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I wasn't going to do this, but 
after this morning's meeting I 

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kind of have to who who knows 
what this is cheque book. 

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Who knows It's a cheque book, 
It's a cheque book. 

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And because Chris had a go at 
the English people this morning,

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let me just read here in 
English, it's cheque book. 

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In Afrikaans, it's the cheque 
book for those you don't know. 

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Chris was telling all the 
English people that Psalms 

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begins with API. 
Don't know why the English 

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people don't say Psalms, but 
this is actually my dad's 

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chequebook. 
I'll ask him for it this week 

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and he says you'll have to go 
look for it. 

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The last cheque was written in 
in in 2012 and then the rest are

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left. 
And let me explain what this is 

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because there's about 80% of you
are completely lost in a world 

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where computers don't exist. 
How you pay someone is you would

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order your cheque book from the 
bank comes with your serial 

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code, everything. 
It's literally a key to your 

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bank account. 
And then you would write in here

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who you paying the amount, Rand 
value, sign it, date it, and you

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would give it to the person and 
they can go to a bank and it's 

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basically like cash. 
They can draw the money out. 

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And there's such a thing as a 
blank cheque, which is quite a 

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ball of thing to do when you owe
someone something, You just you,

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you, you write their name, you 
sign it and you just give them 

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the blank cheque and you just 
say fill in the amount. 

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It's kind of like saying it 
doesn't matter how much you put 

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there. 
My bank account's good for it, 

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you know. 
And so if I had to take this 

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chequebook wistful, who had his 
birthday yesterday, Where are 

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you, buddy? 
Happy birthday. 

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Where are you? 
I know you're here. 

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So you're outside. 
He's left earlier. 

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He's left earlier, but if I had 
to go to Phil and say what do 

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you need? 
I've got my father's cheque 

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book. 
I can, I can write you a cheque.

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What do you need? 
Good analogy. 

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What would Phil need to know 
about the world and my father to

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know how much he could fill in 
on a blank cheque? 

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Beautiful. 
He would need to know how rich 

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is my dad because you can't take
up more than this in the bank 

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account. 
And he's know how generous my 

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dad is if I'm carrying my 
father's cheque book. 

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So we're going to talk about 
Jonah a bit. 

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And I want to start out with 
just giving Jonah some 

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credibility because he takes a 
lot of Flack. 

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We kind of, we talk about him 
like he's this immature. 

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And in fact, at our life group, 
we call them the emo prophet 

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because he goes and sits outside
the want to see the city 

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destroyed some metal. 
So let's just go through Jonah 

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quickly and give him some 
credibility. 

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Firstly, Jonah wrote the book of
Jonah. 

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He's the only one that could 
have. 

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He's the only one in the belly 
of the whale. 

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There was no assistant there 
with him. 

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He wrote the book and he wrote 
it in such a way to teach us 

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something. 
So let me explain it this way. 

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While I was a young engineer and
I was in a car with the director

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of the company we had, we were 
heading to Limpopo, couple hour 

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drive to go price a job on a 
mine. 

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And during the drive, this 
director, his name is Ian, 

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fantastic guy, was telling me 
stories about when he was a 

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youngster, he was my age. 
I had as many years of work 

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experience as he had years to 
retirement. 

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And so he's telling the story 
about the situation. 

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And then this happened and then 
this was his response. 

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That wasn't the right response. 
What he should have done was 

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this. 
And he was telling me all these 

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things. 
And as I'm driving along, I'm 

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getting a sense that Ian wasn't 
a great engineer when he was a 

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youngster. 
And about 80% of the way to the 

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mine, the penny dropped. 
He's not telling me these 

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stories so that I know who he 
is. 

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He's telling me these stories so
that I can see who I am. 

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Not a great engineer. 
And so Jonah's not writing the 

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story for his own credibility. 
He's writing the story for our 

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futures. 
See, that's why Jonah wrote the 

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story. 
And it's a prophetic book. 

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And so I want to explain what a 
prophetic book is because some 

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people confuse prophetic books 
with fortune telling. 

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A prophetic book is God's heart 
to a specific people at a 

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specific time. 
It's not rubbing dice and 

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telling what the future is going
to hold. 

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It's God's heart. 
And a part of that is God tells 

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people what their path looks 
like. 

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He says if you continue on this 
path, this is what you're going 

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to end up with. 
And so we can read it a bit 

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like, you know, it tells the 
future, but it's actually God 

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just saying this is the end of 
your path or this is what I have

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for you and your future. 
I want to prepare you for it. 

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So that's what a prophetic book 
is. 

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But the weird thing about Jonah 
is that there's one line from 

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God in the whole book, 40 days, 
and then it will be overthrown. 

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That's it, the whole book. 
And it's a very short book. 

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It's 2 pages. 
It's not the greatest of books. 

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If you've been in this church 
and you're a member of this 

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church, you've probably read it 
a couple of times in the last 

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couple of weeks. 
It's literally you can read it 

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in 4 minutes if you, me or 
Clint, 10 Max. 

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We're slow readers, but it's a 
very short book. 

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Sorry, Clint. 
And so here's some other bits 

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and pieces of bits and pieces 
about it. 

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It's written in the structure 
that there's a mirror straight 

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down the mirror, chapter one, a 
mirror down the middle, chapter 

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one and two, chapter three and 
four. 

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Chapter one, God calls Jonah. 
Jonah rebels, he runs away. 

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Chapter 2. 
Jonah repents and he comes back 

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to God. 
Chapter 3. 

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God calls Nineveh chapter 4 
didn't quite doesn't quite 

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mirror properly. 
Chapter four, kind of like the 

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story goes off it goes. 
It goes a bit goes a bit 

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strange. 
Let me add one more thing to 

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join the CV before we before we 
move on. 

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If you had to read and the 
bookmark fall out as I got you 

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Matthew 13, Jesus. 
You see, we, we compare many Old

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Testament people to Jesus. 
So we all say David is a type of

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Jesus or this person's a type of
Jesus. 

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Jesus doesn't compare himself to
anything but God. 

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He just says I'm the Son of Man,
which was a reference to the 

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book of Daniel. 
He's basically saying I'm God. 

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But there are three times where 
he compares himself to something

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in the Old Testament and he says
I'm greater than that. 

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And if we read what those three 
are, it's the bookmark fell out.

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We do this way. 
It's Matthew 12. 

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He compares himself to the 
temple. 

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So he says something greater 
than the temples here. 

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And to say to a Jew, something 
greater than the temple is here.

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The temple is the representation
of God's presence, his blessing 

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on Israel. 
If the temple standing, they're 

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good. 
If someone pulls it down, they 

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mourn for generations. 
The temple is like everything 

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about God's presence. 
And he says something greater 

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than the temple is here. 
He's basically saying Jesus is 

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greater than the temple in terms
of presence. 

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It's like saying to a bull 
supporter something greater than

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Loftus is here. 
It's like you really up there, 

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there's nothing greater, nothing
greater than the temple. 

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The second thing he compares 
himself to is King Solomon. 

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So he says the queen of the 
South came up to seeking this 

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kings. 
It's the greatest king Israel 

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ever had, the richest, most 
powerful wise. 

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It's the biggest the Kingdom had
ever gotten. 

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They had peace throughout the 
entire time that Solomon was 

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king. 
He says I am greater than 

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Solomon. 
And the third one, he says I am 

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greater than Jonah. 
And if you read it, you go 

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temple I get, Solomon I get. 
But why Jonah? 

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The guy that got swallowed by a 
fish? 

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Why him? 
Surely Elisha is greater. 

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Surely all these others, there's
greater pictures in the Old 

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Testament. 
And I actually think there 

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isn't. 
And the reason I think there 

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isn't is because between Abraham
and Jesus, not one person, not 

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one person was ever sent to 
preach repentance to a people 

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that weren't used. 
Only Jonah, the only prophet 

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ever sent outside of Israel. 
It's an incredible honor. 

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We, we think of Jonah as this 
guy that messed it up. 

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But actually Jonah is the guy 
that gave it the best shot he 

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could. 
It's a it's you know. 

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So let's get into Jonah chapter 
3. 

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If your Bibles are with you, 
please open to chapter 3. 

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I want to go through what it is 
that God asked Jonah to do 

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because Jonah was asked to do 2 
things and he only ever did one,

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and he's writing the book to 
warn us of the second thing. 

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So I'm leaving that with you for
a little bit while we go through

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it. 
So Jonah chapter 3, verse one, 

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the word of the Lord came to 
Jonah a second time saying 

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arise, go to Nineveh, the great 
city. 

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So firstly, it's the great city.
It's not the evil city, it's not

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the wicked city it is, but God's
heart is. 

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It's a great city, this great 
city. 

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Go to Nineveh, the great city, 
and call out against it the 

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message that I tell you. 
So Jonah arose and went to 

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Nineveh according to the word of
the Lord. 

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Now Nineveh was exceedingly 
great. 

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Three days, journey in breath, 3
days. 

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And Jonah began to go into the 
into the city, a day's journey. 

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And he called out 40 days yet 
and Nineveh will be overthrown. 

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And the people of Nineveh 
believe God. 

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They called the fast, they put 
on sackcloth from the greatest 

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of them to the least. 
So they repented, much to 

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Jonah's surprise. 
Jump forward to chapter 4. 

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And this displeased Jonah 
exceedingly. 

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So he's preached, they repented,
and he's unhappy, He's angry, 

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and he actually does the right 
thing with his anger. 

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He prays, he goes to God with an
anger. 

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And he was angry and he prayed 
to the Lord. 

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Lord, is this not what I said 
when I set out in my country? 

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Is that not why I made haste to 
flee to Tarshish? 

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For I knew that you were 
gracious God and merciful, slow 

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to anger and abounding in 
steadfast love, relenting from 

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disasters jumped to to verse 5. 
And Joyner went out the city and

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sat east of the city and made a 
booth for himself. 

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He sat under the shade so he 
could see what would happen to 

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the city. 
So the order of events are he 

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goes to Nineveh, he preaches, as
far as we can tell, he preaches 

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exactly what God asked them to 
preach. 

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They repent and then he checks, 
he leaves, gets angry, gets 

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angry with God. 
God starts to ask him a couple 

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of questions and he says I'm 
out, I'm leaving, I'm going out 

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the city. 
I'm just going to go watch to 

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see what happens on the outside.
So let's go back to chapter 3. 

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Jump into a couple of lines 
here. 

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The instruction from God was go 
to Nineveh, the great city, and 

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call out against it. 
The message that I told you now,

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if Roy was preaching, you would 
also I'll say if I say call out,

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if Stephen was preaching, I'll 
say everyone go, but you preach,

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but I'm preaching. 
So I look up that word call. 

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What does it mean? 
Your Bible might say preach out 

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against. 
So I'm like, what was the 

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instruction? 
What did God ask Jonah to do? 

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So I look it up and it is the 
only place in the entire Bible 

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that this word is used. 
The only place that's used in 

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this form go call to the city. 
So I dig a bit deeper and 

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there's a root to the word 
English. 

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You have the same way, sort of 
two words are kind of the same, 

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but with a similar root. 
And that root is found all over 

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the Bible. 
So this is unique, a unique 

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message, but the word is found 
elsewhere. 

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The first time it's found is in 
Genesis when God is creating 

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everything, since he creates 
light and dark and he calls the 

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one light and the other dark. 
And it's not just he names it, 

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he gives it a purpose, He gives 
it an identity, He gives it 

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something more than just a name.
He gives it a future. 

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It's how people name their sons 
in the Bible. 

225
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So a good example of this and, 
and the second reference I want 

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00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:52,400
to point out is the the 12th 
tribe of Israel, Benjamin, when 

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he was born as as his mother 
gave birth to him, his mother 

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00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,960
was passing away. 
And so she turns to her son and 

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calls him Ben. 
And I, Ben, son of my sorrow, 

230
00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,640
basically saying your name for 
the rest of your life, you'll 

231
00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:08,680
say, hi, I'm Stephen. 
Hi. 

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00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:10,640
I'm son of my sorrow. 
I killed my mom. 

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00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,080
That's going to be his name. 
That's going to be what he 

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carries for his life. 
And his father, Israel says, no,

235
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he will not be called Ben. 
And I, he'll be called Benjamin,

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son of my right hand. 
And now there's a whole preacher

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in there. 
But how does Israel know how to 

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do that? 
Well, he was born as Jacob, the 

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00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,800
heel grabber, the snatcher, the 
cheat, the, the, the person that

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00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,360
tricked everyone out and he was 
renamed by God. 

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God says you will not be Jacob, 
you will be Israel. 

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You will be Israel. 
And so his son is born and he 

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00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,880
knows actually his name is 
different. 

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00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,200
His destiny is different. 
He will call him by a different 

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00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,440
name. 
The third place in the Baba I 

246
00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,160
want to point it out is Jonah 
chapter 2 verses 2. 

247
00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,960
I called out to the Lord out of 
my distress and he answered me. 

248
00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:07,120
So when God asks Jonah go out 
and call to the city of Nineveh,

249
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he's saying go give them a new 
name, go give them a destiny, go

250
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:17,000
give them a new identity in the 
same way that you called out to 

251
00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,640
me in chapter 2GO call out to 
them. 

252
00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,920
In some places in the Bible, 
that word call is translated as 

253
00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,400
a read. 
Literally means that to sit and 

254
00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:29,880
read, hey Mitch, let's go line 
by line, bro. 

255
00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,000
Let's go bit by bit, line by 
line. 

256
00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:38,320
And so we think Jonah was asked 
to go and tell them what God 

257
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,040
said. 
Go give them a piece of God's 

258
00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,360
mind. 
God was saying go to Nineveh and

259
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,320
sit with him. 
Go through it with him. 

260
00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,240
Call out to the message that I 
tell you. 

261
00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,520
It's not the message that's the 
the tensor. 

262
00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:57,080
That is not the message that I'm
going to tell you. 

263
00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,000
Now take our paper and pen. 
I've got a message. 

264
00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,080
Send my note. 
It's not the message I'm going 

265
00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:02,960
to tell you. 
It's the message I'm telling you

266
00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,160
the message that you received in
chapter one and two when you 

267
00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,280
were in the belly of the whale. 
How I forgave you, how I 

268
00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,800
restored you, How I can hear you
from the bottom of the ocean. 

269
00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:15,920
I can hear your voice. 
Go tell Nineveh. 

270
00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,320
I can hear them. 
I can hear their voice. 

271
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:19,760
They are nowhere near the 
temple. 

272
00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,280
They're thousands of miles away 
that do not have any of the 

273
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,920
patriarchs as their forefathers,
that do not have the Bible. 

274
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,560
They have nothing. 
Go tell them. 

275
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,320
I can hear them the same message
that I've told you. 

276
00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,560
So that is the message to 
Nineveh. 

277
00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:38,720
And I know a lot of people say 
this. 

278
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,840
What he said to them was 
probably the worst. 

279
00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:43,200
Preach 40 days and then it will 
be overthrown. 

280
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,200
But there's actually no evidence
to say that. 

281
00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:46,920
That's not what God told him to 
say. 

282
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,960
And the reason I say that is 
it's oddly specific. 40 days and

283
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,520
then it will be overthrown. 
Like if you were just going to 

284
00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,680
make something up, firstly, God 
will take you on about it. 

285
00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:02,480
And God never takes him on about
what he what he said to, to to 

286
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,640
Nineveh. 
And it's a very specific thing 

287
00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:08,680
to say. 
And now here's the thing about 

288
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,840
prophetic books is that for 
Jonah, it was 40 days and then 

289
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,880
it will be overthrown. 
But somehow over prophetic 

290
00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,280
books, God writes like a second 
story. 

291
00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,200
You see the the prophets playing
chess, but God's playing like 3 

292
00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,880
dimensional chess. 
And actually if every single 

293
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,880
book in the old Bible, in the 
Old Testament, if you go look, 

294
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,520
it's about Jesus. 
So when you read 40 days and 

295
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,320
then it will be overthrown, you 
should know 40 days refers to 

296
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:41,040
Jesus 40 days in the desert. 
And he was completely Jesus. 

297
00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,840
His identity was set so that he 
could begin his ministry. 

298
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,160
He died and 40 days later he 
ascended into heaven. 

299
00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,360
That wasn't for him. 
That 40 days was for his 

300
00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:56,440
disciples. 40 days, they had 
just witnessed Jesus come back 

301
00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,320
to life that in, in theological 
terms, they'd just been saved, 

302
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,720
like literally just been saved. 
40 days, He has to prepare them 

303
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,600
and then he ascends into heaven.
40 days and Nineveh will be 

304
00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,880
overthrown. 
You see, Jonah was thinking 5040

305
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,640
days and this place is going to 
blow up, but God was saying 40 

306
00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,280
days and I'll rewrite them who 
they are, I'll change their 

307
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,960
identity, I'll completely change
their future. 

308
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:31,360
And what does Jonah do? 
They repent and he gets angry. 

309
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,960
Now some people think Jonah 
getting angry, he shouldn't have

310
00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:37,560
gotten angry. 
And actually I don't think 

311
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:39,440
that's true. 
Many people get angry with God 

312
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:44,680
in the Bible and God takes them 
on, but he never disciplines him

313
00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,480
for the anger. 
He disciplines them for their 

314
00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,240
actions afterwards. 
There's a guy in this church 

315
00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:54,760
that you know, certain decisions
were being taken in his family 

316
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,840
by another member of the family 
that was ripping the family 

317
00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,960
apart. 
And as a young man you could see

318
00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,040
he was angry. 
And my advice to him was be 

319
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,520
angry, but take it to God. 
Take your anger there. 

320
00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,000
Take your frustration there. 
He can answer and He will answer

321
00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:18,480
and he can deal with it. 
And so maybe you, like Jonah, 

322
00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:23,280
are angry with God and maybe 
it's because of what God is 

323
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,200
doing. 
Can I challenge you? 

324
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,680
Take it to him. 
He will answer. 

325
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:31,760
Are you disappointed? 
Take it to him. 

326
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,920
He can answer you and He will 
answer you. 

327
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:37,200
He's not upset by your 
disappointment. 

328
00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,000
He's not. 
He's not personally hurt by your

329
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:44,160
anger, but he is the only place 
that you can find those answers 

330
00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,560
from. 
So he takes his anger to God and

331
00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:51,800
God answers him, says do you do 
well to be angry? 

332
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,720
And Jonah says nothing. 
He just leaves. 

333
00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,320
He checks out. 
And that is the second thing 

334
00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,040
that Jonah never did. 
He never stayed. 

335
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:08,080
He never stayed for long enough 
for God to complete the 40 days 

336
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,840
within the arts. 
In preparing for this, I was 

337
00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,280
actually thinking it's clear God
wanted Jonah to stay at that 

338
00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,040
point. 
How long I don't know. 

339
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:26,080
But maybe when God said to Jonah
arise and go to Nineveh, maybe 

340
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:32,040
it was like he said to Abraham 
arise and go and Abraham never 

341
00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,360
came back. 
Maybe the first prophet ever 

342
00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:39,800
sent to preach repentance to a 
nation that was not Israel. 

343
00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:44,240
What he was actually saying is 
go to Nineveh and don't come 

344
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:46,880
back. 
Go stay there. 

345
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:49,600
Go read with them. 
Go teach them. 

346
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,440
Go give them a new identity. 
Stick there for long enough for 

347
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:59,800
their destinies to change. 
See, Jonah wrote the book of 

348
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,200
Jonah. 
He tells us all, you know, this 

349
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:08,480
is what he's going through. 
And I actually think, yeah, I 

350
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,840
think he only includes that one 
line from God because there's 

351
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:14,640
another version of the book of 
Jonah. 

352
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,720
You see, if you read chapters 
1-2 and three, I think we all, 

353
00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,640
at the end of our lives will sit
down and write a version of 

354
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,320
chapters 1-2 and three. 
At some point, we're all going 

355
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,560
to be swallowed by a whale. 
Life's going to go the wrong 

356
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:31,880
way. 
Whether by our choices or 

357
00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,680
someone else, something's going 
to going to grab a hold of us. 

358
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,840
And then God will grab a hold of
us and we'll write chapter 2. 

359
00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:45,840
God will reveal to us who he is.
He will answer our prayers and 

360
00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,560
he will use that. 
He'll send us chapter 3. 

361
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:54,040
Somehow he'll send us out. 
But I think there's a different 

362
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,440
chapter 4 that Jonah regrets 
that he never got to write. 

363
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,880
Go read Isaiah, it's like 70 
chapters. 

364
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:04,400
Go read many of these Old 
Testament prophets. 

365
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,960
It's chapter after chapter after
chapter of God's heart to those 

366
00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,560
people at that time. 
And Jonah can only write down 

367
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:16,760
one line because as soon as he 
got to the point where God was 

368
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,880
like, now we're going to start 
to show my heart to the 

369
00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,400
Ninevites. 
He chucked, he left. 

370
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,960
You see, we think the book of 
Jonah is an encouragement for us

371
00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:30,480
to be a better person than 
Jonah. 

372
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,760
The truth is, Jonah was the best
chance men ever had. 

373
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,520
There was nothing greater than 
the temple other than Jesus. 

374
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,560
There was nothing greater than 
King Solomon other than Jesus. 

375
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:51,200
There's nothing greater than 
Jonah to reach people other than

376
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,520
Jesus. 
We think if I become a kinder 

377
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:58,040
person, if I become a better 
person, I become a nicer person.

378
00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,160
I smile more. 
I encourage people more. 

379
00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:05,360
Those are all good things. 
But actually, Jonah, we, we sort

380
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:08,480
of downplayed Jonah as if he'd 
just gotten it right. 

381
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,520
Actually, this is my credit 
card. 

382
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:18,640
It's not as fancy as this. 
But what Jonah did is he got to 

383
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:24,080
Nineveh and he swiped his card 
and it went through once and he 

384
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,120
swiped it again and the bank 
account is empty. 

385
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,520
There was nothing left for 
Jonah. 

386
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,200
He had preached once and they 
repented and I don't know what 

387
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,800
happened, but it's just like 
there was nothing left. 

388
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:40,360
There was nothing left for 
Jonah, but God was actually 

389
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:42,480
writing a blank cheque to 
Nineveh. 

390
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:49,880
He was actually saying Jonah in 
my name to Nineveh. 

391
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,400
Data designed, go fill in the 
amount. 

392
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,080
What does Nineveh need? 
What do they need? 

393
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,000
Would you sit with them? 
Would you walk with them? 

394
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,760
Would you read with them? 
Would you would you change their

395
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:08,400
destiny? 
What do they need? 

396
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:12,760
And he was trying to swipe his 
own credit card. 

397
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:22,200
I think what what really got 
through to me on this was Kai 

398
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,400
and Sam up here when they shared
a couple of weeks ago. 

399
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,880
And if you weren't here, you 
know, I don't want to tell their

400
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,480
story for them. 
But there's a point when they're

401
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,800
telling the story. 
And Sam is sort of going through

402
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,720
it. 
And I realized there was a point

403
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,440
that marriage was over. 
It was done, it was dead. 

404
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,320
And if she at that point had 
said it's over, it's done, it's 

405
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,680
dead, let's move on. 
Not a single person in this room

406
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:51,600
would have tried to put any 
shame on her. 

407
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:52,960
There was. 
It was. 

408
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,080
And I think Jonah could have 
written the story in a very 

409
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,640
different way if he had sat down
and written and he could have 

410
00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,160
said, well, you know, performing
miracles. 

411
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,960
He did preach, the whole city 
was saved, everyone repented. 

412
00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,080
He could have gone back to 
Israel as a hero, and he might 

413
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:13,560
have actually gone back as a 
hero. 

414
00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,080
But he writes it in a way to 
show us that actually there's 

415
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:22,960
something a bit more that even 
though God, even though we will 

416
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,320
within our rights sometimes 
stand on something and say, 

417
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:30,400
well, you know, if this is the 
reasonable approach, reasonably,

418
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,400
we're done here. 
There's no other way. 

419
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:39,600
There's no other way forward. 
But if we want to write a 

420
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,200
chapter 4 and 5:00 and 6:00 and 
7:00 and 8:00 and 9:00 and 10:00

421
00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:49,440
and keep going about God's love 
to people in a specific place, 

422
00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:57,160
what Jonah tells us is that we 
need, we need something more 

423
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:01,560
than what we have. 
We need something way bigger. 

424
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:08,320
You see, Jonah, when it got 
real, the city was repenting. 

425
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,840
And in my mind, it's still, it's
still, still none of that. 

426
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,560
It's not like, it's not like 
they've become great people. 

427
00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,040
They're probably still, they 
haven't got rid of the pigs yet.

428
00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:19,360
You know, they're not Jews. 
There's no Sabbath. 

429
00:24:19,360 --> 00:24:22,480
There's everything about Nineveh
is exactly the same. 

430
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,320
They're just repenting. 
And there was probably something

431
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:28,680
in there that made him angry and
he left. 

432
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,200
He went outside the city to see 
what would have happened. 

433
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:42,320
Jesus stayed in the city on the 
night he was betrayed, all his 

434
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,560
disciples ran away and he 
stayed. 

435
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,680
He was taken back into the city.
He was tried in the city. 

436
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:57,240
We we don't have the resources. 
We don't have the bank account 

437
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:02,680
of grace and of love. 
And we'll get to a point where 

438
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,440
we realize actually we don't 
have what it takes. 

439
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,200
Being nice is not going to be 
it. 

440
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,880
The gospel needs to come out in 
what I say and what I do. 

441
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:22,040
I've gone and reread chapter 2, 
but I would encourage you reread

442
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,120
it again with the eyes of the of
the Ninevites. 

443
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,640
When my life was fainting away, 
I remembered the Lord and my 

444
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,640
prayers came into His holy 
temple. 

445
00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,040
Imagine the Ninevites had 
realized that actually they've 

446
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,400
repented. 
But even when it goes badly 

447
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,320
after that, my prayers still go 
into His temple. 

448
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:49,880
You read all those things and 
you realize that actually Jonah 

449
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needed to show them Jesus. 
He used to sit with them and 

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show them who Jesus was. 
We've got that opportunity. 

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We can show Jesus. 
Not that we're nicer people. 

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Being friendly is not going to 
help, but actually there's going

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to come a point where we've 
written chapter one, two, and 

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three. 
Let the grace of God be the 

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thing that you draw on. 
Let that be the check that you 

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write. 
Let that be the thing that you 

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give.