Amen, right Jonah chapter number three and um just a little recap in case you've forgotten
although I don't think probably anyone's forgotten the book of Jonah it's quite a famous
famous book famous story but in Jonah one Jonah was commanded in verse two Jonah one two to arise
go to Nineveh that great city and cry against it as to shout against it for their wickedness
is come up before me so Jonah the prophet the servant of the lord was told to do one thing and
he went in the other direction didn't he so Jonah just you know got on his heels and and jumped on
a ship and went as pretty much as longer voyage as he possibly could God then sent a tempest didn't
he so God sends his tempest out there it's like the succeeding great tempest and and he basically
tries to commit suicide in essence he asks him to throw him overboard so he's looking to just die
he's trying any which way he can to get away from God well he doesn't succeed because God
ends up preparing a great fish and this whale swallows him and he ends up in the belly of a
whale in chapter two if you know where we were last week he's praying to God out of the whale's
belly God then kind of saves him from the whale's belly because he speaks to fish and he's vomited
out onto dry land and and by the way it's dry ground isn't it that he's vomited out onto not
sort of shallow water where he still has to work a little bit it's a picture of salvation isn't it
and God speaks you know it comes from the word of God and then he's vomited out onto dry ground
that's it job done yeah from that from from what what what is a picture of of spiritual salvation
it's obviously a physical salvation from the whale's belly now look at verse one where we
are in Jonah chapter three where it says and the word of the lord came unto Jonah the second time
saying arise go on to Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee okay
let's I'd also like to pray before we continue so father I thank you for this great chapter of the
bible please help me to preach it just clearly now and and accurately and boldly and and effectively
for people to go home and and not just kind of forget what they've heard but just just for your
word to speak to them for your word to stay in their heart please help everyone to just stay
wide awake right now have attentive ears and hearts and keep their distractions to a minimum
and help people to stay alert and awake in Jesus name pray all this amen so God told Jonah to do
something he refused and ended up going through affliction didn't he for it and we looked at the
lesson of that as well and that when God clearly tells you to do something and you refuse and you
decide to do something else you can easily end up being afflicted at the hands of God yeah and
that's not a good thing is it afflicted at the hands of God then what happens here is is God
tells him again here so the verse one and the word of the Lord came on to Jonah the second time
saying arise go on to Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee so
he tells him again and there's definitely no room for stubbornness now is there because what's going
to be next he's already been swallowed by a whale ended up in the belly of a whale you would assume
that he's probably thinking I better do what God tells me this time yeah and and you know I've said
this before look a lot of the all of us here have and will continue to go through chastisement yeah
because for whom the Lord loveth he chaseth and scourges every Sunday we receiveth okay
we need to recognize when we're being chastised and we don't really want to push it after that
do we so if you're getting chastised for something if you're refusing to do something God tells you
to do look make sure that after the chastisement you don't carry on pushing it because who knows
what would have been next for John but Jonah makes a wise decision here doesn't he so Jonah sees you
know he's obviously been swallowed by a whale he's ended up languishing in the belly of a whale we
talked about how horrendous that would have been because it's like we said it's not Pinocchio you
know that's not real life in case anyone was wondering okay they're not just there in this
sort of huge whale's belly fishing and you know cooking things and everything else okay he would
have been literally burning in stomach acid it would have been absolutely horrific the only
reason he actually lived through it was because God made him live through it okay so this was
this was just something unbelievable and obviously he didn't want to I mean what would it be next
swallowed by I don't know an elephant or something I don't know it would have been pretty bad so
he makes the right decision here he says you know well he just he just does it doesn't he so
but did God say here so notice here the word of the Lord came on to Jonah second time saying
arise go on to Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee he didn't
say arise go on to Nineveh that great city and preach unto it anything you fancy did he he didn't
say just preach anything you feel like preaching Jonah just go there and whatever tickles your
fancy did he he didn't say you know preach preach just a really slick sermon just make sure that
it's got a great beginning middle and end that the you know the the finish is great make sure that
you really come across really well spoken and you know it flows like anything I don't think God was
too interested in any of that stuff was he hey look that's great you know some people have the
gift of the gab don't they some people can preach something that that sounds nice to the ears as
well but ultimately it's what's in it it's the substance that matters because it's easy isn't it
to sit through sermons and and you know and and look they're different everyone can preach good
and bad sermons can't they you can sit and go I've really enjoyed that but what did you take from it
yeah because we're not just here to to have a feel-good time oh we're not just here to go I
really love that and within an hour you can't even remember what that sermon was okay and part of that
comes down to you as well doesn't it because when you sit in a sermon you need to be sitting there
and paying attention and not just going oh isn't it great you know he's that was a good joke and
that flowed from here to there and everything else I really like the way look what are you taking
from that sermon and what are you going to try and apply to your life from that sermon as well
and it's not all going to be a pick sometimes you know we're just getting that doctrine aren't we
sometimes there's other things that we're getting from a sermon sometimes it might be that maybe
you know that sermon it's not something that necessarily affects you as much as someone
else in the room we should be trying shouldn't we trying to apply and and here you know God
said to him he said to him preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee not what they want to
hear was it was it preach unto them the preaching that they want to hear because a lot of people
like to think they know what they should be getting preached yeah they like to think they
know what what should be getting preached to them from behind the pulpit but he said preach
unto it the preaching that I bid thee and we're going to go to second timothy chapter two famous
few verses here because it's it's there's no difference yeah a preacher today is commanded
to preach what God tells us to yeah not what he fancies or anything else it's what God tells us to
and first of all that's the word isn't it the word like he was told to preach what he bids he
well God bids us through the word of God and it is the word isn't it that we're told to preach
not a version of the word yeah there can only be one word if it is the word yeah the word not
not a version of the word not you know something based loosely on the word not something well
you know someone's kind of done their best bet of of what kind of is aware not some general
sort of gist of the word but preaching the word yeah and that's exactly what timothy
the young preacher is commanded by paul but really by the holy spirit spirit through paul
to do he says in second timothy chapter four verse sorry i did tell you second timothy two
second timothy four chapter one second timothy four one i charge thee therefore before god
i charge you that's command thee and the lord jesus christ who shall judge the quick and the
dead is appearing in his and his kingdom so this is a command isn't it a command by paul by god
through paul to timothy to preach the word the word yeah preach not not some words not something
to preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long
suffering and doctrine okay only one word isn't there okay there's only one word he could be
preached if he's preaching the word and and look everyone i think here knows that yeah no we we know
there is only one word that god has preserved his word he did say heaven and earth shall pass away
but my word shall not pass away okay there is only one a hundred percent word of god is it there
and and i don't think anyone could be sitting here listening to the word of god preach
the word of god that's gone through trial and test and attack and all sorts and the king jesus
barber still stands stands up there and cannot cannot be disproven cannot there's not one
fault that's been proven in it is that yeah they try yeah they try and make out like they've proven
all these errors and everything else but there's not one because it's the word of god because there
was god's providence in that and we have the word of god we have it preserved we have it in our
hands and i have it here in front of me behind the pulpit here and that word of god says to preach
the word that means preach that bible be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with
all long suffering and doctrine so basically at any time whether it's popular or not yeah so be
instant that's just ready to preach it whether it's popular or not and and look you can imagine
right now there are some things which are unpopular in this word of god you can imagine in
the past in this nation i'm sure there are other things which are unpopular maybe things such as
independent churches yeah in the bible talking about individual churches and the independence
of that church maybe that was unpopular maybe there are many other things in this bible that
are maybe not using vain repetition like we talked about on wednesday evening was probably
not popular being preached was it when when the the status quo the religion of the day
was people murmuring and chanting and muttering the same old nonsense every single service and
you can imagine loads of different things which have been and aren't popular but we're told to
be instant in season and out of season yeah it doesn't matter does it doesn't matter what the
flavor of the day is right now the flavor of the day is all this weird stuff when it comes to
people's genders when it comes to sexualities when it comes to a woman's role in the house when it
comes to a man's role in the house and all that but we don't care do we because we're just going
to preach it anyway be instant in season out of season reprove reprove is to tell off basically
but it's a bit more gentle than a rebuke okay and we are told to approve aren't we okay the bible
there is is paul uh paul is commanding timothy's commanded preachers to reprove and like i've said
many times it's not always comfortable is it being reproved being reproved from behind a pulpit being
approved i'm imagine as our church grows it will probably get more comfortable when you're one of
maybe a few hundred in a room and and the reproof is coming you can kind of just pretend that it was
probably aimed you know at someone else but when you feel like the word of god's talking to me here
it could probably be a bit less comfortable but we're all thick-skinned here aren't we
yeah we're not we're not a bunch of snowflakes i hope yeah i hope that we're you know everyone
here feels like yeah no i'm a strong christian yeah i could take a reprove i could take god's
word reproving me and what's more i won't only take it and dust myself off and pick myself up
i'll actually respond to it as well because that's what god wants you to that's the whole point isn't
it proverb 17 10 you don't have to turn there says a reprove entereth more into a wise man
than an 100 stripes into a fool okay that reprove if you're wise should affect you for the for the
better shouldn't it if you're not wise if you go on grumbling and murmuring and muttering and
getting upset about the fact that word of god's reproved you then you're not wise yeah you're not
wise and that's that's a slight on you not on the person who's preaching not on the word of god
okay rebuke what about rebuke reprove rebuke because again this is what's commanded i charge
thee i charge thee he said to timothy to rebuke to rebuke from the pulpit and that's a harsh
telling off isn't it that is a scolding that's a telling off that's a harsh telling off and again
you might be able to take a reprove you could take a rebuke as well we should all be able to take a
rebuke shouldn't we sometimes you need to take a rebuke yeah because that's how we improve in life
god command him to reprove and rebuke god's god god said didn't he that that he that that that
loving son he chastens he rebukes didn't he yeah he rebukes it it's not just the chases it's not
just the physical punishment there's a rebuke as well and again we need to be tough enough to take
rebuke in a world where most people can't take even a reprove in this world most people can't
even take something that apparently might offend them but look we need to be able to take rebuke
don't we because again the the word of god is clear that a preacher is commanded to reprove
and rebuke but it's not just reprove and rebuke to exhort as well and that's encouragement yeah
to encourage we should all come away sometimes from preaching being encouraged being encouraged
to do the things of god but it's not to be encouraged you're doing great it's not like
oh just a big encouragement slap on the back get on with your sin get on with your you know with
whatever wickedness you might be into no the encouragement is into in the things of god isn't
it encouragement to keep living that life keep living doing those things for god
keep plugging away keep coming to church keep reading your bible keeping your prayer life
keep getting that sin out of your life and that's something that a preacher's commanded to preach
with all long suffering and doctrine and sometimes it can take patience can't it it can it can take
patience for preachers to to keep preaching sometimes that same message sometimes they
keep seeing the same thing they've got to keep preaching and the doctrine is important as well
isn't it yeah isn't that important doctrine is important it's not it's not oh well you know it
just has to be practical sermons all the time no we need to hear some doctrine as well don't we
and there's nothing wrong with reminding because you might think well yeah but you know we all know
we all know it's grace through faith here brother we know that you can't lose your salvation but
chaps like this are so great because we need reminding of that someone strengthening with
that because the attacks are out there aren't they the attacks come from every angle without
they want to put doubt in your mind they want to stop you being as confident when you explain it
less confident when you talk to that person that really believes in that work salvation
really believes that you can lose your salvation okay so that stuff needs preaching so do all the
other doctrines of the bible as well and the trick is to try and just get a nice fair balance of all
that and the problem is if you only come to church on a sunday morning you only come to church on a
sunday you're going to miss out on a lot of that oh it's all right brother and i'll catch up with
it on youtube yeah but is that the same no do you feel the holy spirit on youtube like you do
when you're sitting in a church it's completely different isn't it complete everyone knows
completely different because most people it's the first time that they've actually been the church
hearing hard preaching when this church is set up because i never heard it in any other any other
church i mean i heard maybe you know maybe hard preaching about the pre-trib rapture
maybe hard preaching about zionism and everything else but uh what i'd say about zionism i'm talking
pro-zionism that's about as hard as it got wasn't it yeah but but when you're in here and you're
hearing your sins being preached on look it's different isn't it it's much because all of us
have heard it on youtube but it's much different when you're in the room and look that's why we
need the whole council of god we need to hear the whole thing don't we because then you're going to
grow you're going to grow you're going to have a well-rounded growth as well aren't you yeah
so he was commanded there then he said in verse three for the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine but after their own lust shall they heap to them heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears and obviously there are people out there that do that but there's a
danger of this for the armchair youtube listener even the armchair nifb youtube listener even the
armchair nifb youtube listener that managed to swerve the manly perries managed to swerve the
other dodgy preachers that managed to get in there for a little while before they end up getting
exposed there is a and what's the danger there the danger is by choosing your sermon title
because we can all choose a sermon title can't we and i'll tell you what i noticed something
on youtube and sometimes i feel like some of like the more edifying sermons i preach
are out in the bible studies but you know what my bible studies get half the amount of views online
than my than my topical sermon world because and especially when the topical sermon is the sermon
title that that appeals to someone for whatever reason you know some are more appealing than
others sometimes like you know sullum kamar is unqualified in a thief so suddenly you're hitting
a lot of lot of uh lot of views when the sermon title is something i don't know you know responding
to god's word or something like that you don't get many views and i'm not really fussed about
what views i get on youtube but i do find it interesting and and look we we can have a danger
can't we if you're sitting at home listening and you're just picking and choosing and picking and
choosing really a lot of the time you're not really enduring sound doctrine because you're
just picking the sermon that you want to hear that a lot of time it is what the flesh wants
it oh no no i'm praying about it brother ian yeah come on yeah at the end of the day you're picking
and choosing rather than letting the letting that preacher preach to you and i would say look i'm
not saying don't go go on youtube listen to some great sermons as well but if you're not listening
you're not getting your feet to thrive at church and hopefully what god's putting on my heart to
preach to a church three times a week then when you listen to someone else listen to all the
sermons yeah don't just because the sermon title can be deceiving as well and those bible studies
are important and the bible studies will never get the views apart from maybe romans one
maybe if you did you know leviticus chapter chapter 20 or something else but a lot of the
rest isn't going to get the the views and people aren't going to choose to listen to it so you need
the whole counts of god don't you because otherwise a lot of the time we're after our own
lusts heaping to ourselves teachers having itching ears okay because we just choose what we think we
want to listen to and then you end up like these people verse four and they shall turn away there
is from the truth and shall be turned unto fables okay and look you're not going to get the fables
from good quality preachers but the more the the less well-rounded you're getting from preaching
the more you're just picking and choosing i was hearing someone preach about this it must have been
pastor jimenez not long ago preaching it was at a conference they're at and preaching about
people that are coming to his church and they said i've been listening for years about blah blah
and then they were trying to say that pastor anderson doesn't preach on whatever it was which
it clearly does and really because they've just been picking and choosing their sermons
oh they were experts on on the jews they were experts on the post post pre-wrath rapture
but they didn't have a clue about half of the other key doctrines in the bible because they
weren't listening to the bible studies because they would pick you choosing what they wanted
to hear yeah do you see what i mean you want to be well-rounded you need a full plate don't you
yeah you want to be well-rounded you don't just pick it well i'll just keep having you know the
the fine steak look the fine steak's good isn't it yeah go and find some of that great preaching
that enjoyable preaching but you need your veg as well yeah you need to have a well-rounded diet and
and we get that by by listening to everything that that preacher's preaching and and obviously
if you come to this church you'll be listening to everything i preach yeah and look if you can't
make it sure by all means go home and and you know and listen to it on youtube whatever else
you can't make a wednesday evening for whatever reason you can't make sunday you should be doing
your utmost to make it live it's different then after that by all means add to yourself and you
know listen to some sometimes you'll be like i fancy listen to that sermon great but try and
make it well-rounded as well yeah okay so we don't want to turn away our ears from the truth as well
because sometimes people literally just avoid sermons that they you know they'll see the title
or see that that maybe they know their bible they see that chapter of the yeah that's gonna
that's gonna reprove me a little bit that's gonna rebuke me a little bit swerve it let's go on
reprobates again yeah you see what i mean okay and the best thing we can all do as preachers and and
that includes all the men here and and that includes when eventually in the future we're
sending out men and we're having men go and preach at other churches as we see more churches come
and the more men's preaching night and the more men we have preaching is to preach the bible is
to preach the bible not make the bible preach what you've decided you want to preach yeah
yeah that's something i was taught a long time ago in it and it stuck with me is don't try and
make the bible fit what you want to preach so i want to preach this subject let's just try and
somehow hammer those square pegs into those round holes to make the bible say what i want to say if
the bible doesn't say it you've got to change what you're preaching you've got to be able to halfway
through a sermon go yeah but i'm not really seeing that there yeah i'm wrong about that and change it
yeah and really ultimately let the bible let the bible speak to you don't start coming up with you
oh i want to preach this this is now i'm just going to keep trawling through the bible to find
something which somehow backs up my point yeah i want to preach the word don't we preach the word
okay so go back to jonah chapter three where jonah was told arise that means get up go on to
ninova okay he's literally just been puked out by a whale yeah i don't think there's much that's
gone on in between this maybe he's just sitting on the beach kind of feeling sorry for himself
he's told get up yeah get up you lazy so-and-so go on to ninova that great city and preach unto it
the preaching that i bid thee so jonah arose and went unto ninova according to the word of the lord
now ninova was an exceeding great city of three days journey now it wasn't that it took jonah
three days to get there in case you read it like that the city itself was so big that it took three
days to travel across it this is a big place okay it's a big place it was so big it took him three
days because we see here and jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey so he began to
enter into the city a day's journey that's a big city right like we said 120 000 when you haven't
got high-rise flats and things like that is a lot of that's a lot of houses isn't it 120 000
okay and i doubt they're all in little box homes like that as well i think it's probably
probably some pretty nice dwellings jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey and he
cried and said yet 40 days and ninova shall be overthrown so he keeps going he doesn't just kind
of stop on the outskirts it just kind of whisper from the outskirts or anything else now he went
in he went in a day's journey yeah so he's pretty much towards the heart of the city if it's a three
days journey then a day and a half is right in the center and it sounds like he's near the center
he's gone a day in and he preaches and he cried he shouted and said yet 40 days and ninova shall be
overthrown now this is the capital of the asirian empire and he's shouting that it's going to be
overthrown he was probably a bit you know wondering what's going to happen now yeah i've just been in
the whale's belly what's next yeah i'm probably going to end up being in all these people's belly
at some point or something similar well as we then see from the following verses i believe there's
probably more that he's preaching as they clearly recognize that it's of god now whether he literally
just said this statement or he preached multiple sermons on his soapbox in the middle of ninova
i don't know but how do they know it was of god then how did they know it was of god because he
was preaching the word yeah he was preaching what god bid him yeah what god told him to preach
and when you preach the word people know it's the word don't they you know just that when you preach
the word of god people know it's the word of god they're listening to don't they and you notice that
when you're on the door um turn to isiah 55 because there is a difference when people hear
the true word of god isn't there there's a big difference when you preach the true word of god
when you start i've i've literally you guys have probably had similar experiences stuff like i've
had literally people covering their ear while i've said oh well if i just tell you can i tell you a
verse and quickly shut the door they don't want to hear that the word of god gets reaction out
of people doesn't it what is that well while you're turning to isiah 55 i'm going to read
a famous verse hebrews 4 12 which says for the word of god is quick and powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the
joints and marrow and is a discernment of the thoughts and intents of the heart it's a discernment
of the thoughts and intents of the heart it pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit and look that's the same with the unsaved as well okay yeah yeah look we understand
it yeah we understand a lot more because we're safe but it still pierces through to them doesn't
it when you're telling that unsaved work salvation for the wages of sin is death not the wages of
your neighbor's sin which are worse than your sins the wages of sin is death yeah that pierces doesn't
it that pierces through when when you tell them for there is none righteous nine-at-one when
they've just told you that they're good enough to go to heaven that pierces doesn't it that
pierces you're telling them no you're going to hell you're going to hell all have sinned and
come sure you come short of the glory of god all those verses that we preach pierce to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit don't they and they show them what they're really believing don't they
yeah because when you're saying for by the works of law shall no flesh be justified they're trying
to justify themselves by the works of law you're showing them how wrong they are aren't you well
uh isiah 55 you've turned to yeah look at verse 8 isiah 55 8 where the bible reads for my thoughts
are not your thoughts neither are your ways my way saith the lord for as the heavens are higher
than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways are my thoughts than your thoughts man could
not have written a bible it's absolutely impossible look at all the the man written books and i'm
talking about your nonsense quran and all your other rubbish out there and there is no comparison
is there for as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither but
watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sowing bread to
the eater so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void
but it shall accomplish that which i please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto i sent it
the word of god has an effect doesn't it the word of god has an effect and sometimes that effect is
just is is is showing people is rebuking them is reproving them is showing them they're wrong
is is convicting them of their sin and other times the word of god is getting people saved
isn't it and the word of god is is changing our lives the word of god being preached has such
an effect it it it shall not return unto me void said god but it shall accomplish that which i
please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto i sent it and like i said notice the reaction it
gets from people when you're soul winning the anger you get for people when you're so winning
i don't know about you guys but i've never seen jehovah's witnesses having people walking down
the road screaming at them maybe now and again it happens anyone see that you don't see that
with their with their new world translational whatever you call it you don't really get that
it might be one of us chasing but we're quite rare yeah i believe in christians i doubt they're much
right by the way you are welcome to scream at joe's witnesses down the road nothing wrong with that
yeah but but you don't really see that do you know i don't think you really see that but but
we get that quite a bit don't you you get people following you down the road fuming livid
angry that you preach the word of god to them because the word of god does have a massive
effect doesn't it the word of god has an effect on people and when people hear the word of god
they know it's the word of god now when someone comes in here and they hear the preaching they
know it's the word of god they know it's the word of god being preached when it's been preached
properly and it's just the word of god being preached yeah and it's not trying to just fit
it into like you know whoever whoever the latest academic's kind of version of events is
when it's just the word of God being preached what it says people know it's the word of
God and then they can respond to it and I think that's what's happened here in Nineveh
and here's another thing if you've noticed how how people react to a man of God preaching
the word yeah however many Muslims preach similar themed messages yeah how many Muslims
around there preaching that sodomy is a vile wicked sin how many Muslims out there preach
that they should be pushed off buildings and the rest of it and does anyone even care no
one cares why because they're not preaching the word of God because it's not the word
of God because they're not soul winning because they're not Christians and and look it's the
word of God that has effect isn't it it's a word of God and it's us preaching it which
people hate because other people can preach those same sort of messages and their weird
religions no one really cares it's us that they care about and people have to respond
to the word in one way or another now how did those of Nineveh respond well look at
verse five so the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth
from the greats of them even to the least of them so they believed the word of God now
this isn't talking about salvation here okay because there are work salvationists that
will try and use this and try and go look they got saved because they turned from their
evil way or something like this okay this isn't talking about salvation if it was and
they don't sound very sure in verse nine do they well who could tell if God will turn
to repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not well that doesn't sound
like the surety that comes from salvation yeah these things have I written unto you
that believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life
that you may believe in the name of the son of God it doesn't sound like they know they
have eternal life or anything else this isn't talking about salvation here this is a physical
chastisement that's about to come to this city because with salvation you can know for
sure can't you yeah if you're saved you know for sure you're saved yeah yeah look you're
gonna have times you're gonna have times where your faith's weaker than others but deep down
you know don't you you know that you're saved so this is talking about God threatening to
punish a nation for wickedness and then that nation turning from their wickedness okay
because there are many unsaved by the way you go well but it says the people of Nineveh
believe God they must they must have all got saved the people of Nineveh must have en masse
got saved well there are many people I don't know if you've noticed so many unsaved people
that believe a lot of things that God says yeah there are many people out there if you
notice with all the COVID thing they're people that don't even even call themselves Christians
they're going on about the mark of the beast coming they're talking about the wrath of God's
coming they're talking about the tribulation talk about any many other things that people believe
people even believe God's warnings about chastisement coming doesn't mean they're saved okay doesn't mean
that they've en masse got saved now with that the people of Nineveh believe God and then they
proclaim so they officially announced a fast and put on sackcloth now I'm not saying that people
weren't saved there they probably were some saved people there okay in fact you you find that when
you're looking through the Word of God light and and and you're looking to especially through for
example the books of first and second Kings and you're seeing people that that you know a lot of
the time it seems that they have at least the knowledge they sometimes get saved there's things
like that with people outside of the nation of Israel itself but regardless here they proclaim
they've announced a fast and they put on sackcloth now sackcloth is basically a coarse rough cloth
now if anyone here anyone who used to do the old sack race when they're at school anyone remember
the sack race yeah okay so that's right if anyone's wondering what I'm talking about I don't know if
they do nowadays it wouldn't be a race it'd be just like a sack event where there's no winner
or loser okay and and then like the poor kid that can't actually jump without falling over and still
get surprised okay but back in my day there was a winner for the Saturday this was serious business
yeah you might not be the fastest sprinter but if you could get that jumping going yeah well you
can still get a prize at sports day okay now the sack race if you remember those sacks yeah you
probably wouldn't want to be wearing one of those would you that's some pretty rough stuff isn't it
yeah and we anyway if you know if you're wondering what it is you sold this sack where did it come up
to probably depending on how small the kid was somewhere around waist just above knee-high and
you basically try and jump you know in a race and it would always be fun for the parents because
they're annoying kids or the annoying or the other annoying kids be fully over flat on their face and
stuff like that oh a good comedy wasn't it okay so that think about that sort of rough material and
then think about wearing that sort of rough material as clothing in a hot country hmm doesn't
sound so nice does it imagine in the 40 degrees here if I'd gone right guys obviously we need to
pray because I need I need to get this church work done we need to get on some sackcloth I think you
probably would have gone down to repent your sins Baptist like a shot would you I'm done with this
brother in well he so here he's he's proclaimed so he said you have to put on the sackcloth yeah
but it's a sign of humbling it's a sign of humbling and afflicting yourself in times of mourning and
stress I don't know when you've been through hard times in life you've been through stress
and mourning and things like that sometimes you kind of feel like afflict yourself to some degree
I don't know about self-harm and things but that probably in some way can be where it comes from
as well but people feel like some sort of affliction don't they sometimes they just kind of burn the
candle at both ends they almost it's almost some sort of weird sort of pleasure that comes from
that isn't there from just from maybe afflicting your soul in some way or another you know well
here this is what they're doing to kind of show that that that humility to afflict themselves
because they feel bad about things now the first example of this you think well where did this
sackcloth thing come from and look you don't have to turn it this is a quick verse but the first
example in the Bible is when Jacob thought that Joseph had been killed okay so he thought that he
had been killed they bought back his coat it had blood on it you know and he's thinking man Jake
has been killed and Genesis 37 34 says and Jacob rent his clothes so he's basically ripped his
clothes and put sackcloth upon his loins okay sounds even more uncomfortable yeah this is a
central area mourn for his son many days okay so he's basically afflict himself the sackcloth he
just feels absolutely lousy and it kind of in a way you're kind of indulging in it I'm not saying
that's a bad thing yeah but you're just indulging in that just feeling terrible think your son's
died okay horrendous time for Jacob there well verse 5 said where we are where we are in in
Jonah chapter 3 from the greatest of them even to the least of them so this is talking about
the wealthiest to the poorest okay why well for verse 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 this is why it was the greatest to the least yeah and he calls it to pre be proclaimed
and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying let neither man nor
beast heard 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 yea let them turn everyone from his evil way and
from the violence that is in the hands so the king has gone even further he sat in ashes okay and
again it's another sign of that that humbleness afflict to yourself this sign of mourning sitting
in ashes yeah and literal ashes yeah a bit weird isn't it but again it's just this kind of sign
that you're mourning and everything else and he's published this decree where he wants all the
animals to fast you didn't miss that there he wants the animals the beasts to fast and wear
sackcloth so he's kind of like one of those silly people who have like those funny little like like
dog coats and things like that those people who like treat their animals like people so he's you
can imagine in his mind he's going back we're in like dire straits here yeah we're about to get it
from God he's heard the word of God being preached he's like God's about to whoop us how about if we
not only fast yeah not only wear sackcloth and sit in ashes but we'll make all the animals do it
as well yeah that's right he's really getting his heart right with God now obviously that's a bit
silly isn't it because you know he this is a foolish thing to do in my mind but I think he's
showing willing at the same time and it's the thing is you know I was thinking about this to
thinking well look we often we often will make errors yeah we'll make errors and maybe things
we're maybe trying to do for colorways we're trying to get right and and other things like
that but God sees a heart doesn't he and I think here look he's made an error it's a bit silly and
there are people out there Christians out there that you know that still think that maybe that
cats and dogs are going to be in heaven and if you're one of those sorry to break this to you
no they're not yeah no they're not because they're animals they're beasts okay but you know but if
they're saved yeah and they're trying to do the right thing for God look maybe they do some
foolish things maybe look all of us have done foolish things along the way yeah but if we've
got a heart right we're trying to do the right thing for God I think God looks down to sees that
doesn't he okay and here look this guy he's wanting to get them get his animals fasting as
well dresses animals is sackcloth he said in verse 8 but let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth and quite mightily unto God maybe they're like squeezing the animals to get them
to shout as well you know it's like come on you can quite mightily to God as well let them turn
everyone from his evil way maybe they're preaching to the animals they're like stopping them fighting
and everything else maybe they're particularly aggressive dogs are getting you know like chained
up on a short chain and everything else I don't know but and for the violence that is in their
hands now that he's off track I think his heart's in the right place but you get the feeling this
is a pretty wicked place don't you okay the fact that he said it's come up before me to God said
earlier you know early in the book that he's saying there you know they're saying let them
turn everyone from his evil way from the violence that is in their hands and when the Bible talks
about violence you know I talked about this a little while ago when I was talking about hobbies
okay it's talking about something extreme okay it's talking about extreme violence whenever you
look if you just do a word search for violence in the Bible it's always extreme it's not like
he's not talking about someone who's in like having a wrestling match or something else yeah
let's talk about extreme wicked violence okay okay so verse 9 then here he's continuing the
proclamation of the king and his nobles he says who can tell okay so this was like this was a
proclamation from verse from verse 7 he says it and he calls it to be proclaimed and published
through Nineveh by the degree of the king of his nobles saying okay then it carries on he carries
on the end of verse 8 for the violence is in their hands who can tell if God will turn and repent and
turn away from his fierce anger that we perish not okay that's the end of the the king of Nineveh
and his nobles and then verse 10 is and God saw their works that they turn from their evil way
and God repented the evil that he said said that he would do unto them and he did it not okay not
really much to preach from here now I think might as well pack up right no of course not because
there's a lot to preach and he's the great verse of the Bible aren't they great verses that are
popular for helping to explain biblical repentance aren't they and you know let's not miss out on a
good good opportunity here to explain what biblical repentance is and isn't so what do I mean so and
again if you're unsure just a good recap for you here and I'm sorry if I'm preaching to the choir
here but like I said earlier you can never preach I think some of this stuff too much well you
probably could if I preach this stuff every week but look this is this is a you know this is an
important stuff because we come up against this more and more and more and more out there right
now so you've got the gospel okay you've got grace through faith you've got the clear teachings
of the Bible it's grace through faith you know you know for by grace you say through faith they're
not of yourselves it's a gift of God not of works as any man should boast yeah clear as day verse
after verse we see in the Bible teaching that it's you know not by works and it's that it's belief
only whosoever believed in him should not perish have everlasting life okay then you've got you've
got all of that yeah I mean verse after verse ain't it and and then little Turner turn the gospel
John chapter 20 okay so you got that and then you've got work salvation okay so then you've
got the that like the opposite end of the scale and you've got people that that I mean they're
not even trying to back up with the Bible a lot of the time he's just like well yeah you got to be
good to go to heaven no sure you've got to follow the seven sacraments you've got to do whatever
you've got to do more good the bad just completely unbiblical nonsense okay they're like your two
ends of the scale grace through faith once saved always saved no works at all required salvation
as the Bible says clearly and then you've got works works works works any which way doesn't
matter what the Bible says but then you've got this kind of middle ground of people that try
to use the Bible to teach work salvation yeah okay and these are the ones that obviously
are ultimately more dangerous aren't they because people think that they're somehow using the Bible
that are somehow preaching the Bible they think it's some sort of biblical based religion church
whatever it is well John chapter 20 and from verse 30 says and many other signs truly did
Jesus John 20 verse 30 in the presence of disciples which are not written in this book
but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that
believing you might have life through his name so this book the Gospel of John was written that you
might believe and then have life through his name and that's one of the reasons why it's the best
book for me to get a new believer to read okay if they're it's just going to ground like they're
going to get grounded in the truth look they're saved great but you want them to just feel strong
feel feel like have that boldness that comes that should come with faith that knowing that you're
saved by grace and faith and the Gospel of John is a great book because the purpose of the Gospel
of John ultimately here that but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is Christ the
Son of God and believing you might have life through his name okay is to get saved basically
yeah is that believing and get that life through his name so it's very clear isn't it that book is
very clear about that I mean verse after verse a lot will be written on your heart there's so
many verses which make it clear that it's grace through faith it's belief belief belief I mean
just simple verse John 6 47 verily verily I say unto you he that believeth in me had everlasting
life just just clear as day yeah believe not he that believes and does this and does that or does
it do this it doesn't do that I mean I love John 5 24 very really verily I sound to you he that
heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into
condemnation you didn't say you might come into condemnation if you do a bit of wickedness in the
future shall not come into condemnation if you believe in his word okay shall not come into
condemnation but is passed from death unto life it happens in one second it happens in a split
second when you put your faith in Jesus Christ you are saved okay the bible is clear as day about
that okay then on the other end like I said you've got the blatant work salvation so you've got
grace through faith gospel of John just makes it very clear then you've got then you've got
the blatant work salvation but like I said the devil's a subtle creature okay and that stuff
it's almost like the devil's just kind of having a laugh with different versions of religion yeah
just like well someone's gonna like that one you know some of them have got ridiculously popular
haven't they some versions of religion whatever religion you want to call it versions of work
salvation are amazingly popular aren't they when he hasn't even attempted to even make it sound
like the word of god with something like mormonism and you know like the witnesses like we talked
about earlier and all these just bizarre like versions of religion okay but he is subtle though
and and he likes to distort the word of god because it sounds much more believable
as seen the first time we see him in genesis chapter three yeah he's questioning the word
of god he's then lying about the word of god and he's just distorting it well no actually same we
see it in matthew four with the temptation of the devil and he's changing what psalm 91 says isn't
he okay so we see the devil doing this and one of his craftier attacks is is to use the word
repentance sounds very biblical great biblical word that the word repentance yeah sounds very
you know it sounds like someone who knows his bible to use the word repentance yeah
to use the word repentance to teach the work salvation to teach a subtle form of work salvation
now you've got the ridiculous repent of your sins yeah repent of your sins even though there's not
one verse in the bible which says repent of your sins you think of it as that important
the bible might actually say you have to repent of your sins yeah but you've got that
ridiculousness the people that just like to kind of like i've said before it's like a magic marker
type thing isn't it where every time they see the word repent in their mind it actually says of your
sins but it's just kind of you have to maybe rub over it with something special for it to come out
yeah it's just bizarre you've got that but then you've got again this the craftier what biblical
repentance is and then basically repent of your sins yeah in some way or another or at least
trying not to sin or at least you know and then you you fill in the blank they like to add
something or another they don't believe in repentance they don't you heard this one before
they don't believe in repentance because i don't believe in biblical repentance or something else
because you're not teaching that they have to repent of their sin oh no no of course you don't
say repent your sins but you've got to repent and then basically well what do you mean by repent
well you've got to try not to sin or something else yeah okay so you've got that version as well
and it's clever because it sounds so biblical doesn't it repent repent you've got the street
pretty repent repent and believe you know repent and and you know believe in the lord jesus christ
people are like okay well yeah yeah because the verses say repent don't they but what does that
guy what's he trying to tell you it means he's trying to tell you it means stop sinning try to
stop sinning stop certain sins or again you fill in the blank there doesn't seem to be like a kind
of as long as it's some sort of works they're happy as long as it yeah they're happy if they're
if one repent your sins guy says oh well well you've got to give up certain sins and another
repent of your sins guy says well you've got to give up also they're fine with each other
because at least they say repent your sins yeah i've got no problem with him because at least he's
not daring to say that you don't have to repent your sins like who would dare to do who would
dare to preach the bible but anyway we preach the bible here don't we so it does it it sounds
biblical but what does repent means well it means basically to turn from something yeah to turn from
something to have a change of mind a turning of what you believe and this is where they go oh i
see you have to turn for your sins you know repent will turn you know i turned i changed right you
know no oh you stopped sending you turned your mind from your sins or you know and they try and
add that one in as well and try and sound clever with it but that's impossible because no one
apart from the lord jesus christ is able to be sinless are they and and again a lot of the time
they're conning people who don't read the bible because when you read the bible and you read it
with an open heart you're just seeing your sins aren't you you're just seeing you're just like
yeah look no one here is sitting there going i'm sinless no oh yeah i could never sinning
that thought foolishness is sin yeah we all have foolish thoughts don't we okay and all the rest
of it and the more you read your bible the more you understand that you're a sinner so that's why
obviously we try and explain that to people don't we try and show them about what what some people
consider minor sin okay so that's impossible and obviously no in the bible does it say repent of
your sin or sin however you want to word it okay when it comes to salvation though repentance is
turning from what you did believe a change of mind yeah from false gods dead works to faith in the
lord jesus christ okay that's what the repentance is when it comes to salvation and and interestingly
there are a lot of verses that do say to repent when it comes to salvation okay and unfortunately
we sometimes when we preach the gospel and other things we end up having to avoid those verses
because then you have to open this whole can of worms about what repentance because of all the
false teacher repentance because the amount of people that are false teaching about what the
word repentance means now i'm going to go through these verses but because we don't have until
tomorrow here well it's you know we could we don't really have much time what i'm going to do
is i'm going to read them out quickly yeah while you go to matthew 21 yeah you turn to matthew 21
i'm going to read out everything that i could find using the word repent repentance repentance
etc which i believe is to do with salvation but what i'm going to do here is i'm just going to
change i'm just going to instead of repent i'm going to put change your mind and you're going
to tell me if any of these sound out of place yeah and bearing in mind it could be change your
mind or or turn from what you did believe or whatever else however you want to say it and
you could tell me if if that's incorrect so matthew 3 2 and saying so he said repent you
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand change your mind for the kingdom of heaven is at hand anything
wrong with that no matthew 3 11 i indeed baptize you with water unto a change of mind but he that
cometh after me is mightier than i whose shoes i'm not worthy to bear he shall baptize you with the
holy ghost and with fire matthew 4 17 from that time jesus began to preach and say change your
mind for the kingdom of heaven is at hand matthew 9 13 but go ye and learn what that meaneth i will
have mercy and not sacrifice for i am not come to call the righteous but sinners to a change of mind
mark 1 4 john did baptize in the wilderness and preached a baptism of a change of mind for the
remission of sins mark 1 15 is saying the time is fulfilled the kingdom of god is at hand change your
mind and believe the gospel when jesus heard it he saith unto them they that a whole have no need
the physician but they that are sick i came not to call the righteous but sinners to change their
minds luke 3 3 and he came into all the country about jordan preached a baptism of a change of
mind for the remission of sins sorry luke 5 32 i came not to call the righteous but sinners to
change their mind luke 15 7 i say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that changed his mind more than over 99 just persons persons which need no change of mind and
they went out and sorry mark 6 5 they went out and preached that men should change their mind
luke 13 3 and 5 i tell you nay but except ye change your mind you shall all likewise perish
luke 15 7 i sound to you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that changed his mind
more than over 99 just persons persons which need no repentance luke 15 10 likewise i sound to you
there is joy in the presence of the angels of god over one sinner that changed his mind luke 16 30
and he said no father abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will change their mind
luke 24 47 and a change of mind remission of sin shall be preached his name among all nations
beginning at jerusalem acts 2 38 then peter said unto them change your mind and be baptized every
one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins you shall receive the gift of
the holy ghost acts 3 19 change your mind therefore and be converted that your sins may be
blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come for the presence of the lord acts 5 31 him
hath god exalted with his right hand to be a prince savior for to give a change of mind to
israel and forgiveness of sins acts 11 18 when they heard these things are held their peace and
glorified god saying then has god also to the gentiles granted a change of mind unto life
acts 13 24 when god had first sorry when john had first preached before his coming the baptism of a
change of mind to all the people of israel acts 17 30 and the times this ignorance god winked at
but now commandeth all men everywhere to change your mind acts 19 4 then said paul john verily
baptized the baptism of a change of mind saying unto the people that they should believe on him
which should come after him that is on christ jesus that verse is great isn't it now say exactly
what that is he barely baptized the baptism of repentance saying unto the people that they should
believe on him which come after him that is on christ jesus acts 20 21 nearly done guys testify
both to the jews also to the greeks change your mind to a god of faith toward the lord jesus
christ because that's what it is it's change your mind and faith toward the lord jesus quite
acts 26 20 but showed first unto them a damascus and a jerusalem and throughout all the coast judea
then to the gentiles they should change your mind and turn to god and do works meet for a change of
mind hebrews 6 1 therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of christ let us go unto
perfection not laying again the foundation of a change of mind from dead works and of faith toward
god that's a great verse well second peter 3 9 the lord is not slack concerning his promise
as one some men count slackness but it's long suffering towards us not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to a change of mind and obviously it goes hand in hand there
with that change of mind that turning of what you believe to faith in christ jesus matthew 21 where
you are shows exactly what biblical repentance for salvation results in look at matthew 21 from
verse 28 it says but what think ye a certain man had two sons and he came to the first and said son
go work today in my vineyard he answered and said i will not but afterward he repented and went he's
changed his mind nothing to do with salvation is it at this point verse 30 and he came to the second
and said likewise the answer said i go sir and went not whether of them twain did the will of
his father they say unto him the first jesus saith unto them verily i say unto you that the
publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of god before you for john came unto you in the way
of righteousness and ye believed him not but the publicans and the harlots believed him and ye when
ye had seen it repented not afterward that you might believe him what does repentance do that
change of mind it means that you'll put your faith in the lord jesus christ that's what it's about
when it comes to salvation they repent not afterward that they might believe him that
repentance turning change of mind would have resulted in them believing in him and that's
what the bible clearly says go back to jonah chapter three and if that's everyone i could
find to do with salvation not one of them did you see anything about stopping sinning did you
not one of them could you read into that yeah you've got to stop sinning unless you want to
read that in there unless you're trying to read that into it go back to jonah chapter three now
i just read out a lot of verses there and were you listening to the verse to the verse um uh to
the books i was telling you all those verses were from yeah i hope you were so did you notice then
that there was one book that there was not one verse from what was that one gospel that wasn't
from the book of john and what did the book of john saying where we read earlier john 2031 but
these are written that you might believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and that
believing you might have life for his name so apparently the book of john was written that
you might believe and have life for his name and it doesn't mention the word repent once it doesn't
once tell you've got to stop sinning try to stop sinning attempt to stop sinning stop certain sins
be willing to stop certain sins or any of that to get saved does it not once yet that book's
written so people might believe it's pretty clear isn't it not one verse in there now back in in
jonah three where he says 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 and you know what's
great about these two verses is that they cut through all of the lies straight away don't they
so we haven't even got on to these verses yet they cut through all the lies because first it
shows that word repent itself has nothing to do with stopping sinning because god can't sin god
is the epitome of holiness yeah he who knew no sin yeah who can tell if god will turn and repent
and god repents more than anyone else in the whole bible yeah god repents more than anyone else so
repenting clearly has nothing to do with stopping sinning does it
then you've got verse 10 which is now the narrator the holy spirit talking that god saw their works
so what are their works that they turned from their evil way so the holy spirit is saying
that god saw their works yeah what were their works that they turned from their evil way
so what's turning from your evil way works okay turning from your evil way is works turn of
turn of romans chapter 4 and while you turn now i'm going to read ephesians chapter 2
and verse 8 to 9 which says for by grace e save through faith and that not of yourselves it is
the gift of god not of works there's any man should boast so turning from your evil way is what
works and what is salvation is it of works or not of works not of works not of works romans 4 makes
that even clearer because look before we read romans 4 all this is is work salvation all it is
is a more subtle version of work salvation okay and i don't care whether it's before salvation
whether it's after salvation whatever version of of trying to add some works into salvation is
it's work salvation it's work salvation and unless that person is just completely confused and and as
soon as you show them from the bible says yeah no you're right then they're believing in work
salvation they are not saved okay look if you're saved and that's shown to you from the bible
look my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me okay if you're so clearly from
the bible and you're getting a bit confused you had a bit of false teaching a bit unsure
and the bible clearly says what it says what we've just looked if you're still sitting there
or watching online or you're on some doorstep somewhere and someone from the bible showing you
these verses show you that it's not of work show you that totally evil ways works and you're still
saying yeah but you've still got this then you you believe in work salvation now you can have
someone that okay praise god those people can still get saved but look that's a slippery slope
okay you're listening to the word of god being preached yeah and you're still closing your heart
you're closing it to the word of god then look you're on you're on thin ice okay you're on thin
ice because a lot of people look they don't get that many chances okay now if you're going out
and preaching that you're going out and preaching to people that they have to repent of their sins
they have to repent i.e turn from their evil ways stop certain sins continue in you know in in
righteousness and not sin in the future whatever it is whatever version of works it is you're
preaching i let you be accursed yeah let you be accursed you're preaching a false gospel you're
wicked you're reprobate and we don't want anything to do with you okay but let's have a look at
romans 4 just to make that clear it says in verse 1 what shall we say then that abraham our fathers
pertaining to the flesh is found for if abraham were justified by works he has way off to glory
but not before god okay abraham did some great works didn't he okay but he could have way off
to glory in front of man but not before god for what saith the scripture abraham believed god
and it was counted unto him for righteousness okay it's faith in christ which is counted unto
you for righteousness now to him that worketh is a reward not record of grace but of that look you
want to believe that you repent of enough sins that you're repenting of your sins you still
you know that you repent of whatever sins you turn from your evil way and whatever which way it is
good luck to you because now you're a debtor to do the whole law the whole law and by the way
that's not just whole law from that second that you decided that's a whole law for the whole of
your life and you've all failed at that and everyone's failed at that so good luck to that
because you can pay for all of that in hell but to him that worketh not but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly that's jesus christ his faith is counted for righteousness someone who
works not and by the way turning from the evil way according to to uh god in jonah chapter 3
is works even as david also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom god imputeth
righteousness without works yeah because wow isn't that a great blessing isn't it saying blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered blessed is a man to whom the lord will
not will not that's in the future impute sin so that's before during or after yeah blessed is a
man to the lord will not impute sin and i hope that you believe that because if you don't believe
that you're not saved if you still think you can lose your salvation you still think there's
something you could do to make you lose your salvation you still think there's anything you
could do to make you lose your salvation you're not saved you're not saved and if you're sitting
in this church and you're not saved then wow that's that's a big deal okay that's a big deal
i don't want to you know i don't want to go out there and start adding something to scripture
that means a hundred percent this or that but i tell you what that that that's a big worry okay
and i would hope that everyone here is saved and believes that and i hope everyone here what's your
line believes that and i would hope that when you go out you're able to explain that clearly to
people and use these verses to show them yeah and for me usually it goes to to jonah three
and then and then ephesians 2 8 9 that's pretty much it isn't it it's pretty pretty quick usually
and a lot of the time look if you're showing that because sometimes you think well maybe if i show
them romans 4 and maybe if i go to i don't know i've got to go here i've got to go there maybe if
i go to galatians 2 and blah blah blah blah look if they don't get it for me from jonah and
ephesians then they're probably not going to get it and you're probably wasting your time
yeah it's quite rare isn't it oh luckily i found the one and look sometimes yeah sometimes there
is a verse that really talks to people but those verses are clear as day aren't they turning from
your evil ways works and getting saved is not by works okay so let's go back to jonah three because
with all of that in mind and i think i hope that that's pretty clear it's pretty clear what what
that it's grace through faith it's pretty clear that there are no works required before during
or after and that and by the way works includes and that clearly includes avoiding certain sins
there are no sins yes you could get saved yes like we make it clear to people you could go out
and you could you could get up now in the middle of this service go ah i hate brother ian's
preaching on this and cut me up and kill me and you would still go to heaven if you put your faith
of jesus oh what on earth am i no i'm not of course i'm not encouraging you to do that please
don't do that okay oh no what i am encouraging you to understand is there's nothing you can do
to lose your salvation once you're saved otherwise it's work salvation there is nothing okay and
that's why we use that extreme but where people get very confused is because they don't quite
appreciate the chastisement of god because just to warn you better put this warning out there
if you did jump up in the middle of this service and cut me to bits yeah then you're going to get
one hell of a whipping from god okay he's going to be a bit upset with you especially
they haven't even finished the sermon yet yeah there's a bit more god's word of preach yeah
okay he's going to whip you you're going to get chastised and look the chastisement of god
is not something like people go oh you're still saying you can still go to heaven
look the chastisement of god is a is a serious big deal jonah ended up in a well's belly
yeah you want to go to a well's belly i don't want to go to a well's but that could happen
any of you go i mean there's a there's a brother mark who's here earlier he gets involved with a
bit of boat stuff sailing he does like logistics maritime stuff he could end up in a well's belly
okay it could happen right okay it might not happen it probably won't happen but look god's
chastisement is serious business isn't it and i don't want the chastisement of god we've all had
some version of it but i tell you what you go on to sort of murder and big sins like that you're
going to get some real chastisement of as a child of god okay and you don't want that chastisement
yeah i've i've talked about this before i had an old friend got him saved look he knew he's saved
yeah that guy look he was a stinking drug addict okay and he never stopped being a drug addict and
i and look you could see he was getting those charts getting those charts he kept saying he's
going to come to church he's going to do this he just did it you know and and he just kept it kept
deteriorating it but a guy was saved and what happened god gave him a chance gave him a chance
gave him a chance he ended up dead in his own vomit and everything else overdose on his kitchen
floor having had like the worst year of his life all sorts of he's living in fear every day of
different drug dealers that he owed my the whole thing was an absolute mess i'm trying to count
trying to help him thinking what do i do with this guy you know trying to help him over the phone i
didn't want to go and meet him i had to ban him from from coming to my house and everything else
and and eventually he ends up dying in a horrific way yeah and look you don't want the chastisement
of god but you know where that where he is right now he's in heaven yeah if he and i don't know his
heart if he believed like i'm sure he believed he's in heaven okay that look and but what a waste
for life and what a waste of that chance to earn all those rewards to have that one crack of life
yeah what a waste but it's not something to be shut up oh it's only still going to heaven look
what are you saying you're still going to heaven anyone who thinks that what you think you're some
sort of righteous person think your lie couldn't take you to hell you think your pride couldn't
take you to hell you think your covetousness couldn't take you yet it all takes you to hell
praise god that it's the blood of jesus christ he's death burial and resurrection that means
that you're not going to hell because without that you're going to hell okay there's no line
of sins that you could go well so you know and that's what they love doing that everyone knows
this sort of preaching let's continue let's finish off verse 9 in jonathan he said 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 and by the way that's
not talking about sin that's the punishment the bad things that he had said that he would do unto
them and he did it not now here's something to take from this when god says that he will punish
you okay and god says that he will punish you for lots of things doesn't he yeah god threatens he
follows through with the chastisement that he says he will do to you when he says that he'll punish
you and you turn from your evil way yeah so maybe you're aware that you've done something maybe
you've heard it from the pulpit maybe you'd be reading your bible you're like man i'm gonna get
it because i was doing that yeah god says he chastises his children when you turn from your
evil way god might just repent of that punishment you know that it's never too late okay and that's
something after all of that which really that really that verse isn't about although god you
know clearly that's a great versus to use to explain what is this wicked wicked false teaching
of repent of your sins heresy but away from all of that look it's never too late to turn from your
evil way yeah if you're like look you know i know i've got a problem with this turn from it yeah
turn from your evil way but their works that god appreciates turn from your evil way and god might
just let you off that chastisement that he was about to unload on you they were 40 days away
from a massive chastisement okay and i don't know i mean you know he went a day's journey i don't
know how long he was preaching for in there but look they were close weren't they yeah and if you
turn nothing wrong with fasting get out the sackcloth if you can you know but sit in the ashes
you know maybe you know maybe not but it's look you can nothing wrong with that but look get on
your knees humble yourself before god that's the point isn't it humble yourself before god and go
look i know i'm sinning in this way please god forgive me and god might just repent of the evil
that he said because he does say that he will do unto you yeah okay but we have to recognize that
we have to be humble enough to accept that don't we we have to accept that for the word of god the
point was is that he preached the word of god like you're hearing week in week out that you're
hopefully reading week in week out and you're even hearing online week in week out but let it
make effect in your life because god gave them that chance yeah maybe you're 40 days away from
a whipping maybe you're less yeah turn from your evil way and god might just like he did here
repent of the evil that he said that he would do unto you and do it not and you don't want that
whipping from god like i said it's not just about heaven and hell because life can be pretty you
know you get these people who go i think it's hell on earth you know i think this is hell
you know while they've just like wandered up the door in their slippers with a cup of tea you know
oh it's hell oh it's 25 degrees today you know look it's ridiculous but i tell you what as a
child of god you could end up as as far gone as being in a whale's belly couldn't you yeah and
maybe then you'd have justification to go this does feel like hell on earth and we don't want
that and and god's chastisement could probably be pretty grim couldn't it in fact we know it could
be pretty grim we want to avoid it and and yeah we don't want to go as far as those people and
say it's hell on earth but it's never too late it's never too late to turn from your wicked way
from your evil way and um on that let's go to the lord and the word of prayer
father i thank you for um for just some great clear verses in the bible there to to help us to
answer that that that you know those wicked lies that are out there and you know we shouldn't be
surprised you said that many false prophets have gone into the world there are many there are lies
are everywhere you know that that there are people just twisting your word twisting your
work taking away words adding words magic markering things just just all of that stuff and
help us to just be grounded in the truth help us to be able to to explain explain that clearly with
passages such as here you know jonah 3 9 and 10 you know passages such as ephesians 2 8 9 and
the many others romans chapter 4 a great chapter for that just to show it clear as day that any
form of works is it means that it's not grace through faith and lord we thank you we thank you
that you make it clear help us to to not shirk away from verses which use the word repent and
just be able to to explain what that is and also help us lord to repent of us in no help
everyone here to repent of their sin on a daily basis but but knowing that it's got nothing to
do with salvation but it has everything to do with with living a holy a separated life a life
that's pleasing unto you avoiding your chastisement and and hopefully gaining your rewards as well
help us to to to think about that going forward this week um and and help us to to have a great
week to return back wednesday for you for the evening bible study in jesus name we pray all of
this amen