Revival Fire Fall
Text: Jonah 3:1-10
Introduction
1. Illustration: A.W. Tozer wrote, "Revivals come only to those who want them badly enough. The problem is not to persuade God to fill us, but to want God sufficiently to permit him to do so. The average Christian is so cold and so contented with his wretched condition that there is no vacuum of desire into which the blessed Spirit can rush in satisfying fullness."
2. If I were to ask for a show of hands of whom in here today would like to see revival, I imagine every hand would go up.
3. However, if I were to ask then who is willing to sacrifice everything to see it happen, chances are most of the hands would go down.
4. Jonah teaches us that revival requires...
a. Obedience of the Messenger
b. Humility of the Hearers
c. Compassion of God
5. Let's all stand as we read Jonah 3:1-10.
Proposition: If we want to see revival we have to do what God requires of us to see it happen.
Transition: Revival requires...
I. Obedience of the Messenger (1-3).
A. Jonah Obeyed
1. When we last saw Jonah he was in the belly of a great fish for 3 days.
a. He was thankful to be alive and grateful for a second chance to do the Lord's will.
b. Now that he has come to his senses God gives him a second chance, and has the fish spit Jonah up on the beach.
2. So hear is a repentant and renewed preacher laying on the beach. The text tells us, "Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time..."
a. Jonah has been face to face with death—and with exceptional grace that saved him from death.
b. He who had run away from Yahweh met him in the sea and in the fish as Judge and Savior.
c. Jonah needs no urging: with open ears he listens to the commission he shunned before.
d. For Yahweh patiently gives Jonah a second chance. Like Simon Peter, whose forgiveness for denying Jesus was sealed by the repetition of his initial summons "Follow me,"
e. Jonah is called again to be the divine messenger to Nineveh. He has learned his lesson (Allen, NICOT).
f. Jonah receives a second chance to get it right.
g. The second time looks back at the first time. The first time Jonah had the opportunity to be used by God, but he chose instead to run away.
h. But now the Lord gives him a second chance to be a part of something special.
i. There are two ways to look at the call of God: we can look at it as something we have to do, or we can look at it as something we get to do.
3. This time the Lord tells Jonah, “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”
a. This second chance for the call is expressed with two verbs in Hebrew. Literally they mean rising, go.
b. However, when put together they mean "Go now," or "Go immediately."
c. In chapter 1 Jonah got up to run away from God, but here he gets up to run to God and his call.
d. The mission to Nineveh can begin again, because God has called again.
e. The Lord tells Jonah not to worry about what he would say because he declares "deliver the message I will give you."
f. He knows it will not be an easy message to deliver because it will involve their repenting of their wickedness.
g. The task hasn't gotten any easier, but the proper attitude can work wonders (Bruckner, 100).
4. Jonah demonstrates that his priorities have changed. In v. 3 we read, "This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all."
a. Now that Jonah has been reconciled to God he can begin a new to fulfill his calling.
b. This time he accepts his call without delay or hesitation.
c. The expression in Hebrew is "rising, Jonah went." It implies that Jonah obeyed God's command immediately.
d. Jonah has come to the conclusion that he cannot escape this call and so if you can't beat God you might as well join him.
e. A part of the reason that the Lord keeps referring to Nineveh as "the great city of Nineveh," has to do with its immense size.
f. The text indicates this by stating that it is so large that it took three days to see it all.
g. In the next chapter we learn that over 120,000 people inhabited it, which in modern terms would be more like 120,000,000.
h. Archeologists have discovered the walls of Nineveh that had a total urban perimeter of over seven and a half miles (Bruckner 100-101).
i. The narrator's intention in recording the colossal dimensions of the city was to convey the magnitude of the prophet's task.
j. Jonah trudges for a whole day and yet he has not reached the heart of the city.
k. He feels small, one man against a vast metropolis. Lost like a needle in a haystack inside this gigantic Vanity Fair, this Sodom of a city, the tiny figure feels he can go no further (Allen, NICOT).
l. But go he does!
B. Willing Messengers
1. Illustration: "Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late - and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience." (Towzer, A.W.)
2. Revival requires preachers willing to preach the Word.
a. 2 Timothy 4:2 (NLT)
Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
b. Preachers cannot preach messages that just make people feel good.
c. Preachers cannot preach nice stories that give us goose bumps.
d. Preachers must preach the Word!
e. Preachers must preach the truth!
f. Preachers must the Word whether it is popular or comfortable
g. Preach the Word!
3. Revival requires preacher who will preach unashamedly.
a. Romans 1:16 (NLT)
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
b. For revival to happen preachers cannot hold back.
c. For revival to happen preachers cannot water down the message.
d. For revival to happen preachers must take the message given by God and deliver it!
Transition: Once the preacher obeys, revival requires...
II. Humility of the Hearers (4-8).
A. People Believed God's Message
1. Not that Jonah has changed his priorities; once he gets to the city he gets right to work.
2. In v. 4 we read, "On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
a. The phrase "Jonah entered the city, he shouted," comes from a Hebrew word that means, "letting loose," or "untying."
b. In other words, Jonah preached the wallpaper off the walls!
c. The verb means, "to pierce" and shows that he held nothing back in his preaching.
d. Whatever his reservations were before he has set them aside, and he is now giving it everything he's got.
e. He proclaims that Nineveh will be completely destroyed if they do not repent.
f. The word that is used in Hebrew is very interesting. It can either mean "destroy," or "turn around," which is the idea of repentance.
g. They have a choice, they can be stubborn and die or they can change and live (Bruckner, 102).
h. Why forty? Conceivably as a typical waiting and testing period: compare Israel's forty years in the wilderness and Jesus' forty days (Allen, NICOT).
3. The people respond to Jonah's preaching. It says, "The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow."
a. The result of Jonah's preaching is that the people of Nineveh believed God's message.
b. It is important for us to see that the message they believed came from God and not from Jonah. Jonah merely delivered the message that was given him by God.
c. Not only did the people believe the message, but they acted upon it.
d. The responded to the message by declaring a fast and putting on burlap (or sackcloth).
e. Fasting is a means of seeking God's mercy and wearing sackcloth was a symbol of repentance.
f. They believed the word of God and repented of their sins, giving evidence by their actions (Bruckner, 102).
g. The response to Jonah's preaching is astounding. The news of it spreads like wildfire throughout Nineveh.
h. Its citizens make good use of the breathing space allotted to them.
i. They accept en masse the divine source of Jonah's message, believing its author has the power to carry out his threat (Allen, NICOT).
4. Not only did the people respond, but even "the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes."
a. Jonah preaching was so powerful and so profound that even the king repented.
b. This is seen by the four actions that he takes in response to Jonah's preaching.
c. First, he steps down from his throne, which is what one says we a monarch is abdicating his position.
d. Second, he takes off his royal robes, which is a sign of humility.
e. Third, he dressed himself in sackcloth those indicating that he is surrendering his comfort.
f. Finally, he sat on a heap of ashes, which indicates his sorrow for what he had done (Bruckner, 102).
g. The king at once abdicates his high position in face of the sovereign power of God revealed through Jonah's words.
5. Furthermore, the king then leads the people in repenting before God. In v. 7 we read, "Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all."
a. Now the king gets together with his nobles and they intensify the fast.
b. Not only are the people supposed to fast, but now the animals are included as well.
c. On top of that, not only are they not to eat anything, but they are not to drink anything either.
6. Then look what the king does. He says, "People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence."
a. In addition to what he has already done, the king and his nobles also intensify the repentance.
b. Not only are the people to wear sackcloth, but all of the animals are to wear it too.
c. Can you imagine how funny that must have looked? However, it is not humorous in the context.
d. The community was threatened with the destruction of all animate life; it was fitting that animals who were to share the fate of their human masters should join in the appeal.
e. The section builds up an impression of the totality of Nineveh's repentance by mentioning the mourning of great and small, king and commoner, man and beast (Allen, NICOT).
f. The king and his officers were so taken by Jonah's preaching and God's message that they did not want to leave anything to chance (Bruckner, 103).
g. Here the king adds that everyone must pray to God. Notice that in English it is God with a capital "G," and not god with a small "g."
h. In Hebrew it is the phrase ha, elohim, "the true God."
i. These Assyrian's, like the sailors on the ship, are converted to serve Yahweh. This is an astounding turn around, and one that would have shocked the original readers of this book.
j. These people were notorious for worshiping false gods and serving themselves. Now they are turning to serve the living God.
k. In addition, the king commands them to turn from their evil ways and violence. They have showed actions that they had repented of their sins, and now they are to give up the sin that got them in trouble (Bruckner, 103-104).
B. Humbled Hearts
1. Illustration: J. Edwin Orr, a professor of Church history has described the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Welsh Revivals of the nineteenth century. As people sought to be filled with the Spirit, they did all they could to confess their wrongdoing and to make restitution. But it unexpectedly created serious problems for the shipyards along the coast of Wales. Over the years workers had stolen all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers. However, as people sought to be right with God they started to return what they had taken, with the result that soon the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property. There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, "If you have been led by God To return what you have stolen, Please know that the management Forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken."
2. Revival requires humbling ourselves before God.
a. 1 Peter 5:5-6 (NLT)
“God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” 6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
b. Revival happens when we come to the realization that God is the center of the universe and not us.
c. Revival happens when we realize that we are sinners in the hands of a Holy God.
d. Revival happens when we realize that we are helpless without the grace, forgiveness, and compassion of God.
3. Revival requires seeking God with all our hearts.
a. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
b. Revival happens when God's people humble themselves and pray.
c. Revival happens when God's people seek His face
d. Revival happens when God's people turn from their sin.
e. Revival happens when God's people turn to God and say, "forgive us, Lord!"
Transition: Once the preacher obeys, and the hearers humble themselves, revival happens because of the...
III. Compassion of God (9-10).
A. Perhaps God Will Change His Mind
1. The most amazing thing about revival is the transformation of the human heart.
a. The Assyrian's were godless, violent, self-centered people.
b. However, when the Holy Spirit began to move on their hearts they humbled themselves before Yahweh and repented of their sins.
c. Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
d. But the incredible power and grace of God is able to transform our wicked and sinful hearts to hearts that are tender towards Him.
2. We can see this in the response of the king. He says, "Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”
a. Here is this proud and ruthless king who throws himself upon the mercy of God.
b. He knows that even after all that they had done with the repentance, fasting, and the sackcloth, they are still dependent upon the compassion and forgiveness of God.
c. The king then offers a sense of hope in God's forgiveness and compassion.
d. The phrase "who can tell" is an expression of humility. He is relying on the compassion of the true God. Jonah's mission is now complete.
e. The effect of his preaching is that the Assyrian's repent and turn to God.
3. Now I love a happy ending! Our story has a happy ending for v. 10 says, "When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened."
a. The chapter ends with God taking notice of what the Assyrian's have done to show their genuine sorrow and repentance of their sins.
b. In response God changes his mind about destroying them.
c. It is interesting that same translations render this verse "God repented of the evil, that he had said he would do to them" (KJV).
d. That is a really bad translation for a number of reasons, but most importantly God has never had to repent of anything nor has he done anything evil.
e. The NLT is correct in translating the phrase "God changed his mind," because God decided not to destroy them because they responded to his word (Bruckner, 105-106).
f. The most important theme in the Book of Jonah is that we serve a compassionate God that is willing to forgive us and give us a second chance.
B. White As Snow
1. Illustration: Once a man asked an evangelist "how can we have revival?" The evangelist answered by asking "Do you have a place where you can pray?" Yes the man replied. Tell you what to do, go to that place and take a piece of chalk along. Kneel down there, and with the chalk draw a complete circle around you and pray for God to send revival on everything inside that circle. Stay there until He answers, and you will have your revival.
2. Revival requires us to respond to plea to come to our senses.
a. Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
b. God's plea is that we come to our senses.
c. Because of our sins we deserves judgment and punishment.
d. But God says it doesn't have to be that way.
e. God says come to your senses and I will forgive you.
f. God says stop doing what you are doing.
g. God says come to Me and I will make you right again.
3. Revival is dependent upon the compassion of God.
a. Exodus 34:6 (NLT)
The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
b. Our God is a God of forgiveness and compassion.
c. He doesn't give us what we deserve.
d. He gives us what we don't deserve.
e. He gives us a second chance.
f. Jesus says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock!"
g. Open the door and let His love, compassion and forgiveness come in.
Transition: Let's come to our senses this morning and open the door to Jesus!
Conclusion
1. Jonah teaches us that revival requires...
a. An obedient preacher
b. Humble hearers
c. Compassionate God
2. I've done my best to be an obedient preacher. Are you humble hearers?
3. Are you ready to come to your senses and open the door to Jesus?
4. If so, I have good news...He is a compassionate God.
