When was the last time that you really heard a child of God say, “I’ve sinned; I’ve been wrong, I’ve done wrong, I’m wrong.” And every now and then you hear somebody. I just talked the other day with a man that, I tell you, he got into deep trouble. And I very frankly said to him, I said, “Don’t cry on my shoulder. Go and tell God that. He wants you to. Tell Him that you’ve failed; tell Him that you’re wrong and you want His help. He’s your Father. You’re in the family. You’ve lost fellowship with Him, but you can have fellowship restored.” “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Now don’t make God a liar. Why don’t you go to the Lord, friends, and just open your heart and talk to Him as you can talk to no one else. Tell Him your problems. “If we confess our sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” And then what does He do? He cleanses us. Tell Him your sins. Tell Him your weaknesses. Confess it all to Him, and tell your Father that you want to have fellowship and you want to serve. My, He’s made a marvelous, wonderful way back to Himself.

“For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.” Eternal life that John is talking about is the Word of Life and it’s none other than the Son, Jesus Christ. If you want to know what eternal life is, you want a definition of it, eternal life is a person and that person is Christ. You either have Christ or you don’t have Christ. You either trust Christ or you don’t trust Christ. And if you trust Christ, you have eternal life. If you don’t trust Christ, you don’t have eternal life. Do you have eternal life?

God says to you and me, “You go with the Word. I love the lost. You take the Word to them, and when they’re saved and you get acquainted with them and know them, you’re going to love them, too.” I think it’s reasonable to say that after this experience, Jonah left the dead gourd vine and went down where the living were walking the streets of Nineveh. And I think that he rejoiced with them that they had come to a saving knowledge of God. My friend, what a message this is. Why don’t you get involved in getting the Word of God out? Don’t wait for some great feeling to sweep over your soul. Take the Word of God because God loves them.

“So, the people of Nineveh believed God, and they proclaimed a fast.” They demonstrated it, you see. Faith always leads to works. “And they put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.” Now friends, that’s a marvelous statement in the Old Testament. Did you know that’s all God’s ever asked any person to do? Any sinner to do? Is just believe Him. What does He ask you to believe? Believe what He’s done for you. Believe that Christ died for you—died for you. For your sins. Believe that He was raised again and that He’s at God’s right hand. The people of Nineveh, they believed God. That’s the important thing today.

Now our God is the God of the second chance. What a marvelous, wonderful thing that is. He’s long-suffering and patient. He’s not willing that any should perish, and if you’re His child, He’s going to hold onto you, you may be sure of that. And friends, if you’re a child of God and get in sin, you can come back to Him, but you’d 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.

God cannot save us by our works, because the only thing that we can present to Him is imperfection, and God just does not accept imperfection. You have to present to Him perfection, and that’s the only thing that God will accept. Now you and I are unable to present it. Therefore, if it depended on us or our works, we could never be saved. If deliverance is to come, it’ll have to come to us just like it came to Jonah—dead and hopeless in that fish. If he’s to live, if he’s to be used of God, it’s because “salvation is of the Lord.” And if you ever get saved, it’s because salvation is of the Lord.

Are you here struggling, friends? You have tried this thing so much, so often, and you have blundered. You have fallen. I know that story. Oh, that’s an old story. Why don’t you turn your life over to Him? Why don’t you trust Him? Don’t you think He’s good? Don’t you think He’s merciful? Don’t you think that He really meant business when He gave His Son to die for you? Don’t you really think He wants to save you? He’s not asking you to do anythingexcept to be willing to be saved. Just be willing to be saved.

A great many of the saints have pride of race, pride of face, and pride of grace. They’re even proud they’ve been saved by grace. My friends, that ought not make you proud or something to even brag about. It’s something to glorify God about, but it’s something to humble you. I wish I had something to offer God for salvation. I have none, and therefore, I have to be saved by grace, and I can’t even boast of that. God giveth grace to the humble. And we are told, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Well what kind of mind did He have? Lowliness of mind. He said, I am meek and humble.

There’s something we’re to know today, friends. Don’t be a lazy Christian, not learning the Word of God. There’s no little gimmick today; there’s no little course you can take in a week. There is no little program that you can go through that’s going to change and revolutionize your life. There’s no easy way. The way to do is to know the Word of God. Now here is the message: But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.