Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Proclamation, Transformation, Compassion │ Msg 69

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Proclamation, Transformation, Compassion │ Msg 69 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Our sins, they are many, but his mercy is more.
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Speaker 1: In one simple statement, that's the grace of God. Where
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Speaker 1: sin abounded, grace much more abounded. Grace super abounded. And
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Speaker 1: that's been true all through time, right up to this
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Speaker 1: very moment and beyond. Some of you probably think if
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Speaker 1: you could know my past, you'd realize that I'm impossible.
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Speaker 2: I've never met an impossible person.
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Speaker 1: Because I've met the Lord, and he is the God
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Speaker 1: of impossibilities, he's never met his match.
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Speaker 2: Back in ancient days, there lived a prophet.
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Speaker 1: Who was given a second chance by the mercy and
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Speaker 1: grace of God, he heard the same call the second time.
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Speaker 1: He was given the same commission the second time. The
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Speaker 1: first time he ran in the wrong direction, thinking he
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Speaker 1: could escape. But the second time he heard it, And
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Speaker 1: he did it. And the result, to the surprise of
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Speaker 1: many people, was the greatest revival ever recorded in the
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Speaker 1: history of the Bible. There's no greater revival than is
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Speaker 1: recorded in the third chapter of Jonah, where the entire
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Speaker 1: city of Nineveh.
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Speaker 2: Repents.
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Speaker 1: In fact, over 120,000 people from the greatest to the
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Speaker 1: least of them came to the Lord their God and
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Speaker 1: trusted in him as a result of one man's message
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Speaker 1: that came from God. We're going to read a bit
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Speaker 1: in Jonah chapter 3. I'll be reading from the New
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Speaker 1: Living Translation, very near to what you're reading from the
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Speaker 1: version you have. And even if you didn't bring a
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Speaker 1: Bible with you, listen closely to what the Lord God
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Speaker 1: says in this third chapter. Let's stand together for the
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Speaker 1: reading of God's word. Jonah 3. Then the Lord spoke
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Speaker 1: to Jonah a second time. Get up and go to
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Speaker 1: the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I
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Speaker 1: have given you. This time Jonah obeyed the Lord's command
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Speaker 1: and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it
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Speaker 1: took three days to see it. On the day Jonah
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Speaker 1: entered the city, he shouted to the crowds, 40 days
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Speaker 1: from now, Nineveh will be destroyed. The people of Nineveh
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Speaker 1: believed God's message. And from the greatest to the least,
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Speaker 1: they declared a fast. and put on burlap to show
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Speaker 1: their sorrow. When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah
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Speaker 1: was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took
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Speaker 1: off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and
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Speaker 1: sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and
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Speaker 1: his nobles sent this decree throughout the city. No one,
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Speaker 1: not even the animals from your herds and flocks may
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Speaker 1: eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike
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Speaker 1: must wear garments of mourning and everyone must pray earnestly
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Speaker 1: to God. They must turn from their evil ways and
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Speaker 1: stop all their violence. Who can tell, perhaps even yet,
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Speaker 1: God will change his mind and hold back his fierce
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Speaker 1: anger from destroying us. When God saw what they had
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Speaker 1: done and how they had put a stop to their
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Speaker 1: evil ways, He changed his mind.
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Speaker 2: And did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
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Speaker 1: If you look over to the last chapter, verse 11,
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Speaker 1: Nineveh has more.
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Speaker 2: Than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness.
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Speaker 1: And we read in chapter 3, From the least of
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Speaker 1: them to the greatest, they turned to the Lord.
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Speaker 2: As a result of believing God's message. You may be seated.
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Speaker 1: I want today to be a unique day in all
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Speaker 1: our lives where we will hear from Jonah no doubt
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Speaker 1: the shortest sermon ever preached. Notice I said, from Jonah.
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Speaker 1: Mine will be a little longer. Jonah's was only.
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Speaker 2: Five Hebrew words.
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Speaker 1: And God used those five words to turn the hearts.
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Speaker 2: Of well over 120, 25, 30,000 people.
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Speaker 1: And more, quite likely, to the Lord himself.
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Speaker 2: Bow with me, will you?
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Speaker 1: Thank you, Father, for your power in igniting the truth,
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Speaker 1: taking it and using it in lives that are not
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Speaker 1: necessarily looking for it or even interested in it.
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Speaker 2: And suddenly....
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Speaker 1: When your message is declared faithfully and clearly and courageously,
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Speaker 1: wondrous things occur. Thank you for all today who are
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Speaker 1: a part of this worship gathering. We come from all
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Speaker 1: different walks of life. We represent all different backgrounds. We
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Speaker 1: drag with us all different sins. failures, flaws, embarrassing and
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Speaker 1: heartbreaking experiences, yet we come before you, our faithful, merciful God,
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Speaker 1: finding in you what we find.
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Speaker 2: In no other, one who loves us.
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Speaker 1: In spite of ourselves and sees us not as what
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Speaker 1: we are, but as what we might become.
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Speaker 2: By your grace.
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Speaker 1: Thank you, Father. Thank you for the encouragement that brings.
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Speaker 1: Speak to us today in music, in words, and in
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Speaker 1: quietness as we give ear to the truth, however it
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Speaker 1: is communicated. And then may we be as willing as
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Speaker 1: these people who, upon hearing, made a decision that changed
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Speaker 1: the course of their lives.
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Speaker 2: We trust you for that, Father. Use our gifts, we pray,
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Speaker 2: that others.
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Speaker 1: Might hear, others we will never meet in places we
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Speaker 1: will never go, for your glory, we pray. and we
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Speaker 1: give our gifts through Jesus Christ, our Savior. And everyone said.
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Speaker 2: Amen.
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Speaker 1: God is pleased whenever and wherever his message is proclaimed.
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Speaker 1: That simplifies everything, doesn't it? He has promised to bless
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Speaker 1: his word and to use it in the lives of
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Speaker 1: other people.
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Speaker 2: So he is.
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Speaker 1: Forever looking for someone who is willing to take his message.
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Speaker 2: And declare it.
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Speaker 1: One on one, one with a few, several at a time,
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Speaker 1: sometimes one with many. But a faithful messenger is the
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Speaker 1: way God wants it to be handled. We don't have
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Speaker 1: to be cute or clever or super creative. The messenger
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Speaker 1: doesn't have to be perfect or profound or all that persuasive.
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Speaker 1: The messenger doesn't need to be eloquent or impressive. or brilliant,
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Speaker 1: but we need to be willing. We need to be available.
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Speaker 1: And we certainly need to be humble, however God may
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Speaker 1: choose to use us. And you and I would agree
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Speaker 1: that it's always a delight to meet up with someone
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Speaker 1: who is being used of God as his messenger in
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Speaker 1: whatever may be the capacity and yet the person remains real,
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Speaker 1: very human.
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Speaker 2: Just what he or she is.
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Speaker 1: I don't know of a better example of that in
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Speaker 1: my lifetime than what I witnessed in the late great evangelist,
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Speaker 1: Billy Graham, a man who had addressed on his feet
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Speaker 1: alive with the audiences that sometime numbered into the millions,
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Speaker 1: certainly electronically it was in the millions, and yet was
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Speaker 1: never impressed with Billy Graham. He was pleased to be
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Speaker 1: one of God's messenger boys, as he often put it,
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Speaker 1: and then to deliver it, deliver the message and then
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Speaker 1: get out of the way, leaving the glory with God.
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Speaker 2: The same was true of D. Martin Lloyd-Jones.
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Speaker 1: That name is not as familiar as the name Billy Graham.
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Speaker 1: Martin Lloyd-Jones took the place of G. Campbell Morgan at
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Speaker 1: Westminster Chapel in London, England. He stayed there after Campbell
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Speaker 1: had left for almost 30 years. faithfully expositing the word
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Speaker 1: of God, a doctrinal preacher, often stern and determined in style,
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Speaker 1: but reliable, faithful, accurate, and yet a humble man of God.
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Speaker 1: I understand Alistair Begg said in one of his broadcasts
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Speaker 1: that D. Martin Lloyd-Jones made the statement that Only twice
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Speaker 1: in his entire life did he remember preaching a great message,
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Speaker 1: and both times were in his dreams.
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Speaker 2: Isn't that a great line? Both times were in his dreams.
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Speaker 1: It would surprise most people, including Christians, to know that
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Speaker 1: one of God's most significant spokesmen was a man who
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Speaker 1: is not remembered today.
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Speaker 2: As a prophet of God. His name was Jonah.
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Speaker 1: Jonah's name has been besmirched in so many ways.
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Speaker 2: He's only remembered as one who disobeyed.
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Speaker 1: How few people would tell you he's the one who
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Speaker 1: led the greatest revival in the recorded pages of the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: Even though he delivered that message, having been commissioned for
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Speaker 1: the second time, because the first time, he tried to
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Speaker 1: escape from it. Let me be honest. Jonah was a racist.
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Speaker 1: He was a Jewish prophet living in a Jewish community,
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Speaker 1: and what interested him was the Jewish people and declaring
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Speaker 1: the message among his Jewish contacts. God told him to
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Speaker 1: go to Nineveh, which was the hotbed of Gentile country,
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Speaker 1: capital city of Assyria, soon to be named that.
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Speaker 2: It was a city known for its violence. If we
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Speaker 2: could use the word logo, the logo.
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Speaker 1: Of the city of Nineveh was a pyramid stack of
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Speaker 1: human skulls.
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Speaker 2: That often came in the wake of.
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Speaker 1: Their overwhelming their enemy, annihilating them, beheading them, and then
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Speaker 1: taking the skulls and stacking them in a pyramid. They
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Speaker 1: filleted the bodies of those that they defeated. Sometimes they
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Speaker 1: skinned them alive. The atrocities are horrible. And the violence
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Speaker 1: was known all over the ancient world. Not only were
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Speaker 1: they people he didn't want to be around because they
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Speaker 1: were Gentile, they were violent people.
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Speaker 2: It was dangerous territory.
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Speaker 1: So Jonah got busy trying to find his way to
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Speaker 1: escape that call, and God brought him right back to
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Speaker 1: the place where he had begun. and gave him the
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Speaker 1: message the second time. When I read that, that God
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Speaker 1: spoke to him, chapter 3, the second time, where he's
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Speaker 1: back where he started, I thought of the words of
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Speaker 1: one of my favorite theologians.
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Speaker 2: Waylon Jennings.
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Speaker 1: Jennings writes in one of his songs, look how far
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Speaker 1: I had to come to get back where I started from.
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Speaker 1: Jonah could say that. Look how far I had to come. Joppa,
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Speaker 1: a ship headed for Tarshish, 2,500 miles in the other direction,
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Speaker 1: a storm at sea, thrown overboard, swallowed by a great fish,
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Speaker 1: and in the innards of this great fish.
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Speaker 2: Finally, it clicked.
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Speaker 1: And Jonah realizes, I cannot escape the call of God.
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Speaker 1: And so Jonah repents in the fish.
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Speaker 2: Chapter 2 tells the story in his own book.
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Speaker 1: As Jonah writes of saying, I remembered the Lord. I
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Speaker 1: will offer sacrifices today. To you, O God, you alone
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Speaker 1: are my salvation. I will fulfill my vows.
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Speaker 2: That did it. God directed the fish to come near
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Speaker 2: the shore.
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Speaker 1: It vomited out Jonah on the shore. And here he is,
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Speaker 1: right back where he started, listening to the voice of
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Speaker 1: God the second time.
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Speaker 2: God hadn't changed his plans. Now, when I thought.
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Speaker 1: About this, this messenger that God wants to use, the
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Speaker 1: thought hit me that God could have much more easily
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Speaker 1: used an angel. In fact, the meaning of the word angelos,
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Speaker 1: which is the Greek word for angel, is messenger. God
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Speaker 1: could have used the perfect messenger. who would have delivered
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Speaker 1: the perfect message.
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Speaker 2: Flawlessly.
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Speaker 1: No argument, no reluctance, no resistance. An angel from heaven
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Speaker 1: could have been dispatched to Nineveh, and in all of
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Speaker 1: his glowing presence, he could have spoken like the voice
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Speaker 1: of a thousand waterfalls. and the voice would have echoed
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Speaker 1: through the city. How effective would that have been?
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Speaker 2: God chose not to do that. He chose to use.
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Speaker 1: A very human individual, a flawed messenger, a failed messenger,
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Speaker 1: a man who had to be convinced that God means business.
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Speaker 1: And so the Lord got a hold of Jonah the
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Speaker 1: second time and said, once again, get up and go,
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Speaker 1: verse 2 of chapter 3, go to the city of Nineveh,
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Speaker 1: declare the message I have.
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Speaker 2: Have given you.
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Speaker 1: Now, I'll read that slowly and deliberately on purpose. Jonah
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Speaker 1: didn't have to create the message. God gave him the
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Speaker 1: very words he was to use. And I repeat, they
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Speaker 1: were not complicated. They were not lengthy.
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Speaker 2: He didn't have to be that creative.
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Speaker 1: Just get to Nineveh, which was a 500-mile journey from
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Speaker 1: Jerusalem to Northeast, he gets to Nineveh. Someone has calculated
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Speaker 1: it took probably about a month for him to get there,
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Speaker 1: conditions being what they were, and he without transportation.
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Speaker 2: So after the fish, after the storm, after the.
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Speaker 1: First time of failure, the second time he makes his
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Speaker 1: way to Nineveh, and begins to deliver the message God
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Speaker 1: gave him. I love it that Jonah didn't try to
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Speaker 1: change the message. By now, he realizes God means business,
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Speaker 1: and so he goes with confidence in.
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Speaker 2: The Lord to declare his message.
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Speaker 1: This is a great time for me to add, for
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Speaker 1: the sake of all God's messengers today, nothing gives you
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Speaker 1: confidence like knowing you have a message from God. Nothing
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Speaker 1: makes you more uneasy than being unsure that what you're
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Speaker 1: delivering is a message from God. God wants his messengers
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Speaker 1: to carry his message.
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Speaker 2: Even though it is.
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Speaker 1: Not a popular message, Jonah was to deliver. Take my
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Speaker 1: message and deliver it to them. I like the way
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Speaker 1: verse 3 begins. This time, Jonah obeyed. He obeyed the
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Speaker 1: Lord's command and went to Nineveh, a city so great
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Speaker 1: it took three.
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Speaker 2: Days to see it all.
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Speaker 1: And on the day Jonah entered Nineveh, the city, he
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Speaker 1: began to deliver God's message. So I take it when
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Speaker 1: he got to the suburbs, we would call them, the
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Speaker 1: suburbs of Nineveh, he began to shout the message of God,
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Speaker 1: 40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed, period.
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Speaker 2: He could have said more, he may.
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Speaker 1: Have said more, But the core of his message was
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Speaker 1: a very severe warning of divine judgment in 40 days.
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Speaker 1: How gracious of God to give them 40 days.
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Speaker 2: He could have said by nightfall. He could have said
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Speaker 2: by the end of the week.
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Speaker 1: But he says in 40 days, judgment will fall on
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Speaker 1: this city of Nineveh. Jonah faithfully delivered that message, unpopular
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Speaker 1: though it was. I appreciate the words of John Stott
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Speaker 1: in a book he wrote back in 1982. He titles
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Speaker 1: the book, Between Two Worlds. It's a book written to
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Speaker 1: preachers for preachers.
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Speaker 2: We're the ones who stand between the two worlds, if
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Speaker 2: you will.
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Speaker 1: The ancient world, where the Bible is written, recorded for
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Speaker 1: us to find the message, that's one world, and we're
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Speaker 1: to deliver it to our world.
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Speaker 2: We're in between the two worlds. We bridge the worlds.
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Speaker 1: We take you to ancient truths and we carry the
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Speaker 1: message across the bridge of time.
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Speaker 2: To this generation, to this century.
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Speaker 1: From the ancient days of Jonah to the present world
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Speaker 1: of the 21st century, I stand between these two worlds.
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Speaker 1: My responsibility is to declare God's message. Stott writes of that,
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Speaker 1: I quote, there is an urgent need for courageous preachers
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Speaker 1: in the pulpits of the world today. Like the apostles
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Speaker 1: in the early church who were filled with the Holy
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Speaker 1: Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness, neither
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Speaker 1: men pleasers nor time watchers ever make good preachers.
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Speaker 2: We are called to the.
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Speaker 1: Sacred task of biblical exposition and commission to proclaim what
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Speaker 1: God has said, not what human beings want to hear.
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Speaker 1: Many modern churchmen suffer from a malady called itching ears,
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Speaker 1: which induces them to accumulate for themselves teachers to suit
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Speaker 1: their own likings, but we have no liberty to scratch
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Speaker 1: their itch.
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Speaker 2: Or pander to their likings.
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Speaker 1: You'll observe that Jonah didn't hold back when he declared
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Speaker 1: his extremely confrontive message to a city that was known
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Speaker 1: for violence, He doesn't mince words. Forty days from now,
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Speaker 1: Nineveh will be destroyed. Being something of a word vulture,
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Speaker 1: I was attracted to the term destroyed. I found this out.
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Speaker 1: It is often used of catastrophic judgment. Just as God
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Speaker 1: overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, Same word, Genesis 19.25. The New
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Speaker 1: Living Translation renders that in Genesis, he utterly destroyed Sodom
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Speaker 1: and Gomorrah. You cannot find Sodom and Gomorrah today. They're
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Speaker 1: under the Dead Sea. Any messenger who delivers this kind
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Speaker 1: of bold message has no concern for winning a lot
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Speaker 1: of friends and being liked.
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Speaker 2: By his audience.
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Speaker 1: Jonah doesn't know a soul in Nineveh, and they never
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Speaker 1: heard of him. Stranger with strangers, nevertheless he speaks with
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Speaker 1: a boldness as if.
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Speaker 2: He had known them all of their lives.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't tell them what they want to hear, He
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Speaker 1: tells them what they must hear, what they need to hear.
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Speaker 2: The series A Passionate Call for Expository Preaching said this
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Speaker 2: regarding Jonah's courageous preaching to the Ninevites. As he throws
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Speaker 2: in a little humor, I thought it was worth reading
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Speaker 2: to all of you. Such direct preaching.
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Speaker 1: has always marked the proclamation of God's men down through
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Speaker 1: the ages. Noah's message from the steps going up to
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Speaker 1: the ark was not, something good is going to happen
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Speaker 1: to you. Amos was not confronted by the high priest
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Speaker 1: of Israel for preaching confession is possession. Jeremiah was not
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Speaker 1: thrown into the pit for preaching, I'm okay, you're okay.
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Speaker 1: Daniel was not put into the lion's den for telling
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Speaker 1: people possibility thinking will move mountains. John the baptizer was
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Speaker 1: not forced to preach in the wilderness and eventually beheaded
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Speaker 1: because he preached, smile, God loves you. The two prophets
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Speaker 1: of the tribulation will not be killed for preaching, God
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Speaker 1: is in his heaven and all is right with the world.
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Speaker 1: Pastors who are committed to biblical exposition must have a
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Speaker 1: confrontive element to their preaching if they are to emulate
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Speaker 1: the prophets and the apostles. He goes on, Regrettably, this
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Speaker 1: kind of reproof and rebuke are often missing from present
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Speaker 1: day preaching. It is better to be divided by truth
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Speaker 1: than to be united in error. It is better to
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Speaker 1: speak the truth that hurts and then heals than falsehoods.
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Speaker 2: That comforts and then kills.
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Speaker 1: It is better to be hated for telling others the
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Speaker 1: truth than being loved for telling them a lie.
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Speaker 2: To stand alone with the truth than to be.
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Speaker 1: Wrong in the midst of a multitude, how right those
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Speaker 1: words are. It occurred to me that what we want
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Speaker 1: from a trusted physician is the truth. Hard as it
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Speaker 1: may be to hear, if it's cancer, we want the
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Speaker 1: person to tell us we have cancer. Not to do
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Speaker 1: so is malpractice. If we're having an attorney give us advice,
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Speaker 1: we want advice that is legal, trustworthy, not something that
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Speaker 1: sounds good to our ears. We trust professionals to tell
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Speaker 1: us the truth. Now, we're about to witness the single
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Speaker 1: most significant revival in biblical history as the Spirit of
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Speaker 1: God ignites the message of God and burns it into
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Speaker 1: the hearts of the people of Nineveh. Jonah isn't concerned
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Speaker 1: about his life. For all he knew, they would spear him.
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Speaker 1: He may die for telling them this. He doesn't know. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: He delivered the message. There was an instant spontaneous acceptance,
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Speaker 1: a clear and full realization that the truth had been
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Speaker 1: told and the truth must be believed. Clearly, the people
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Speaker 1: believed in 40 days we will be annihilated. And so,
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Speaker 1: Not surprisingly, verse 5, the people of Nineveh believed not
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Speaker 1: Jonah's message.
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Speaker 2: It wasn't Jonah's message. They believed God's message. How interesting.
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Speaker 1: They aren't God-fearing people, or they weren't until now. They're godless,
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Speaker 1: idol-worshiping Gentiles living in a violent country known for atrocities.
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Speaker 1: But here comes this prophet with the courage to declare
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Speaker 1: God's message, and we read, continuing in verse 5, from
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Speaker 1: the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and
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Speaker 1: put on burlap to show their sorrow. Your Bible probably
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Speaker 1: reads sackcloth. Sackcloth was a coarse fabric made from goat's hair,
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Speaker 1: and it was worn often by those who were in mourning.
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Speaker 1: It's called here burlap, which is as close as we
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Speaker 1: can get to it, though it was certainly much less
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Speaker 1: comfortable to wear. as we read that they all were
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Speaker 1: to put on this wrap of sackcloth. And he goes
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Speaker 1: further in verse six. When the king of Nineveh heard
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Speaker 1: what Jonah was saying, there's no argument. He doesn't bring
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Speaker 1: him in to question him. Where are you from? Who
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Speaker 1: gave you the right to speak to him?
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Speaker 2: None of that. He stepped down from his throne. He
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Speaker 2: took off his royal robes.
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Speaker 1: He dressed himself in burlap, and he sat on a
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Speaker 1: heap of ashes. Strange words to us in our 21st
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Speaker 1: century world, but in that world, that was the sign
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Speaker 1: of absolute and abject bankruptcy. He saw himself spiritually bankrupt.
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Speaker 1: He realized that he himself was not able to hold
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Speaker 1: back this destruction. And he is outranked by the God
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Speaker 1: of heaven who is able to bring this kind of annihilation.
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Speaker 2: So he steps down. He dresses himself in burlap. Then
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Speaker 2: look at the edict.
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Speaker 1: The king and his nobles sent out the decree from
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Speaker 1: the throughout the city, not one, not even the animals
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Speaker 1: from your herds and flocks may eat or drink anything
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Speaker 1: at all.
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Speaker 2: First sign of true repentance.
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Speaker 1: They call a fast after they wrap themselves in the sackcloth. Next,
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Speaker 1: we read people and animals alike must wear garments of mourning.
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Speaker 2: How strange.
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Speaker 1: They wrap the garments of mourning around the goats, and
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Speaker 1: the sheep, and whatever cattle there may have been, and
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Speaker 1: the animals wore the garments of mourning. Everyone must pray
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Speaker 1: earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways,
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Speaker 1: stop all their violence. That is the clearest illustration of repentance. Literally,
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Speaker 1: the Greek word metanoeo, which is the word for repentance,
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Speaker 1: means to change the mind. Get this, you're moving in
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Speaker 1: this direction, violence, atrocities, evil deeds, idol worship. You change
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Speaker 1: and you move in that direction, a direction of repentance, humility,
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Speaker 1: the realization of shame, wrong, sinfulness, evil, and the need
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Speaker 1: for forgiveness. They moved from that direction to this direction.
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Speaker 1: And that is what is said here in this verse,
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Speaker 1: where he says, they must turn from their evil ways
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Speaker 1: and stop all their violence.
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Speaker 2: It was their lifestyle.
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Speaker 1: He adds, who could tell, perhaps even yet God will
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Speaker 1: change change his mind, and hold back his fierce anger
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Speaker 1: from destroying us. I don't know if any of you,
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Speaker 1: I'm sure many of you have, so I would ask
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Speaker 1: you to remember attending a Grand Crusade. Back in the
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Speaker 1: days when they were held in stadiums around the country,
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Speaker 1: in fact, around the world, you can remember sitting in
37:06
Speaker 1: the stands, as I do, I was a part of
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Speaker 1: three of them. One was in Houston when I was
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Speaker 1: a very young man. Another was when I taught in
37:17
Speaker 1: their school of evangelism in Seattle. I was invited to
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Speaker 1: be a part of that crusade. And then the one
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Speaker 1: that was in Orange County, California in the 80s.
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Speaker 2: As I recall, the Houston one was in the 50s.
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Speaker 1: I believe the Seattle crusade ministry was in the late 70s,
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Speaker 1: and I know the Orange County was in the late 80s.
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Speaker 1: Let me go to Orange County, since that's the most
37:44
Speaker 1: recent and stands out in my mind, though I have
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Speaker 1: to tell you, having been raised in Houston, I watched
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Speaker 1: that city change. Now, it wasn't a wholesale repentance like
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Speaker 1: we read of Nineveh, but it is remarkable what happened
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Speaker 1: in in the write-ups of the newspaper, in the opinion
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Speaker 1: of various journalists who were willing to state the truth.
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Speaker 1: They never heard anything like it in their lives. The
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Speaker 1: attention of people was arrested.
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Speaker 2: Same in Seattle.
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Speaker 1: But here we are in Orange County. I'm sitting in
38:28
Speaker 1: Angel Stadium. That's a nice place to be for a crusade.
38:34
Speaker 2: It's packed. I listened to aging Billy Graham, and I'll
38:39
Speaker 2: say that respectfully, who can compare? None that I know of.
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Speaker 2: As he stands and.
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Speaker 1: Delivers maybe a 20-minute gospel message, as clear as he
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Speaker 1: had presented it in the 50s and the 70s, here
38:57
Speaker 1: he is now, standing on the pitcher's mound where the
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Speaker 1: platform is, speaking to all of us in the wraparound
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Speaker 1: stadium of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us.
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Speaker 1: A simple gospel message. It wasn't all that creative. It
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Speaker 1: certainly wasn't lengthy. He didn't attempt to be eloquent. He
39:24
Speaker 1: was faithful to deliver the gospel message.
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Speaker 2: As I recall, it was straightforward.
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Speaker 1: From John 3, verse 16. God so loved the world
39:35
Speaker 1: that he gave his one and only son, that whoever
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Speaker 1: believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
39:43
Speaker 1: He ended it rather abruptly. He didn't have a smooth ending.
39:50
Speaker 1: to lead into the invitation, he just sort of stopped.
39:55
Speaker 1: And I have to tell you something here.
39:57
Speaker 2: I confess it.
39:59
Speaker 1: I'm sitting up there, a fellow preacher, taking mental notes
40:05
Speaker 1: of the master at work, thinking, well, he could have
40:10
Speaker 1: gone a little longer, and thinking, you could have, you know,
40:15
Speaker 1: persuaded us a little more.
40:17
Speaker 2: I'm looking around. There are people.
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Speaker 1: That don't seem all that interested, I'm thinking, man, it's
40:23
Speaker 1: going to be a little embarrassing, I'm afraid.
40:26
Speaker 2: Oh, how wrong I was. And then he begins with
40:32
Speaker 2: that famous Southern drawl.
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Speaker 1: My dad said, every head be bowed, every eye closed.
40:41
Speaker 2: And before he could get started, people.
40:45
Speaker 1: Were walking into the aisles, over the chairs, around each other,
40:49
Speaker 1: on each other, and they began to fill up the infield.
40:54
Speaker 1: I thought, well, that's a terrific response. And then they
40:57
Speaker 1: moved into the shallow outfield, and they kept coming all
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Speaker 1: through the stands. It came down like ants, pouring down.
41:09
Speaker 1: And then finally, the entire outfield is filled all the
41:13
Speaker 1: way to.
41:13
Speaker 2: The fence, all the way.
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Speaker 1: And there's a little There's a little opening area that
41:19
Speaker 1: leads out into a tunnel.
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Speaker 2: They were in there. They moved out into that area.
41:25
Speaker 1: And he's looking at them in the round, if you will,
41:28
Speaker 1: has the mic now in his hand as he speaks
41:31
Speaker 1: to all of these people. And I watch God move
41:35
Speaker 1: in the hearts of multiple thousands of people who heard
41:42
Speaker 1: a simple, brief message of the gospel. Now, why do
41:47
Speaker 1: I tell you this? Because you cannot tell by looking
41:53
Speaker 1: the condition of a human heart. When I looked around, people, obviously,
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Speaker 1: some of them looked bored. They looked like they had
42:03
Speaker 1: other things on their mind. But I'll tell you, when
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Speaker 1: he came to the point of the gospel.
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Speaker 2: They were riveted. That's the way it was here.
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Speaker 1: And the king and his subjects and all the people
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Speaker 1: are riveted to that message.
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Speaker 2: By the way, where's Jonah?
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Speaker 1: The last time you read of him is in verse 3,
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Speaker 1: where he obeyed and took the message. He's not even
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Speaker 1: mentioned by name. Because the messenger isn't that important. Once
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Speaker 1: he's delivered the message, the message takes over. It's the
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Speaker 1: message God said he would bless. Listen to Isaiah 55.
42:58
Speaker 1: As the rains come down and the snow from heaven
43:01
Speaker 1: and water the earth to make it bring forth and
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Speaker 1: bud that it may give seed to the farmer and
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Speaker 1: bread to the hungry, so shall my word be that
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Speaker 1: goes forth out of my mouth.
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Speaker 2: It will not return to me empty.
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Speaker 1: But it will accomplish the thing for which I sent it,
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Speaker 1: my message, my word.
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Speaker 2: Jonah gets out of the way. The message takes.
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Speaker 1: Over, and it runs through the rank and file of
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Speaker 1: the Ninevites like flooding water seeking level. And the people,
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Speaker 1: one after another, all ages and stages in life, young
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Speaker 1: and old, boys and girls, men and women, aged, beggars, king,
43:53
Speaker 1: and all of his subjects, they're all now in burlap,
43:58
Speaker 1: revealing their repentance, the change of mind toward the living God.
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Speaker 1: They've not only heard it, They've shifted from their idols to.
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Speaker 2: The God who could destroy them. Remarkable.
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Speaker 1: And will you look at what happens? Verse 10. First
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Speaker 1: we'll see what God saw and then we'll see how
44:34
Speaker 1: God responded.
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Speaker 2: When God saw what they had done That's interesting.
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Speaker 1: Not simply what they had heard, but he saw the
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Speaker 1: fruit of their belief. He saw evidence of the change.
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Speaker 2: He saw the.
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Speaker 1: Sincerity of their response when he saw what they had done,
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Speaker 1: how they had put a stop to their evil ways.
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Speaker 2: How did he respond?
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Speaker 1: He changed his mind and did not carry out the
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Speaker 1: catastrophic— there's the word again— the destruction he had threatened.
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Speaker 1: Compassion replaced destruction.
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Speaker 2: There it is.
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Speaker 1: It all begins with a proclamation which leads to transformation
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Speaker 1: and which results in compassion. The proclamation from the messenger,
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Speaker 1: the transformation of the human heart, and the compassion of
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Speaker 1: the living God to come into a life and bring
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Speaker 1: about a change. God not only changed his mind regarding
46:10
Speaker 1: the destruction, he changed them from within.
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Speaker 2: This leads me to two questions. And I want you
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Speaker 2: to hear them carefully. Every one of you. The first
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Speaker 2: question is to you who know the Lord. You know Christ.
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Speaker 1: You look back on a time in your life when
46:34
Speaker 1: you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
46:38
Speaker 2: You're a believer. You're a Christian. Question. Question.
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Speaker 1: Is there someone you have mentally written off, thinking they're
46:50
Speaker 1: too far gone, they'll never repent?
46:55
Speaker 2: Think again. Think again.
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Speaker 1: That person, whether you may feel this is true or not,
47:08
Speaker 1: isn't important.
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Speaker 2: The truth is, that person may.
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Speaker 1: Feel like the most empty, ashamed, lonely individual on the planet,
47:22
Speaker 1: and you hold the treasure. So I urge you, obviously,
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Speaker 1: having thought about this, take every name out of the
47:33
Speaker 1: book that you've written them in, impossibility, because God is
47:38
Speaker 1: a God of impossibilities. There's no one too far gone
47:43
Speaker 1: For the Lord to reach. Remember he's not willing that
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Speaker 1: any should perish. But that all should come to repentance.
47:53
Speaker 1: So think again. It may be this is the week
47:58
Speaker 1: for you to connect. With that person. You have deliberately shunned.
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Speaker 1: Thinking they're not interested. That's not for you to say.
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Speaker 2: You don't know enough to make that judgment call.
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Speaker 1: I'm sure there were those in the Apostle Paul, known
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Speaker 1: as Saul of Tarsus Day, who would say, now there
48:26
Speaker 1: is a man who will never be interested in the
48:29
Speaker 1: message of Christianity.
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Speaker 2: I mean, he's killing Christians. The Lord reached him.
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Speaker 1: So that's my first question. Is there anyone you may
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Speaker 1: have mentally written off?
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Speaker 2: Think again.
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Speaker 1: Here's the second question to you who have never believed.
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Speaker 1: You probably think you have forever. I mean, you're doing
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Speaker 1: pretty well.
49:03
Speaker 2: You showed up in church.
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Speaker 1: Man, you probably can tell yourself, I'm okay. But I'm
49:14
Speaker 1: not really interested in trusting in Jesus. Well, that may
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Speaker 1: work for now, but when you draw your last breath,
49:27
Speaker 1: which may be tonight, not meant to be dramatic, just truthful,
49:37
Speaker 1: I've noticed lately that in the funerals that I officiate,
49:42
Speaker 1: most of those who die are dying younger than they
49:46
Speaker 1: used to.
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Speaker 2: You have no guarantee of older age.
49:54
Speaker 1: You have no assurance that your good health is now
49:58
Speaker 1: and will be from now on. You don't know what's
50:03
Speaker 1: growing inside of you. You don't know the accident around
50:09
Speaker 1: the corner. You who think you know how long you
50:16
Speaker 1: have to live before you come to your final hour,
50:20
Speaker 1: think again.
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Speaker 2: Think again.
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Speaker 1: What an intelligent decision it would be to do just
50:31
Speaker 1: what the king did.
50:32
Speaker 2: Just no argument, no fight. No resistance.
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Speaker 1: Just step down from your man-made throne and step into
50:44
Speaker 1: the Lord's presence and say, here I am.
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Speaker 2: Warts and all. I drag with me all the stuff
50:52
Speaker 2: of my past.
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Speaker 1: And trust me, none of it will turn the Lord off.
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Speaker 2: He takes you just as you are. Just as you are.
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Speaker 1: Remember the song that we always sang at the end
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Speaker 1: of the Crusades? Just as I am without one plea,
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Speaker 1: but that thy blood was shed for me, O Lamb
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Speaker 1: of God, I come, I come. Bow your heads with me,
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Speaker 1: will you please? You've listened so well, and I commend you.
51:28
Speaker 1: Now it's time to respond. Ever been a time in
51:32
Speaker 1: your life when you have personally not just talked about
51:38
Speaker 1: it or thought about it, but when you have personally
51:42
Speaker 1: acted by faith.
51:45
Speaker 2: And trusted the Lord Jesus.
51:47
Speaker 1: Christ with your life, when you've acknowledged that your sin
51:53
Speaker 1: has come between you and a holy God, and you
51:58
Speaker 1: want that to stop, you want the Lord to come
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Speaker 1: and clean things up, turn your life around, move you
52:08
Speaker 1: in a new direction from a life of shame and
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Speaker 1: secrecy and disappointment to others to a life of openness
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Speaker 1: and honesty and trust in the Lord Jesus.
52:31
Speaker 2: You come today. Come now.
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Speaker 1: We'd love to talk with you following this service. If
52:38
Speaker 1: you want to know about the Lord Jesus Christ and
52:40
Speaker 1: you need help, come to us. Or if you prefer
52:46
Speaker 1: not to come, at least get a hold of our
52:48
Speaker 1: ministry and let us help you make that journey. Would
52:55
Speaker 1: you pray for the person sitting next to you right now?
52:59
Speaker 1: Maybe the one you shook hands with early in the service.
53:04
Speaker 1: the person sitting behind in front of you. Ask the
53:08
Speaker 1: Lord to move on their hearts. They will realize their
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Speaker 1: need for the savior if they don't know him.
53:20
Speaker 2: And pray with me. I'll give you a prayer to follow,
53:25
Speaker 2: dear father. I'm lost.
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Speaker 1: I've never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, but today
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Speaker 1: I do that. I take him as my own savior.
53:44
Speaker 1: I believe in him. And by your grace, I will
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Speaker 1: turn from a lifestyle that I've lived in the direction
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Speaker 1: of your truth and righteousness. Help me now as I
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Speaker 1: begin a journey as I trust you with my life.
54:08
Speaker 1: And dear Father, as you minister to others, I pray
54:10
Speaker 1: that you will touch the lives of your children and
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Speaker 1: free us to speak openly of.
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Speaker 2: Your Son, Jesus.
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Speaker 1: May we lose the habit of being reluctant, hesitant, thinking
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Speaker 1: that we know that others wouldn't be interested when in
54:30
Speaker 1: fact we don't know that. Give us the boldness of
54:35
Speaker 1: this prophet. Give us the willingness to speak. And then
54:42
Speaker 1: give us the courage to live the message so that
54:47
Speaker 1: our lives do not cloud what our.
54:50
Speaker 2: Lips may say.
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Speaker 1: Use these words today in a very special way in
54:58
Speaker 1: all our lives.
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Speaker 2: I ask for Jesus' sake. Everyone said.
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Speaker 1: Amen.
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Speaker 3: The preceding message, Proclamation, Transformation, Compassion, was copyrighted in 2018, 2019,
55:16
Speaker 3: and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025
55:21
Speaker 3: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
55:25
Speaker 3: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.