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Thank you for listening to 
Riverbend Churches Podcast. 

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To find out more about this 
message or Riverbend Church, 

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connect with us online at 
Riverbend Church dot live. 

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This morning, if you're new to 
riverbed or maybe just new to 

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the series, we're going to 
continue on week five of a 

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series that we started through 
the book of Jonah. 

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It is called God's mercy in my 
mess. 

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And and if there's anything that
moms or are most acquainted 

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with, it's messes, right, God's 
mercy in our mess. 

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And, and one of the things that 
we keep coming back to is no 

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matter how big your mess may may
be, it, it, it doesn't, it 

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doesn't call it God to turn 
away. 

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It doesn't cause God to look at 
you any differently. 

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As a matter of fact, there's a 
theme and an overarching truth 

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and what we call the big idea 
throughout this series that if 

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you're new to the series, I want
to introduce you to and I want 

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to get to invite you to just, if
you're taking notes with us, 

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just jot this down. 
God's mercy is always greater 

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than my mess. 
God's mercy is always greater 

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than my mess. 
Again, that is without fine 

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print. 
That is without exception clause

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that is without caveat, no 
matter how big your mess is, no 

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matter how long you've been in 
that mess, no matter how complex

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that mess is. 
Listen, the hope is this is that

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God's mercy is always greater 
than your mess. 

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God's mercy is always greater 
than my mess. 

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And we've been seeing this play 
out through the life of a man by

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the name of Jonah And we we see 
God's faithfulness there in the 

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life of Jonah then and there. 
And one of the things that we're

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going to look at this morning is
how that same truth not only 

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applied to Jonah then and there,
it also applies directly to us 

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here and now. 
So I want to invite you, if you 

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have a Bible with you to find 
Jonah chapter 2. 

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If you don't have a Bible, no 
worries. 

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Passage is on the note sheet at 
the top of the note sheet. 

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And it's going to be on the 
screen. 

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And we're going to pick it up in
verse 10 and we're chapter 2, 

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verse 10. 
But we'll read through this and 

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I want to give you a little bit 
of background info and then 

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we'll kind of summarize it to 
see how it actually matters to 

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to my life and to of your life 
this morning. 

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So here we go. 
Jonah 210 says the Lord spoke to

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the fish. 
Jonah had already been in the 

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belly of the fish for three days
and three nights and it vomited 

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Jonah out upon the dry land. 
Chapter 3. 

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Then the word of the Lord came 
to Jonah the second time saying,

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arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and call out against it 

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the message that I tell you. 
So Jonah rose and went to 

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Nineveh according to the word of
the Lord. 

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Now Nineveh was an exceedingly 
great city, 3 days journey in 

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breath. 
And we talked all about that 

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last week when we talked about 
the God of second chances. 

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But this we're going to continue
on just to give us a greater 

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context of what we're going to 
be talking about this morning. 

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First four Jonah began to go 
into the city going a day's 

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journey and he called out yet 40
days and Nineveh shall be 

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overthrown. 
Verse 5 and the people of 

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Nineveh believed God. 
They call for a fast, and put on

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sackcloth from the greatest of 
them to the least of them. 

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The word of the Lord reached the
king of Nineveh, and he arose 

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from his throne, removed his 
robe, covered himself with 

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sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 
And he issued A proclamation and

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published through Nineveh by the
decree of the king and his 

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nobles. 
Let neither man nor beast heard,

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nor flock taste anything. 
Let them not feed or drink 

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water, but let man or beast be 
covered with sackcloth and let 

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them call out mightily to God. 
Let everyone turn from His evil 

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way and from the violence that 
is in His hands. 

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Verse 9. 
Who knows? 

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God may turn and relent and turn
from His fierce anger so that we

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may not perish. 
Chapter 3. 

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Verse 10. 
When God saw what they did, how 

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they turn from their evil way, 
God relented of the disaster 

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that He had said He would do to 
them, and He did not do it. 

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Now give you a little bit of 
background info. 

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You got this guy by the name of 
Jonah, 8th century BC prophet of

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God. 
God's already called him once to

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go to the people of Nineveh. 
Jonah said absolutely not, 

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actually went down to local 
seaport, booked a cruise going 

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in the opposite direction. 
But because God loved Jonah so 

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much and because God loved the 
people of Nineveh so much, God 

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sent this massive storm on the 
sea while Jonah was on a ship 

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heading 2500 miles east or West 
to where God had called him to 

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go. 
God sent that mighty storm 

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knowing that Jonah would end up 
being tossed overboard. 

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And then we read and and, and, 
and at the end of chapter 2 to 

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where God or the end of chapter 
1 to where God appointed this 

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like great fish to swallow Jonah
because God knew that Jonah 

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being in the belly of that fish,
there in the belly of the fish, 

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Jonah would hit his rock bottom.
And in the rock bottom moment of

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Jonah, Jonah learned what it was
like to let go of perceived 

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control. 
And something that we've been 

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coming back to throughout this 
series is somewhere in that time

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period of three days and three 
nights in the belly of that 

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fish, Jonah looked at all the 
things that he could not 

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control. 
When he looked at all those 

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things, he began to panic when 
he realized that all those 

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things that he could not control
God never lost control over. 

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He switched his panic over to 
prayer and by in in so doing, he

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learned what it was like to be 
fully dependent on God. 

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Now, completely unbeknownst to 
Jonah, God was actually guiding 

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that fish back in the direction 
of Nineveh. 

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We we read, we just read and 
Jonah 210 to where the fish 

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vomited Jonah up. 
Raise your hand in here if you 

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had fish vomit on your Mother's 
Day bingo card. 

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Nobody. 
Pretty nasty one. 

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Gotcha. 
Awesome. 

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I thought it was 2 but they were
scratching their head. 

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But God used that fish to be the
nastiest, smelliest, smelliest 

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Uber in the history of mankind, 
deposited Jonah up on the Syrian

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shore. 
And then from there, Jonah went 

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into the city of Nineveh. 
Now, just interesting side note,

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maybe it's just interesting to 
me. 

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The people of Nineveh, they, 
they didn't worship God. 

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They actually worshipped a false
God by the name of Dagon. 

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Anybody, anybody know what, how 
Dagon was most often depicted? 

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He was most often depicted as 
half man, half fish. 

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Also kind of interesting side 
note is Jonah being a being of 

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Middle Eastern descent, he was 
not white, all right. 

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So he had olive complected skin 
and most scholars believe that 

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that skin after after Jonah was 
in the belly of the fish for 

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three days and three nights. 
It's very, very likely 

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improbable that Jonah's skin was
was forever permanently marked 

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and and some somewhat bleached, 
which me, which means that he 

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was really hard to miss and 
almost impossible to ignore. 

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So here you got this guy walking
into strolling into Nineveh, you

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know, with a, with a word from 
the Lord, who is absolutely 

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impossible to miss and really 
hard to ignore. 

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But the passage that we just 
read is Jonah goes into the city

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and, and, and what was his 
message? 

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What was the message that God 
gave to Jonah? 

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Go, go back to Jonah 3 to where 
it says in 40 days, yet 40 days.

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Keep going for me, Chris. 
There we go. 

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Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be
overthrown. 

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That was the message. 
That was the message of Jonah. 

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And then what do we see 
happening? 

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We see, we see the people of 
Nineveh actually believed Jonah,

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believed God. 
And then they started to change 

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their actions. 
They started to change their 

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ways. 
And the Bible tells us that that

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God saw that they believed him 
and God saw that they had turned

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from their ways. 
So he relented from his plans to

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destroy the city. 
Now here's what I'll tell you 

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the main message. 
If I were to summarize Jonah's 

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message here yet 40 days and 
Nineveh shall be destroyed. 

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If I were to summarize it into 
one word, it's the word repent. 

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It's the word repent. 
You see, 750 years after this 

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message was preached to the 
people of Nineveh and revival 

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fell on the city of Nineveh, 
Jesus of Nazareth is going to 

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start his ministry. 
He's going to come out of the 

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wilderness after being tested 
for 40 days and 40 nights. 

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And his message is this, repent 
for the Kingdom of heaven is at 

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hand. 
And then he's going to say, he's

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going to go on to say things 
like, hey, unless you repent, 

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you likewise will perish. 
Now here in lies, probably the 

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greatest lie or the nuances of 
the greatest lie that I believe 

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that, that that, that that 
mankind has swallowed and 

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believed. 
And I believe that this lie is 

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probably responsible, the most 
responsible for sending more 

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people to hell than any other, 
any other lie. 

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If you're taking notes with us, 
let me show you a lie that we 

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often believe. 
Here it is the lie that we often

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believe is remorse is the same 
as repentance. 

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Remorse is the same as 
repentance. 

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Let me let me kind of unpack 
remorse for just a moment. 

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Remorse is it is an emotion. 
Remorse is, is a weight of 

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guilt. 
It is a weight of maybe shame, 

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maybe, maybe a guilt of, of a 
weight of consequences. 

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Maybe it's even the, the, the 
weight of embarrassment we've 

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all experienced. 
Remorse, like remorse is 

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communicated through our words. 
Like, man, I really, I really 

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wish that that hadn't happened. 
Man, I really, I really feel bad

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about that. 
I wish that, I wish that they'd 

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gone a different way. 
And even though there's so many 

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tag lines and so many phrases 
that we can speak to the heart 

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of remorse, I think that remorse
most often shows up in our 

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actions, in our actions. 
If you're taking notes with us, 

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I want to give you 3, three 
types of actions of our remorse.

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And I just want to see if they 
it maybe maybe with you this 

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morning in the room or online, 
maybe maybe some of these 

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resonate with you to where you 
will find that you have been 

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taking these actions of remorse 
and you've been equating them 

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with repentance. 
And like I said, the law is 

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remorse is the same as 
repentance. 

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So let's kind of unpack the 
three options or the three 

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actions. 
Here's the first one. 

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Apologies, apologies. 
It is the quick to say, hey, I'm

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sorry. 
It's the quick to say I'm sorry 

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without deeper conversation. 
It is the IT is the quick to 

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move on and and just try to get 
closure. 

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Dudes are great at this, Like, 
like, if we feel really 

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remorseful or really bad, here's
what we do. 

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We just go up somebody and go, 
hey, man, we're good, right? 

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Yeah, we're good. 
And we think that we just had 

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some emotional bonding moment. 
Listen, apologies, apologies. 

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We should become very, very well
acquainted with this notion of 

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saying, hey, listen, I'm sorry I
blew it. 

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Apology should always be the 
starting point because if 

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apologies are just the starting 
point, but yet the stopping 

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point, I'll go ahead and tell 
you nothing really ever changes,

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right? 
And we all know this to be true.

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Like we all have relationships, 
maybe friendships in our lives 

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or maybe even former friendships
in our lives to where an 

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apology. 
It was a starting point, but it 

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was also the stopping point. 
And you know from your own 

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personal experience that nothing
ever changed. 

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The the second way that remorse 
expresses itself through action,

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not just apologies, but also 
avoidance. 

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Avoidance. 
You ever know that you really 

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like messed up a situation or 
you said something that you 

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shouldn't have said or you 
didn't say something that you 

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should have said, or, or you did
something that really hurt 

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somebody or offended somebody. 
And, and you just kind of sit 

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there and go, hey, they're, 
they're across the room. 

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I'm going to like hug this wall 
over here. 

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You try to avoid them, you just 
don't go near them. 

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And, and one of the things that 
our culture swallows hook line 

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and sinkers this notion, Hey, 
Tom heals all wounds. 

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And we, we, we believe that. 
We start to internalize that and

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we start to believe that to 
where we sit there and go, Hey, 

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listen, if I just wait out the 
situation, it's really weird and

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awkward now. 
But if I just wait it out, maybe

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he'll forget or she'll forget 
and we can just act like we're 

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good like high 5 again later on.
Avoidance also looks like trying

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to avoid or intentionally 
avoiding any type of of deep 

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connection with somebody getting
at the root of an issue. 

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And it also always includes the 
avoidance of any type of 

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accountability that that's, 
that's avoidance. 

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Listen, here's where I would 
tell you distance. 

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Distance is, is easy. 
Distance is easy. 

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Change is hard. 
Transformation is hard, but a 

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lot of times we, we, we sit 
there and we just avoid the 

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person. 
Why? 

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Because we feel deeply 
remorseful. 

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And I think there's a third way 
that that our remorse kind of 

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comes out through actions. 
And it's adjustments. 

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It's adjustments. 
Here's what I mean by 

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adjustments. 
It's this, it's this decision. 

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And maybe you've been here on a 
Sunday morning to where you have

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really felt God moving in your 
spirit. 

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Kind of there's this moon 
tugging on your heart and 

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instead of surrendering to him, 
you just make the decision. 

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00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:16,600
Hey, I'm just going to try 
harder. 

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00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,600
I'm going to be better for a 
short amount of time. 

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00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,320
I'm going to white knuckle it. 
And here's where I would tell 

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you if minor adjustments 
actually brought about true and 

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00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,560
lasting transformation, you 
would have already done it by 

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now. 
So again, the law that we so 

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often believe is that remorse is
the same as repentance. 

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And here's why I would tell you 
it most definitely is not. 

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That is the law. 
But what is the truth that God 

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wants us to see this morning? 
Here we go, here's the truth. 

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Repentance is always faith-based
and action evidenced. 

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00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,040
Repentance is always faith-based
and action evidence. 

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00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:05,000
Don't miss this in that order, 
in that order. 

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Here's why it's so important 
that it's in that order because 

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a lot of us, we think that 
repentance is action evidence 

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and and throw in a little faith 
there. 

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Can I tell you that repentance, 
repentance is nothing or or 

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salvation from God is nothing 
that you could ever earn. 

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00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,960
It's not about like trying 
harder and being better. 

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00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:32,240
It's all about first and 
foremost faith-based. 

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00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,520
Let me show you what I mean by 
faith-based. 

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I want to go back, let's go back
to Jonah's like amazing earth 

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00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,880
shattering revolve city rocking 
revival message. 

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00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,520
Check this out. 
Jonah began to go into the city 

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go on a day's journey and he 
called out yet 40 days and 

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Nineveh shall be overthrown and 
the people of Nineveh believed 

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God. 
They called for a fast and put 

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on sackcloth from the greatest 
of them to the least of them. 

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The message you got this 
Israelite going into the capital

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city of Assyria. 
And if you if you want to know 

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00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:13,800
more about just how gruesome the
people of Assyria were and what 

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they would do to their enemies, 
go back to in our archives. 

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00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:20,000
You can go back and listen to 
week one. 

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00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,440
We talked about how the Assyrian
army, they were notorious. 

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00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:30,640
They were notorious for cutting 
off the legs and one arm of 

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00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,600
their victims so that they could
shake the other hand of their 

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00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:39,240
victim while he slowly died. 
And yet Jonah is charged, going 

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00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:44,280
into the city with this message 
of God 1/3 of the way in yet 40 

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00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,120
days and Nineveh shall be 
overthrown. 

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00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:53,480
And instead of him being torn 
from limb to limb, the people 

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repented. 
Now here's what I would guess is

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00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,800
that morning before Jonah ever 
walked into town, the people of 

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00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:06,040
Nineveh, they got up like they 
had their every single day 

286
00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,240
before that. 
They went about their morning 

287
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:09,720
routines. 
They went about their early 

288
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,560
afternoon routines. 
Not really concerned about a 

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00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,880
relationship with God, not 
really concerned about their 

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00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:22,000
spiritual life. 
Here's why and don't miss this. 

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00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:27,319
The people of Nineveh had a 
mistaken interpretation of their

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00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:30,000
situation. 
Let me say that again. 

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00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:35,320
When the people of Nineveh woke 
up that morning and before they 

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00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:40,200
heard the words of Jonah, they 
had a mistaken interpretation of

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00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,480
their situation. 
You may say, Ben, what in the 

296
00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,320
world does that mean? 
Well, based off of the word of 

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00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:49,280
God, here was the reality of 
their situation. 40 days, 

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00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:52,360
Nineveh's going to be completely
destroyed. 

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00:17:52,360 --> 00:18:00,240
It's going to be wiped out. 40 
days, 960 hours, 57,600 minutes,

300
00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,880
40 days. 
Everything that you have worked 

301
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,040
for, none of it's going to 
matter anymore. 

302
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,400
Everything that you love and 
that you cherish and that you've

303
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,160
sacrificed for and you've 
actually become really good at, 

304
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:17,280
none of that's going to matter 
anymore. 40 days and all of it's

305
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:21,120
going to be destroyed. 
That was the reality of their 

306
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:25,520
situation. 
Can I tell you this church, I 

307
00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,360
happen to believe and, and maybe
maybe you're here with us this 

308
00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:31,920
morning in the room or with us 
online, that the number one 

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00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,800
reason, the main reason that 
people go unconcerned, maybe the

310
00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,560
main reason that you go 
unconcerned outside of Sunday 

311
00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:44,680
mornings about your relationship
with God is because you have a 

312
00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,520
mistaken interpretation of your 
situation. 

313
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,280
It is not the main reason that 
you go unconcerned about your 

314
00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,440
relationship with God. 
It is not the fact that you've 

315
00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,360
experienced past church hurt and
trauma. 

316
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,040
It is not the church is full of 
hypocrites. 

317
00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,400
It is not the church is seen as 
judgmental. 

318
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,840
And sadly, all of those things 
can be true, but none of those 

319
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,680
things are the main reason. 
The main reason is because you 

320
00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,680
and I, we have a mistaken 
interpretation of our situation.

321
00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,120
Here's what I mean, someone with
a mistaken interpretation of 

322
00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:23,760
their situation. 
And, and you may be, you may be 

323
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,280
in here with us this morning. 
I'm so glad that God brought you

324
00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,960
here this morning because you 
may have said these things, you 

325
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:34,560
may have thought these things, 
things like, well, deep down, 

326
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,360
I'm, I'm a good person. 
Hey, my good outweighs my bad. 

327
00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:39,680
And that's got to count from 
something. 

328
00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,000
My favorite is, Hey, I've never 
killed anybody, which to that I 

329
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:47,760
say high 5. 
Or how about this? 

330
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,200
How about hey, Ben, God, God 
knows my heart. 

331
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:59,680
Or then I I'm just not convinced
that a loving God would ever 

332
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:04,960
send anyone like me to hell. 
You see, if you said anything 

333
00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,520
like that or you've thought 
anything like that or any 

334
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:12,640
similar phrases kind of like 
that, I want to as kindly yet as

335
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:17,360
urgently tell you. 
You my friend, have a mistaken 

336
00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:21,640
interpretation of your situation
and just like the people of 

337
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:28,160
Nineveh, every second that that 
ticks by is a second that we are

338
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:33,720
closer to standing before a holy
God and giving account to to him

339
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:38,520
of our lives. 
The mistaken interpretation of 

340
00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,120
your situation. 
Let me give you the reality of 

341
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:43,640
your situation. 
Jonah goes into Nineveh, yet 40 

342
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,040
days, Nineveh shall be 
overthrown. 

343
00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:50,520
Here's the reality of all of our
situations that every single one

344
00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,200
of us, we have sinned and fallen
short of the glory or the 

345
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:58,960
perfect standard of God, but the
wages or the price of sin, It's,

346
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,120
it's, it's death. 
But the good news is, is that 

347
00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:05,360
God loved us so much that even 
while we were still sinners, He 

348
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:10,240
sent his Son Jesus Christ to die
for us, so that if we believe in

349
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:14,480
our hearts and confess with our 
mouth that He is Lord or boss 

350
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,120
over our lives and that Jesus 
rose from the dead, we will be 

351
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,040
saved. 
Why is that important? 

352
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,440
Because the Bible is very clear 
that is appointed for man to die

353
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:29,840
once and then the judgment. 
So what does that that that 

354
00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,280
appointed once to and then the 
judgement. 

355
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,160
Here's the thing, you and I, we 
have no idea the time of our 

356
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:38,680
passing because what is your 
life but amidst who was here in 

357
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,080
the morning but gone later on in
the day. 

358
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,760
So what does all that mean? 
It means that today is the day 

359
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:48,200
of salvation. 
That is the reality of the 

360
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:53,280
situation at hand. 
But remember how I said that 

361
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:58,480
repentance is always faith-based
and it is always action 

362
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,520
evidenced. 
Let me show you what I mean. 

363
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,640
If you look at the top of your 
note sheet. 

364
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,200
If you look at the top of your 
note sheet, I want you to circle

365
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:11,200
or to to underline maybe to 
highlight a phrase It says Jonah

366
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,640
began to go into the city going 
today's journey and he called 

367
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:17,200
out yet 40 days and Nineveh 
shall be overthrown and the 

368
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,120
people of people of Nineveh 
believed God. 

369
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,800
Here's what I want to ask that 
you do circle or underline that 

370
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:24,880
phrase. 
And the people of Nineveh 

371
00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,040
believed God. 
The people of Nineveh believe 

372
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:30,200
God. 
Let me kind of unpack what that 

373
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,000
means. 
It means that the people of 

374
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,440
Nineveh believed a man that they
did not know and they began to 

375
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,200
worship. 
They believed a God that they 

376
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:42,200
had not previously worshipped. 
It means that for the very first

377
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,120
time, they no longer had a 
mistaken interpretation of their

378
00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:47,400
situation. 
It means for the very first 

379
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:51,960
time, they realized in 40 days, 
this guy's God is going to 

380
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:56,160
destroy us. 
We believe Him, We believe him. 

381
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:02,960
It is always faith-based. 
It's always faith-based. 

382
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:08,800
Again, it is a belief that God 
is God and I am not. 

383
00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:13,560
It is a belief that that even 
though I may consider myself so 

384
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:18,160
unlovable and so far gone from 
Him, I'm never beyond His reach.

385
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,160
It is a belief that that, that, 
listen, I may have run 1000 

386
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,000
miles away from God, but he is 
just one step back. 

387
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:33,360
It is faith in God that, that 
that's, that's where it, that's 

388
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:36,320
where it starts. 
That's where it starts. 

389
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,920
And then it's not only 
faith-based, but it's actioned 

390
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,560
evidenced, it's action 
evidenced. 

391
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:45,760
Here's what I mean by action 
evidence. 

392
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,000
Look at what the people of 
Nineveh did. 

393
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:55,120
The king of Nineveh says, who 
knows? 

394
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,680
God may turn and relent and turn
from his fierce anger so that we

395
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,800
may not perish. 
Here's what I want to ask that 

396
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,600
you do. 
Circle, highlight or underline 

397
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:07,160
those words. 
Who knows? 

398
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,160
Who knows? 
Can we just get something out in

399
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,000
the open? 
You, you, you may not have grown

400
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,120
up in church. 
You may be very new to church. 

401
00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:17,600
You may know a lot about the 
Bible. 

402
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:19,320
You may know very little about 
the Bible. 

403
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,360
I think that we would all agree 
in the room and online those two

404
00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:27,080
words. 
Who knows is not a resounding, A

405
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,200
resounding like firmness of a 
mature faith, right? 

406
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,040
I mean, it's not this like this 
like, hey, here we stand type of

407
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:38,800
faith. 
It's not a mature faith. 

408
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,640
I don't even think that it's a 
fully fleshed out faith. 

409
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,160
I don't even think that the king
of Nineveh, when he says, hey, 

410
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,520
who knows, is the full assurance
of faith. 

411
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,680
However, don't miss this. 
It was faith nonetheless. 

412
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:54,880
Can I, can I remind you 
something? 

413
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:56,400
Can I give you some really good 
news? 

414
00:24:57,120 --> 00:24:59,960
It is not the amount of faith 
that you have. 

415
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:04,400
It is the object of your faith 
that makes all the difference. 

416
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,880
So you may be with us. 
You may have grown up in church.

417
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:09,960
This may be your first time in 
church. 

418
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,960
This may be your first time in a
long time in church. 

419
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,760
You do not have to wait till you
have everything figured out. 

420
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,560
You don't have to. 
You don't have to wait till you 

421
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,840
have all the answers to the 
great existential questions of 

422
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:28,960
philosophy and and theology. 
It is God. 

423
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,960
I believe you. 
God, for the very first time I 

424
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,640
believe that I have been living 
with a mistaken interpretation 

425
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:38,160
of my identity and I need to 
turn to you. 

426
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,160
God, I believe you. 
But listen, it doesn't just stop

427
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,720
at faith. 
It doesn't just stop at faith. 

428
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,800
Our faith is always evidenced by
our actions. 

429
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,680
Let me show you what I mean is 
the people of Nineveh. 

430
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:57,280
I love how the king of Nineveh, 
he puts it in at towards the end

431
00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,760
of Jonah 3 to where he says 
these words. 

432
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,240
He says, by the decree of the 
king and his nobles, let neither

433
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,120
man nor beast heard nor flock 
taste anything. 

434
00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:12,520
Let them not feed or drink 
water, but let man or beast be 

435
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,760
covered with sackcloth, and let 
them call out mightily to God. 

436
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,840
Let everyone turn from his evil 
way. 

437
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,640
Check this. 
Let everyone turn from his evil 

438
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,320
way and from the violence that 
is in his hands. 

439
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,360
Who knows, God may turn and 
relent and turn from his fierce 

440
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:31,800
anger so that we may not perish.
You see the people of Nineveh, 

441
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:35,560
they realize that what they were
doing was sinful and evil. 

442
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:41,120
You see, the first step of 
repentance is acknowledging and 

443
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:44,200
believing God. 
The second step is acknowledging

444
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,160
that what you and I are a part 
of apart from God is sin and 

445
00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,960
it's evil. 
The the, the truest definition 

446
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:55,960
of repentance is going One 
Direction, stopping, and then 

447
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,960
going the other direction. 
Can I tell you this? 

448
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,440
Remorse. 
Remorse may cry over sin. 

449
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,840
Repentance leaves sin, it leaves
sin. 

450
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:14,360
Think of it this way. 
Repentance is actually trusting 

451
00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:20,320
God enough to change and and 
here's here's the simplicity and

452
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:25,000
the beauty of the gospel. 
Repentance is faith-based and 

453
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,480
action evidenced again in that 
order. 

454
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,520
But you can actually reverse 
engineer that and go, hey, 

455
00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:36,520
listen, I'm, I'm not sure if I'm
truly a follower of Jesus or 

456
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,400
not. 
Well, here's what I would ask 

457
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,600
you, has your, has there been 
life change? 

458
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,120
Has there been life change? 
Because here's what I would tell

459
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,000
you. 
A life that is surrendered to 

460
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,080
Jesus, so that is changed by the
Holy Spirit of God himself is 

461
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,600
never the same, is never the 
same. 

462
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:56,960
You may have had a deep moment 
of emotional remorse to where 

463
00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,640
you felt really bad about some 
decisions of your past, but 

464
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,480
remorse is not the same as 
repentance. 

465
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:05,840
Remorse is not the same as 
repentance. 

466
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:11,520
Let me tell you kind of how this
story is going to go on to end. 

467
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:15,320
This is this is well on the well
on past the pages of the book of

468
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:24,600
Jonah, 50 years after after 
revival fell in Nineveh, Assyria

469
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,840
had a king by the name of 
Shallow Man Sir the 5th Shallow 

470
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:34,360
man Sir the 5th led his armies 
for modern day Mosul, Iraq West 

471
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:39,400
to the northern Kingdom of 
Israel and completely destroyed 

472
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,680
and sacked the city of Samaria, 
Jonah's hometown. 

473
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,840
And for that reason, there's a 
lot of writers and scholars and 

474
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:54,800
preachers and teachers that they
would argue that revival didn't 

475
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,960
really fall on Nineveh that day,
that it was more of a remorse 

476
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,200
thing than it was a repentance 
thing. 

477
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,160
I don't agree with that. 
And here's why I don't agree 

478
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,720
with that. 
It's because the two core 

479
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:10,640
elements of repentance, 
believing God and turning from 

480
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,000
your sinful, evil ways. 
They did that. 

481
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,360
Here's what I believe happened. 
Church. 

482
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,440
I believe the revival generation
of the people of Nineveh in the 

483
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:22,320
days of, of Jonah, man, it was 
greatly celebrated. 

484
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:26,640
But those people that 
experienced revival on that day,

485
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,800
they failed to pray it, pray it 
forward and to pass it on. 

486
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,560
And because they, they failed, 
that generation failed to pray 

487
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:37,280
it forward and to pass it on. 
Guess what? 

488
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,000
They're kids. 
They admired what God did in the

489
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,640
life of their parents. 
And then the next generation to 

490
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:50,280
come on the scene, they 
completely abandoned the God who

491
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,440
had shown great, such great 
mercy and grace on their 

492
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,120
grandparents. 
And, and so doing they return to

493
00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:01,560
their former, former, former 
sinful ways. 

494
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,360
Listen to me very, very closely,
Church. 

495
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:10,520
We are always one generation 
away from just mere admiration 

496
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,880
of God and always 2 generations 
away from complete abandonment 

497
00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:18,960
of God. 
That leaves us, every single one

498
00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:21,320
of us in the room, every single 
one of us online. 

499
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,160
That leaves us in one of two 
camps. 

500
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:30,720
Here's camp #1 camp number one. 
I am in personal need of revival

501
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,880
in my life. 
I personally need revival. 

502
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,560
Then I have, I have thought. 
I thought maybe for years, Maybe

503
00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,920
I've thought for the very first 
time that I truly repented. 

504
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,040
But now I can tell that there's 
been no life change. 

505
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,640
And because there's been no life
change, I can tell you it wasn't

506
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:54,760
repentance, it was remorse. 
Then I, I, I need to let go of 

507
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,520
that lie. 
That remorse is the same as 

508
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:58,680
repentance. 
And I need to, for the very 

509
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:00,240
first time, I need to believe 
God. 

510
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,720
I need to trust God. 
I need to surrender my life to 

511
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,160
God. 
In just a moment, we're going to

512
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:06,920
pray and we're going to have 
some pastors down here at the 

513
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:11,040
front that would love to pray 
with you and to walk with you 

514
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,440
through that process. 
And I would even acknowledge 

515
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,080
that on a day like this and with
this many people in the room and

516
00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:24,080
join us online, probably many of
us would sit there and go, yeah,

517
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,320
I've surrendered my life. 
I've, I've repented. 

518
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,880
I'm, I'm not perfect, but I've, 
I've repented. 

519
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,560
Here's my challenge to you. 
Would you? 

520
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,880
I'm going to make it like, let's
make it uncomfortable. 

521
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:47,880
Would you believe God enough to 
realize that He has created you 

522
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:54,320
for this moment, for such a time
as this, to where the reality of

523
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:57,560
the fact that we are one 
generation away from just mere 

524
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,680
admiration of God and two 
generations away from complete 

525
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,640
abandonment of God. 
Would you be willing in just a 

526
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:09,160
moment to get up out of your 
seat, to come kneel and to pray 

527
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:14,360
for revival to start in your 
home, in your family, in your 

528
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,200
neighborhood? 
You may be like Ben. 

529
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:21,040
I don't, I don't know what's 
more important, your 

530
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,360
uncomfortableness, A revival 
coming to the people around you.

531
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,280
So we're going to give you an 
opportunity to do just that in 

532
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,440
just a moment. 
Would you pray with me, God? 

533
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,480
You are the God who is holy and 
who is just. 

534
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:44,360
God who does not tolerate sin. 
God, you, Your offer of 

535
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,840
salvation is not to sweep our 
sin under the rug. 

536
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:52,720
God, your offer of salvation is 
for us to exchange your judgment

537
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:56,680
for Your grace. 
And just like the people of 

538
00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:06,400
Nineveh an 800 BC God, all that 
requires it is for us to believe

539
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,480
that you are the one true God 
and that you loved us so much 

540
00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:13,400
that you sent Jesus into this 
world to die for our sins. 

541
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:20,520
That if we believe in our heart 
that Jesus is Lord and we 

542
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,880
confess with our mouth that you 
raised him from the dead. 

543
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:25,960
God, you promise we will be 
saved. 

544
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,120
God, would you help us to 
realize that repentance is far 

545
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:35,680
deeper, yet is the only way that
we can experience true 

546
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,600
transformation, true rebirth, 
true new life. 

547
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,920
God, remorse may make us feel 
good in a moment, but it brings 

548
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,400
about no change. 
God, what you offer to us this 

549
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:52,240
morning is a deep soul level 
change, but God, it requires our

550
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,080
surrender to you. 
God, for those who have 

551
00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:01,320
surrendered their lives to you. 
God, you have placed every 

552
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:05,200
single one of us in circles and 
spheres of influence, whether 

553
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,560
they be in our own home, in our 
own neighborhood, in our own 

554
00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,760
workplace, in our own family and
our own friend group. 

555
00:34:12,159 --> 00:34:16,639
God, our call this morning is 
not that we would just come and 

556
00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:21,040
meet on a Sunday morning, but 
God that we would be the 

557
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:25,760
beginning Ground Zero of a great
revival that sweeps our area. 

558
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,000
And God help us to understand 
that that revival, it starts 

559
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,320
with us. 
It starts with us on our knees, 

560
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:37,199
praying that you feel us, that 
you revive us. 

561
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:41,000
And God, that that revival 
within us becomes an overflow to

562
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,639
the people around us. 
God, I pray that you would help 

563
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,960
Lord the the the vision of 
changed lives in a changed 

564
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:53,360
community and forgiven friends 
and forgiven family members. 

565
00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:57,320
God their eternity with you. 
God, that that would far 

566
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:02,680
outshine any of our hesitations,
any of our concerns, and any of 

567
00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:06,920
our pride. 
God, that that would drive us to

568
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,120
our knees in full surrender to 
you. 

569
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:13,680
God, we pray that revival would 
come and it's in Jesus name that

570
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:15,120
we pray. 
Amen. 

571
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:21,000
Thank you for listening to the 
Riverbend Church Podcast. 

572
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,920
Learn more about who we are as a
church and how to connect. 

573
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:26,640
You can head over to our 
website, Riverbend Church dot 

574
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:26,920
Life.