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The people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. Jonah 3:5 What happened in Nineveh was remarkable. This kind of transformation does not always happen when we bring God’s message. Why not? There’s God’s Word, and there’s God’s man or woman, but there is also God’s time. You can’t force that. But you can pray for it. Yo...

“As Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Luke 11:30 Did Jonah tell the people of Nineveh about his own experience? It seems likely he did, for two reasons: 1. The words of the king “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish” (Jon. 3:9). Where did the king get that idea? How would he have had...

Jonah… called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Jonah 3:4 Nineveh was a large city. People in the great cities of the world live relentless lives. We are consumed with what is happening now: running businesses, raising families, enjoying sports. Jonah arrives and says, “Let me tell you what’s coming. Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” Authentic gospel preaching a...

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.” Jonah 3:1 It was not a foregone conclusion that Jonah would go to Nineveh when God called him a second time. Nothing had changed in Nineveh, so Jonah still had at least four objections to overcome: 1. Fear The Assyrians were still known for terro...

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. Jonah 1:16 Here are three things we learn from the ship’s crew about pursuing a God-centred life: 1. Turn to God and ask Him for mercy “They called out to the LORD” (1:14). The crew saw that their religion was worthless. They abandoned all other gods. What mattered was finding peace with this God who...

“Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you.” Jonah 1:12 How did Jonah know that the sea would become calm if the crew threw him out of the boat? There can only be one answer: God revealed it. When Jonah’s sin was exposed, God’s silence was ended, and Jonah spoke as a prophet again. This prophetic word was a command from God: “Sacrifice Jonah and you will be saved.”...

The LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest… so that the ship threatened to break up. Jonah 1:4 Notice, it was God who sent the storm. In Jonah’s life, the storm was an intervention to save him from a life wasted in disobedience. At the same time, God was stepping in to redeem the ship’s crew who knew nothing about Him. Even God’s judgements are a means of His mercy....

Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. Jonah 1:3 When Jonah refused God’s call, he knew that God would no longer give him prophetic revelations. If he made up his own prophecies he would be a false prophet. If he stopped prophesying, his rebellion against God would be exposed. So, his choice was either to obey God or...

*Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.* Jonah 1:3 Jonah avoided a God-centred life. He had planned where he wanted to live and what he wanted to do, and when God disrupted his plan, he quit. If your plan becomes more important than God’s plan, you cannot live a God-centred life. What if God calls you to a different l...

The word of the LORD came to Jonah... “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” Jonah 1:1, 2 Jonah was already running from God at the beginning of his story, but even after God used him to evangelise an entire city he was still out of sorts with God. The book of Jonah was likely written later in Jonah’s life as he looked back on his mi...

Salvation belongs to the LORD! Jonah 2:9 Today’s title might seem a little strange: How to Avoid a God-Centred Life , but that’s what Jonah was doing for a huge part of his life! This month we’re going to look at eight different ways Jonah tried to avoid a God-centred life, so we can avoid making the same mistakes he did. The book of Jonah tells a simple story: God called Jonah to go and preach in...

Now to him who is able to... present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy... Jude 24 Try to imagine what this will be like. First, you will be presented before God’s glorious presence… blameless. The word translated “blameless” is the same word that was used to describe a sacrificial animal in the Old Testament that was acceptable to God. It had to be blameless, without de...

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling... Jude 24 God is able to give you victory over the power of temptation. Do you believe this? No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13) What tempt...

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling… Jude 24 This doesn’t mean that when you become a Christian you will never fail. We all fail in many ways. But God is able to keep you from falling. When Jesus was going to the cross, He said to Peter, “Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32). Peter did f...

To the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 25 Jude says that there is only one God, and this God is the Saviour God. Now if God is the Saviour, what does this saving look like? There are three dimensions. 1. God is our Saviour from sin’s penalty When you came to faith in Jesus, God forgave...

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling… Jude 24 Jude has been telling us that we need to watch ourselves, because we live this Christian life in the body, but we are also to find our rest in God. Verses 24 and 25 are all about God. That’s significant because the first six workouts have been all about you: “But you, beloved, [build] yourselves up in your most holy faith” (Jude 20). Notic...

Let a person examine himself. 1 Corinthians 11:28 Make it your regular practice to give your soul a thorough examination to see if there is anything displeasing to God hidden inside you. There are several ways of doing this. As you read the Bible, note anything that displeases God and ask yourself, “Do I see any evidence of this in me?” Don’t ask vague questions like “Are there any sins in my soul...

To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Jude 23 When you reach out to others in ministry, you need to be very careful that you do not end up falling into sin yourself. Jude uses the word “fear.” You need to have a healthy fear lest you fall into the same sins as somebody else you are reaching out to. The Bible speaks of two kinds of fear. There is an unhealthy...

Save others by snatching them out of the fire… Jude 23 Those who can see that they’ve been burned know what the fire can do, and they reach out to others in the flames. That takes courage. You can’t do ministry without being burned. There is no pain-free ministry. There is an old story about an African village. One night there was a fire in a wooden building, and the whole family who was sleeping...

Save others by snatching them out of the fire. Jude 23 If you’re going to be useful in ministry, you need to have a proper understanding of yourself and what God has done for you. Sin has damaged us all, but the Bible makes it clear that sin has done deeper damage to you and to me than staining our lives. It’s changed our nature. Like wood that’s been in a fire, sin burns. It consumes. The Bible m...

Have mercy on those who doubt. Jude 22 “Those who doubt” would include those whose faith has been undermined and those whose faith has not yet been fully formed. There are many people like this today. How are we to minister to folks who are confused about their faith? Jude says, “Do this with great compassion.” There’s a big difference between the child who struggles to do what’s right and the chi...

Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire. Jude 22–23 If you want to live a healthy Christian life, you need to learn to wait. The obvious question is, What does God want us to do while we are waiting? The answer is that we are to give ourselves to ministry. God calls us to ministry. There are people in need all around us. So, from now until the day when Jesus co...

Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ... Jude 21 The people who bring menus to your table at a restaurant are called waiters or waitresses . They have no other agenda but to wait on you. They take your order, bring your food, and then make sure everything is all right. Some people think God exists to wait on us, but the Bible tells us that our calling is to wait on Him. The purpose of our li...

[Wait] for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Jude 21 When Jude talks about waiting, the obvious question is, Don’t we already have God’s mercy? Yes. Don’t we already have Jesus Christ? Yes. Don’t we already have eternal life? Yes! If we’ve already received these things, why does Jude tell us to wait? This is teaching us something important: All that you can experience...

[Wait] for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. Jude 21 Patience is what you need when things have not worked out as you hoped. Somewhere deep within every heart there is a dream of life as we want it to be. That dream is placed in your heart by God. The word “wait” reminds us that the dream will never be fulfilled in this life. Our first parents were driven out of the ga...