We shed light on the exciting expansion of Through the Bible’s reach into Canada’s diverse immigrant communities. Discover how multilingual projects and radio broadcasts in Ukrainian and Tagalog are uplifting faith across language barriers. This episode illustrates the enduring power of the Gospel to unite us in Christ’s love, regardless of where we find ourselves. With touching testimonies and encouragement to engage with the message of hope, we reveal how people around the world are spiritually recharged through these wonderful initiatives.
Have you failed God? Are you worried that you’ve failed Him so many times that He’ll never take you back? Well, if you answered yes to either of these questions, stay with us. This message from Jonah chapter 3 is for you. Welcome to Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. I’m Steve Schwetz, your host on this five-year journey through God’s entire Word. And that’s right. If you stay with us for five years, think about this. You’ll have studied the entire Word of God cover to cover. In fact, our ministry motto, if you don’t already know it, is… The whole word for the whole world. Because not only does Dr. McGee teach through the entire Bible, covering every chapter of all 66 books, but we take that teaching to the whole world today in over 250 languages and growing. And, you know, sometimes that growth happens in really surprising ways. You got something along those lines to tell us about today, Greg?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, surprisingly, I do, Steve. It’s as if we might have prepared for this. It’s great to be with everybody. Thanks for having me, Steve. And, yeah, we have something really exciting to talk about, and that is some new language projects to, get ready for it, Canada. Yeah. And I know immigration is a big topic of discussion here in the U.S. You know, people are on different sides. But in Canada, they have huge numbers of immigrants that have come into the country and speak other languages.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, like 1.36 million Ukrainians.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that’s just incredible. And they have other languages, Chinese, Filipinos, so many other different languages, people that speak Arabic. And yeah, just under a million people report having Filipino ethnic or cultural origins. So you’re talking about major… groups of people.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. And so we’re doing a unique thing with the Ukrainian and Tagalog language, which is the main language spoken in the Philippines. So why don’t you tell us about it?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I’m going to tell you, but also you can read all about it in our newsletter this month. So please, shameless plug for the newsletter. It is a great resource. Yeah. And we have an article by Dave Dunmore, the executive director of TTB Canada. And please, you’ll get more information, pictures in that newsletter article.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s read this, and then I want to talk a little bit more about the newsletter if we’ve got time. So go ahead and start with us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay. Well, right now they’re taking the Ukrainian and the Tagalog, and they’re airing it on a weekend multi-ethnic radio block. So we’re using an old technology of radio. And then you say, well, they can’t get the whole five years. But, oh, yes, my friend. Yes. Yes, they can. They can on the app. And so the call to action or what we’re saying, if you like this teaching, we will encourage the listeners to download the full TTB app.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, so don’t miss this. We’re using an old technology, radio, and we’re broadcasting radio in Ukrainian and Tagalog, and we’re doing it in Canada. And people are listening. Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
And we know we haven’t gotten response yet because this is a very new initiative, but we’re very excited. We did get a letter from a man from Serbia who this gives you an idea of the hunger. And he says, greetings from Canada. I was born in Serbia, but I went to Canada at the age of 25 because I couldn’t find a good job in Serbia. I got married there, and I’m very happy to listen to the Internet program through the Bible. In a way, it cures my nostalgia for Serbia because I like to listen to programs in Serbian. Now, Steve, you want to continue this great letter?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. I rarely have the opportunity to speak my mother tongue here. But what is most important is that these programs strengthen my faith and nourish me spiritually. After a hard day, the Word of God restores my strength. It is a refreshment and a great blessing to me. I take the Bible and listen to TTB. Sometimes my wife joins me too. She makes us tea and we listen and study together with Dr. McGee in the Bible. These are special moments and they bring us closer to God. We feel His presence and how He speaks to us. Our hearts change when we study His Word. You know, let me just say, here’s a Serbian listener in Canada who is doing what so many Americans have done for so long, which is listening to Through the Bible Together, sitting at a kitchen table with their Bibles open and studying. And people have talked about this in these letters. The more different we are in terms of languages we speak and all that, it doesn’t matter. We’re doing a lot of the same things. We have the same struggles with sin, with family relationships, and the need for a Savior. And that’s the wonderful unifying theme that the gospel is. It goes out to all people, and all people need Christ, and all people benefit from knowing Christ Jesus as their Savior.
SPEAKER 03 :
And so would you pray that we reach more people like this gentleman, Philip, from Serbia, who is away from his own country? Pray that these broadcasts in Tagalog and Ukrainian will encourage people to download the app. It has the whole Bible in their language. It has all five years of teaching. And again, you can read more in the newsletter. I wish we had more time to talk about the newsletter, but some other time we’re going to tell you how much Steve and I love it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, we really do. And the short story is, just sign up today, ttb.org forward slash pray. You’ll get that daily email, and then you can also sign up for the newsletter. Now, I just put it in my Bible, and it’s part of my daily routine. Not every day do I read the newsletter, but if it comes, I stick it in my Bible, I read my Bible, and I pray, and then I’ll look at the newsletter. So let me pray as we begin, Lord. Heavenly Father, I pray that people would be blessed as they listen to the teaching through the Bible, but more importantly, Lord, as they engage faithfully with you through the power of the Holy Spirit in your word. I pray that you would use it to sanctify and purify everyone who’s listening today. In Jesus’ name I pray.
SPEAKER 1 :
Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s dive into Jonah chapter 3 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 04 :
Now, in this third chapter, we have here a verse that I would like to write over it that I feel like is rather important, and it’s this. For as Jonas was assigned unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation. Now, that’s what the Lord Jesus said in his day. Then back over the chapter we’ve just finished, chapter 2, I would write Matthew 12, 39 and 40. When you listen to this, he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. There shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the fish’s belly, so shall also the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now, I think the analogy here that our Lord is drawing makes it of necessity to say that Jonah was not alive. for a comfortable weekend in a fishtail instead of a motel or a hotel, but he was actually dead inside of the fish. And I trust that the language of the second chapter was impressive enough to you that this man is not describing a comfortable weekend at all, but the awful agony he went through before he lapsed into unconsciousness and then death. Now, God’s going to give this prophet a second chance. We read last time, the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. Now, our God is the God of the second chance. I have since renamed this chapter three, The God of the Second Chance. What a marvelous, wonderful thing that is. Now, only God will give you a second chance, and he’ll give you more than that. I do not know how far up or down the ladder I’m working, but I know he’s given me a dozen different chances, and I think that He’s long-suffering and patient. He’s not willing that any should perish. If you’re his child, he’s going to hold on to you. You may be sure of that. So Jonah now gets the call the second time. Some of the great corporations today, I don’t believe, would give a man a second chance. I do not know whether General Motors would, or Standard Oil Company, or General Foods. I have a notion that they would not give them a second chance. Years ago here in California, there was one of the vice presidents, and I understand he was the first vice president of the Bank of America, which is a tremendous bank. And he’s a very wonderful Christian. He was a very personal friend of mine. In fact, he married my secretary when I was pastor in downtown Los Angeles. And I asked him one time, I said, suppose in one of your branches of your bank, you had a manager there that absconded with all of the funds and that he disappeared, went down to South America someplace. And then after a few years, he came back and he asked to be forgiven and be restored and given another chance. Would you give him a job? He said, no, he’s through. They wouldn’t give him another chance. He’s had it. And isn’t it wonderful that God gives us a second chance? The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time. Now, this is not just something unusual that God did in Jonah’s case. He’s not making an exception of Jonah at all. You remember, Father, back in the Old Testament, in Genesis, the story of Jacob. Jacob failed again and again and again and again until he actually became a disgrace to God. And he was a source of embarrassment to him. But God never let him go. Remember that he was a trickster. He was clever. tried to live by his own ability. And even when he got down there with his father-in-law, his father-in-law was smarter than he was and put it over on him. But he did what he could, and he did pretty well. And he had to flee and leave and get away from there. And he had antagonized his father-in-law and also his brother Esau because of his conduct. But he can’t keep on like that because he is God’s man. And he did want to serve God, but my, what a poor out he made of it. And as far as I’m concerned, I’d have got rid of him if I’d been the Lord and get somebody else. But God didn’t do that. You remember at Peniel, when he came back to the land, that night God wrestled with him. You hear sometime of the fact that Jacob wrestled with God. Jacob didn’t wrestle with God, friends. That night, with his father-in-law back of him, his brother ahead of him, and both of them wishing that Jacob was dead and would be very glad to be the instrument to end his life. You may be sure of one thing, Jacob’s not looking for another wrestling match. He’s got enough problems on his hands, and he’s not about to do any wrestling. It’s God that wrestled with him at Peniel. And you remember that man had to learn something that night. God crippled him before he got him. And then Jacob saw that he was losing. And he just finally just held on and asked for a blessing. And from that day on, he’s a different man and he’s changed. And down there in Egypt, when he met his grandchildren, Joseph’s sons, why, a grandpa’s inclined to boast just a little. I’m a grandfather, you know, you like for your grandson. to think well of you. But this is the thing that old Jacob said. He didn’t tell him how smart he was and how clever he was and how he put it over on Esau, how he put it over on his uncle Laban. No, he didn’t say that. This is what he did say. He said, may the Lord that kept me from evil keep the lads. What a change has come over him now. How humble he is. He’s now resting in God. He’s a different man. And then there’s David. Even today, there are a great many, especially sinners, some of these evil old men, these dirty old men today that used to come into my service and One of them with a leer in his eyes and a sneer in his voice, he said to me, why was it God said that David was a man after his own heart? Well, I said, what you’re trying to say is David committed murder and adultery and that God said that because he did that? Is that what you’re trying to say? Well, he says it looks like it. Well, I said, then you just haven’t read the record at all. I said, David committed an awful sin. And God punished him for it. Actually, God took him to the woodshed and whipped him in an inch of his life. And as far as I’m concerned, when I see what happened to David, and finally his heart was broken when that son of his, Absalom, was slain. That’s the boy he wanted to be king. And he betrayed him. He led a rebellion against him. And then he was slain, murdered. And David, how he wept. Oh, he says, oh, Absalom, my son Absalom, would the God have died in your stead? Why? Because David didn’t feel like that boy knew God at all. And so David was heartbroken the rest of his life. God punished him because of his sin. But God forgave David when David came to him and said, Restore unto me not his salvation, but the joy of my salvation. And I said to this old man that came down with that sneer in his voice, I said, Look, I said, you know, you ought to be very glad that God said David was a man after his own heart because of his relationship with God. Because if God will save a man like David, he might save you and he might save me. I said, you ought to be thankful he’s that kind of a God. He gave David a second chance. And he’ll give you a second chance and a third chance. And I read a letter. This party have slipped and fell. And then she came back to the Lord. And she’s come back. And God will receive when you come back. And then take another man. That was Simon Peter. He stumbled and fell. got himself dirty, but he got up and started all over again. You’ll recall that he denied Christ and looked through that judgment hall and he saw, I think he caught the eyes of the Lord Jesus, not eyes looking at him in anger, but in pity and in mercy. And he went out and wept. And when our Lord came back from the dead, he appeared to Simon Peter privately. Why? So Simon Peter could get that straightened out. And friends, if you’re a child of God, get in sin. You can come back to him, but you better mean business. You better be sincere, and you can handle it very privately with him. You can go to him and tell him, and you can tell him what you can tell no one else, and he’ll accept you and receive you. He’s the God of the second chance. And then there’s another man that failed, John Mark. He wasn’t much of a missionary at first. In fact, he was chicken. He turned and went back. I heard of a Man that said that the reason that he didn’t fly, didn’t go by plane, was because he had back trouble. Man said, well, what kind of back trouble do you have? He says, I got a yellow streak up and down my back. That’s my problem. Well, John Mark had a yellow streak up and down his back. He was chicken. And he turned and went back on the first missionary journey. But good old Barnabas wanted to forgive him and take him on the second missionary journey. Paul said, I won’t take him again. I’m through with him. Anyone that turns as that boy did and runs home to mama, I’m not about to take him with me on a missionary journey. But Paul had to change his mind because God will receive. And God did receive this man. And when Paul wrote, Second Timothy, his swan song, he says, bring John Mark with you. He’s profitable to me for the ministry. He made good. Aren’t you glad God gives you a second chance? And then let me give one other illustration, one not in the Bible, one very much up to date. Years ago here in Southern California, I was on an evening program at nine o’clock at night. And on that program, I taught the book of Jonah, just as I’m teaching it here. And I enlarged, as I’m doing now, on verse 1 of chapter 3. Well, in the next day or two, I got a letter from a medical doctor in Beverly Hills, California. And he wrote a rather lengthy letter. And he said to me, he said, I want you to know that that verse is Verse 1 of chapter 3 of Jonah is now the most important verse in the Bible to me. He says, when you said he’s the God of the second chance, I came back to him. Because he said, and he told me then the story in this letter, he said that he had come from Chicago. He’d been a prominent doctor there, also an officer in the church. And problems arose in the church. And he was blamed for the problem. He was not guilty. He declares he was not guilty at all. That fact he wasn’t involved in it. I think it involved the handling of funds and property. And he was blamed for it. He was not guilty. But he became bitter. And he actually… left the Chicago area and came to California and established his practice here, but never would darken the door of a church. He said that he’d never been inside of a church, but he did listen to me on the radio. And when I said that he’s the God of the second chance and the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, he said that was just like a drink To a man that was out on the desert, dying of thirst. He said that meant more to me than anything. Well, I sat down and wrote that man a letter. And I did what a preacher, I guess, would do. I urged him to get into a church and get busy again for the Lord. And he wrote me back and said, I’m already back in the church. And I’m already busy for the Lord again. He’s the God of the second chance, friends. We have a wonderful God. Now, this is an illustration of how he treats his children. When they sin, they come back. The prodigal son, he came home, you remember? When he came home, he didn’t get a beating. He got a banquet. He didn’t get kicked around. He got kisses. There was a fatted calf. instead of the poor boy being put out of the house and rejected. The father took the boy back. How wonderful it is. Now we’re going to see how gracious God is to a sinful city. And this is, I suppose, one of the greatest records of a revival. That is what we call a revival of people turning to God that there is anywhere, including the Bible. May I say to you what happened here in Nineveh? Makes the day of Pentecost look very small because there were a few thousand there. There were several hundred thousand in the city of Nineveh that turned to God. And this all happened before the church got here. And the greatest revival will take place after the church leaves the earth. You see, God’s not just dependent on the church. Today’s calling of people out of every tribe, tongue, and nation And that’s the reason we’re trying to get the word out today is because we believe we’re coming to the end of the age. And God wants the word to go out that everyone might hear. But the great revival, the great turning to God is yet in the future. And this story here of Nineveh is just a small adumbration of that. Now, will you notice God gives him a commission to arise and go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. Now, I’m going to have to stop and say a word about Nineveh being that great city. It was great in wickedness, but geographically, it was a very large city also. It covered a great deal of ground. It was in a V-shape, and there were actually three cities. We’ll see this next time. It’s where the upper Zab River flows into the Tigris River, and upstream from that was Nineveh. And then there were two other cities, and I’m going to wait till next time to talk about those two cities, but they were all together in that very fertile valley between these two rivers. And we are going to see that it did take Jonah quite a while to make his trip through that entire area because it was all called Greater Nineveh in that day. Here in Southern California, we have something similar to that. We talk about the Los Angeles area. Well, the Los Angeles area includes at least 25 cities. smaller municipalities. But they’re all part of the greater Los Angeles area. And it covers a great deal of ground. In fact, the joke was during the war that one of the soldiers got lost up in Alaska. And he was trying to find his way back. And finally, he came to a sign that said, Los Angeles city limits. And he knew that he was not lost anymore. But the thing is, that was the same situation you have in Nineveh. And we’re going to see that next time and see the message that this man Jonah brought to that great city and how that city changed. turned to God. There’s nothing like it on record, and it’s given to us for a very definite purpose. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s read ahead in chapter 3 to prepare our hearts for what we’re going to learn next time. If you’re on our mailing list, and I sure hope you are, you already have the best resource for keeping up with each study. And that’s our reading schedule bookmark. It fits great in the Bible that you carry. So get yours at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE and we’ll send you one. And if you want to set that process on autopilot, why don’t you sign up for our mailing list? It goes out with our monthly newsletter, which, as you learned today, is another great resource that you don’t want to miss. Just how large was Nineveh? Do you know? I think you’ll be shocked. Find out more in our next study. I’ll save you a seat here on the Bible Bus.
SPEAKER 01 :
Jesus made it home All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, ride the Bible bus for five years and you’ll be amazed at what God teaches you from his word about what it means to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. It’s a blessing that keeps on going. That’s what we believe at Through the Bible.
