2026 Summer Bible Retreat Special (3), Repentance and Evangelism; Who Can Tell?
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2026-08-16 15:56
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Repentance and Evangelism; Who Can Tell?
Jonah 3
In Jonah 3, there are two repentance, Jonah and Nineveh. In Chapter 1, God said to Jonah, "Go to Nineveh and preach there." However, Jonah disobeyed. Instead, he traveled to Tarshish. God blocked his path with a life-threatening storm. Because Jonah was a believer, a genuine repentance was expected from him. But no.
Nineveh was the land of Gentiles. So, it would be difficult to expect a genuine repentance from them. Yet, the repentance of Nineveh has become a model of genuine repentance. Chapter 3 shows us what genuine repentance is.
Verse 1 says, “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time.” God gave Jonah a second chance. God is always giving us a second chance. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Verse 3 says, “Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.” God was patient for Jonah until he repented and obeyed to go to Nineveh. Peter was an ordinary fisherman. When he was called by Jesus, “Follow me, I will make you a fisher of man,” he followed Jesus wherever Jesus went. Peter loved Jesus. But he did not give up his human dream, an easy life with worldly power and wealth. Jesus taught him a way of cross that was to deny himself and take up his cross. But Peter was frowned. He heard Jesus praying on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” After meeting the Risen Jesus, he heard from the Lord, “Peter, son of Jonah. Do you love me? Feed my lambs. When you were younger you went where you wanted; but when you are old, someone else will lead you where you do not want to go.” (John21:18) This is peak of faith. Once Peter tried to go to Tarshish. But after experiencing Jesus’ cross and resurrection, finally he obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.
At first, Jonah hated to go to Nineveh. He insisted on his plans and will that he travelled for Tarshish. Then a big crisis came to him and the people in the ship. Finally, he obeyed the word of God and went to Nineveh. Then salvation and revival came to so many people in Nineveh.
Folks, the place where God leads you is not Tarshish but Nineveh. God is merciful and patient for us and giving us a second chance until we repent and go to Nineveh.
Verse 3b says, “Nineveh was a great city.” In the Bible, a word "great or big" usually has a negative connotation. Revelation 14:8. "’Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” Nineveh’s greatness signifies its greed. Ninevites had plundered their neighbors’ land, properties and lives brutally. The Bible describes greed as "big or great."
"Is your church big?" That is not always a blessing. Whether big or small, a church should be expressed not by its size but by life.
We are sensitive to size and easily intimidated by the size of career or achievements. We are not interested in whether or not there is life within it. “Do you know the story of the mustard seed?” Mark 4:31 says, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth” Do not fight over size. It is okay to be small if there is life within you and me. Then we are true, having eternal security and blessing. If not, we are like chaff.
Here are a large wooden plank and a loach. In terms of size, the wood plank is way bigger than a loach. However, since the wooden plank has no life, it simply drifts away with the current. It cannot resist the waves. The church shouldn't be like a large wooden plank, should it? On the other hand, the loach is small, but because there is life within it, it swims against the turbulent current. It is not about size, but life.
Verse 2 says, “Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.” There is life in the word of God. Do not be overwhelmed or intimidated by the size of the world. Though you may be small, if you receive, obey, and testify to the word of God, the word of God will turn Nineveh upside down. Our task is to receive the word of the Lord and proclaim it. Bat your life on the word of God.
Look at verses 3-4. “Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city.” Look at Jonah’s mission carrying attitude. He preached for only one day. His message consisted of only five words in Hebrew. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” His attitude was half-hearted and reluctant.
God’s message Jonah was to deliver about God, their wickedness, judgment and repentance. However, Jonah omitted most of them except just five words: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Yet, the Ninevites responded to Jonah’ message immediately and sincerely. Why?
When they heard the word of God, each of them must have thought seriously about their sin of greed and the fear of judgment.
We have a nature to avoid things we do not want to do but try to obtain things what we desire by any means necessary. We are driven by greed and fear. Now, like the Ninevites, shouldn’t we seriously think when we hear the message of God?
Solomon who spent most of his youth to fill his desires finally began to think the word of God seriously when he became old. He said in Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, "Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart." This is King Solomon’s advice, “Go to the funeral.” Then we would think more seriously about life and death. We realize, “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) Therefore, in life, where you place your body is important. Place your body unconditionally where the word of God is heard and think seriously. Then you are safe with eternal security and blessings from God.
Through Jonah’s preaching and the response of Nineveh, we come to know what God's will is. God delivered Israel from 430 years of slavery in Egypt. What was the purpose? Exodus 19:6 says, “You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God wanted to save all the people of the world through Israel. However, Jonah representing Israel fell into ultranationalism. They liked and enjoyed honey and milk in God’s promised land. They treated the Gentiles like dogs and pigs. When God said to Jonah to go and preach to Ninevites, he strongly opposed, "No! God, why are you sending me to such wicked and dangerous people?" After a narrow escape from the storm, he reluctantly and partially obeyed but still was angry. There are people who believe in Jesus but get angry easily when things are not going well according to their ways. Jonah, who was expected to be a man of repentance, was found to be a man of anger. He refused God's will, the salvation of all nations.
Folks, do you know God's will for you is to go to Nineveh, not Tarshish? 'A heart and footsteps directed toward the Gentiles' is God's will.
We usually live a life centered on our families and friends we like. Are we not like Jonah? I pray for you to overcome Jonah’s stubborn mindset. I also pray for you to go and preach to Nineveh representing unbelievers, foreigners, strangers and outsiders.
Nineveh was originally a people of anger and violence. However, upon hearing God's word, they became a model of repentance. Look at verse 5. “The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” They were atheists. But after hearing Jonah’s message, they believed God. This is intellectual acknowledgement. Secondly, they fasted putting on sackcloth. Fasting is to deny man’s desires. Fasting with sackcloth means emotional remorse and sorrow on their evil and pleasure-seeking life.
Look at verse 8. “Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.” Thirdly, a decision to live a new life. This is practical change.
The primary audience of the Book of Jonah was the people of Israel, during the reign of Jeroboam II, the 8th century BC. When they heard the message of the prophets, they didn't repent at all. They enjoyed material prosperity and secular pleasures. On the other hand, the wicked Nineveh, which seemed unlikely to repent, repented by Jonah’s very short and half-hearted message. Nineveh is the model of genuine repentance.
First, when Ninevites heard the message of God, they accepted it and repented. Second, they shared the word of God with their neighbors. These are Christians’ two main acts; repentance and evangelism.
Jonah preached for only one day. So, only one-third of the people of Nineveh heard the message of God. Yet, the entire people in Nineveh repented and returned to God. How did the remaining two-third repent? The one-third who heard God's word with immediate repentance immediately shared what they heard with the remaining two-third. The king did not hear God’s message from Jonah. He and people in the palace heard God's word through some people who had already heard it. Then the king repented and wrote a decree to all the people. His repentance and what he did (the work of evangelism) are in Verses 6-8:
The Ninevites immediately repented to God first and then immediately evangelized others. Repentance and evangelism happened simultaneously.
Folks, have you repented? Have you truly repented? Do you confess with your lips that you are sinners? Are you morning about your disobedient, self-centered or pleasure-seeking life? Are you living a new life as Jesus’ disciples? And are you going out to evangelize others?
This is my and many pastors’ concern. The church today worships, prays and gives thanks, but does not evangelize. They treat it as if it's none of their business. Sadly, there are not a few church attendees who never evangelize a single person throughout their lives. That is why the world is dark, evil and sick. That is why so many people live in anxiety and despair. Isn't the church more like Jonah than the people of Nineveh? Many say, "Oh, that is good service and good sermon” and just leave church forgetting soon what they learn and should do.
These days, everyone prioritizes their own plans, feelings and will. We are supposed to become like Ninevites but instead, we live like Jonah. That was why Jesus prophesied in Matthew 12:41. “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.” Now, the people of Nineveh condemn and judge many. "We repented at Jonah’s message of five words, cried out to God for His mercy, stopped evil deeds, and evangelized to save souls, but you study the Bible weekly and listen to Sunday sermons, but what have you been doing?"
Evangelism means to make things flow. It is let things God has given us flow to others. But we live by greed and fear. We try to satisfy our greed and avoid fear. But we cry out, "Why am I so lacking? Why does fear not disappear from me?" Why? Why are we always vulnerable to greed and fear? It is because we have no faith in God. It is because we do not let what we have flow to others. This is truly a tragedy.
Jesus says, “Store up your money in heaven.” How can we store up money in heaven? It is by letting it flow out to do God's work, saving people, and using it for our neighbors in need. It is not keeping it within me but letting it flow out. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The completion of repentance is evangelism. Through Jonah, one-third were saved first, and two-third were saved through the evangelism of those who were saved first. That is why everyone was saved. I want all the students at SFU to be saved. That is why I daily teach Bible to students and pray to the Lord to raise Bible teachers among them. This is a kingdom of priests.
God called Abraham promising to bless him. What is the blessing God promised to him? “Through you all people of the world will come back to me and my eternal kingdom.” At first, Abraham did not know it. God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. After 25 years, Abraham finally came to know the true blessing that was let all he received to flow to others to know God and possess His eternal kingdom.
Young men, I pray for you to learn genuine repentance from Ninevites. I want your name to be written in the book of life in heaven as you repent in the name of Jesus. Then, live by the word of God and obey Him. Go to Nineveh and preach there.
Young men, what do you have? Whether less or much you have, let your time and money flow to save others. At then end of your life, nothing remains except your faith in Jesus and your labor to rescue souls. If you use what God gives you only for you and your family or if you let them stagnate in you instead of flowing them to others, this is a sin. True repentance is immediately followed by the work of evangelism making what you have flow to rescue others.
Jonah 3
In Jonah 3, there are two repentance, Jonah and Nineveh. In Chapter 1, God said to Jonah, "Go to Nineveh and preach there." However, Jonah disobeyed. Instead, he traveled to Tarshish. God blocked his path with a life-threatening storm. Because Jonah was a believer, a genuine repentance was expected from him. But no.
Nineveh was the land of Gentiles. So, it would be difficult to expect a genuine repentance from them. Yet, the repentance of Nineveh has become a model of genuine repentance. Chapter 3 shows us what genuine repentance is.
Verse 1 says, “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time.” God gave Jonah a second chance. God is always giving us a second chance. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Verse 3 says, “Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.” God was patient for Jonah until he repented and obeyed to go to Nineveh. Peter was an ordinary fisherman. When he was called by Jesus, “Follow me, I will make you a fisher of man,” he followed Jesus wherever Jesus went. Peter loved Jesus. But he did not give up his human dream, an easy life with worldly power and wealth. Jesus taught him a way of cross that was to deny himself and take up his cross. But Peter was frowned. He heard Jesus praying on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” After meeting the Risen Jesus, he heard from the Lord, “Peter, son of Jonah. Do you love me? Feed my lambs. When you were younger you went where you wanted; but when you are old, someone else will lead you where you do not want to go.” (John21:18) This is peak of faith. Once Peter tried to go to Tarshish. But after experiencing Jesus’ cross and resurrection, finally he obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.
At first, Jonah hated to go to Nineveh. He insisted on his plans and will that he travelled for Tarshish. Then a big crisis came to him and the people in the ship. Finally, he obeyed the word of God and went to Nineveh. Then salvation and revival came to so many people in Nineveh.
Folks, the place where God leads you is not Tarshish but Nineveh. God is merciful and patient for us and giving us a second chance until we repent and go to Nineveh.
Verse 3b says, “Nineveh was a great city.” In the Bible, a word "great or big" usually has a negative connotation. Revelation 14:8. "’Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” Nineveh’s greatness signifies its greed. Ninevites had plundered their neighbors’ land, properties and lives brutally. The Bible describes greed as "big or great."
"Is your church big?" That is not always a blessing. Whether big or small, a church should be expressed not by its size but by life.
We are sensitive to size and easily intimidated by the size of career or achievements. We are not interested in whether or not there is life within it. “Do you know the story of the mustard seed?” Mark 4:31 says, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth” Do not fight over size. It is okay to be small if there is life within you and me. Then we are true, having eternal security and blessing. If not, we are like chaff.
Here are a large wooden plank and a loach. In terms of size, the wood plank is way bigger than a loach. However, since the wooden plank has no life, it simply drifts away with the current. It cannot resist the waves. The church shouldn't be like a large wooden plank, should it? On the other hand, the loach is small, but because there is life within it, it swims against the turbulent current. It is not about size, but life.
Verse 2 says, “Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.” There is life in the word of God. Do not be overwhelmed or intimidated by the size of the world. Though you may be small, if you receive, obey, and testify to the word of God, the word of God will turn Nineveh upside down. Our task is to receive the word of the Lord and proclaim it. Bat your life on the word of God.
Look at verses 3-4. “Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city.” Look at Jonah’s mission carrying attitude. He preached for only one day. His message consisted of only five words in Hebrew. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” His attitude was half-hearted and reluctant.
God’s message Jonah was to deliver about God, their wickedness, judgment and repentance. However, Jonah omitted most of them except just five words: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Yet, the Ninevites responded to Jonah’ message immediately and sincerely. Why?
When they heard the word of God, each of them must have thought seriously about their sin of greed and the fear of judgment.
We have a nature to avoid things we do not want to do but try to obtain things what we desire by any means necessary. We are driven by greed and fear. Now, like the Ninevites, shouldn’t we seriously think when we hear the message of God?
Solomon who spent most of his youth to fill his desires finally began to think the word of God seriously when he became old. He said in Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, "Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies— so the living should take this to heart." This is King Solomon’s advice, “Go to the funeral.” Then we would think more seriously about life and death. We realize, “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) Therefore, in life, where you place your body is important. Place your body unconditionally where the word of God is heard and think seriously. Then you are safe with eternal security and blessings from God.
Through Jonah’s preaching and the response of Nineveh, we come to know what God's will is. God delivered Israel from 430 years of slavery in Egypt. What was the purpose? Exodus 19:6 says, “You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” God wanted to save all the people of the world through Israel. However, Jonah representing Israel fell into ultranationalism. They liked and enjoyed honey and milk in God’s promised land. They treated the Gentiles like dogs and pigs. When God said to Jonah to go and preach to Ninevites, he strongly opposed, "No! God, why are you sending me to such wicked and dangerous people?" After a narrow escape from the storm, he reluctantly and partially obeyed but still was angry. There are people who believe in Jesus but get angry easily when things are not going well according to their ways. Jonah, who was expected to be a man of repentance, was found to be a man of anger. He refused God's will, the salvation of all nations.
Folks, do you know God's will for you is to go to Nineveh, not Tarshish? 'A heart and footsteps directed toward the Gentiles' is God's will.
We usually live a life centered on our families and friends we like. Are we not like Jonah? I pray for you to overcome Jonah’s stubborn mindset. I also pray for you to go and preach to Nineveh representing unbelievers, foreigners, strangers and outsiders.
Nineveh was originally a people of anger and violence. However, upon hearing God's word, they became a model of repentance. Look at verse 5. “The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” They were atheists. But after hearing Jonah’s message, they believed God. This is intellectual acknowledgement. Secondly, they fasted putting on sackcloth. Fasting is to deny man’s desires. Fasting with sackcloth means emotional remorse and sorrow on their evil and pleasure-seeking life.
Look at verse 8. “Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.” Thirdly, a decision to live a new life. This is practical change.
The primary audience of the Book of Jonah was the people of Israel, during the reign of Jeroboam II, the 8th century BC. When they heard the message of the prophets, they didn't repent at all. They enjoyed material prosperity and secular pleasures. On the other hand, the wicked Nineveh, which seemed unlikely to repent, repented by Jonah’s very short and half-hearted message. Nineveh is the model of genuine repentance.
First, when Ninevites heard the message of God, they accepted it and repented. Second, they shared the word of God with their neighbors. These are Christians’ two main acts; repentance and evangelism.
Jonah preached for only one day. So, only one-third of the people of Nineveh heard the message of God. Yet, the entire people in Nineveh repented and returned to God. How did the remaining two-third repent? The one-third who heard God's word with immediate repentance immediately shared what they heard with the remaining two-third. The king did not hear God’s message from Jonah. He and people in the palace heard God's word through some people who had already heard it. Then the king repented and wrote a decree to all the people. His repentance and what he did (the work of evangelism) are in Verses 6-8:
The Ninevites immediately repented to God first and then immediately evangelized others. Repentance and evangelism happened simultaneously.
Folks, have you repented? Have you truly repented? Do you confess with your lips that you are sinners? Are you morning about your disobedient, self-centered or pleasure-seeking life? Are you living a new life as Jesus’ disciples? And are you going out to evangelize others?
This is my and many pastors’ concern. The church today worships, prays and gives thanks, but does not evangelize. They treat it as if it's none of their business. Sadly, there are not a few church attendees who never evangelize a single person throughout their lives. That is why the world is dark, evil and sick. That is why so many people live in anxiety and despair. Isn't the church more like Jonah than the people of Nineveh? Many say, "Oh, that is good service and good sermon” and just leave church forgetting soon what they learn and should do.
These days, everyone prioritizes their own plans, feelings and will. We are supposed to become like Ninevites but instead, we live like Jonah. That was why Jesus prophesied in Matthew 12:41. “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.” Now, the people of Nineveh condemn and judge many. "We repented at Jonah’s message of five words, cried out to God for His mercy, stopped evil deeds, and evangelized to save souls, but you study the Bible weekly and listen to Sunday sermons, but what have you been doing?"
Evangelism means to make things flow. It is let things God has given us flow to others. But we live by greed and fear. We try to satisfy our greed and avoid fear. But we cry out, "Why am I so lacking? Why does fear not disappear from me?" Why? Why are we always vulnerable to greed and fear? It is because we have no faith in God. It is because we do not let what we have flow to others. This is truly a tragedy.
Jesus says, “Store up your money in heaven.” How can we store up money in heaven? It is by letting it flow out to do God's work, saving people, and using it for our neighbors in need. It is not keeping it within me but letting it flow out. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The completion of repentance is evangelism. Through Jonah, one-third were saved first, and two-third were saved through the evangelism of those who were saved first. That is why everyone was saved. I want all the students at SFU to be saved. That is why I daily teach Bible to students and pray to the Lord to raise Bible teachers among them. This is a kingdom of priests.
God called Abraham promising to bless him. What is the blessing God promised to him? “Through you all people of the world will come back to me and my eternal kingdom.” At first, Abraham did not know it. God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. After 25 years, Abraham finally came to know the true blessing that was let all he received to flow to others to know God and possess His eternal kingdom.
Young men, I pray for you to learn genuine repentance from Ninevites. I want your name to be written in the book of life in heaven as you repent in the name of Jesus. Then, live by the word of God and obey Him. Go to Nineveh and preach there.
Young men, what do you have? Whether less or much you have, let your time and money flow to save others. At then end of your life, nothing remains except your faith in Jesus and your labor to rescue souls. If you use what God gives you only for you and your family or if you let them stagnate in you instead of flowing them to others, this is a sin. True repentance is immediately followed by the work of evangelism making what you have flow to rescue others.