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Colin Smith: Nineveh's a large city, so the folks there are doing what folks in every large city do. They're concerned with the relentlessness of their own lives, running businesses, raising families, enjoying sports. Jonah comes into this city where people are consumed with the now, and he says, "Let me tell you about the future."

Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. Colin, I think many of us, whether we live in a big city or not, can relate to the busyness of the people of Nineveh. Schedules are jam-packed.

Colin Smith: I don't think there's many people listening to us right now who are thinking, "I'm looking for something to fill my day." Because of that, I think sometimes we're so consumed with everything that we have to do and all these activities that we're involved in, that we don't slow down long enough to be able to hear what God is trying to say to us.

Guest (Male): When Jonah came into Nineveh, it was just one sentence that caught the attention of busy people: "Forty more days and Nineveh's going to be destroyed." You've got forty days to live. Suddenly, people who are rushing through the relentlessness of life are beginning to think, "Wait a minute, I've got to start thinking seriously because I've been told something that makes life look very different indeed."

The Ninevites were given that simple one-sentence message. What do you think God would be saying to us today?

Colin Smith: It wouldn't be forty days because that was the prophetic word there, but it is the same theme. Here we are in time in the busyness of our lives, but what about eternity? That's coming and it's unavoidable. It's ahead of every single person. We've got to meet God. We've got to prepare to meet with God. So the message that Jonah brought is essentially the message that runs right throughout the Bible and is the message that we're focused on today.

Guest (Male): We see that in Jonah chapter three. I hope you'll open your Bible and join us there as we begin a message entitled "Resign God's Work." Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: We come today to Jonah in chapter three, which describes for us the amazing story of how a large city was transformed through the proclamation of God's word. I want to jump straight into it today in verse one of chapter three, where we're told that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you."

Isn't it a wonderful thing that the word of God comes a second time? How many of us were ever converted the first time we heard the gospel? How many of us can say that we have consistently obeyed the Lord the first time that his word has come to our hearts? How wonderful it is that God very graciously does not sign off his servants when we fail and we disobey, but in his great mercy, he perseveres with us.

In his great patience, he will often bring us full circle back to where we were once before and give us another opportunity to move forward in his grace. It's very interesting that when God brings Jonah full circle, he brings him back to the same place he was before. It's not a different commission; it's the same commission. Jonah, here's what I want you to do: I want you to go to Nineveh and to proclaim there the word that I give to you.

It was not a foregone conclusion that Jonah would go to Nineveh when God called him the second time. After all, nothing had changed in Nineveh since Jonah was first called by God. That meant that he had to overcome all the old barriers that had come up in his mind against going and fulfilling God's call in the first place, and he even had to overcome some new barriers as well.

For example, he still had to overcome his fear. The Assyrians were known for their terror and for their torture, and that hadn't changed since God first called Jonah. Nineveh was still the city of blood, still full of lies, still full of plunder, and still never without victims. That's the way Nahum describes it in chapter three. Nothing had changed in Nineveh, so Jonah had to overcome the same fears that would have been there when God called him the first time.

In addition to the barriers he faced before, there was now the issue of his own shame. Jonah had failed the Lord big time. As many of us will see places in our lives where we have failed the Lord, when his sin had been exposed, he must have said, "Can God really use me?" Jonah had to overcome his shame in order to move forward in obedience to the Lord.

Then there was the whole issue of self-interest. Remember, the Assyrian army was the greatest single threat to God's people in the time of Jonah. That is why many of God's people would have been very pleased if God had destroyed the city of Nineveh and the rest of the Assyrian kingdom as well. Jonah tells us in chapter four candidly that that was one of the reasons he didn't want to go to Nineveh.

He was afraid that God might have compassion on them; he would far rather they had been destroyed. He has to overcome self-interest, which is that in the view of the people of God, the world would have been better without Assyria. Now God is calling Jonah to go to one of the main Assyrian cities and to proclaim God's word. He said that's just going to lead to God's compassion and his mercy, and I don't know that that's what we want.

He has to overcome self-interest, and of course, he has to overcome unbelief. How easy is it to believe that God can change the city through the ministry of the word of God? One man and a Bible—that takes some believing. All these barriers to obedience have to be overcome. When God calls Jonah a second time, Nineveh had not changed. By the grace and the mercy of God, Jonah had changed. Verse three: "Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and he went to Nineveh."

By any standards, what happened through Jonah's ministry in Nineveh was an extraordinary work of God's grace. I want us to see from the Bible what happened here in the unusual response of these people. First, in verse five, when Jonah preached the word of God, the Ninevites believed God. They believed. Second, verse five, they declared a fast, all of them, and they put on sackcloth.

Third, verse six, the king rose from his throne. Picture this: the king rising from his throne, taking off his robes, and putting on sackcloth. He sits down in the dust as an expression of his repentance. The sackcloth business was a way of expressing humility, repentance, penitence, sorrow before God. The king said even the animals in Nineveh are to be covered with sackcloth.

We want God to know that this whole community is really sorry for what we have done that has brought offense to him and that we really are turning from our evil ways. The king issues a proclamation in verse eight: "Let everyone call urgently on God." There's prayer, a national call to prayer. Verse eight, there's a call to repentance: "Let them give up their evil ways and their violence."

Verse nine: "Who knows? God may even yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." There is faith in the response; the Ninevites believed God. There is prayer in the response; they called urgently on the Lord. There is repentance; they give up their evil ways and turn from their violence. There is hope in the mercy of God; perhaps he will have compassion on us and not bring the destruction he has threatened.

By any standards, for a city that is known for terror and violence, for a city full of lies, a city full of plunder, a city full of blood, to see that kind of response on a city-wide level to the ministry of the word of God is absolutely extraordinary. It is an amazing transformation of a whole mega-city, at least in terms of the world in those days. I want us to focus in on this most important thing for us.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Resign God's Work." It's part of a larger series on the book of Jonah called "How to Avoid a God-Centered Life." If you've missed any of the broadcasts in our series, you can listen online at openthebible.org or through the Open the Bible app.

Open the Bible is a listener-supported ministry. We're able to be on the station and make the app, the website, and all the ministry tools available because of your generosity. Thank you for giving to and supporting Open the Bible. As you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a book that Pastor Colin has picked out. It's called *Spiritual Depression*, written by Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

This is one of Pastor Colin's very favorite books, listing it in the top three and on his third copy. We'd love to send you a copy of this book as our way of saying thank you for your financial support. Again, our phone number is 1-877-OPEN-365, or you can give a gift online at openthebible.org. Colin, it's Friday and the weekend is coming.

Colin Smith: Yeah, and I want to encourage you to get to church on Sunday. Across the country, people who love Jesus will be gathering to praise him. If you love Jesus, that's something you'll want to be part of. Find a church where the Bible is opened. If you live in the Chicago area and you don't have a church home, I'd love for you to join us at The Orchard. There are six locations in the northwest suburbs. For more information, go to theorchard.church.

Guest (Male): Let's get back to the message. Again, here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: I want us to focus in on this most important thing for us. How was it that this transformation of a great city came about? That's a great question for us to ask. We also live in a great city with much good but also much evil, with many who love and worship the Lord and many who have no idea of him or of his ways.

We're asking the question from the Bible: How in history did God bring about a transformation of one of the world's great cities in the time of Jonah? I want us to notice three things: the message, the man, and the moment. These three things. Here's the first then: the message. God sent his word to change the city.

That's the first thing that we learn from Jonah chapter three. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. What did he do? He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." I want you to try and imagine the impact of this ministry. Nineveh's a large city, so the folks there are doing what folks in every large city do. They're concerned with the relentlessness of their own lives, running businesses, raising families, enjoying sports.

Jonah comes into this city where people are consumed with the now, and he says, "Let me tell you about the future. Let me point you to what is coming. Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed." I want to draw this principle from that, that authentic gospel preaching always engages people with eternal issues.

It intercepts the lives of ordinary city dwellers, suburban people like ourselves, who are consumed with the here and the now and everything that is happening in our lives. Authentic gospel preaching intersects that preoccupation with the now and engages us with eternal issues: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed."

This isn't just Jonah; there's a biblical pattern here. Where did the teaching and preaching of our Lord Jesus begin? "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news." Something is imminent, God coming near. Where does Paul begin his presentation of the gospel when he sets it out so clearly in the book of Romans? He begins chapter one and verse eighteen with this: "The wrath of God is being revealed against all the godlessness and wickedness of men."

There's a judgment that's coming. You cannot simply live in the preoccupation of life in your world; there is a reality that is ahead. God and eternity are nearer than you think. An authentic ministry of the gospel engages people with eternal issues. That's what Jonah does here: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed."

I don't think that's the only thing he said. He wasn't just going around like an automaton repeating a sentence. But seriously, if you just think about our own country in the last years as we've gone through the presidential election, our new president ran an entire campaign that communicated essentially to everyone in the nation with great effect one word, which was "Change." Everyone knows that. The message was one word.

Everyone in Nineveh knew that the message of Jonah was one sentence. For all the times he spoke, for all the things that he said, everyone knew that what this man's message was simply "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed." God took that one sentence and he burned it into the hearts and into the minds of the people. He brought conviction through it. He brought repentance through the ministry of his word. Cities change when people hear the word of God.

The city of Glasgow in Scotland—ever get a chance to visit Glasgow? Go and have a visit there. In the center of the city, there is a large bell and it has the city motto engraved on it. The city motto for Glasgow is: "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of God's word." Isn't that a great motto for an international city? Of course, they've shortened it now. It is no longer "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of God's word." You can guess what it is; it's just "Let Glasgow flourish."

A large number of people in Glasgow haven't a clue as to how Glasgow will flourish. The city founders had it right: a city at every level will flourish through the advance of the word of the living God. Now, let's think about our city. I want you to think about this. If the number of people hearing the word of God in Chicago doubled—just the number of people hearing the word of God in Chicago doubled—would that make a difference to our city?

Answer: absolutely. Even if people were not converted, hearing the word of God brings an awareness of God into the culture, and that's something we're desperately losing. Even if folks are not converted, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 1:7. More than that, if people are to be converted, faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God, Romans 10:17.

There are thousands of people in our city who are comfortably absorbed in their daily lives and think little or nothing of their eternal destiny. Would it not be a good thing in our city if more of the people heard more of God's word in more of the churches? That's something to pray for because God uses his word to change a city. Let Chicago flourish by the preaching of God's word.

Second, God uses his man to change the city. I want you to notice that this great principle: not only does God work through his word, but God's word comes through his people. God used Jonah, and I want you to see how wonderfully God used everything that he had been doing in Jonah's life for the eternal good of these people in the city of Nineveh.

Here's an interesting question that some of the folks who've written on Jonah debate, and it's an intriguing question. Did Jonah tell the people in Nineveh about his own experience as to the route by which he had got there? Interesting question. I'm persuaded that the answer to that question is yes, and I believe that for two reasons.

The first is the words of the king in verse nine. When the king says, "Who knows? God may even yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish," where did the king get the idea that God has compassion? If all that Jonah had said was "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed," how would the king have had reason to hope in the mercy and compassion of God?

But if the king knew Jonah's story, he would have had reason to say, "Ah, but if God saved his rebel servant Jonah, then maybe he will have mercy also on this rebellious city."

Guest (Male): You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. Colin, we'll be back in just a moment with some final thoughts, but first a reminder: today's message is from a series on Jonah. Jonah spent much of his life running from the God that he professed to serve. God knew how to deal with Jonah's anger, and he knows how to deal with us. We don't need to spend the rest of our lives running from God.

If you want to get a copy of the series on CD, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365, or come to the website openthebible.org. Colin, I think today's message is one where we can get a lot of hope because as God's word is faithfully proclaimed and as we spend time engaging with his word and believing his word, that's where life change happens.

Colin Smith: The significant thing here is that God's word had to come to Jonah before it could come through Jonah. God's word had to change the man himself before the man could be a means of ministry that brought change to a city in desperate need. That's always true for us. It's easy for us as Christians to think, "How do we take the gospel to other people who are lost and in darkness?"

The first question is: How is the gospel changing me? What is the word of God doing in my life? How am I seeing my own sins? How am I being changed by this word, as Jonah was, so that I can be before God humbly? Because I have my own sins, I am an effective communicator of his gracious gospel into the lives of others.

Guest (Male): Jonah also was spending a little time talking about what was going to be happening. How important do you feel it is for us as we go out and share the gospel with others to talk about where they may be spending their eternity, where their future is headed?

Colin Smith: This message that he proclaims is so short. "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed." I suppose it's a little bit like the political campaign, where it's summed up in a soundbite. That was the message that he brought. Here are people who are relentlessly into their calendars and all the rest of it. Every person listening to this program today has a list of things to do.

We're moving from one thing to the next to the next. The word of God comes in and says, "Now there is eternity." One day, everything that is in my calendar, everything that I'm working for here, that's not going to be there. Have I thought about eternity? "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed."

Then there's me, and then there's God, and I need to come to him now and to know that I'm at peace with him, because one day everything that's occupying me is going to pass away.

Guest (Male): Would you encourage the believer as a part of evangelism to talk about that with the unbeliever?

Colin Smith: That's the only way to be faithful to the gospel. Jesus comes and says, "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe." He's pointing to something that is coming here. We're consumed in this culture with living my best life now. You can only live your best life now if you're going to hell.

If you're going to heaven, your best life is ahead of you. The gospel brings us to a place of thinking about the eternal future of every person. Every person will experience either heaven or hell, the judgment of God or the mercy of God. No person experiencing both, and yet this mercy is offered to us in Jesus Christ. Thank God for the transformation in Nineveh.

Guest (Male): Absolutely. Well, this is just one half of a message. Next time on the program, we're going to be spending some time looking a little bit deeper at this and how God actually uses what he's doing in your life to reach others, to impact others. We're going to see with a little bit more detail how Nineveh was changed and the change that God may want to do in your life as well. I hope you'll join us for the next Open the Bible.

This program is a listener-supported program of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith: Everyone has questions about heaven, but the question that matters most is how do you get there. Many people have the idea that if a person was to get into heaven, they'd get there by living a good enough life. The thief on the cross hadn't lived a good enough life, and he wasn't in a position to start living a good life, but Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

If the thief could get into heaven, so can you. *Heaven, How I Got Here* is a compelling 60-minute film in which Stephen Baldwin portrays the thief on the cross in a one-person play. Many have found that this story opens their eyes to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the hope of heaven. You can watch the *Heaven, How I Got Here* film for free on the Open the Bible website. For more information, visit openthebible.org/heaven.