In Matthew 12:41, Jesus said, “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.<\/em>” According to Jesus, the men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah.<\/p>\n You remember the story, don’t you? God had commanded Jonah, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me<\/em>” (Jonah 1:2). Now Nineveh was not only a city filled with wickedness, it was also the capital of the Assyrians, hated enemies of the Israelites. Jonah didn’t want to go. He fled from God’s presence. However, after being given some quality time in the belly of a fish to reflect and pray, Jonah decided to obey God. Jonah walked through the city proclaiming the judgment of the Lord upon these pagan people: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!<\/em>” (Jonah 3:4).<\/p>\n The people of Nineveh repented. They “proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them<\/em>” (Jonah 3:5). When word came to the king of Nineveh, “he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.” He decreed that “neither man nor beast, herd nor flock” were to eat or drink and that everyone<\/em> was to “turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hand<\/em>” (Jonah 3:7-8).<\/p>\n The text says “God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them<\/em>” (Jonah 3:10). God can read men’s hearts. He knows more about what is happening in our heads than we do ourselves. But He did not need to read the minds of the Ninevites to know that they had repented. He “saw their works, that they turned away from evil.<\/em>” When the men of Nineveh repented, nobody was left to wonder whether or not their repentance was genuine. Nobody was left guessing about their intention to stop committing evil. Nobody would have doubted they had repented of their sins.<\/p>\n We need to learn this lesson from the men of Nineveh. We need to learn how to act when we repent. Repentance isn’t just saying “excuse me,” “my bad,” or “forgive me” and then going on with our lives as if nothing happened. Repentance should produce real change in our actions. We are to “bear fruits worthy of repentance<\/em>” (Matthew 3:8). Too many of us think our repentance should go unnoticed. We are incognito repenters! And while God hardly asks us to don sackcloth and ashes today, He does ask us to “do works befitting repentance<\/em>” (Acts 26:20).<\/p>\n Let’s resolve to turn away from sin in our lives and behave in a way that people can tell we’ve done so!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Steve Klein via Seeking the Things Above In Matthew 12:41, Jesus said, “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” According to Jesus, the men of Nineveh repented at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-70789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33988,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jonah-wrath-of-man-mercy-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":70789,"position":0},"title":"Jonah – Wrath of Man \/ Mercy of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward We all know the story, but have we really gotten the point? Story The book is about Jonah Not gentile city Outline of book Ch 1 - Jonah runs from God Ch 2 - Jonah's salvation Ch 3 - Nineveh's salvation Ch 4 - God's mercy on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4801,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-men-change-gods-will\/","url_meta":{"origin":70789,"position":1},"title":"Can Men Change God’s Will?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Daniel 4:28-37 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A difficulty those raised in Calvinist beliefs is resolving the idea of God\u2019s sovereign will with the actions of men. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To many Calvinists, God\u2019s will is immutable (unable to be changed). The idea that men might do something to alter God\u2019s decisions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21835,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lessons-from-jonah\/","url_meta":{"origin":70789,"position":2},"title":"Lessons from Jonah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of Jonah is unique among the prophets \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The emphasis of the story is upon the messenger instead of the message. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We learn lessons from the actions of the prophet, instead of the message he delivered. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The tale of a man being swallowed and living\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87422,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-jonah\/","url_meta":{"origin":70789,"position":3},"title":"Am I Jonah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chadwick Brewer \"And he prayed to the LORD and said, \"O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5759,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-thrill-of-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":70789,"position":4},"title":"The Thrill of Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 15:1-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Luke 15:10 - When someone responds to God\u2019s message, there is excitement that reaches all the way to heaven! \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each and every person, no matter how high or low stationed in life is important to God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ezekiel 33:11 - God doesn\u2019t look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4687,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-actions-of-men-change-gods-sovereign-will\/","url_meta":{"origin":70789,"position":5},"title":"How can the actions of men change God’s sovereign will?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, First, thank you for your work in answering questions. Your diligence in doing so is admirable because it provides a great service to those either seeking God or those encountering difficulties in their walk with God. I've recently been reading and studying about God's will, specifically God's sovereign\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}