So, yeah, we're up to chapter number three in the Book of Jonah, and he makes it finally to Nineveh,
and he preaches to them, and they get right with God. Hey, successful preaching that we see here with Jonah.
And there's a lot of thoughts about what took place with the people of Nineveh.
You know, one of the questions that I would often just scratch my head about when I was a child was,
did Ninevites get saved?
You know, at the end of the day, that's what I guess matters in the long term.
You know, I mean, a city getting right with God for a period of time is great,
but did the people actually get saved? That was something that I was always wondering about.
But if you have a look at Jonah chapter three, verse number five, it says,
So the people of Nineveh believed God.
The title for the sermon tonight is The People of Nineveh Believed God.
The people of Nineveh believed God.
Now let's start there in verse number one, Jonah chapter three, verse one, it says,
And the world Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
Go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
So God is once again reminding Jonah, I mean, he already knew what his mission was,
but reinforcing now that Jonah has been spat out of the way,
that he is to go to Nineveh and to preach to that city, you know,
and ultimately he's preaching destruction.
He's preaching that God's wrath is going to fall upon this city.
Now, you know, we have two kind of questions that we can think about here.
Number one, did the Ninevites get saved?
Did the Ninevites get saved?
And number two, if they did get saved, how did they get saved?
You know, I remember in one of my old churches, one of my old pastors,
after he was preaching through the conversion of the Ninevites,
I went up to him after the service, and I'm not having a go at my pastor, okay,
but I just asked him, I said, look, one thing that I couldn't really get clear out of your sermon was,
did the Ninevites get saved?
Like I told you, it was a question that has a child.
So what's my pastor's preaching about?
I was like, okay, did the Ninevites get saved?
And he said, well, you know, that question can be answered in two ways, basically.
There are some people that believe they got saved,
and some people don't.
They just, you know, got kind of right with God.
God just withheld his judgment against them.
But ultimately, they didn't really get saved.
And so I didn't really get this clear answer, okay.
But actually, when you start looking at all the passages dealing with the Ninevites and Nineveh,
it's actually confirmed for us in the New Testament that they definitely got saved.
Okay, they definitely got saved.
Now let me just, before we go too much into this chapter,
let me take you to Luke chapter 11 in your New Testament.
So keep your finger there in Jonah chapter 3,
and turn to Luke chapter 11.
Luke chapter 11, verse number 29.
Luke chapter 11, I'll give you a moment to turn there.
Luke chapter 11 and verse number 29.
And again, we're going to the Gospels, we're going to the preaching of Christ.
You know, these are the words of Christ himself.
It says there in verse number 29, Luke 11, 29.
And when the people were gathered thick together,
he began to say, this is an evil generation,
they seek a sign, and there shall no sign be given it,
but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
And we know in another passage of the Bible
that the sign was that Christ would be in the whale's belly three days and three nights,
and that he would be resurrected from that death,
or resurrected from that deliverance, okay.
Or from that, yeah, from the whale's belly, from Jonah's perspective,
but of course, the death that Christ suffered for us when he died on the cross.
But then it continues there, in terms of verse number 30.
For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites,
so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation.
So the generation he's speaking to is of course the generation he's preaching to.
He says, look, this is a wicked generation.
The only sign that a wicked generation needs to receive
is the sign of Jonas the prophet.
Of course, Christ resurrected from the dead after three days and three nights.
The gospel message, the fact that Christ died in our place,
that he was buried, that he rose again three days later.
That's the sign, that's the message that we need to go out to a wicked generation
and preach the gospel unto them.
And so isn't it interesting that Jonas is a sign in the same way,
to Ninevites, the same way as Christ is a sign to us.
And so we know that the preaching would be the same.
If Christ is referring to his gospel message,
his death, burial, and resurrection, as the same as Jonas,
then Jonas must have been preaching the same message.
Okay, let's keep going there.
I'll prove this further.
Verse number 31, it says,
The Queen of the South, this is speaking about the times of Solomon,
shall rise up in judgment with the men of this generation
and condemn them, for she came from the utmost parts of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here.
You know, this Queen of the South, she came to Solomon
because Solomon's kingdom of Israel was so great, was so rich, was so powerful,
was so God-fearing, was so right and just.
And she came seeking the wisdom of Solomon
and Solomon preached unto her the gospel.
And the Bible tells us here that she would rise up in judgment
against the generation that Christ is preaching to.
Because many of the people Christ is preaching to rejected him as the Savior.
So if this woman, this Queen, is going to rise in judgment
against these that are rejecting Jesus, then what did she do?
She accepted Jesus.
She received Jesus.
This is why she has the ability to rise in judgment against those
that are rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.
But look what it says in verse number 32.
The men of Nineveh, this is Nineveh in Greek of course,
the men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation
and shall condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonas
and behold a greater than Jonas is here.
Jesus Christ is greater than Solomon.
Jesus Christ is greater than Jonas.
It says the people of Nineveh, Nineveh here,
they repented from the preaching of Jonas
and that the people of Nineveh, they're going to rise in judgment
against the Jews that rejected Jesus Christ.
So what should that tell you about the people of Nineveh?
When Jonas came preaching, repentance toward them,
they got saved in order for them to rise in judgment
against those that rejected Christ.
And so this idea of rising in judgment,
you know, God's people, now we know that Christ is the one
that passes judgment, but Christ is going to give his believers,
his saints, the ability to pass judgment as well.
We already saw here that believers are going to rise in judgment
against non-believers.
You know, some other examples, I'll quickly read to you from Luke 22 verse 30.
It says that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom
and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
And so one of the honors that the 12 apostles are going to receive
is that they're going to be placed in a prominent and high position
to pass judgment over the 12 tribes of Israel.
You know, this is coming at the time of the millennial reign of Christ.
You know, also in 1 Corinthians 6, 3, it says,
Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
How much more things that pertain to this life?
Brethren, you know, Paul is writing to the Corinthian church,
a Gentile church.
He says, don't you know?
One day we're going to judge angels.
Isn't that interesting?
Like all the angels that are serving God in heaven,
we as believers, one day God's going to point us to judge them,
to see how well, to judge them how well have they served God.
And so this idea of judgment is given to believers against non-believers.
So if the people of Nineveh have been risen in judgment
against those that are rejecting Christ,
this proves that they actually got saved.
It's not a question.
It's not like, I don't know, it's a gray area.
No, they definitely got saved.
Okay, so that answers question number one.
Did the Ninevehites get saved?
They definitely got saved, all right?
But that brings the next question.
How did they get saved?
I think you're still there in Luke chapter 11.
Let's keep going there.
Let's keep going to verse number 33.
Luke 11, verse number 33, sorry.
Because we just continued the thought that Nineveh,
the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment against, with this generation.
But then it says in verse number 33,
No man, when he have lights and a candle,
put it in a secret place, neither under a bushel,
but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.
So we know this idea of the candle.
Once we're saved, we should shine the light of Jesus Christ,
shine the light of the gospel.
It says in verse number 34,
The light of the body is the eye.
Therefore, when thine eye is single,
that idea of single is whole.
You know, when you think about, let's keep going there.
I'll explain it to you in a moment.
It says, Therefore, when the eye is single,
the whole body also is full of light,
but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
So this idea of the eye being single means that the eye is full.
It can receive the light.
It's not in darkness.
The eye is in perfect health.
But it says that if your eye has darkness,
like if you have cataracts or you're going blind,
it's going to be a difficult process for you to walk in the light of Christ.
It continues then, verse number 35,
Take heed, therefore, that the light which is indeed be not darkness,
if thy whole body therefore be full of light,
having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light,
as when the bright shine of a candle doth give thee light.
And so the reason I wanted to read the rest of that
is to give you a greater context
when we're talking about the men of Nineveh
rising in judgment against this wicked generation
that they are people that have received the light of Christ.
You know, once again,
this just proves that these people definitely got saved,
okay, through the preaching of Jonas.
Hey, but when Christ came, someone greater than Jonas was here,
and many of them rejected Jesus Christ.
It's amazing, okay,
that these Gentiles, these Ninevites received the gospel message.
They received the light.
But then you've got this wicked generation
seeing the great miracles of Christ, rejecting him.
All right, let's go back to Jonah chapter 3.
Jonah chapter 3 and verse number 3.
Jonah chapter 3, verse number 3.
So we'll soon get to the question,
how did the Ninevites get saved?
Well, in verse number 3 it says,
So Jonah arose and went into Nineveh
according to the word of the Lord.
Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey.
And so to get around Nineveh requires about three days of travel.
Now I don't know if this means nonstop travel.
You know, I don't believe that's the case.
That would be a huge city, okay.
That would be a massive city, you know, three full days of traveling.
Don't forget, Jonah is coming to preach, okay.
He's preaching what the Lord wants him to preach against this city.
So he's not just walking through the city,
but, you know, the fact is he's preaching to the people he's coming across.
You know, whatever opportunities he has
as he proclaims the preaching that God has given him,
of course he's going to stop.
Of course he's going to have to explain what he's teaching, okay.
And so, you know, to get through the whole city,
it required Jonah three days to get through
as he's preaching the words that God has given him.
So pretty much it's a three day mega marathon.
You know, this coming Saturday,
if you're able to get out there, you know,
Monday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, so many mega marathon,
two hours in the morning,
lunch and then two hours in the afternoon.
You know, Jonah basically was doing this three days straight,
a three day mega marathon.
Let's keep going, verse number four.
And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey
and he cried and said,
yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
So they've got forty days to get things right with God.
In forty days they're going to be destroyed.
Now verse number five is often overlooked.
I've asked you, I've asked my past, my old past,
I've asked other Christians,
did Nineveh get saved?
And how did they get saved?
It's amazing to me that verse number five
just gets overlooked so quickly.
Because verse number five basically tells us how they got saved.
Okay, verse number five says,
so the people of Nineveh believed God.
So the people of Nineveh believed God
and proclaimed a fast
and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them
even to the least of them.
Alright brethren, so you can see they believed God.
It's not saying they just believed Jonah.
It's not saying they just believed the message.
They believed God.
Their faith was on the God of Jonah.
That's how they got saved.
It's not complicated.
Salvation's the same.
Old Testament, New Testament,
it's your belief, it's your faith.
So the people of Nineveh believed God.
Keep your finger there and turn to Romans chapter four.
Turn to Romans chapter four and verse number three.
Romans chapter four, verse number three.
There's another place in the Bible that refers to this idea
of simply a person or a city believing God in Romans 4-3.
Romans 4-3 it says,
for what saved the scripture, Abraham believed God.
Hey, what did it say in the book of Jonah?
The people of Nineveh believed God.
It says here, Abraham believed God.
Did they do the same thing?
They did the same thing.
When it says Abraham believed God, it says,
and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Abraham was made right with God the moment he believed on him.
Therefore, the people of Nineveh
were made right the moment they believed on God as well.
Okay, keep going there.
Verse number four it says,
Now to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt,
but to him that worketh not
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
Salvation is crystal clear in the time of Abraham,
before the Old Testament.
Don't forget the Old Testament came into effect with Moses
when God gave the commandments to Moses in Mount Sinai.
Abraham existed before Moses, obviously.
Moses and the Israelites are descendants of who Abraham was.
Okay, so before the Old Testament,
people were saved simply by placing their faith on God.
Okay, it says Abraham believed God.
The Bible tells us in the Book of Jonah
that the men of Nineveh, the people of Nineveh believed God.
This is how they got saved.
Salvation is the same.
It is not by works.
It is by your faith.
Doesn't matter if you were living in the time of Jonah
and you were the Ninevites.
Doesn't matter if you were the time living in Abraham's time.
It doesn't matter if you're living in 2022.
It's the same way that we get saved.
Not by works.
By our faith alone in the Lord God.
Now, I'll tell you to just keep a bookmark or a finger there
in Romans chapter 4,
because we're going to come back to that a bit later.
But if you can go back to Jonah chapter 3.
Jonah chapter 3.
I mean, this shouldn't be complicated, right?
That should be it.
That should just tell us, all right, they believed God.
Okay, you know, Jonah was not just preaching destruction.
He was teaching them how they can place their faith on the God of Jonah.
Okay, I mean, we don't have great long texts of what Jonah preached.
But the fact that they were able to place their faith on the God of Jonah
tells us there was the gospel message,
there was the plan of salvation being preached unto these Ninevites,
unto these Gentiles.
Okay, look at verse number 6.
I also like verse number 6 because
it tells us how did such a great city
with so many people actually get right with God.
It says in verse number 6,
For word came unto the king of Nineveh,
and he arose from his throne,
and he laid his robe from him,
and covered him with sackcloth,
and sat in ashes.
So the king gets convicted by the preaching.
He goes, I don't want my city to be destroyed.
Hey, I want to believe this God of Jonah.
So he gets right with God.
And of course, one of the great things,
you know, when someone of great prominence, like a king,
as wicked as this city was originally,
this king sets his heart on the God of Jonah.
He gets things right.
Hey, he takes off his robe,
kind of picturing that hey, he knows he can't be right with God,
with his wealth, with his status.
He can't make it right with God, with his royal garbs.
He needs to take off that righteousness, as it were.
He needs to take off his own righteousness.
He needs to take off whatever he was trusting in
and only trust in the Lord God.
And what's wonderful about that,
when you have kings and politicians
who have a fear of God,
it's going to bleed into the rest of the city.
It's going to bleed into the rest of the nation.
This is why it's so important that we are praying for our kings,
our politicians, our premiers, our prime minister.
You know, pray that God would instill in their hearts a fear of God.
You know, that God would take down the wicked politicians
and put in, install politicians that have a fear of God.
You know, if we just have politicians who fear God,
who fear to do things that are contrary to his word,
this nation will be in a much better place.
People's hearts will be more receptive
to receive what God has to say to us through his word.
But see, the king's heart has an influence
on the hearts of his people.
Can you please turn to Matthew chapter 11?
There's something else that I want to teach you
through this lesson here.
The people, now obviously,
you know, do I believe that every single person,
every single man, woman, and child
actually got right with God?
I doubt it.
I mean, I can't tell you for sure.
But I doubt it, okay?
I mean, the likelihood of an entire city,
like not even the entire nation of Israel was right with God.
You know, there weren't many that were saved,
but there were obviously many that were unsaved as well.
You know, when you have prominent people
who love the Lord, who are removed out of their capacity
for whatever reason,
usually people's hearts will turn toward false gods
because many of them were not saved, okay?
But obviously, a great number,
maybe the majority of Ninevites got saved.
They got right with God, okay?
So it changed the...
What's the word I'm looking for?
It changed the...
I guess the demographic.
It changed the demographic.
I was going to say dynamics.
It changed the dynamics of the city, okay?
And so God could look down and see a righteous people
because they had trusted the God of Jonah.
But something that I want to show you here
in Matthew chapter 11, verse 20,
something that we don't often think about,
it's kind of the same idea
what I just mentioned earlier
about the people of Nineveh
rising up against this wicked generation,
that there's going to be judgment from God's people
against those that have rejected Christ.
But, you know, as people that reject Christ,
we know they go to hell.
But did you know that in hell,
there are different levels of punishment in hell?
Were you aware of that?
Were you aware that, you know,
the more wicked someone is,
the worse their punishment in hell will be,
versus someone that may have lived
a reasonably clean life on this earth,
you know, that has just died without Christ,
they're not going to be punished
to the same extent
as someone who is excessively wicked, all right?
And we get this teaching
from Matthew chapter 11, verse 20.
Let me just show you this.
Matthew 11, verse 20.
It says here,
Then began he to abrade the cities,
wherein most of his mighty works were done,
because they repented not.
Now the Ninevehites, they repented.
But these cities, they did not repent, okay?
So Christ starts to abrade.
This means he starts to basically,
you know, speak against these cities.
He says in verse number 21,
Woe unto thee, Chorazin!
Woe unto thee, Bethsaida!
Hey, these are cities of the Jews.
Christ is saying,
Woe to these cities!
Because they rejected Christ, okay?
It says here,
For if the mighty works which were done in you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
these are Gentile cities,
they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes.
So notice these cities,
Bethsaida and Chorazin,
they've had the opportunity.
Christ has done mighty works before them.
They can see that Christ is the Messiah,
and they still reject him.
Alright?
But it says that, hey,
if I had done this to these other cities,
if I had done it to Tyre and Sidon,
Gentile cities,
they would have repented.
They would have got right with God.
Verse number 22,
But I say unto you,
Look at this,
It shall be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon
at the day of judgment
than for you.
Notice that.
It's going to be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon
than it would be
for Bethsaida and Chorazin
at the time of judgment.
What does that mean?
That they're going to be judged worse.
Okay?
These two cities that saw the worst of Christ,
they're going to be judged harsher.
They're going to suffer a greater punishment.
Judgment and hell
is going to be more tolerable
for Tyre and Sidon.
Because they did not get
the same opportunities
like these other cities got.
You can see that it's not the same.
You know, people often say
about Christianity,
you need to be more tolerable.
I thought Christianity
was a religion of tolerance.
Meaning that we should just put up
with whatever filth
and whatever sin
and whatever weakness
and just accept people.
You know, because we just,
isn't that the religion
of Christianity?
Tolerance?
Does the Bible teach tolerance?
It does.
This is the only place
that teaches tolerance.
It means how tolerable hell will be.
How tolerable God's judgment will be
on the cities that have rejected Christ.
That's where tolerance is taught.
Okay?
We know that to some extent,
you know, we have the story
of the rich ruler
who died and went to hell.
And he's able to, you know,
he's obviously very thirsty.
He's been tormented in the flames.
But he's able to carry
a conversation with Abraham.
He may remember that story.
Okay?
So is he in torment?
He says he's in torment.
Is he thirsty?
He says he's thirsty.
But he's still able
to communicate to Abraham.
So obviously, he's not suffering
to the same extent
as someone who would be
excessively wicked.
Don't forget that hell was created
for the devil and his angels.
Okay?
It's a place of punishment.
But again, how tolerable
that punishment will be,
the judgment that falls upon them
will be different,
depending on how wicked they were
and what opportunities they had
to receive Christ as Savior.
Let's keep going there.
It says in verse number 23,
And thou, Capernaum,
it's another Jewish city,
which art exalted unto heaven,
shall be brought down to hell.
For if the mighty works
which have been done in thee
had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained
until this day.
But I say unto you
that it shall be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom
in the day of judgment
than for thee.
Now, we know how wicked
the sodomites were.
Hey, but it's going to be
even worse for Capernaum
because Capernaum had Christ
walking in the midst.
Okay?
And they still rejected Christ.
So we know things
are going to be horrible
for the sodomites,
but it's even going to be worse
for those that were living
in Capernaum,
the Jews that rejected Christ.
So you can see once again,
and look, I'm not pulling
that out of context.
It said there in verse number 23,
And thou, Capernaum,
which art exalted unto heaven,
shall be brought down to hell.
Okay?
So this is definitely speaking
about these people
living in these cities
who have rejected Christ,
who were excessively wicked,
or that had the opportunity
to believe in Christ.
It's going to be worse
for them in hell
than for other people
that didn't have
the same opportunities
or were not as wicked
as other people of other cities.
So I just want to show that
to you, you know?
That, hey, is Sydney a wicked city?
It is a wicked city.
Okay?
It is definitely a wicked city.
But thank God for, you know,
at the end of the day,
salvation comes down
to the individual.
You know, thank God
we don't have to suffer
the consequences of judgment
or of sin upon us
and upon the generation
that we've lived in,
in the city that we've lived in.
We've been delivered from that.
God's wrath
has been removed from us.
You know, Christ took our wrath.
Christ took the curse
upon himself,
and we've been delivered.
We've been made free.
Praise God for salvation.
So, you know,
as Nineveh got right with God,
don't forget, yes,
the King got right,
which then passes down
to the people,
but at the end of the day,
it's an individual choice
whether they wanted to be
made right with God,
whether they want to be saved,
whether they want to believe
on the God of Jonah,
or whether they did not want to.
Back to Jonah chapter 3,
verse number 7.
Jonah chapter 3,
verse number 7.
So this is about the King.
It says,
So the King caused
it to be proclaimed
and published throughout Nineveh
by the decree of the King
and his noble saying,
Let neither man nor beast
herd nor flock taste anything,
let them not feed nor drink water,
but let man and beast
be covered with sackcloth
and cry mightily unto God,
for whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
What is he saying to his people?
Hey, send a decree,
make this official,
that people would cry
mightily unto God.
Yea, let them turn everyone
from his evil way
and from the violence
that is in their hands.
Who can tell
if God will turn and repent
and turn away from his fierce anger
that we perish not?
And God saw their works
that they turned from their evil way
and God repented of the evil
that he had said
that he would do unto them
and he did it not.
So a few things.
How did Jonah's preaching
reach the entire city?
How did this thought
of crying to the God of Jonah
reach the entire city?
Yes, it started with Jonah.
Yes, he had three days
to accomplish such a work.
But the king helped out.
The king started to take down
what Jonah was saying
and it was published
throughout all the land.
Alright?
And he said, look, all of you,
all of us need to cry
mightily unto God.
Okay?
We all need to believe
in the God of Jonah.
Alright?
Now again,
how did they get saved?
Well, a lot of people would turn
right there to verse number 9
and say,
it says, uh, sorry.
Yeah, sorry, verse number 8,
I should say.
But let them in beasts
be covered in the sack
of crying mightily unto God
and they'll say this,
well, yea, let them turn
everyone from his evil way
and from the violence
that is in their hands.
So a few things there.
Number 1, we see why God
was so angry at the city
because it says that
there was violence in their hands.
It was a very violent city.
That's one main reason
why God was going to judge
and destroy the city
in 40 days.
But secondly,
the king is saying,
let them turn everyone
from his evil way.
Hey, turn from your sins.
Turn from your wickedness.
Okay?
Get right with God.
God's going to destroy us
because of our wickedness,
because of our violence.
Stop doing this is his message.
So then people say,
well, that's how they got saved.
They got saved because
they turned from their sins.
Because they turned
from their evil way.
Now I can understand
when you read that,
that could be your thought there.
But don't forget,
initially in verse number five,
they had believed God.
They already had placed
their faith on God.
Okay?
What is salvation?
Is salvation repenting
from your sins?
Or is salvation your faith
on the Lord God?
Your faith for the
Lord Jesus Christ?
Which of these two?
Okay?
Now, you know,
this is where people
get confused.
You know,
and I've heard preachers
behind the pulpit
teach that, hey,
to be saved,
you have to turn
from your sins to be saved.
And then you kind of ask them,
can you show me
where that's in the Bible?
Where in the Bible
does it say
you have to repent
of your sins to be saved?
And they won't find
anything in the New Testament.
They'll often turn
to a story like Jonah
and say,
well, the Ninevites,
they repented from their evil way.
So that's how they got saved.
Really?
Is that how they got saved?
Okay.
Well, let's keep going.
Look at verse number 10 again.
Now, did the Ninevites
turn from their wicked way?
Of course they did.
Should we as Christians
turn from our wicked ways?
Of course we should.
Okay.
Most of my preaching
is teaching you
how to live holy lives,
how to live lives
that are pleasing to God,
you know,
preaching against sin.
You know,
my desire
is that you're
repenting from sin
every single day.
My desire
is that you're living
more holy
every single day.
My desire
is that you're keeping
the commandments of God
more so every single day.
But is that how you
get saved?
No.
That's not how you
get saved.
Is it right to get baptised?
Of course it's right
to get baptised.
Is that how we get saved?
No.
Is it right to be
in God's house,
to be in church?
Yes.
Is that how we get saved?
No.
Is it right to read the Bible?
Yes.
Is that how we get saved?
No.
Okay.
Look, is it right
to repent from your sins?
Of course it's right.
But is that how
we get saved?
Of course not.
Because there is not
a single one of you
that have successfully
repented from their sins.
I guarantee you,
you've sinned today.
I guarantee
you're going to sin
tomorrow and you're
going to commit sins
to the day you die.
So if repenting
from your sins
is necessary to be saved,
then no one is saved.
What did we learn
in verse number five?
They believed God.
It's their faith
that saved them.
Then,
once they believed
in the God of Jonah
and they've cried
upon Him for salvation,
then they're living
a cleaner life.
Then they're trying
to save the destruction
of their city.
Brethren,
if you're saved
and you live a wicked life,
you know what's
going to happen?
God's going to judge you.
God's going to bring
His right of correction
upon you.
Just because you're saved
doesn't mean you escape
the judgment of God
in this life.
Just because the Ninevites
have believed God,
it doesn't mean
God's not going
to destroy the city.
They had to give up
on their violence,
give up on their wicked ways,
for God to keep
that city alive,
to keep that city functioning,
for God to turn
from the wicked
that He would do,
sorry, for the evil
that He would do
upon that city.
Say,
I don't know,
Pastor Kevin,
it sounds quite clear to me
that they turned
from the evil way
and that's how
they got saved.
No, no, no.
They've turned
from the evil way.
That's how the city
was not destroyed.
Okay?
Their souls
was by faith.
Okay?
Now, what's wonderful
about verse number 10,
just in case
somebody's trying to tell you
that repenting from sins
is how you get saved,
it's like God put
verse number 10
on purpose there
to combat that
as a false gospel.
Because it says
in verse number 10,
and God saw their works.
What works?
That they turned
from their evil way.
Brethren,
turning from your evil way,
what is it?
It's a work.
God saw their works.
If someone tells you
in order to be saved
you have to repent
of your sins,
what is that?
What are they teaching?
Works.
They're saying salvation
is by works.
The Bible makes it so clear.
This is the writing
of the Holy Ghost,
of God Himself.
It says,
and God saw their works,
that they turned
from their evil way.
Look, and God repented
of the evil
that He had said
that He would do unto them
and He did it not.
Hey, who also repented?
God repented.
The people of Nineveh
repented
and then God repented.
Now, you know what
another crazy teaching
that's out there
in churches,
they'll say,
well, you know,
the word repent
or repentance
means automatically
to turn from sins.
Well, it says
and God repented
so did God repent of sins?
Is God a sinner?
Of course not.
Repentance
does not mean
turn from sin.
Repentance just means
to change
or to turn.
That's all.
That's all it means.
Okay, to change
or to turn
and the context
of what is
written around that
tells you
what you've turned from.
That's all it is.
You know?
For example,
this is my pulpit.
I'm going right.
I'm walking right.
You know what?
I'm going to repent from that
and I'm going to walk left.
Did I just
turn from my sins?
No,
of course not.
Did I just sin?
Did I just do something evil
by walking right?
No,
but did I repent?
Of course.
I repented.
And now I'm going left instead.
Did I repent?
Now look,
can you
commit,
you know,
if you committed some sin
that you're strong with,
let's say you're
strong with alcohol
and you say,
you know what,
I'm going to repent
from that sin
and I'm going to
go this way instead
and I'm going to
give up on alcohol
and live a sober life.
You know,
did that man
repent as well?
Of course he repented.
But the context of that
is he repented
from drinking alcohol
to not drinking alcohol.
Okay?
So yeah,
in that context,
of course that man
is repenting from sin.
Hey,
but I can say,
you know,
let's say
I'm not a pastor.
I'm just a church member
and you know,
I love
being in fellowship
with God's people
but then some struggles
come in life,
some issues come in life
and you know what,
I'm going to repent
from being in God's house
and I'm just,
I'm going to choose
not to be in church.
Did that man
repent as well?
Of course he repented.
Did he repent
from sin though?
No,
because going to church
was not a sin.
In fact,
that's what God
wants us to do.
In fact,
he turned towards
something that is sinful
to be away from church,
to be away from God's people,
away from fellowship.
You can repent from evil,
you can repent from good,
you can repent from things
that are not even sinful.
I was going right,
decided to go left.
I was going to Woolworths,
I repented,
I'm going to Coles instead.
Okay,
does that mean
you turn from your sins?
No,
it just means
you changed your mind.
You changed,
you had to turn.
I turn from one way,
I turn to another way
and again,
when he has to do
turning from sins,
if someone is saying
you've got to turn from sins,
then you're basically saying
you've got to work.
You've got to work for salvation.
Okay,
and salvation is very clearly
not by works.
Please keep your finger there.
Please keep your finger there
and go back to
Romans chapter 4.
Please go back to
Romans chapter number 4.
Romans chapter 4 please.
Now while you're turning
to Romans chapter 4,
let me read to you
a familiar passage,
1 John 3.4.
1 John 3.4,
which says,
Whosoever committh sin,
transgresseth also the law.
For sin is,
the Bible is about to
define for us what sin is.
For sin is
the transgression of the law.
What is sin brethren?
The transgression of the law.
This book,
this book that God gives us,
his commandments,
okay,
his words,
if you transgress his words,
you've committed sin.
If you've broken the laws of God,
you've committed sin.
Amen.
That's the biblical
definition of sin.
Alright.
Every time you sin,
you've broken God's laws.
Okay.
That's the definition of sin.
Alright.
Now think about this.
Preachers all across Australia,
all across this world,
have no problem for whatever reason
to say,
you know,
in order for you to get
right with God,
in order for you to be saved,
you've got to
repent of your sins.
And the congregation will be,
Amen.
You've got to repent of your sins.
But what is he saying
when you think about that?
When you break down
what he's saying,
you've got to repent
which is to turn
from your sins which is
the transgression of the law.
Okay.
So what is he saying?
To repent of your sins
means to turn
from breaking or transgressing
God's law.
So how do we get saved?
Well these preachers will say,
they'll say,
Repent of your sins.
Amen. Amen.
But it goes over people's heads.
They don't understand
the veiled message
that they're given.
The preacher is saying,
in order to be saved,
you have to stop
transgressing God's law.
In other words,
you've got to keep the law
is what they're teaching,
which is another gospel,
which is works.
It blows my mind
how many preachers,
even within the independent
Baptist churches,
will tell the congregation
they've got to repent
of their sins to be saved
when that preacher themselves
still commits sin.
That preacher themselves
is still struggling with sin.
Because everyone struggles with sin.
We still have the sinful flesh.
We don't go to heaven
based on our righteousness.
We don't go to heaven
based on how clean
we can make our lives.
We go to heaven based on
the righteousness of Christ.
Okay.
He's given us His righteousness.
We're clothed in His blood,
in His righteousness.
When God the Father sees us,
those of us that have
trust in Christ,
He sees us through His Son.
He sees us through Jesus.
No.
It doesn't matter how much
you clean your life up, Reverend.
Your righteousness
are still filthy rags.
This is why you go to heaven
based on the righteousness
of Christ.
Salvation is what
Christ has done for us.
Repenting from your sins
is a good work to do,
but it is not
how you get saved.
Okay.
It is not how you get saved.
Getting baptized
is a good work to do,
but it is not
how you get saved.
You know,
being in church
is a good work to do,
but it's not
how you get saved.
Okay.
This should be basic.
But look,
it's got to be preached
because people get confused.
And why do people
get confused?
Why do people get confused?
You know,
it's because the importance
of the gospel
is no longer being
uplifted within churches.
The clarity of the gospel,
the simplicity
that is in Christ Jesus,
is not being lifted
in churches anymore.
It's about the boys club.
You know,
oh yeah,
you know,
we have fellowship
with this church
because, you know,
we come out of
the same Bible college.
Oh, because you're,
you know,
this person's brother-in-law,
relative,
that went to start
that church.
Do you believe
the same gospel or not?
I mean,
if your church teaches
that salvation
is in Christ,
then why are you
fellowshiping with a church
that believes salvation
is by repenting of your sins?
You've got different gospels.
You've got a different message.
One is by works
and one is by faith.
It surprises me, brethren.
You know, like,
you know,
people that want
to divide over doctrines,
they want to divide over
every single little
secondary or tertiary doctrine,
but when it comes
to the most important
doctrine, who cares?
Let's overlook that.
Repenting of your sins,
ah, yeah, you're my brother.
Come and preach
behind my pulpit.
I don't understand it.
And look,
if you think
you understand it,
please tell me.
I don't understand it
except to say
that we know that
we have an enemy,
the devil,
that comes in
and he sows his tears
amongst the wheat.
Okay?
Now, I ask you
to turn to Romans 4,
verse number 1,
verse number 2.
Actually,
before we read that,
I will say this, okay?
I will say this.
I also recognise
there's a lot of Christians
that are saved,
that are legitimately
children of God,
that will use the phrase
you have to repent
of your sins.
Okay?
Because I have these
conversations with people,
I come across people,
say, oh, you do have
to repent of your sins.
I say, well,
what do you mean by that?
Well, you've got to
recognise you're a sinner.
Yeah.
Is that what you mean
by repenting of sins?
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Look, if that's
what you think
is repenting of sins is,
you know,
then you're my
saved brother and Lord.
But you're wrong.
That's not what
repent of sins means.
Repent means to turn
from your wickedness,
to stop doing sins.
And some of the people
are like, well,
you know, I believe
repent of sins means
just to have a sorrow.
You know,
I have a broken
contrite heart
for having done wrong
against the Lord.
Okay, well,
I mean, that's good.
You know,
if people are broken,
they have a contrite heart
and, you know,
they feel bad
for the sins
that they've done,
I mean, that's good,
Like, you don't get
saved because
you have sorrow
or because you have joy.
You know,
I've given the gospel
to people
and I've seen people
weep and have sorrow
and they've caught
upon the Lord
and be saved.
I've also given
the gospel to people
and they've just
been rejoicing,
just happy,
knowing the good news
and they've caught
upon the Lord
and be saved.
Their emotions
do not play a part
in how you get saved.
Salvation is not
be sad
and believe in the Lord
and thou shalt be saved.
Rejoice and believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.
Emotions does not play.
In fact,
this is what
the Charismatics
are all about.
All about the emotional,
all the feelings.
I feel we're saved.
We feel,
oh, the right feelings.
See,
emotions play no part.
It's your faith
that saves you.
Now, look,
if you're broken
and you're sad
about your sins,
well, praise God.
You know,
that will lead you
to, you know,
be able to recognize
that you need to
get made right with God.
Amen.
That is everyone's
journey of salvation
because that is not
a condition of salvation.
How you feel
is not a condition.
The condition,
the only condition
is faith.
So,
when people say,
well,
repentance of sins
means just recognize
your sinful condition,
well,
I would say
that person is saved.
If someone says
that repentance of sins
is basically having
a broken,
contrite heart
and being sad
for the sins
that you've committed,
well, it's just emotions.
You know,
I still count you
I've heard pastors
within the IFB,
within Sydney,
okay,
preach such things
and pastors
that would actually
go all the way
and say,
repentance of sins
and they would
interpret this accurately,
they'll say,
repentance of sins
is turning from sins
and then they'll start
preaching things like this.
Well,
if someone's a drunkard
and they want to get
saved,
then they have to
stop drinking alcohol.
You say,
Pastor Kevin,
surely no pastors preach that.
They do.
They're out there.
They're out there
in Sydney right now
within independent
fundamental Baptist churches.
Well,
the guy committing
fornication with his girlfriend,
he's got to stop
committing fornication
in order to get saved.
Have you heard
that kind of preaching?
Brethren,
this is works.
Alright,
what did it say?
And God saw their works
that they turn
from their evil way.
If you're saying
to be saved,
you have to turn
from your evil way,
then you're saying
that you've got to
be saved by works.
You've got to keep
the law.
You've got to stop
transgressing the law.
But look,
it's funny because
these people actually
interpret that phrase
correctly.
Okay,
so listen,
brethren,
I'm not saying
every time someone
says repent of sins,
go and attack them
and think they're
unsaved or something.
Hey,
ask them what
do they mean by that?
Okay,
I found this is
the easiest way
to determine whether
a so-called brother
is false, brethren,
whether they're
not saved
These are the two ways
that I've determined.
Number one,
they just come out
and start preaching works.
You've got to stop
doing this sin
and that sin
and this sin.
The drunk has got
to stop drinking alcohol
and all these things
to be saved.
Then you've got
a false prophet
because he's adding
works to the gospel message.
The second way
that I've determined
a false prophet
is when they mock
salvation by faith alone.
And you say
to this preacher,
preacher, the Bible says
it's wrong.
It's by believing
what Christ has done
and they're like,
what, just believe?
What, just believe
and ask Jesus to save you
and that's all?
Hey,
that kind of person
is also an unsaved devil
and they mock salvation
by belief alone
or if they're just
openly preaching works.
Okay,
now somewhere in between,
there's a lot of brethren
that are saved
but they've got
bad terminology.
Repent of your sins.
That phrase is not
even in your Bible.
It's crazy
because we're meant to be
Bible believing Christians.
Okay,
and you start using phrases
that are not in the Bible
to explain salvation.
It blows my mind.
Why would we move away
from the Bible
which is God's word
and start teaching things
that is the wisdom of man
is actually coming
from ministers of Satan
to muddy the gospel
to confuse people
and if people have not
trusted Christ
by faith alone,
then look,
they can be in church
their whole life.
They can live a clean
Christian life
their whole life
but they're going to die
and go to hell.
Sorry,
Romans 4, let's go.
I've said it for a while now.
We're going to read it this time.
Romans 4,
we already read
the first few verses.
Romans 4, too.
For if Abraham
were justified by works.
So that should automatically say,
hey, he wasn't justified
by works.
Okay,
he had whereof to glory
but not before God.
You see,
salvation was by works.
Man would have something
to glory about
and I've heard these testimonies.
Oh, man,
you know,
the moment I got saved,
you know,
I stopped taking drugs.
The moment I got saved,
I stopped drinking the alcohol.
The moment I got saved,
I got behind the pulpit
and started preaching
hour-long sermons
and it's me,
me, look how clean I am.
Look at my life.
Look at me.
Look at my glory.
I know I'm saved
because look how clean I am.
That's what works would do.
If salvation was by works,
that's what it would create.
People boasting of themselves.
I went to a Christian high school.
We'd have guest speakers.
That's all they would do.
You'd have, you know,
some gang member
that was in prison for 10 years
dealing with drugs.
You have tattoo,
bikie people,
bikie gangs
and they'd come and be like,
oh, man,
look how Jesus cleaned up my life
and, you know,
I was doing all these things
and now I'm no longer
doing those things.
So what's salvation?
Is salvation cleaning up your life?
Is salvation repenting
from your sins?
I don't understand.
You know, it was never
about glorying in Christ.
It was glorying about themselves.
Look how good I am.
I must be saved
because look how clean I am now.
Reverend, that's not salvation.
If that was how we got saved,
then it would have to be by works
because then you can glory
about yourself.
Look what I've done
Verse number three.
Now, brethren,
in the New Testament,
99% of the times
when it says
what saved the scripture,
okay,
it's talking about
the Old Testament scriptures
because the New Testament scriptures
were not yet completed,
okay?
We're talking about
Old Testament teaching.
What saved the scripture?
Abraham believed God
and it was counted unto him
for righteousness.
How was Abraham
made righteous with God?
He just believed God.
It's his belief, all right?
Verse number four.
So look, if you try
to work your way to heaven,
if you try to repent
of your sins to be saved,
it's not of grace,
not reckoned of grace.
You're not saved by grace
but of debt.
It's like God owes you.
Oh, you worked hard
for salvation,
so God owes you salvation.
No, it's grace.
It's a free gift.
It's been paid for by God, okay?
But you trying to work your way,
you're bypassing grace, okay?
That's what it's saying there.
Verse number five.
Now again,
Paul is writing to the Romans.
He's writing to the Gentiles
of the New Testament.
He says this is how
the Gentiles get saved.
You, okay?
The same way as Abraham.
Abraham is before
the old covenant,
before Moses.
But then it says this,
verse number six.
Even as David also,
who's David?
King David?
He lived under the old covenant.
He lived after Moses.
He was the king of Israel
who was under the old covenant
with the Lord God, okay?
So how did David get saved?
Even as David.
So just like Abraham,
even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man
unto whom God imputed
for righteousness.
Look, without works.
How did David get saved?
Without works.
How did people get saved
under the old covenant?
Without works.
How did people get saved
before the old covenant?
Without works.
How did people get saved
in the New Testament?
Without works.
It's always been the same.
So you can't turn around
and say the Ninevites got saved
because God saw their works.
You don't get saved by works.
The Bible's clear about this.
Verse number seven.
Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord
will not impute sin.
Look at verse number nine.
Cometh this blessedness
upon the circumcision only?
Is this only for the circumcision
that salvation is without works?
Or upon the uncircumcision also?
Hey, the uncircumcision
in the story of Jonah
would be the Ninevites.
They were Gentiles, right?
It was an Assyrian city.
For we say that faith
was reckoned to Abraham
for righteousness.
How was it then reckoned?
When he was in circumcision
or in uncircumcision?
Not in circumcision
but in uncircumcision.
Before Abraham circumcised himself
he was already saved.
Whether you're circumcised
or not is irrelevant.
It's your faith that saves you
is what is being pointed out there.
Okay?
It's the same for the Jews
and the Gentiles.
Circumcision or uncircumcision.
Salvation is the same.
Verse number 11.
And he received
the sign of circumcision.
Circumcision is just a sign.
It's symbolic.
Like our baptism.
It's symbolic
that we have placed our faith
on the Lord God, right?
You see, the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness
of the faith
which he had yet
been uncircumcised,
that he might be the father.
Look at it.
The father of all them
that believe.
Do the Ninevites believe
at the preaching of Jonah?
Yes.
He's the father
of all them that believe.
Jew,
Gentile,
Israelite,
Ninevite,
Romans,
Australians,
the same.
Abraham is the father
of all that believe.
Abraham is our spiritual father.
Okay?
As much as he's
the spiritual father
of the Israelites
that have believed on Christ,
he's the spiritual father
of the Gentiles
that have believed on Christ.
It's the same, brethren.
What am I up to?
Verse number 11,
the last part of it.
Though they be not circumcised,
that righteousness might be imputed
unto them also.
As the father of circumcision
to them who are not
of the circumcision only,
he's not just the father
of the Jews that got saved,
but who also walk in the steps
of that faith of our father Abraham
which he had been yet uncircumcised.
For the promise that he should be
the heir of the world
was not to Abraham
or to his seed.
Look, through the law,
it's not given to Abraham
and his seed.
Through the law,
hey, what is sin?
The transgression of the law.
What is repenting of sin?
Trying to keep the law.
That's not how you get saved.
That's not how you get righteous.
All right?
It's not through the law,
but through the righteousness
of faith.
For if they which are
of the law be heirs,
faith is made void
and the promise made
of none effect.
Let's stop there at verse 114.
Those pastors that say
to be saved,
you have to stop sinning
or you have to give up
on this certain sin
or that certain sin.
Like I said,
the drunken has to stop
giving up on his alcohol
to be saved.
Those pastors, okay,
those preachers, it says,
for if they which are
of the law be heirs,
okay,
faith is made void
and the promise
made of none effect.
If that's how you get saved,
then faith is useless.
Okay?
So what is that saying?
Those that teach you
have to repent of your sin
to be saved,
they don't have the faith.
They don't have the
righteousness of Christ
imputed upon them.
They're trying to go to heaven
based on the law,
based on their works.
Based on their works.
Look at verse 15.
Because the law worketh wrath,
for where no law is,
there is no transgression.
We're not saved by the law
and if we're not saved
by the law,
then there is no transgression.
You understand?
Christ kept the law perfectly.
We go to heaven
because of Christ.
Okay?
Verse number 16.
Therefore it is of faith
that it might be by grace,
right?
For by grace
we are saved through faith.
Same thing.
Therefore it is of faith
that it might be by grace
to the end the promise
might be sure,
look,
to all the seed
and not to only
which is of the law,
but to that also
which is of the faith of Abraham
who is the father of us all.
So those that were
under the law,
the Jews,
and those that are not
under the law,
the New Testament days,
look,
Abraham is the father of all,
of all those that
basically had the faith
of Abraham, right?
But to that also
which is of the faith
of Abraham
who is the father
of us all once again.
Brethren,
salvation is the same.
Did the Ninevites get saved?
Absolutely.
Why did they get saved?
Because they believed God.
Okay?
Again,
it's not saying
they just believed Jonah
or they believed
the teaching of Jonah.
They believed the God of Jonah.
They placed their faith
on the God of Jonah.
All right?
They got saved.
Many of them.
I'm not saying
every single human being
in Nineveh got saved.
I don't know.
Okay?
But their salvation
was by faith.
Then once they had
put their faith
on the God of Jonah,
then they decided,
all right,
let's do some works.
Let's stop sinning.
Let's overcome
the violence in our city.
Let's get made right with God
because if we don't stop this,
then God's going
to destroy us.
And they said,
look,
there's a chance
to save our city.
There's a chance
that we would not
if we just make sure
we walk righteously.
If we do the works,
and brethren,
we should do the works
not to be saved.
We should do the works
to live a life
that is holy to God.
We should do the works
that we would not be
judged by God severely.
We should do the works
that we could live holy lives.
Be holy
as He is holy,
the Bible says.
Our goal
ought to be
to be like
the Lord Jesus Christ,
to clean up our lives,
to be less sinful,
to be more righteous.
That's the goal
of the Christian, brethren,
to see souls saved.
That's our goal,
to walk in holiness.
But that's not
how you get saved.
Salvation, praise God,
is by faith and by grace.
Grace.
Grace means free.
Gratis in Spanish
is where you get
the word grace.
Gratis in Spanish
means free.
Grace means free.
It automatically
just means something
that is free,
something that is undeserved.
We get given the grace of God.
And how do we access
that grace?
Through faith.
Not by works,
not by the law.
Alright?
And I personally believe,
when you read,
when you know this,
and you know exactly
what the Bible teaches
on this topic,
then Jonah chapter 3
is not complicated.
It really is not complicated.
You get to verse number 5,
they believed God.
Well we know that
Abraham believed God
and his faith was counted
unto righteousness.
Then the Bible's consistent.
The Bible does not change.
Whether they lived
under the old covenant
or before the old covenant,
or in the new covenant,
salvation has always
been the same.
Believe the Lord God,
your faith upon Him,
and that is what
gives you righteousness
in the eyes of God.
Okay, let's pray.