1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:09,280 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. 2 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:15,760 Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I 3 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:20,200 give you. Jonah obeyed the word of the 4 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:25,000 Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,600 city. It took three days to go through 6 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,920 it. Jonah began by going a day's 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:36,560 journey into the city, proclaiming 40 more days and 8 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:41,720 Nineveh will be overthrown. The Ninevehites believed God. 9 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,840 A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to 10 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:52,040 the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah's warning reached the 11 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,000 king of Nineveh, he rose from his stone, took off his royal 12 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,640 robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in the 13 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,959 dust. This is the proclamation he 14 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:10,360 issued in Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles. 15 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:16,080 Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks taste anything. 16 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:21,320 Do not let them eat or drink, but let people and animals be 17 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:25,520 covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on 18 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,360 God. Let them give up their evil ways 19 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,160 and their violence. Who knows? 20 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:38,120 God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His first 21 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,920 fierce anger so that we will not perish. 22 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,320 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil 23 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:52,280 ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction He 24 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:59,120 had threatened. Hello, 3 CR nice to see you 25 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:01,600 again. Just popped down there. 26 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,000 My name is Mitch. If I hadn't haven't had the 27 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,000 privilege of meeting you. It's more beautiful Aftar and we 28 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,880 have the pleasure and privilege of being on staff here at 3 CR 29 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,720 and leading the Super city, the Kidsmen team. 30 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,000 And just because we're involved in Kidsmen, I promise you now 31 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,760 we're not going to make you recite any memory verses, but 32 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,040 you can collect join a word search on the way out. 33 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:26,400 So this is TA I want to introduce. 34 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,240 Yourself. Hi, I was going to say we 35 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,400 definitely can collect a journal with search on the way out if 36 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,680 you'd like to, but. We're going to dive in. 37 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:36,600 Thank you, Rowan. I think that is very cool and 38 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,120 cinematic and and all those Moody things. 39 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,680 But now you got to deal with me anyway. 40 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:48,520 So let's dive into it. I think as we've kind of been 41 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:52,880 working through this Jonah series and, and I think it's an 42 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,080 incredible honour, Stephen and the eldership. 43 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:59,320 Thank you very much for the, for the privilege of, of preaching. 44 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,880 We don't take this lightly, but this Jonah series has been a 45 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,480 deeply convicting one as we've unpacked scripture and done work 46 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,640 around some pretty, pretty heavy topics. 47 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:11,960 I think in preparation for this week. 48 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,480 It was no different for, for, for myself and for TA as we, as 49 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,000 we worked our way through this chapter of Jonah three. 50 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,280 So tonight we want to unpack and and just kind of peel back the 51 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,320 layers of God's relentless pursuit for our hearts. 52 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,160 So we want to ask the big question. 53 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,440 Will you trust God with the cries of your heart? 54 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,640 And by cry, I mean the things that drive you. 55 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,360 It's the deep motivators that are the influence of your 56 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,920 decision making. Someone's phoning me. 57 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,040 So someone, someone clever being being fun. 58 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:53,840 Anyway, OK, so the deep cries and the deep motivators that 59 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,720 influence your decisions. So as we continue Jonah, we want 60 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,400 to unpack this this section of Jonah three and actually see God 61 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,200 is just after our hearts. So chapter 3 is a story of two 62 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:06,880 hearts. You've got Jonah and the 63 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,000 Ninevites Tonight we want to paint a picture of of the heart 64 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,080 of Jonah and the heart of heart of the Ninevites. 65 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,519 So you've got this hard resistant heart of Jonah who 66 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:19,399 doesn't want to do what God has called them. 67 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:21,800 He knows God, but he doesn't want to do what God has called 68 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,840 them to do. And then you've got this lost, 69 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,040 sinful, evil heart of the Ninevites that don't know God, 70 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,880 but they're about to. So throughout this message, 71 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,760 hopefully the take away and just I want you to ask yourself the 72 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:35,720 question, where is your heart sitting? 73 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,440 So looking at Jonah three, we can split it into two parts. 74 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,800 You've got Jonah who finally obeyed the word of the Lord and 75 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:46,480 took the word of the Lord to the Ninevites. 76 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,320 And then secondly, you've got the response of the Ninevites. 77 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,360 The word of the Lord came a second time, still the same 78 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,600 word, but the word didn't change. 79 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,280 And then secondly, Nineveh responded and they believed both 80 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,800 Jonah and the Ninevites needed a transformation to obey God. 81 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,880 Something that struck me while we were preparing is this this 82 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,760 kind of, what's the word contrast of these two of these 83 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,360 two hearts. Jonah would have known the word 84 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,560 being a Jew and being a prophet, he would have studied his whole 85 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,320 life and he would have studied the word. 86 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,880 So he would have understood the theory of the word. 87 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,400 So This is why later he says, but God, isn't this what I said 88 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:33,000 when I was still at home when I tried to forestall by fleeing to 89 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,400 Tarsus? I knew you were gracious and 90 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,240 compassionate God, and you were slow to anger, abounding in 91 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,640 love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 92 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,440 He knew God would save Nineveh because he knew about God's 93 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,880 character, because he had studied about it, but he didn't 94 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:51,000 understand God's heart. The second response is the 95 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,280 people of Nineveh, they heard the word of God and they 96 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:56,480 understood, but they and then they understood the heart of 97 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:58,800 God. So there was no fuss. 98 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:02,200 As the word penetrated the city, it penetrated their hearts and 99 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,520 there was a transformation that started to take place. 100 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,680 So what can we take from this? Jonah knew the word and he 101 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,200 understood the theory. The Ninevehs heard the Word and 102 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:13,560 they caught something of the heart. 103 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,040 There's a practical outworking of God's mercy towards us when 104 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,880 we encounter His love. When we are surrounded by His 105 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,320 grace. We can't keep living the way 106 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,800 that we have been. Something has to change. 107 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,520 Our lives have been flipped on its head and our hearts have 108 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,680 been transformed. I said last week as Stephen was 109 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,680 preaching. This series has been something 110 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:41,280 incredibly deep and for me it's been something incredibly tender 111 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:45,000 and like my I sit here and my heart is wrecked because I can't 112 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,040 keep living the way I have been. Something has to change. 113 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,520 The word commands a response. It's not just like will you 114 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:54,800 change, it's actually you need to change. 115 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,640 We can sit in church, we can read our Bibles, we can check 116 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,400 all the boxes, but if we do not catch something of what God is 117 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,320 saying and doing, we're just going to end up like Jonah. 118 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,640 It's just going to be theory. So this chapter, this chapter is 119 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:15,200 an invitation to an invite to God, into the cry of your heart 120 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,560 to let God search you because He knows you and his heart is for 121 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,040 you. He is a God that is deeply moved 122 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:25,840 by both Jonah and Nineveh. The beautiful thing is that the 123 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,440 change of Nineveh doesn't actually come from the king 124 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,280 first. It comes from the people. 125 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,440 So if we believe that our families are going to change, if 126 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,080 we are trusting God for change to take place in our families, 127 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,120 in our schools, in our businesses, and into even 128 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:45,240 greater into our city and into our nation, it's not going to 129 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,560 come from the DA coming into power. 130 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,800 It's going to come from you and I are making decisions to live, 131 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,800 to transform life as God enters into our hearts and changes us 132 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,720 from within. We have got to live a life in 133 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,080 the knowledge of the fullness of God's mercy and grace. 134 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,040 But once the word reaches the king, there's this massive 135 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:09,960 public decree. I love it. 136 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,280 It's kind of like, you know, in COVID when we were waiting for 137 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,440 Uncle Cyril to like jump on and be like my fellow S Africans. 138 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:17,920 It's like he's Uncle Cyril's jumping on. 139 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,880 He's saying, my fellow S Africans, everyone in your 140 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,640 household, this is for you and your household, even your dog. 141 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,160 Get off your couches, sit in the ground, humble your souls and 142 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,840 cry out to God for forgiveness. Can you imagine how different 143 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,840 Pretoria would look if actually we got off our got off our high 144 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:40,000 horses, got off get got rid of our pride and we actually got 145 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:41,840 God? I need you to change my life. 146 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,480 I can't keep living like this. It's radical. 147 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,720 And the best part is they weren't even sure it would work. 148 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:54,520 It's my favorite line of the whole of Jonah says this. 149 00:08:55,120 --> 00:09:00,160 Who knows, God may yet relent with compassion. 150 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,960 I love this picture of God here of the king hearing about this 151 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,960 God and trying to catching something of the heart and 152 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,440 racing with this thing and he'd be like, you know what people 153 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,480 like the people of Nineveh. Will you actually will you trust 154 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:14,920 me? Will you get off your get off 155 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,520 your your chairs and actually will we just crowd to God and 156 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,880 ask for forgiveness? He might just not destroy us. 157 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,520 He might just not do what he promised to do. 158 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,000 He might just hear the crowd of our hearts. 159 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,240 The Oxford Dictionary describes trust as confidence and belief 160 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,080 or sureness. It is the willingness to open 161 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,920 oneself up to risk and engaging in a relationship. 162 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,040 It's like this beautiful picture of like the king sitting there 163 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,960 and being like, you know what, God, I think I've caught 164 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,000 something of you. Here's my heart. 165 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,560 But please don't destroy it like you've promised you for 166 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:51,240 destruction. You've promised destroying. 167 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,440 But here's my heart. If I think I understand you, 168 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:59,360 here's my heart and it's this beautiful picture of the Father 169 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,840 coming around and surrounding it and protecting it and 170 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:08,720 transforming it and changing it. So we've seen this this chapter 171 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,200 unpack the two hearts, one that understands the word and one 172 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:17,720 that understands the word giver. So we can have a heart of Jonah. 173 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:22,400 At the core, it just wanted revenge and justice because of 174 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,240 what the Ninevites had done to the Israelites. 175 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:28,640 He was hesitant to obey God kind of Eugene preached so well this 176 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:30,640 morning. Jonah kind of going with a very 177 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,280 short pretty lame sermon kind of preaching through gritted teeth. 178 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,440 Or we can have the heart of the Ninevites, which just one 179 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,480 complete domination and power where Stephen so beautifully 180 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:48,160 painted the the picture last week that Nineveh at where it is 181 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,320 from a geographical point of view is the headquarters of 182 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:57,520 ISIS. We all want something the only 183 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,240 solution powerful enough to capture the battle of both 184 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:04,680 hearts, both of the victim and the perpetrator is Jesus. 185 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,200 The solution to these cries is to live in the knowledge of our 186 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:11,680 sonship. You've heard my dad say this 187 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,640 1000 times and it's not something new to three CR, but 188 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:16,880 it's something I still believe is incredibly true. 189 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,640 At the core of every person there are three needs. 190 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:21,920 It's the greatest needs of any man. 191 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,080 Identity, affection and affirmation. 192 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,640 We all want to be to belong, We all want to be someone. 193 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:32,360 We all want to be loved, and we all want to feel like we're 194 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,160 doing well. The solution is Jesus. 195 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,640 When the Father looks at us, he sees the finished work of the 196 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,000 cross. He looks at you and he sees what 197 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,000 his Son did for you. He looks at you and he says, 198 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,600 This is my Son, whom I love with you. 199 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:50,960 I'm well pleased. 3 CR. The word over us is unchanging, 200 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,040 and if we can get this right, I truly, truly, truly believe that 201 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:56,960 we can change the city of Pretoria and we can change our 202 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,960 nation. You see, for Jonah, his identity 203 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,320 was fine as long as he was the popular prophet. 204 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,120 As soon as God asked him to do something that challenged that, 205 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,280 there was a problem for Nineveh, their identity was fine. 206 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,720 And being the political and military power of the time, 207 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,920 Jonah was fine when he would carry out a word that would lead 208 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:22,320 to affection from his people. And Nineveh had this response of 209 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,320 you can try come at us, we'll just knock you down. 210 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,800 You see the thing that sits at the centre of everything is 211 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,960 understanding that you're a son of of the most high God. 212 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:38,520 That changes everything. Jonah got on the boat to 213 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,640 Tarshish not because he didn't believe in God. 214 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,160 He didn't believe God could protect him from the Ninevites. 215 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,320 The Ninevites ruled with fear because their whole mindset was 216 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:50,560 actually that they were the dominant. 217 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:54,280 They were the domineering power. When you're a son of God, you're 218 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,120 not operating out of a pier of lack or a pier of a place of 219 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,960 self preservation. You're operating out of a place 220 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:02,560 where you know who your father is. 221 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,520 It's kind of that thing like on the on the playground as a kid, 222 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,080 like, oh, you don't know who my dad is. 223 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,400 Three CR We have to believe this word of the Lord. 224 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,480 To us, we are God's sons, we are loved and with us He is well 225 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,160 pleased. But how do we do this? 226 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:23,040 This is where I get to call him a beautiful wife. 227 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,720 I think as we were preparing she she had this beautiful and bold 228 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,320 but tender response and understanding to the Scripture. 229 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:31,720 So I'd love for her to unpack it. 230 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:33,120 Is that cool? Sweet. 231 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:38,680 Thanks love. I think we were just so struck 232 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:42,000 by the response of none of them. And I think that there's this 233 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,000 moment where you can see the response of a Pagan king, that 234 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,280 there's this profound picture that I think there's keys for us 235 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,760 three CR. He was possibly the most 236 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:56,440 important and influential man on the face of the planets at that 237 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:00,040 time. And as Rowan read, he got off 238 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,880 his throne, he took off his royal robes and he sat in the 239 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:09,000 dust. It's wild, like it's radical. 240 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:15,120 And as Michi is so beautifully shown and unpacked, I think at 241 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,720 the core of all of our desires, whether it's whether it's Jonah 242 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,360 who wants justice, whether it's the Ninevites that want control, 243 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:26,560 whether it's your kid who wants to make the soccer team. 244 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,480 We all want something. But actually at the centre of 245 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:36,000 all of that, we just asking for our dad to say you're my kid, I 246 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,880 dig you, I'm so pleased with you, I so love you. 247 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,760 And what that king did when he got off his throne was he 248 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,480 actually laid aside all his earthly authority, his earthly 249 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:57,280 position, his earthly identity. And he let the father, that's 250 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,400 the King of all kings say, you're my kid. 251 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,160 You're the son of that king. When he took off his earthly, 252 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:08,640 when he took off his kingly robes, that was his influence, 253 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,240 That was his adoration. When you wear a kingly robe that 254 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,840 comes with stuff, people treat you differently. 255 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:20,280 And he actually took it off because he let the King of all 256 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:26,120 kings say, my boy, I love you. He took it off so he could hear 257 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,040 he could hear the father say that over him. 258 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:32,040 This Pagan king who had not had the privilege of generations of 259 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:36,400 hearing about God's character on a maybe he took off his throne 260 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,280 and and you and you can almost hear his heart like what are you 261 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,240 going to say? I'm risking. 262 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,200 Yeah, here's my heart. What are you going to say? 263 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:50,480 What is the sound going to be? It's three CR You are a son, you 264 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,840 are a daughter, you are loved and you and and the father is so 265 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:59,760 well pleased with you. The next thing the king did was 266 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:01,600 he got off and he sat in the dust. 267 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:05,880 I don't know about you, but it's not a good look. 268 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:11,880 Like if my friend did that, it's not like there's no Instagram 269 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:13,560 post for that. It's like, OK, we got to have a 270 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,800 bit of an intervention. Like you're doing fine, sweetie. 271 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,840 Like it's dramatic. It's not a good look. 272 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,480 Nobody's going to adore you when you're sitting in the dust. 273 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:26,680 It's not a powerful look, but it was in the dust that the King of 274 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:31,520 Kings, kings could save him and raise him up three CR. 275 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:37,120 There's some things in our hands but God is saying will you trust 276 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:38,760 me so I can give you something better? 277 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,560 In chapter 2 it says those who cling to worthless idols forfeit 278 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,600 the grace that could be theirs because salvation comes from the 279 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:52,640 Lord. SO3 CR I want to ask us what are 280 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,800 the things in our hands that maybe we need to speak to a 281 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:01,800 Tinder father about because he's got something so much better, so 282 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,640 much better for us. A couple of weeks ago, it was 283 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:10,160 Easter months ago now, and we handed out hundreds if not 284 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:12,760 thousands of marshmallow Easter eggs. 285 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,359 And there were kids like they were in their shirts, they were 286 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,400 in their hands, there was plenty. 287 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,040 And there's almost this picture of you've got marshmallow Easter 288 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,920 eggs in both of your hands, but your dad wants to give you a 289 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:29,120 lint Bunny and sometimes you actually have to drop the 290 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,480 marshmallow egg. We laugh at kids, but we do the 291 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,760 same thing. What seats are you sitting on? 292 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,320 Three CR what, what, what coat is on your shoulders? 293 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,600 Because God, I promise you, God has got something so much better 294 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,080 for you. He wants to give you that thing 295 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,480 and freedom. He wants to give you that thing 296 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:53,920 and an, an identity that won't be rocked if you if you lose the 297 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,840 battle because you know what? He won the whole war for you. 298 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,640 So how does this work? We know that we've all got stuff 299 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,000 and we know that we all have desires. 300 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:08,600 We know that the answer is Jesus. 301 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:14,320 But how does it work? And when we were going through 302 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,640 Jonah to it, it just felt like it didn't match. 303 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,520 Like how, how, how do we have these desires, these this pride 304 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:25,160 of Jonah and then this radical revival that like one of the 305 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,720 most significant revivals recorded of all time? 306 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:34,240 How did this happen? And I feel like the secret and 307 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,720 the and the sneaky little verse for us tonight is actually in 308 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:43,280 verse five it says, and the people believed in God. 309 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,720 That's a thing. The people believed in God. 310 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,040 It feels, it feels too easy. It feels like it can't be that 311 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,040 simple. It feels like they must be more. 312 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,840 And I think if we've listened to Galatians over the last couple 313 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:02,880 of weeks, it is as simple and as complicated as that because the 314 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:07,160 blood of Jesus is the only thing strong enough to actually battle 315 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,040 the desires of a domineering Ninevite. 316 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:16,520 And a raging Jonah, Jesus has been has been the answer from 317 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:21,200 Nineveh to to Pretoria. It's isn't Ezekiel 36. 318 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,880 It says, it says it says this. Let me actually read this. 319 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,680 It says this. It says, I will give you a new 320 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:34,520 heart, I'll put a new spirit in you, I will take out your heart 321 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,080 of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 322 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,680 See, this is what I think happened, and I think this is 323 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,880 the difference between Jonah and the Ninevites. 324 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,720 Jonah understood something in his mind, but the Ninevites let 325 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,160 it drop into their hearts. What they actually did was they 326 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:55,640 said God, there is some stones, there is some rocks, there is 327 00:19:55,640 --> 00:20:00,120 some salt, there are some weeds. As Steven so beautifully painted 328 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:02,840 the picture of Jesus. Will you help me? 329 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,960 Because you see, if it's three days in the belly of a fish or 330 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,400 three days in the tomb, the answer has always been Jesus. 331 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:12,800 He is the only blood powerful enough. 332 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:18,560 From from Nineveh to Ezekiel to Pretoria, the answer has always 333 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,520 been Jesus. From the Old Testament to the 334 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,600 New Testament, it's as simple and as complicated as Jesus. 335 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:33,040 In closing, I'd love to share a story with you if I can. 336 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:38,640 There there was a study a few years ago and they they wanted 337 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,080 to understand why why abandoned babies don't cry. 338 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:52,160 They, they strangely behaved and when they looked into why they 339 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,640 made the heartbreaking discovery was that they do cry, but 340 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,240 eventually they realise no one's coming so they stop crying. 341 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,560 And this is not, this is not just a study. 342 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:09,040 This is the story of a dear, dear friend of ours. 343 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,560 He's yet a few days old. He was abandoned and thrown into 344 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:19,560 a dustbin and he was found and he was taken to a Timolito baby 345 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:26,160 home in Glenridge and he was saved and adopted by some dear 346 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,080 friends of ours, the Sanjico family. 347 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:34,080 But when he came from that home, he had a name, and the name was 348 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,040 Tolani, which means the quiet one. 349 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,600 It also means to be quiet can be an instruction. 350 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:46,680 And I believe there's some of us yesterday that it actually might 351 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,680 be Tolani. You felt like no one's heard you 352 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,000 anymore, felt like no one's listened. 353 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,920 But that was not the end of of his story. 354 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,680 Because you see, Auntie Dahlia and Uncle Elliot gave him her 355 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:02,200 new name. His name was Elijah. 356 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,160 And Elijah means Yahweh is my God the great. 357 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,440 I am the sufficient one that the one that is everything that I 358 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,600 need. He is my God. 359 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:15,280 And if you ever had the privilege of meeting Elijah, he 360 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:20,480 was full of life. He was a drummer, back flipper, 361 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:25,560 kind, beautiful man because that is what Jesus does. 362 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,520 Three sia. He takes us up from Nineveh, He 363 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,520 takes us up from Israel, He takes us up from the belly of a 364 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,960 whale, He takes us up from a dustbin and he puts our feet on 365 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,440 solid ground and he speaks a bitter word over us. 366 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:46,040 The word compassion in Jonah that describes God's character 367 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:52,080 in Hebrew is also used to describe the tender affection of 368 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:56,800 a mother towards a a baby's cry. It means a tentative. 369 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,920 It's also used to describe the word womb. 370 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:04,760 Sometimes when God says he is compassionate to us, he's saying 371 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:09,680 he surrounds us lack salvation. He's saying he promises to hear 372 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:22,720 you The Sanjika family where a picture was a picture of Jesus 373 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:27,640 blood in the largest laugh. They surrounded him, they heard 374 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:32,040 his cries, they saved him. They spoke a better word over 375 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:37,000 him and Sonat there's an invitation whether you've known 376 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:43,280 God for for generations and like like Jonah, you have a 377 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,720 generational history with God or if you the Ninevites and you 378 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:50,280 actually are going out on a big risk. 379 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,200 You're hoping that God that God will be there. 380 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:58,000 You're hoping that that he might hear whether your story is that 381 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,600 you're the quiet one that hasn't actually cried out for a while 382 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,080 because you've handled it yourself, because you've been 383 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:08,080 self-sufficient. The invitations and answers. 384 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,200 Lord Jesus though Jesus, thank you that you hear my cry. 385 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:18,640 Would you give me a new heart? Because we are his sons and 386 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:24,000 daughters. We are so loved and God is so 387 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,080 pleased with us.