The Dr. Jerry Carter Jr. comes from Columbus Ohio. He is the fourteenth pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Morristown, New Jersey. On Tuesday, August 25th, Dr. Carter took his scripture from Jonah 3:1 (KJV), that scripture read, “and the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time. ” He entitled his sermon “Beginning Again”. He began by telling a story about a woman named Louise Fletcher Carpenter who was a nineteenth century poet. One of her most powerful pieces she wrote was called “Beginning Again,” and in this piece she talks about the powerful life she had lived.
Well, if the truth be told, stated Dr. Carter, we all would like to catch a plane to that place called “Beginning Again. ” nfortunately, he stated there is nowhere like that. I, for one would like to go back to that placed called “Beginning Again”. I would give my all to go back and answer the first time that God called me. I would not have run for over ten years of my life, and suffered the consequences of my running. But I didn’t want to preach his word. I did not think I was good enough. I did not think I was worthy to carry his word.
What I did not understand is that it was not about me, but all about God. But, back to the sermon by Dr. Carter. Dr. Carter told us about the story of Jonah. He began by telling us that if we all had a chance to do some things over again, we would not have done them, or would not have done them the way we did them the first time. If we were able to start over again, some of the places we turned left, we would now turn right. If we could start over again some things we said yes to, we would have said no to.
Well in the story of Jonah, God gave Jonah an assignment to go to the great city of Ninevah, and once n he got there he was to preach against the city because of its wickedness. We all know the story. Jonah did not want to go, so instead of going to Ninevah, he attempted to go to Tarshish to get out of the presence of the Lord. For some reason Jonah thought that if he could get to Tarshish, he could get out of his assignment. During his journey, he went to Joppa to get on a ship headed to Tarshish. Since the Lord allows us to have freewill he did not stop Jonah from going to Joppa. But he certainly did not make it easy for him to do so.
So lonah g the ship and began to sail. His disobedience caused the ship to get caught up in a great storm and unfortunately for Jonah, one or more of his shipmates understood that there was something on the ship that was the cause of the storm. During the process of them throwing things overboard, Jonah confessed that he was the reason for the storm, and that if they would throw him overboard they would be alright. Dr. Carter reminded us that although there is no place called “Beginning Again”, there is a man who will allow you to begin again.
While Jonah was confessing to his shipmates in order to receive his fate. God was preparing a fish. The fish was not designed as a punishment for Jonah, but rather as a deliverance. Dr. Carter pointed out that sometimes the very things in life that appears to be out punishment are actually not that. They are in all reality our deliverance. But he also made us ponder the question of could they be one in the same. He explained that sometimes dur our season of correction and punishment, we come out the other side with the marks of our struggle, but we are stronger and wiser than before we went in.
After Jonah ended up in the belly of the fish, it was then that he began to pray to Jehovah. God answered his prayers by making the fish sick, causing the fish to throw Jonah up and out of his belly. Because God was in control, not only did the fish throw Jonah up, when Jonah emerged he was headed in the direction he was initially supposed to go in. It was at that time that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. God told Jonah the very same thing that he had told him the first time.
He told him to “Arise, go unto Ninevah, that great city and preach unto the preaching that I bid thee. Rev. Carter pointed out that we often see this as a second chance, but in all actuality God does not see it that way. In Isaiah, God said that “I am he who forgave your iniquities and remembered them no more. So if this is the case, God does not remember the first time. Well, personally do not know if I believe that. What I do believe is that you cannot get a second assignment until you finish the first assignment God has given you. God was able to say to Jonah that he had not completed his assignment, but God was willing to extend his grace and mercy because that is just who God is.
God loved Jonah so much that he was willing to still allow him to do the assignment. God knew that Jonah did not want to complete it, but he was unwilling to give Jonah another assignment until he had completed the one was given. God is love. His very nature is love. It is who he is, and all he can show is love. There is no difference between who he is, and what he does. Not only did God love Jonah, but he also loved Ninevah. Even with the disobedience displayed by Ninevah, he still loved them. He wanted them to repent and to return to him.
If they were unwilling to do this, he was ready to destroy the land. You see, God didn’t want to do this, so that was why he sent a messenger in Jonah. He wanted his people to return and love him and him only. This story of Jonah reminds us of the world as it stands today. God has called many men and women to preach unto a dying land that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Just as the Lord told the people in Jeremiah 35:15 “Again and again I sent all my servants, the prophets to you.
They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors. But you have not paid attention or listened to me. ” The preachers of today continue to ask the world to turn from its wicked ways because God is on his way back, and it has been stated that God will not destroy the world by water, but by fire this time. Just like God wanted Ninevah to turn from their wicked ways and repent, and love him and only him, God still desires this from his people here on earth.
We clearly see this in Exodus 20:2-3 which states “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3″You shall have no other gods before Me. ” He tells us this again in Exodus 34:14 which states, “Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Deuteronomy 5:7 tells us “You shall have no other gods before me,” and Deuteronomy 6:14 advises us “Do not follow other gods, the gods of the people around you. Jeremiah 25:6 tells us what will happen if we do.
It states, “Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you. But God provided a promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14. In this verse he promised that “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. The grace and mercies God sends us every day allows us to begin again over and over. It is up to us to get it right.
