No more second chances

Pastor Bryan Rees – Who told you that? – NO MORE SECOND CHANCES

“Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the end because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”

II Peter 3:8-9 (MSG)

“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

Lamentations 3:21-23

THE ANATOMY OF A BAD DECISION

“The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.”

Jonah 1:1-5

A VERY TYPICAL RESPONSE TO A BAD CHOICE

“But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.”

Jonah 1:5b

“Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

Jonah 1:7-8

“Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

Jonah 1:9

“And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm? “Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.

Jonah 1:11-12

“Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.”

Jonah 1:17

MAKING YOUR WAY BACK

1. expectantly.

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble…”

Jonah 2:1-2 

2. your reality.

“You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves. Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.”

Jonah 2:3-4 

3. God is still working.

“But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”

Jonah 2:9 

4. your second chance.

“Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time.”

Jonah 2:10-3:1

KEY TRUTH: God’s not interested in , but in .