We cannot be deceived – God will not be mocked. In the days of Jonah, the Ninevites had repented. But we can't take for granted that the next generation will follow the ways of the Lord. Every generation has to repent of their own sins.
Have you become comfortable with your sins? Are you following radical repentance? Turn to Jesus and cling to Him, and you will find life, joy, and hope for eternity!
In Jonah 3 we explore God's command to Jonah to preach to Nineveh and the city's miraculous repentance. The Ninevites, from the greatest to the least, turn from their evil ways and seek God's mercy. This sermon emphasizes the power of obedience, repentance, and God's boundless compassion. Visit Sharon RPC for deeper biblical insights and inspiring sermons.
In both our physical and spiritual lives, we often want to be our own deliverer and the one who saves ourselves from our problems. But the golden thread throughout Scripture is that we're not our own hero. Jonah 2 reminds us that salvation is of the Lord. He sometimes puts us in hard, difficult situations so that we remember that He is still our God and that salvation only comes from Him. We can't rescue ourselves from our own sin, but this is exactly why Jesus came and died for us. Unlike Jonah who tried to run away from his calling, Jesus ran toward His calling: the cross and the grave. And He knew that just like God did an amazing miracle for Jonah, His Father would also deliver Him from death. Jesus is the fulfillment of the sign of Jonah. Do you believe this and cling to Jesus Christ? Or are you still trying to be the hero of your own story? Has God moved in your heart in such a way that you can sing, "Salvation is of the Lord"?
In the Book of Jonah, we are immediately confronted with two themes: God is sovereign, and His grace is for the whole world. He is relentless in His purposes and He shows mercy to those who don't deserve it.
This chapter shows us human weakness and God's holiness. Jonah was determined to flee from God's presence, which is always a futile attempt, and it cost him dearly. Ironically, however, as he attempted to avoid the mission that God sent him on to preach to the pagans in Nineveh, God relentlessly pursued His purposes and showed His grace to the heathen sailors.
Jonah knew that the only way for the sailors to be saved was for himself to be sacrificed and die. But how much better was Jesus' sacrifice for us – He gave Himself to save us and give us eternal life! Jesus ties Himself to the narrative of Jonah for a reason.
Do you submit yourself to God's purposes, or are you trying to run from His presence?
How do we cultivate and maintain friendships in the Church? We need to care for others, just as Jesus perfectly modeled for us in His ministry and in His relationship with His disciples. We need to take a genuine interest in others, cultivating the art of listening well and sharing our lives with one another. There are many practical ways to build friendships with each other in the Church, and these include praying with and for each other, doing things together, sharing in each other's needs, and more. That being said, we do need to remember that no earthly horizontal friendship can fulfill all our needs. We ought to thank God for the gift of friendship, but ultimately, we can only find full satisfaction in our vertical relationship with Jesus.
God wants you to have friendships. And the key to friendship is love. The bedrock of our Christian friendships must be love for one another. It's not easy to do this; there is sin in the world. But Christ loved us even when we were enemies, and the Gospel is the glue that sticks us together. Through the cross, the wall of separation has been torn down. We are brothers and sisters, and Christ desires us to be friends with one another because He has made us His friends!
How do we deal with conflict in a Christian way? We need to learn to listen well, and we need to learn to speak with grace in a way that builds up and edifies the other person. This may be unnatural to us, but God is calling us to something different. We are all depraved, and we are all in need of forgiveness. A lot of heartwork has to happen in order to be like Christ, which is why we need to rely on the Holy Spirit. In Christ, when we come into conflict with others, we will be enabled to work through the issue by communicating effectively, not merely attacking each other like enemies.
There is a great need for the Gospel to be taken to the ends of the world, and this verse gives us the foundation, the method, and the hope of missions.
Christ, the Good Shepherd, came to earth to gather His sheep from lostness and darkness. And He MUST bring them into His fold. These lost sheep hear the voice of their Savior through the lips of human messengers proclaiming the good news of the Gospel. And it is guaranteed to be a success; they WILL be brought into the one pasture of Christ's Church, where He Himself will be their one Pastor.
We need to bring the Gospel to others, starting with our own families and neighbors, but always with an outward momentum. Jesus wants to seek and save the lost sheep!
At some point in every relationship, there is conflict. How do we handle this conflict as Christians? Do we view it as an opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and each other? We need to ensure that we are fighting fairly and watching out for communication barriers. We need to fight for unity and not victory, and we need to build each other up and imitate the example of Jesus. When we were yet sinners, He died for us and reconciled us to Himself! Why are we waiting to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters in Christ?
This is a text that absolutely requires us to stand up and do something with it. Either we walk away from this and say, "I need this Priestly King Who was willing to die for me" – or we say, "I am in control of my own life." The question we should be asking ourselves is, "Did Jesus die for me?" It was because of our sin that He died and experienced the displeasure of His Father. And His death caused open access to be given us to God.
Do you believe that Jesus was the Son of God, as the Scriptures say, Who dies to take away our sins? Do you believe that He died for YOU? Are you ready to exclaim, "Worthy is the Lamb!"
Throughout the ages, evil people have conspired against Christ (Psalm 2). Here the Pharisees attempt to ensnare the Son of God Himself, Who reacted in calm meekness; but they are outmaneuvered and forced to leave the scene, convicted of their spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness to Jehovah. Without a legal court proceeding against the woman whom they brought to Jesus, He alone had the legitimate right to sentence her; but He had not come to earth at this time to be a civil or ecclesiastical judge and hand down condemnations. He is the same One Who kept His strength under control even on the cross as He suffered the Father's wrath, so that we who were justly guilty might not be condemned.
Throughout the entire Gospel of Mark, Jesus has been talking about the coming of His Kingdom. Now it looks like that has failed. But the irony is that when He seemed to be defeated, He was actually receiving His crown. Even when He was mocked and ridiculed and tortured, He was really the true King. And the cross was not the end of the story! He did not fail in His mission; He fulfilled His mission. He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and He made us kings and priests. He came to seek and save the lost, and that is why He died for us.
Are we still trying to be "good enough," or are we placing our trust in His already-finished work of redemption? We have been bought with the price of Jesus' blood, and we are members of His royal household. Our King lives today, and we are His sons and daughters if we have faith in Him alone!
These words of Jesus – "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" – leap out as us because He is speaking these words of life as He Himself is dying. Here we see several striking contrasts.
1) In the midst of the wicked lies, blasphemy, and mockery from those who were around the cross that day, Jesus speaks His word of truth and leaves no room for ambiguity.
2) In the midst of the supernatural darkness over this place of death and hopelessness, Jesus offers a message of immediate hope and everlasting life to the repentant thief that would be fulfilled that very same day.
3) In the midst of the pain, shame, and suffering of the cross – and while Jesus is also experiencing the wrath of God for sin – He gives assurance to the penitent thief of rest and joy with Him in Paradise, because He won the victory that day over all the powers of hell.
Are these words like heavenly music to our ears?
Mark 15:1-15 shows the innocent King Jesus condemned in the place of the guilty, calling sinners to see God's sovereign purpose and trust Christ's substitution.
Who is Jesus? That was the basic question that the high priest put to Jesus when He was on trial. Many people try to mold Him into an image that they like instead of who He says He is. In the presence of the high priest, Jesus declared Himself to be the long-awaited Messiah, the Anointed Son of God. He was the One Whom David himself would call Lord in Psalm 110. And He not only claimed Divine Personhood, but He also identified Himself as the Judge. Moreover, He is both our High Priest and our perfect Sacrifice. We don't deserve to be called His sheep, but He truly did humble Himself, suffer, and die. The Messiah of Scripture is our King, High Priest, and Sacrifice; and in Him, we have everlasting life!
How do you escape the snare of besetting sin? Like Peter, who grew self-confident in his own abilities, there is no way that we can free ourselves from our sinful situations.
We need to look to Jesus alone as our Savior and Source of strength. We are not the hero of the story. If we fight the devil in our own strength, we will always lose the battle. We are not by nature virtuous, but Jesus is. He was tempted just like us, but He never sinned. He filled the role of the victorious Hero that we need. And we can access His strength by confessing to Him who we are and trusting in Him. Let us look to Him and find the strength that He freely gives to us!
The Passover had been celebrated for centuries. The people of Israel would remember the Lord's work of redemption that He had done for them, year after year, as they waited for the coming of the Messiah. Every year they would remember and long for the Suffering Servant to come and the New Covenant to be established.
Jesus stepped into this Passover tradition but said and did some things that are different. This Last Supper was a new redemption celebration for Jesus' disciples. God has redeemed us from the wages of sin and death. The redemption that He purchased was greater than anything connected with the Israelites' Exodus from Egyptian slavery.
God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us, and we are no longer a slave to sin and death. Our King laid down His life for us. And we can sing the words of Psalm 118 because we know that our Redeemer lives and we can have the hope of true freedom!
In this passage, we have various persons all playing a part as Jesus is about to fulfill ultimately the office of the Messiah. We have Simon the leper, who reminds us that Jesus does not enter into perfect situations, but into believing homes. We have Mary, who valued Christ above all the riches of the world and anointed His head with precious oil, in spite of those criticized her sacrifice. We also have Judas, who spent much time close to Jesus, but loved the world more and betrayed Him for money. We have the chief priests and elders, who believed their ends promoted their wicked means. And we have Jesus Himself, who told the disciples to leave Mary alone. He knew He was about to suffer and die, and He knew that the work of redemption would cost His own precious blood. But He chose to go to the cross as the unspotted Lamb of God. He sacrificially gave Himself to redeem those who believe in Him! Do you believe in Him?
Sometimes in life we fall asleep at the wheel and drift on auto-pilot, even though we know we are supposed to be alert and awake. There is one clear application from this section of the Olivet discourse: watch!
We don't know when the day of Christ's return will be, so we have to be vigilant and on guard. How are we taking watch over our lives? Are we neglecting our duties? What do we take pleasure in? The shadows of the world or the things of light? Are we watching over our relationships and our families? How are we using our money, time, home, and resources? Are we doing our daily tasks and callings for God's glory?
Failure to stay on guard has serious consequences. We must be vigilant in prayer with thanksgiving. The Christian disciple is never off-duty. Pray, watch, and be alert so that when the King returns, He will be able to say "Well done" to us!
We have to be humble when approaching a passage like this because we are not the director of the story. This passage is speaking about more than Jerusalem and the Temple. Jesus is talking about His Second Coming. When He returns in glory, all the nations of the world will see. It will be loud and open, not a hidden secret; and it will be a glorious reunion of all God's elect.
We don't have all the answers, but we do know Christ is coming back; and until He does, we must be on guard, watchful, and ready. Jesus died in humiliation, was raised in power, and will return in glory – openly and dramatically. In the meantime, let us live our lives with His heavenly Kingdom in mind!
This passage isn't just theological jargon; it has practical applications for our lives today.
Every Word of Scripture was breathed out to us by God Himself. It is foundational to our faith. It is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. And it is intended to thoroughly equip us and make us ready for every good work.
Reading the Bible will not automatically save us or make our lives great. But when we are familiar with God's Word, we will be able to respond properly in the situations that we find ourselves in life. We need to be properly trained so that we will be able to do the work that the Lord has called us to do.
This New Year, go and immerse yourself and your family in the Word of God so that you will grow in grace, love the Lord like never before, and glorify and enjoy Him forever!