin that comes
from the Holy Spirit of God?
It is not.
I've told this story before.
I will again.
Cs Lewis in Mere Christianitytalks about the idea of when he
was a boy.
He would sometimes wake up inthe night with a toothache, and
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he would have this toothache andit would bother him so much it
would keep him up.
He couldn't sleep because of ithe was in a lot of pain, and so
he would think about goingdownstairs to his mother and
asking for an aspirin.
Surely that would solve theproblem, would give me some
relief and help me get somesleep.
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But then he said this often Ididn't do it.
Why?
Because I knew I would get theaspirin.
I knew I would get the relief.
But I also knew this that thenext morning when we woke up, my
mom would load me up and wouldtake me to the dentist's office.
And now there's dentists in theroom and your dentist office is
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fantastic.
We delight to go there For CSLewis.
He was a little nervous aboutit because what he wanted was a
little relief from some of thesymptoms.
If you can just give me onenight's sleep by offering me
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just a piece of relief, that'llbe enough.
But what he needed was to getin the dentist chair and get to
the source.
Repentance looks like more thanjust kind of a healing of some
of the symptoms, but it lookslike getting down to the source,
that the Holy Spirit wouldoperate in our lives and find
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those places so deep inside ofus that are leading us time and
time again back to sin and thatprocess is not fun.
That's conviction.
You'll find out so much aboutyourself.
You'll look deep inside yourheart and realize there is so
much deeper to go.
And I need the Holy Spirit'swork in my life in ways I never
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thought possible and neverimagined.
And yet we need it.
Holy Spirit, help us turn awayfrom our sin.
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word, like
a godly sorrow over sin, likean intentional turning from sin.
But I want to end with thisRepentance looks like hope in
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the mercy of God.
Repentance looks like hope inthe mercy of God Verse 9.
Who knows, maybe as we comebefore him with repentance, as
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he sees our heart, as he seesour desire to honor him, maybe
he will look on us in mercy.
Maybe there is something in thecharacter of this God of Israel
that will have mercy on us.
In verse 10, when God saw whatthey did, how they turned from
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their evil way, god relented ofthe disaster that he had said he
would do to them, and he didnot do it.
Repentance looks like hope inthe mercy of God.
Here's these Ninevites.
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They're as evil as it gets.
24 hours ago they didn't eitherknow or didn't care about
anything, about Yahweh and theGod of Israel.
And yet now they realize thatthere is truth in his word.
There is sin in my life, sin inmy life, and my only hope is to
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throw myself upon the mercy ofGod and maybe, just maybe, he
will look upon us in grace andhe will not destroy us.
He will not overcome us, hewill not lead us to destruction.
Maybe it could happen.
And as they repent, as theyseek after God, god in his mercy
relents.
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If you want to see a picture ofthe gospel, just read every
word of the book of Jonah.
But time and time again, godoffers his saving touch.
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And you say this well, I don'tknow if this is the gospel.
I mean, they repented, they didwhat they were supposed to do.
They earned God's saving?
No, they didn't.
If they had spent those 40 daysnot doing a thing wrong, guess
what?
They deserved it?
They deserved destruction.
You and I, we deserve it.
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We deserve destruction.
And yet what we see time andtime again is the mercy of God.
We see here, as we think aboutrepentance, that true confession
and true repentance look atthis is always met with the
mercy of God.
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I wonder, in your own life asyou think about your own sin.
It's not that enjoyable tothink about, is it?
But your own sin, your own past, the great sins you have
committed before you were aChristian, the great sins you
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have committed since you've beena Christian, the great sinful,
disobedient moments of your life, and when you think about those
things you think about theweight of it.
Maybe we think about thosemoments where we have been so
deep in our own sin, thosemoments where we were certain we
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had our sin and we find out oursin had us.
Those moments where sin hastaken us deeper than we thought
we could go, further than wethought we were able to go, and
sin has brought us to theabsolute rock bottom of our
lives and it has left us broken,alone and confused and our sin
(34:31):
has left us again at rock bottom.
I want to tell you this morningthat when you reach rock bottom
, if you've reached rock bottom,that bottom is solid and there
is a Savior there and at thatrock bottom there sits an empty
tomb and one Friday afternoon,every sin you have sinned are
(35:00):
sinning will.
Sin was placed on the Savior,jesus Christ the righteous.
They died and they put him inthe grave An early Sunday
morning.
He rose and so if you wonder,can I be forgiven?
(35:23):
Is mercy possible for me Forthe first time?
For the eighth time, for thethousandth time?
Don't wonder any longer.
Look one place, and one placeonly the empty tomb.
I think I've told you thisbefore, but I'll tell you this a
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hundred more times.
Katie and I were in Israel in2016.
Now that I'm starting thisstory, I'm certain I've told it
before.
We went to the church, at theHoly Sepulcher, we saw the place
where they tell me the crosswas put into the ground, the
(36:08):
rock there that they tell me isCalvary Golgotha.
We go down the stairs and walk50 yards in the other direction
and we see the place they tellme is the tomb of Christ Looks a
little different nowadays.
You wouldn't look at it and say, surely that's it.
There's a large structurearound it.
(36:29):
If you've been there, I had tokind of be told about it.
I wouldn't look at it and say,surely that's it.
There's a large structurearound it.
If you've been there, I had tokind of be told about it.
I didn't really realize, and wewaited in line.
I mean again, if I'll wait inline for a good meal or a ride
at a theme park, I'll wait inline to see the tomb of Christ
and Katie and I get to the doorand we walk into that tomb and
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it's dark and it's small Maybeme and Katie and maybe one or
two others could fit in there atmost.
And we look around and as we'rein there we notice that there is
nothing in there, not a thing,not a thing.
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And you might be tempted tothink, if you've been waiting in
line for a while and youfinally get to the point and you
walk in and nothing's there,it's a little bit of a let down.
Not that day, it wasn't becausethere was nothing in there.
There is nothing that canseparate you from the love of
(37:36):
God that is in Christ Jesus, ourLord.
Because Christ Jesus rose fromthe grave.
There is not a sin or mistakethat can render you lost or
plucked from the Father's handBecause there was nothing in the
tomb.
There is nothing that can havea hold on you that Christ Jesus
(38:01):
cannot more firmly keep youBecause there was nothing in the
tomb.
You are kept in the Father'shand.
You are kept in the father'shand and as you come to him for
forgiveness.
As you come to him withrepentance, what you find is a
father who delights to forgive.
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That's the gospel.
That's what Jonah teaches aboutthe gospel.
That's why Jesus started hisministry talking about
repentance.
That's the story of everyonethat knows Jesus Christ the
righteous that there isforgiveness in him.
And so, if you don't know Jesus, why don't you get to know him
(38:48):
and, for the first time,experience that?
If you do know him and you areoverwhelmed and overcome by the
weight of your sin, why don'tyou tell yourself again that if
I confess my sin, he is faithfuland just to forgive my sin and
(39:09):
cleanse me of allunrighteousness?
Lord Jesus, I thank you for thegospel.
I thank you for the hope ofyour word.
I thank you for the truth ofyour word.
I thank you that where sin isgreat, your mercy is greater,
(39:34):
that you love us in a way thatwe don't deserve, that we
couldn't earn, and yet it isfreely given.
So, lord, let us be people thattake repentance seriously.
Let us be people that take ourown sin seriously.
Holy Spirit, spirit even now,even this week, convict us of
sin in our own lives.
(39:55):
And, lord, let us respond inrepentance.
We're walking one way in sin.
Lord, let us walk the other wayout of it.
Not in our own power, we willfail, but through the power of
the Spirit.
Lord, would you empower us towalk away from sin, and, lord,
we need you for that.
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But, lord, thank you for yourmercy, mercies that are new
every morning.
Thank you that you are with us,that you love us In Christ's
name, amen.
Hello and welcome to the FBC Eldorado Sermon Podcast.
My name is Taylor Guerin.
I have the privilege of beingthe pastor here at First Baptist
and I want to thank you forlistening in to our sermon this
week.
And I want to tell you this ifyou're in our area and you don't
have a church home, we wouldlove to see you any Sunday
morning at First Baptist, elDorado.
(00:25):
Will you join me now inlistening to our sermon from
this week?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Amen, and we'll be in Jonah, chapter 3 today as we
continue our journey through thebook of Jonah.
Jonah, chapter 3, verse 10,says this when God saw what they
did, how they turned from theirevil way, god relented of the
disaster that he said he woulddo to them, and he did not do it
.
Let's pray together.
(00:54):
Lord Jesus, we do thank you formercy and we thank you for what
this text has to teach us thismorning about repentance and
about your mercy, about yourgrace, about the love that is so
undeserved yet you delight togive.
So, lord, this morning wouldyou teach us anew, and teach us
(01:16):
in fresh ways, what it means tolive in the light of your mercy.
We ask this in Christ's name,amen.
In the light of your mercy.
We ask this in Christ's name,amen.
Most preachers, especially in,you know, baptist tradition,
come to a new church and theypreach in view of a call.
Over just a year ago I preachedin view of a call.
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Here it's really a weekendevent of a lot of different
events packed into one weekendleading up to that Sunday which
is preaching in view of a call.
You give a sermon to yourpotential congregation.
I remember a professor earlierlast year giving advice to a few
of us on preaching in view of acall, and he said three things
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that I haven't forgotten and wasquite useful.
Number one he said this whenyou're preaching in view of a
call, don't try anything new.
It's not the time for somethingbrand new, a new way of looking
at something or a new textyou've never explored before.
It's a big weekend.
The last thing you need to beworried about is you know what
is the second sub point of thethird point in my sermon on
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Sunday.
Secondly, he said this don't doanything controversial.
In my sermon on Sunday,secondly, he said this don't do
anything controversial.
You're preaching in view of acall.
It may not be the time to givea Christian's guide to politics.
That may not be the weekend forthat.
And finally, he said this don'tdo anything too heavy.
He said, hey, there's a timefor this, but preaching in view
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of a call may not be the time tounpack the mystery of the
Trinity.
It also may not be the time togo too heavy into sin.
It's a tough thing to call thecongregation sinners for 30
minutes and then ask for theirvote.
So don't do anything too heavy.
And I appreciated that adviceand, quite honestly, I used
every piece of that advice.
(03:08):
But as I think about Jesus inhis own ministry, when he was
quote-unquote preaching in viewof a call, we know, for Jesus,
that wasn't really the case.
Before the foundation of theworld he had the job.
But as he was giving his firstdeclaration, his first sermon in
the book of Mark, it's hisfirst moment on the scene as he
(03:31):
begins his ministry.
What does his sermon sound like?
How does he start off hisministry?
He does it in Mark 1, 15,saying this these are his words
the time is fulfilled, thekingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe the gospel.
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The time is fulfilled, thekingdom of God is at hand.
Repent and believe the gospel.
So from the start, jesus isalready breaking some of the
rules I just mentioned.
Repentance, that's a key wordin his first declaration.
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Clearly he is talking about thesin of those in his hearing.
Repent, the kingdom of God isat hand.
And it just strikes me that inJesus's first declaration that
word repent is there.
And it strikes me because, ifwe're honest, that word is not
as heavily used in our Christianvocabulary, or at least not as
heavily used as it should be.
And yet, from Jesus's firstdeclaration, there he is calling
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us to repent.
And so what is the importanceof that word?
Why would Jesus be so adamantfrom the start that we
understand and really embracethe idea of repentance?
And my question is this today,what does repentance look like?
I believe Jonah, chapter 3, isgoing to give us the perfect
(05:01):
picture of what repentance lookslike.
What was so important to Jesusin his ministry was so important
that the same God that was withJonah wanted to teach him this
lesson, wanted to teach Ninevehthis lesson.
And the first point I want tosee today is simply this
(05:24):
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word.
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word.
Catching us up to chapter three,jonah, chapter one, jonah is a
prophet on the run.
God told him to go preach inNineveh.
Instead he went the oppositedirection.
(05:45):
He is thrown overboard of aship.
He thinks this is the end ofhim, the end of his life.
He's floating, not floating,he's sinking to the bottom of
the sea, and yet God, in hisgrace, provides salvation for
him in the form of a really bigfish.
God miraculously gets Jonahback onto dry land using that
(06:09):
fish.
And now God is going to callJonah once again to go to
Nineveh, chapter 3, verse 1,then the word of the Lord came
to Jonah the second time.
The second time.
It's interesting to me sometimes, when you will hear this
language and I've talked aboutit before that people will use
(06:32):
the language of that OldTestament God.
Have you heard that idea?
The New Testament God, he'ssure a nice one, but that Old
Testament God, he's a littledifficult to work with.
And from the start, when thatlanguage is used, we know it's a
fallacy, we know we are inerror, because we know we serve
one God, a Genesis through themaps.
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He is one God, always andforever.
But people will bring up thisidea that that Old Testament God
was full of wrath, not a lot ofgrace in the Old Testament.
And if you ever want to know ifsomeone has not done a ton of
study in the Old Testament,listen If they say something
(07:14):
like this there's not a lot ofgrace in the Old Testament,
you'll know quickly theyprobably haven't read much of
the Old Testament.
Because as we flip through thepages of the Old Testament, all
we see time and time again isthe gracious activity of a
gracious God, and you see itright here in one small way.
(07:34):
In Genesis 3, chapter 1, theword of the Lord came to Jonah
the second time.
How does Jonah get a secondchance at this?
God came to him the first time,called him to go to Nineveh,
and what did he do?
He went the opposite direction.
Jonah doesn't deserve a secondchance.
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It's true, but it's also true.
Jonah didn't deserve a firstchance.
We don't deserve a secondchance, a third chance, a 52nd
chance.
We don't even deserve a firstchance because in our sin we are
so far from the Lord and yet inhis mercy, in his grace, he
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comes to us.
That's what we've been talkingabout throughout this series and
here in this moment, thegracious activity of God is so
present in the life of Jonahthat he gives him another
opportunity to go.
Verse 2, he says this arise, goto Nineveh, that great city, and
call out against it.
The message that I tell you itsounds so much like what he said
(08:41):
in chapter 1,.
Verse 2, arise, go to Nineveh,that great city, and call out
against it for their evil, hascome up before me.
It's interesting.
Maybe I'm speculating orreading between the lines, but
in that first chapter there'smaybe a little bit more freedom
with the message go call outagainst them.
In chapter 3, he says call outagainst them the message that I
(09:03):
will tell you to give.
It's almost in my mind, as ifGod is saying Jonah, I'm not
taking any chances second timearound.
You do exactly what I say.
As I say it when I say it.
Don't mess it up this time.
But the gracious activity ofGod, arise and go.
And so verse 3, jonah arosethat's a good step and went to
(09:25):
Nineveh.
Now remember, the people ofNineveh are an evil people,
they're a dangerous people andfrom chapter 1 to chapter 3,
they haven't gotten any lessevil and less dangerous.
So Jonah is still going to apeople that he knows.
This is a tough assignment, buthe goes, he arose and he went
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to Nineveh.
According to the word of theLord, there's a good start for a
prophet of God.
Now, nineveh was an exceedinglygreat city, three days journey
in breadth.
What I think this is referringto, it's a three day journey
across the city, not meaningthat it took a literal three
days from one side to the other,but three days to preach
(10:10):
throughout the city in going aday's journey and he called out
yet 40 days and Nineveh shall beoverthrown.
(10:31):
There's the sermon Yet 40 daysand Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Eight words in the English, fivewords in the Hebrew.
Jonah offers them a five-wordsermon.
That's not a lot.
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Imagine if I stood up here on aSunday morning and offered you
a five-word sermon.
How would you like that?
Maybe don't answer thatquestion.
Don't answer that question.
Maybe you'd love it.
But five words, and maybe thoseare the five words.
And Jonah is obeying perfectlyto what God said.
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And God gave him five words andJonah spoke five words.
That could be the case.
That'd be fantastic.
Or maybe God gave him a wordand Jonah got to Nineveh and
said five words are enough.
Five words are all that I'mgiving to this people.
Whatever the story is what wesee, these are the words.
Yet 40 days in Nineveh shall beoverthrown.
But even in this moment, isthere not a hint of grace?
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You say, well, where in theworld is it Yet 40 days?
You say, well, where in theworld is it Yet 40 days?
The Ninevites were evil.
They had committed great sinagainst God.
Why 40 days?
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Why is the message from God notthis Right now?
Nineveh will be overthrown.
Maybe there's something in thatthat God, by saying yet 40 days
, that the Ninevites can hearthat, and clearly they did, and
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at least have the curiosity.
Could it be that if I could putmyself before the mercy of this
God, that within those 40 days,god might have mercy on us?
Could it be Yet 40 days andNineveh will be overthrown?
Verse 5, and the people ofNineveh believed God.
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Think about the book of Jonah.
Up to this point, we've seen aprophet on the run, disobeying
literally at every step alongthe way.
But if you're also keepingscore at home, you've also seen
unbelieving sailors suddenlyworshiping Yahweh.
(13:10):
And now you see the worst ofthe worst.
The people of Nineveh verysimply believe in God.
They hear the word of the Lord,they have a belief in the truth
of the word of God, and itchanges everything.
And so verse 5 continues.
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They called for a fast, theyput on sackcloth from the
greatest of them to the least ofthem.
Simply put, they believed inthe truth of the word of God and
they reoriented their actionsaccordingly.
And we'll see that more andmore as the text goes on.
But I just want to ask you thisquestion, like a people in
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Nineveh.
Do you believe in the truth ofGod's word?
Do you believe it Not?
Do you know some of the stories?
Not?
Can you quote a few popularverses?
I hope you know the stories andcan quote verses.
I'm asking do you believe inthe truth of God's word, the
(14:16):
word of God?
Do you believe it when it comesto offer you comfort and
encouragement?
Oh, I pray you do.
Do you also believe in thetruth of God's word when it
comes to offer you convictionand reproof and a need to
reorient your own life?
Do you believe in the truth ofGod's word?
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You may know the old phrase thatgoes around Baptist circles and
well beyond, but the simplephrase is this God said it, I
believe it, that settles it.
You remember that old phraseGod said it, I believe it, that
settles it.
I remember hearing Dr Rex Hornepreach at one point and he made
(14:59):
the excellent point that reallythat phrase is just a little
too long because there'ssomething in there that doesn't
need to be there, because reallythe idea is this God said it,
that settles it.
Whether I believe it or not,whether I respond to it or not,
whether it changes the realityof my life or not, the fact
(15:21):
remains the same, that God saidit and that settles it, that
there is truth in the word ofGod.
No matter how I respond, butwhen I come to this book, what I
find is the truth.
And we live in a world and aculture.
I mean, it's always been thisway, surely it has, but even
(15:41):
more and more does it not feellike that?
We live in a culture that justwants to tear down the truth of
God's word, a world that callswrong what God calls right,
calls right what God calls wrong.
All we have to do, really, wedon't even have to look at our
culture.
We can look at the story ofScripture and see all the way
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back on the first page or reallyabout the third page in the
Garden of Eden.
How did Satan first come to Eve?
He said this did God really saythe original sin happened
because Satan wanted to placesome doubt in Eve's mind about
the truthfulness of God's word?
(16:24):
Did God really say Our job isnot to twist the word of God or
even apologize for the word ofGod.
Our job is not to take theparts of the word of God that
make us comfortable and leavebehind the parts that make us a
(16:47):
little uncomfortable.
Our job is to come to the wordof God and acknowledge that it
is this the word of God, and itis true, and it is living and
active and sharper than anydouble-edged sword.
I think of Nehemiah, chapter 8.
After exile, the people of Godhave returned to Jerusalem.
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They have now completed thewall and Ezra grabs a scroll of
the law and he starts readingthe Word of God.
And as he starts reading, thewhole congregation in the town
square stands to their feet inreverence to the Word of God.
And they listen, it says, fromdaybreak until noon.
(17:30):
They listen to Ezra read andthen explain the Word of God.
But then it doesn't stop there.
In chapter 9, the people haveheard the word of God and then
they see this We've heard theword of God, but now we've
looked in our own lives andrealized there's plenty of ways
we are not falling in line withthe word of God.
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Then the people of God repentof their sin.
So they believe in the word ofGod, even to the point of
letting its truthfulness changethemselves.
That repentance again lookslike belief in the truth of
God's word.
There it is in verse five.
The people of Nineveh, thesesinful, evil.
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People believed God.
People believed God.
But also, I believe thisrepentance looks like a godly
sorrow over sin.
Repentance looks like a godlysorrow over sin.
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Look with me at verse 6.
The word reached the king ofNineveh and he arose from his
throne, removed his robe,covered himself with sackcloth
and set in ashes.
There's been a lot of discussionon this king of Nineveh because
in reality, nineveh is not thenation.
Nineveh is a city withinAssyria.
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You would think of a king ofAssyria, but not necessarily a
king of Nineveh.
And yet I believe for Jonah,this is just his way of really
talking about the one who is inthe leading authority within
Nineveh.
This is the one who is overallin Nineveh.
And what does this person do,this king of Nineveh?
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He arises from his throne.
Now we might wonder whathappens next.
He maybe arises from his throneto let the God of Israel know
that he's in charge here, to letthe God of Israel know that
we're not going to change athing and, jonah, you can get on
about your way.
In fact, the king of Ninevehactually probably would not let
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Jonah get on about his way.
That would probably be the endof Jonah's way.
We have ideas of what the kingof Nineveh might say, but we
would not have expected this.
He arose from the throne, heremoved his robe, he covered
himself in sackcloth and set inashes these physical, outward
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signs of absolute sorrow oversin and repentance before the
Lord.
Do you notice this?
That there's no titles when itcomes to repentance.
There's not a king of Ninevehwhen it comes to repentance.
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There's no everyday townspeople.
When it comes to repentance,there's not the CEO of the
company, there's not the head ofthis or the captain of the team
, there's not whoever's incharge.
(20:52):
There's not high, there's notlow.
When we get to the point ofrepentance, all titles are gone.
We get to the point ofrepentance, all titles are gone,
because repentance is somethingthat is called upon for every
single person who is in sin, andso all titles fade away.
So the king, in this moment,doesn't look and say hey, if
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those under me want to, you know, do some repentance on behalf
of all of us, fantastic, havefun.
But I'm the king.
No, no.
He says I'm in this with you.
I am one of you.
I'm not over anybody when itcomes to our sin.
I think there is a danger ofChristianity in the country that
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we live in and the danger is,all things considered, we're
doing all right, that even inour country, those among us who
have the least and hear meclearly, I am in no way saying
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we don't have poverty here we doit at such a deep.
I'm not saying we will not doeverything we can for those in
poverty.
We will at a deep level.
But even those who in ourcountry seem to have the least,
there are other countries thatwould look at them and say, my
goodness, I only dream of yourlife.
And then, for those who mayhave a little more, they might
(22:18):
look at that life and say Ican't even fathom that.
There's a temptation and a fearwhen we're doing okay, when
maybe we have the title, whenmaybe life is going okay.
There's a temptation there, why?
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Because we can let it sink intoour minds, even in the deep,
dark places, that maybe I don'tneed a Savior, that maybe I can
do this thing called life on myown.
There's a temptation to not putour full dependence on the
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mercy and grace of God, becausesurely I'm doing okay.
Even the king got to a point ofrepentance.
Repentance looks like a godlysorrow over sin.
Why do I make that point, agodly sorrow, because this is a
sorrow over sin that has theright motivation.
There may be many motivations asorrow over sin that has the
(23:20):
right motivation.
There may be many motivationsfor sorrow over sin.
Maybe we are sorrowful becausewe've gotten caught.
We are sorrowful because now wehave to bear the consequences
of that sin.
And I'm not saying thosesorrows can't exist, I am
certain that will be part ofthings.
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But there better be an ultimatesorrow that exists and it is a
godly sorrow that says this Ihave sinned against the Lord,
god, my Father.
Isn't this what David says inPsalm 51?
What does he do in verse four?
Against you, you only have Isinned and done what is evil in
(24:04):
your sight at the end of the day, against you, and you only have
I sinned.
Do you have a god disobedience?
That your sin is against theGod who loves you, the father
(24:25):
who saved you, the Lord whocares so deeply for you?
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word.
It looks like a godly sorrowover sin.
But it also looks like this.
It looks like intentionalturning from sin.
Look with me at verse 7.
This is the king still, and heissued a proclamation and
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published through Nineveh by thedecree of the king and his
nobles.
Let neither man nor beast herdnor flock taste anything, let
them not feed or drink water,but let man and beast be covered
in sackcloth and let them callout mightily to God Look at this
.
Let everyone turn from his evilway and from the violence that
(25:13):
is in his hands.
Let everyone turn from his evilway and from the violence that
is in his hands.
Let me tell you what repentanceis.
It is turning from your evilway.
Repentance is this If I amwalking this way in sin, I am
now walking this way out of sin.
(25:33):
Repentance is not walkingtowards sin and every few days,
weeks or months, looking up toGod and asking for forgiveness
and just keep on doing the sameold thing walking towards sin.
That's not me saying.
Forgiveness will never bepresent.
We have a Lord that delights toforgive.
(25:56):
But repentance looks like more.
It looks like now I'm not justasking for forgiveness, I'm
turning from sin, I'm walkingaway.
I'm putting things in placethat will keep me from going
back to the places I used to go.
For the people of Nineveh, theking told them your actions are
about to look different.
(26:17):
You're going to turn from yourevil ways.
And he told this to the men,the women, the children, and you
read that right.
He told it to the animals.
He told Fluffy back home thingsare about to look different.
We're making a change in thishome.
This is full-scale repentanceof not doing the things we used
(26:39):
to do, pleading for the mercy ofGod and changing our ways
according to his word, andchanging our ways according to
his word.
How do you know if it's truerepentance?
As you look at your own life,how do you know if you truly are
(27:02):
repenting?
Are you starting to lookdifferent?
Are you starting to walk awayfrom sin and sin less in that
way?
Have you desired to putsafeguards and barriers in place
to keep you from sin?
Will this be easy?
(27:23):
It is not.
Is it easy living under theconviction of sin that comes
from the Holy Spirit of God?
It is not.
I've told this story before.
I will again.
Cs Lewis in Mere Christianitytalks about the idea of when he
was a boy.
He would sometimes wake up inthe night with a toothache, and
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he would have this toothache andit would bother him so much it
would keep him up.
He couldn't sleep because of ithe was in a lot of pain, and so
he would think about goingdownstairs to his mother and
asking for an aspirin.
Surely that would solve theproblem, would give me some
relief and help me get somesleep.
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But then he said this often Ididn't do it.
Why?
Because I knew I would get theaspirin.
I knew I would get the relief.
But I also knew this that thenext morning when we woke up, my
mom would load me up and wouldtake me to the dentist's office.
And now there's dentists in theroom and your dentist office is
(28:33):
fantastic.
We delight to go there For CSLewis.
He was a little nervous aboutit because what he wanted was a
little relief from some of thesymptoms.
If you can just give me onenight's sleep by offering me
(28:53):
just a piece of relief, that'llbe enough.
But what he needed was to getin the dentist chair and get to
the source.
Repentance looks like more thanjust kind of a healing of some
of the symptoms, but it lookslike getting down to the source,
that the Holy Spirit wouldoperate in our lives and find
(29:14):
those places so deep inside ofus that are leading us time and
time again back to sin and thatprocess is not fun.
That's conviction.
You'll find out so much aboutyourself.
You'll look deep inside yourheart and realize there is so
much deeper to go.
And I need the Holy Spirit'swork in my life in ways I never
(29:36):
thought possible and neverimagined.
And yet we need it.
Holy Spirit, help us turn awayfrom our sin.
Repentance looks like a beliefin the truth of God's word, like
a godly sorrow over sin, likean intentional turning from sin.
But I want to end with thisRepentance looks like hope in
(30:00):
the mercy of God.
Repentance looks like hope inthe mercy of God Verse 9.
Who knows, maybe as we comebefore him with repentance, as
(30:40):
he sees our heart, as he seesour desire to honor him, maybe
he will look on us in mercy.
Maybe there is something in thecharacter of this God of Israel
that will have mercy on us.
In verse 10, when God saw whatthey did, how they turned from
(31:05):
their evil way, god relented ofthe disaster that he had said he
would do to them, and he didnot do it.
Repentance looks like hope inthe mercy of God.
Here's these Ninevites.
(31:25):
They're as evil as it gets.
24 hours ago they didn't eitherknow or didn't care about
anything, about Yahweh and theGod of Israel.
And yet now they realize thatthere is truth in his word.
There is sin in my life, sin inmy life, and my only hope is to
(31:59):
throw myself upon the mercy ofGod and maybe, just maybe, he
will look upon us in grace andhe will not destroy us.
He will not overcome us, hewill not lead us to destruction.
Maybe it could happen.
And as they repent, as theyseek after God, god in his mercy
relents.
(32:21):
If you want to see a picture ofthe gospel, just read every
word of the book of Jonah.
But time and time again, godoffers his saving touch.
(32:42):
And you say this well, I don'tknow if this is the gospel.
I mean, they repented, they didwhat they were supposed to do.
They earned God's saving?
No, they didn't.
If they had spent those 40 daysnot doing a thing wrong, guess
what?
They deserved it?
They deserved destruction.
You and I, we deserve it.
(33:06):
We deserve destruction.
And yet what we see time andtime again is the mercy of God.
We see here, as we think aboutrepentance, that true confession
and true repentance look atthis is always met with the
mercy of God.
(33:27):
I wonder, in your own life asyou think about your own sin.
It's not that enjoyable tothink about, is it?
But your own sin, your own past, the great sins you have
committed before you were aChristian, the great sins you
(33:47):
have committed since you've beena Christian, the great sinful,
disobedient moments of your life, and when you think about those
things you think about theweight of it.
Maybe we think about thosemoments where we have been so
deep in our own sin, thosemoments where we were certain we
(34:09):
had our sin and we find out oursin had us.
Those moments where sin hastaken us deeper than we thought
we could go, further than wethought we were able to go, and
sin has brought us to theabsolute rock bottom of our
lives and it has left us broken,alone and confused and our sin
(34:31):
has left us again at rock bottom.
I want to tell you this morningthat when you reach rock bottom
, if you've reached rock bottom,that bottom is solid and there
is a Savior there and at thatrock bottom there sits an empty
tomb and one Friday afternoon,every sin you have sinned are
(35:00):
sinning will.
Sin was placed on the Savior,jesus Christ the righteous.
They died and they put him inthe grave An early Sunday
morning.
He rose and so if you wonder,can I be forgiven?
(35:23):
Is mercy possible for me Forthe first time?
For the eighth time, for thethousandth time?
Don't wonder any longer.
Look one place, and one placeonly the empty tomb.
I think I've told you thisbefore, but I'll tell you this a
(35:48):
hundred more times.
Katie and I were in Israel in2016.
Now that I'm starting thisstory, I'm certain I've told it
before.
We went to the church, at theHoly Sepulcher, we saw the place
where they tell me the crosswas put into the ground, the
(36:08):
rock there that they tell me isCalvary Golgotha.
We go down the stairs and walk50 yards in the other direction
and we see the place they tellme is the tomb of Christ Looks a
little different nowadays.
You wouldn't look at it and say, surely that's it.
There's a large structurearound it.
(36:29):
If you've been there, I had tokind of be told about it.
I wouldn't look at it and say,surely that's it.
There's a large structurearound it.
If you've been there, I had tokind of be told about it.
I didn't really realize, and wewaited in line.
I mean again, if I'll wait inline for a good meal or a ride
at a theme park, I'll wait inline to see the tomb of Christ
and Katie and I get to the doorand we walk into that tomb and
(36:51):
it's dark and it's small Maybeme and Katie and maybe one or
two others could fit in there atmost.
And we look around and as we'rein there we notice that there is
nothing in there, not a thing,not a thing.
(37:12):
And you might be tempted tothink, if you've been waiting in
line for a while and youfinally get to the point and you
walk in and nothing's there,it's a little bit of a let down.
Not that day, it wasn't becausethere was nothing in there.
There is nothing that canseparate you from the love of
(37:36):
God that is in Christ Jesus, ourLord.
Because Christ Jesus rose fromthe grave.
There is not a sin or mistakethat can render you lost or
plucked from the Father's handBecause there was nothing in the
tomb.
There is nothing that can havea hold on you that Christ Jesus
(38:01):
cannot more firmly keep youBecause there was nothing in the
tomb.
You are kept in the Father'shand.
You are kept in the father'shand and as you come to him for
forgiveness.
As you come to him withrepentance, what you find is a
father who delights to forgive.
(38:25):
That's the gospel.
That's what Jonah teaches aboutthe gospel.
That's why Jesus started hisministry talking about
repentance.
That's the story of everyonethat knows Jesus Christ the
righteous that there isforgiveness in him.
And so, if you don't know Jesus, why don't you get to know him
(38:48):
and, for the first time,experience that?
If you do know him and you areoverwhelmed and overcome by the
weight of your sin, why don'tyou tell yourself again that if
I confess my sin, he is faithfuland just to forgive my sin and
(39:09):
cleanse me of allunrighteousness?
Lord Jesus, I thank you for thegospel.
I thank you for the hope ofyour word.
I thank you for the truth ofyour word.
I thank you that where sin isgreat, your mercy is greater,
(39:34):
that you love us in a way thatwe don't deserve, that we
couldn't earn, and yet it isfreely given.
So, lord, let us be people thattake repentance seriously.
Let us be people that take ourown sin seriously.
Holy Spirit, spirit even now,even this week, convict us of
sin in our own lives.
(39:55):
And, lord, let us respond inrepentance.
We're walking one way in sin.
Lord, let us walk the other wayout of it.
Not in our own power, we willfail, but through the power of
the Spirit.
Lord, would you empower us towalk away from sin, and, lord,
we need you for that.
(40:15):
But, lord, thank you for yourmercy, mercies that are new
every morning.
Thank you that you are with us,that you love us In Christ's
name, amen.
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