23 June 2024 AM – Text: Jonah 3:1-10 – Topic: Missions
Introduction: God can do anything! (Sing the chorus). Many of us learned that great chorus. We know that in our heads. We read it in the Bible, but do we really believe it? Do we live like we believe that God can do anything?
God is not a genie that offers three wishes to a lucky person. He is the Almighty God of the universe, the Creator of all things, the One who spoke every atom into existence. The Prophet Jeremiah said of Him, (Jeremiah 32:17) “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:” The Apostle Paul adds to this when he wrote in Ephesians 3:20 that God “… is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Literally, there is nothing that you can think of or ask in prayer that God cannot do.
God told Israel in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” We do not always know God’s mind and our desires are not always in line with God’s plans. However, when we pray, do we truly believe that God can answer our prayers? When we pray for an unsaved loved one or friend, we be truly believe that God can save that person? When we pray for a Christian who is not walking in truth, do we believe that God can convict that person and cause him to see the truth? When we pray for the sick, do we truly believe that God is able to heal?
How can we strengthen our faith in God’s unlimited abilities? Paul answers that question in (Romans 10:17) “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Our text this morning is one portion of God’s Word that can help us believe that God can do anything. Turn with me to Jonah 3. (Read)
Transition: In this chapter, God identifies three evidences that He can do anything.
The first evidence that God can do anything is that
1. God used Jonah
a. Jonah had been unwilling
1) We saw this in Jonah 1. He had rebelled and ran from God.
2) In Jonah 2, we learned that while in the fish’s belly, he repented and renewed his vow.
3) That alone is amazing. Here was a man so determined not to obey God that he ran in the opposite direction. Yet God put the pressure on and Jonah repented and renewed his vow.
4) If God was not able to convict us when we rebel, think of the mess we would all be in.
b. Jonah was now willing
1) He listened to God this second time (v.1-3). God was still able to use Jonah. What a blessing!
2) He rose up and went to Nineveh (v.3). Nineveh and its suburbs were a huge complex. It took three days just to walk around it.
3) He preached God’s message to Nineveh (v.4). Picture in your mind this funny-looking preacher, bleached by three days in the fish’s belly, walking through the streets of town shouting out God’s word of coming judgment – “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
4) His message obviously contained more than just that line. The people knew that it was the God of heaven who threatened to overthrow them. They were convinced that this God was mighty.
a) My suspicion is that Jonah’s odd appearance caused people to ask questions. When he explained what God had done to him when he refused to go to Nineveh, this brought fear to the people.
b) I think Jonah was a living testimony of God’s ability to do anything. He was a witness to the fearfulness of God.
5) If it was not Jonah’s appearance that strengthened his message, then God must have powerfully used something that Jonah said to bring fear to the people.
The second evidence that God can do anything is that
2. God Convicted Wicked Ninevites
a. God used the preaching of His Word
1) The people of Nineveh believed God (v.5). The fact that they “believed God” tells us that Jonah must have preached God’s Word. His message must have included much more than just, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
2) God powerfully convicted their hearts and they believed. During the early 1700s, the Great Awakening swept England and the USA, and thousands turned from their sinful ways and trusted Christ. There has never been a great revival like that in my lifetime. However, we cannot deny that God is able to do it again. God can do anything!
3) They fasted and humbled themselves (v.5). Their response was not just an emotional tickle. They were deeply moved. They fasted and cried for mercy. By putting on sackcloth, they were mourning as if someone had just died – or as if they knew they were about to die.
4) Even the king humbled himself (v.6). He too put on mourning clothing and even sat in ashes.
5) The king made a decree for his nation (v.7). He ordered that neither man nor beast should eat or drink during their fast. How long? We don’t know?
b. The people repented
1) They humbled themselves (v.8).
2) The turned from their sins (v.8). True repentance is a change of mind about sin, guilt, and that we deserve judgment.
3) They sought the Lord’s mercy (v.9). They were hoping that God would repent or change his mind.
The third evidence that God can do anything is that
3. God Repented of His Planned Judgment
a. God saw their humility and repentance.
1) He saw their works or actions (v.10).
2) He saw their changed hearts (v.10).
b. God repented of the evil.
1) To repent is to change the mind.
2) It is both amazing and wonderful that man’s humble repentance can change the very mind of almighty God. Though God is holy, He is able to show mercy when sinners repent. This was true in the days of Noah’s flood as well. However, when Noah preached righteousness, only his immediate family repented and believed God. God does not force people to repent and believe.
3) God withheld the terrible judgment on Nineveh that their sin had required. He had planned to overthrow the city.
a) The Hebrew word for “overthrown” means to turn over and pour out the contents. It is to turn something upside down.
b) In other words, they would be destroyed or wiped out. The king understood this to mean that God in his fierce anger would cause them to perish (v.9).
4) It is awesome that God can do anything – even change His mind when sinners repent.
Conclusion: God can do anything! He was able to use Jonah when he repented. God was able to convict the wicked people of Nineveh. When the people repented of their wickedness, God was also able to repent of the judgment that his holiness demanded. God can do anything!
What is there that you need God to do? Have you renewed a vow and now desire for God to use you? If you are humbly willing, He is able! Are you praying for lost people with whom you have shared the Gospel? Keep praying that God will convict them! God is able to save them if they will repent. Are you ready, like the people of Nineveh, to humble yourself before God, repent, and believe God for salvation? God is able to save you if you humbly repent and believe. If you have drifted away from God, God is able to forgive you if you will humbly come back to him. God can do anything!
