Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

What will save the United States?

Many people say having a conservative Republican in office will save our nation.

Others, say that having conservative judges on the Supreme Court will save our nation.

Many others would say that the salvation of our nation will only be accomplished when we have equality among all races and social classes.

The truth is, that none of this will save our nation.

Government cannot save our nation.

The Democratic or Republican party cannot save our nation.

No political part

Good morals cannot save our nation.

Higher education will not save our nation.

The only thing that can save our nation is a national revival.

A revival is:

A movement of the Spirit of God upon sinners.

An act of God by which he brings people to the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A work of God where people, in great numbers, repent of their sins, renounce their sinful lives and make a decision to serve Christ.

The Church of Jesus Christ is in need of revival.

Every 10-15% of SBC churches are dying.

A large percentage of baptisms in SBC churches are rebaptisms because people say their first baptism did not count.

Many congregations are eager to organize potlucks but do not emphasize evangelistic outreach, church discipline, and solid biblical teaching.

As time goes on, Christianity is seen as a backwards religions, antiquated, and irrelevent.

Let us pray that God would pour out his Spirit upon our city and bring many people to faith in Jesus Christ.

This is exactly what happened in Nineveh.

Today we consider:

This is exactly what happened in Nineveh.

Jonah’s second chance.

Jonah’s message

The people’s response

I. Jonah’s second chance

I. La segunda oportunidad de Jonás

Jonah is finally on dry land.

He is covered in whale vomit.

He has repented before God because of his disobedience and is now in his way to Nineveh to fulfill the mission God entrusted to him.

He had renewed his vows before God - “What I have vowed I will make good” (2:9).

Jonah 3:1-2

Notice how these words are pretty much the same as when God initially called Jonah.

The fact that God calls Jonah once more is a sign of God extending a second chance to Jonah.

God could have easily discarded Jonah.

He could have easily left him to drown in the ocean.

After all, Jonah has rebelled against our Holy God.

God did not need Jonah.

But God, who is great in love and mercy extends his grace to Jonah who has humbled himself before God.

Jonah is now following the Lord in obedience.

We know he has experienced true repentance for he is now obeying what God has commanded.

II.

Jonah’s message

II.

El mensaje de Jonás

Jonah arrives in Nineveh.

The Bible describes Nineveh as a “very large city”.

It was certainly an importance city for it was considered the capital of the Assyrian empire.

Later on we find out there were at least 120,000 people in Nineveh (4:11).

In 3:2 Jonah does not yet know the message that he is to proclaim.

We should at least give Jonah some credit.

He did not know what God would have him say to the people and he still followed through.

In 3:4 Jonah has gone one day’s walk into the city and has started to proclaim the message God has given him.

Jonah 1:

Jonah is sent by God to preach a message of judgement - the city will be destroyed in 40 days.

Notice there is no message of grace.

There is no call to repentance.

This is simply a message of absolute judgement from God.

What would the people think?

How would they treat the prophet?

Surely, he would tremble for we already know how wicked the Ninevites were.

We are told that they cut off peoples tongues as punishment.

They would also skin people alive.

Jonah was coming against a very violent and wicked people.

We should not be surprised at this message for it certainly is good and just for God to judge humanity.

Many times we forget how awful are sin is before God’s presence.

What kind of reaction should we expect from God when we are a people that kills babies in the womb, many others drink so much that they black out, others enslave their fellow man, we celebrate violence/gore/immorality in our entertainment?

If we were honest with ourselves - we would recognize that we all deserve to be judged by God and destroyed forever.

How would the Ninevites respond?

III.

The people’s response

III.

La respuesta de la gente

We are not left to wonder about their response.

Simply put, “The Ninevites believed God”.

This phrase in the original does not only mean that they believed God’s message but that they actually believed in God.

For many years they had worshipped Dagon (an image with the head of a man and the body of a fish) but were now confronted with the reality of God’s judgement and they turned to God.

They proclaimed a fast.

All people fasted.

They abstained from food and put on sackcloth.

Both young and old fasted.

Sackcloth was a garment made out of goat hair.

It was a very uncomfortable garment that was worn in times of tragedy, grief, and hardship.

People were practically in a state of mourning over their sin.

Repe

God’s Spirit was moving in Nineveh.

God was melting those hardened hearts.

God’s Spirit moved even upon Nineveh’s king.

Jonah 3:6

The king is also confronted with Jonah’s message.

He hearts the warning of the coming destructions and responds the same as the rest of the population.

We see the king take of his royal garments and sit down in the dust.

He too is mourning for their wickedness.

The head of the kingdom has been brought down low.

Not only does the king break down because of their sin but he issues a national proclamation:

Jonah 3:

The king has commanded that young and old, humans and livestock - together fast before the presence of God.