As the Lord may be pleased to
help us this evening, I would like to invite your prayerful
attention to God's holy word in the book of Jonah and we'll
take as our text the second chapter and the last clause in verse
9. Jonah chapter 2 and verse 9 and
the last clause. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. This event that we have read
the record of this evening, I understand by those who have
studied God's Word in great depth that It could well be that this
event took place about the same time in history as the birth
of Isaiah the great prophet. And these words that we have
read were most likely written by Jonah himself. But under God's holy inspiration,
so they are the word of God. Salvation is of the Lord. Who
else can save lost souls? But we have here a very clear
instruction as to God, who determines to save, and if God is determined
to save, God will save, despite all the complications that man
might put to it. Whether it's one person, or whether
it's a vast city like Nineveh. If God has it in his holy will
to bring salvation to souls, it will come about. We must never underestimate God's
power. I think in the first chapter
in the Bible, Genesis 1, we read 10 times in that chapter, and
God said, And every time God said, another stage of creation
took place. And none could withstand it.
It happened, it was brought about because God said. And here we
have Jonah, the son of Amitiai. And I think Jonah means to be the
sons of truth. But great honor God gave Jonah
in giving Jonah this great commission to go and prophesy to Nineveh
that great honor to serve God in any way. But he was going
with the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord comes with
power. The word of the Lord has substance
and effectual calling would never take place without God's power. When the Lord Jesus was here
on earth and he was calling his disciples, he saw them. They were fishermen, some of
them, most of them, and there they were with their Father Zebedee
mending their nets, and the Lord Jesus walked past, and he said,
follow me. And they left their nets and
followed him. And we read of Levi, who sat
at the seat of custom, counting his money. What happened? As Jesus passed by, he said,
follow me. And he left his money and followed
Jesus. Who can withstand that effectual
call of Jesus? And they followed him, they walked
with him, they learnt of him, and what a privilege they had
to be the recipients of such divine teaching firsthand from
God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Nineveh was a great city of the
Assyrian monarchy, and a great population, there was
great wealth, they had great kings and rulers, but they were
sinners. And their sin had come up before
God. What was God to do? The Assyrians and Israelites
had no love for each other. Jonah, of course, was a Hebrew. He makes that quite clear when
he's questioned that he was a Hebrew. And you young people might be
interested to know that Hebrews were known and identified from
other people, other nations, because they wrote from right
to left, not from left to right. This was one of their characteristics. And so when they questioned Jonah,
he said, I'm a Hebrew. And that would have conveyed
a lot to them. And they were descendants of the tribes of
Jacob. And Jonah had the privilege of
being a prophet called by God in the Old Testament to make
known the blessings of salvation by grace, through faith, in our
Lord Jesus who is yet to come. We must always remember that
in the Old Testament people were looking forward, and so many
look forward by faith to the coming Saviour. We have the great
privilege in the day in which we live that we can look back
to a date in history when the Lord Jesus was here on Earth.
And He came, not to do His own will, but the will of Him that
sent Him, and to finish His work. Praise be to His great name.
He finished the work that God the Father gave Him to do. And
that was to live uniquely a perfect life on this Earth. None before
and none since has ever achieved this, Therefore, he is the fulfillment,
the antitype of the Passover lamb without blemish. And having
lived a perfect life, he could give his life a perfect sacrifice
for sin. And we read in the Epistle to
the Hebrews, those precious words, Hebrews chapter 10, and every
high priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, our
Lord Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he had
said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more." If we can't remember something,
it's so often a failure, isn't it? But it's not with God. God
has the ability to not remember. He sees those who trust in Him
through the perfect righteousness of our Lord Jesus. What a wonder,
what a blessing. It is He who has done this perfect
work of salvation by grace through the gift of faith in those to
whom he has an eternal purpose of grace. May the Lord help us
to continue to seek and to find. But to come back to the subject
before us, Jonah, was confronted with this challenge
to go at God's command and God said, their wickedness has come
up before me. It is an affront to the holiness of God that sin
comes up to him. He saw their wickedness. He said,
go and cry out against it and spare not How many great cities
are there today? And most of the inhabitants live
in darkness. As we drive about, you go through
and you see countless populations of people. And you sometimes
think they've each got an eternal soul. They're each on the journey
of life. Where are they going? And unless
they're taught by God, by his effectual working, their need,
that they have an eternal soul, and eternity will go on and on
and on. We cannot begin to understand
it, can we? There was a verse of poetry I
learnt as a little boy. It didn't mean much to me at
the time, but I'm very thankful it's still in my mind. And someone
tried to put into verse the enormity of eternity. Came there a bird
each thousandth year, one sang grain from the hills to bear,
when all had vanished, grain by grain, eternity would still
remain. You imagine, dear friends, if
a bird came once every thousandth year and took one little speck
of dust away from this earth, and a thousand years time he
came and took another one, And that went on and on until everything
had disappeared. Eternity would still remain.
There would be no clocks or watches in eternity. It would be forever
and ever and ever. God, in sovereign love and mercy,
sent Jonah on this great errand, this commission to such a godless
people, and so with so many today. Oh that they knew, oh that they
understood, oh that they would consider their latter end, we
read in the scriptures, don't we? I've read a bit about a little
boy, he might have been 10 or 12 years old, and this was in
South America, And he was so interested in nature study, and
that's a good thing to do. And this little boy found it
was either an ant or a termite mound. I think termites are more
white and ants are mainly black. However, he found that if he
loosened a bit of clay soil off from the top, he could look down
in this ant nest and see how busy they were. And he noticed
that some of the ants did a regular errand from the entrance of the
anthill and they were storing food in a separate compartment. And ants do that, they store
food for the winter. And they were so busy and it
fascinated this boy watching them. And every day or so he
would go and he'd lift up this, try not to disturb them, he'd
look in and see these ants, all busy, And he thought, how wonderful
this is. And then one of his friends told
him that he'd seen an anteater walking about. An anteater can
be quite a big animal. The giant anteaters can be six
or seven feet long. Most of them are about three
feet. If you see a picture of an anteater, they've got a long,
narrow snout. At the end, they've got a very
small mouth. They've got quite a long tongue. And they feed
by putting their long muzzle down into an anthill, and they
eat ants wholesale. And this boy thought about these
ants, but he said, what he couldn't do, he couldn't tell them that
the anteater was there. They've got to go and hide up
somewhere. He couldn't tell them that they were in danger. If
the anteater came, he would devour them. Oh, that we could tell More people,
the way of salvation. Oh that God would awaken more
souls and cause them to seek. What we do know is the words
of the Lord Jesus. He said, all that the Father
hath given me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. We know that God has a people,
he has an elect. We don't know who they are. But
we never know who we're talking to or who we might encourage,
and there might be some seed thoughts sown in their heart
and mind, ultimately to their salvation. We don't know. But
we are told to let our light so shine before men. And so,
may the Lord help us as we live out our lives. But what happened? Jonah received
this clear instruction. What we read is, but Jonah rose to flee from Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord. We cannot flee from the presence
of the Lord, can we? The Lord's eyes run to and fro
throughout the whole earth. Jonah, he thought, He could go
and hide up. And he should have gone east,
but he went west. He found a ship going to Tarshish.
It's very noticeable how sometimes when we're doing something wrong,
it seems to go so easily, doesn't it? It's so easy to go in the
wrong track. And Jonah found a ship going
in the opposite direction, and he paid the fare. He was determined
to go, and he boarded that ship. And I think I understand that
Tarshish would have been somewhere in southern Europe. It might
well have been Spain, where they were trading in gold at that
time. And if they could get a shipload
of stuff to there and bring valuables back, these merchant seamen could
earn a substantial living. Jonah was determined to run away,
he thought, from God. But God, as we've already said,
when God is determined to save, He will save. And we well know,
because we read it before, how that Jonah went in the opposite
direction, and the Lord sent a great wind into
the sea, And there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the
ship was light to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid
and cried, every man unto his God. And notice that is God with
a little G. They were idle gods. They were
false gods. Gods without feeling. They might as well pray to a
rock or a brick There'll be no more life in them
than these false gods. And of course, anyone that does
a break in the first commandment, I shall have no other God before
me. And they were all crying unto their God. But it's worth
noticing that these men were affected by this great storm
and God was so gracious to them.
And later on we read how the men feared exceedingly and were
afraid and said unto them, why hast thou done this? And we read that they were prayed
to God, wherefore they cried unto the Lord, that is Jehovah,
capital letters, and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech
thee, Let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us
innocent blood, for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
They pleaded with God with a felt sense of their need. And it's
not surprising that God is able, because of who He is, to make
even this situation of Jonah's disobedience to cause these people
to learn to obey the true and living Lord God. They were brought
out of darkness into the light of the knowledge of the Lord.
For thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee, they said. And
then as we read, Jonah was in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights. The Lord Jesus himself takes
this fact up, doesn't he? When the people were asking him
for a sign, and he said, no sign shall be given you, but the sign
of Jonah. He said as he was three days
and three nights in the belly of the fish, which God had prepared, So he himself would be three
days and three nights and then he would take up his life again. He said, no man taketh my life
from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This have I received from my father. What a tremendous truth. The same Lord Jesus who said,
because I live, you should live also. He has power to work mightily
in the hearts and souls of those who fear him. The fear of the
Lord, we read, is the beginning of wisdom, and to depart from
evil is understanding. They took up Jonah and cast him
into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men
feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered sacrifice unto the
Lord and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great
fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the
fish three days and three nights. And then Jonah prayed unto the
Lord. What a wonderful truth. Can we escape from the Lord?
Could Jonah escape from the Lord? No. The Lord so often has a word
for his people. God is divine. And this turning
point, it may be that Jonah was so comfortable
in this ship, asleep, even though the sea was tempestuous, and
the ship master awoke him. Yes. And we read that Jonah was conscious while he
was in the fish's belly and I understand from what I read once about a
whaling ship that they landed a whale on a ship and started
butchering it and they found a live man and he came out He
was rather a funny color because the digestive acid in the whale
had rather bleached his skin, but he was alive. He said it
was very hot in there, but there was enough oxygen that he could
breathe, but it was by no means comfortable. Now this gives us
just a glimpse of what happened with Jonah. And what we read
here is first-hand from Jonah. I cried by reason of mine affliction
unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell cried
I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hast cast me into the
deep, in the midst of the seas, in the floods compassed me about,
all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said,
I am cast out of thy sight, yet will I look again, toward thy
holy temple. When the temple was established,
we read there that God made a wonderful statement, didn't he? He said,
I will meet with you and commune with you from above the mercy
seat. And Jonah must have kept this in
mind. It was given to him at the time. He could look, by the
gift of faith, to the mercy seat where Jesus answers prayer. There
humbly lie before his feet, for none can perish there. Though I'm cast out of thy sight,
yet will I look again toward thy holy temple. And he says,
as though he could feel the movement of this great fish which God
had prepared. The bars were about me forever,
yet as thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord, my God,
when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my
prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple, the mercy
seat. And then he Confesses, he says,
they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. With
the voice of thanksgiving, I will pay that I have vowed. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And
we read in the book of Hosea, These wonderful truths, Hosea 6. Come and let us return them to
the Lord, for he has torn and he will heal us. He has smitten
and will bind us up. After two days he will revive
us, on the third day He will raise us up and we shall live
in his sight. Then shall we know if we follow
on to know the Lord, Jehovah. His going forth is prepared as
the morning and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter
and the former rain upon the earth. What a promise. And Jonah was blessed with God's
wonderful mercy made known to him and the wind sent by God was a great mercy to Jonah. The
master and the crew were awakened through this storm to trust in the true and living
God and When Jonah was cast into the
sea, it was then that this raging of the storm stopped. We see
teaching here, don't we? The storm that Jonah stilled
was a storm that came about by Jonah's misconduct, we can say. The Lord Jesus has stilled the
storm of sin. But the storm that the Lord Jesus
has stilled was caused by man's disobedience. And that the Lord
Jesus is He who by His wondrous love and mercy has stilled the
storm of sin. It was sinners that Jesus came to
save. What a blessing it is that as
we think on these things, it's a
blessing that Jonah's prayer was heard in highest heaven,
although it was prayed from the lowest depth. We can't go below
God's ability to come under us and lift us up. The eternal God
is our refuge, we read, and underneath are the everlasting arms. We
can't sink below those everlasting arms. No, Jesus ready stands
to save us, filled with pity, joined with power. Jonah prayed
unto the Lord his God. He knew distress, he knew danger,
he knew despair, His condition was deplorable, wasn't it? But
he encourages himself in God's favour. Jonah is a warning and an instruction
to others. Salvation is of the Lord. He says, but I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord. And when Jonah came to this situation
before a holy and heart-searching Lord God, it was then that we
read, the Lord spake unto the fish, and he vomited out Jonah
upon the dry land. Not in the water, on the land. And the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and preach Unto it the preaching that I bid thee." Now, it's as though Jonah was
released from prison that he might obey God. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. It was an exercise. to Jonah,
what has he got to say? And it's just an exercise to
any who attempt to hold forth God's word, what have they got
to preach from? What have they got to say? What
teaching can we bring out of it? And how does it affect us
personally? Because we need God's upholding
hand as we continue to attempt to serve him. But it's obvious that God gave
Jonah a message. Jonah arose and went to Nineveh
according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding
great city, a three days journey. And Jonah began to enter into
the city, a day's journey, and he cried and said, yet 40 days
and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed
God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. It wasn't a long discourse that
Jonah gave, was it? It was a short, sharp warning,
we might say. The people of Nineveh believed
God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth the greatest
of them, even to the least of them. For the word came unto
the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid
his robe from him, and covered him in sackcloth, and sat in
ashes, and caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh
by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither
man nor beast, herd nor flock, Taste anything, let them not
feed nor drink water, but let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth and cry miserly unto God. Yea, let them turn everyone
from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hand. Who can tell if God will turn
and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish
not? There's a wonderful truth that
we read in Holy Scripture, and we do well to look into it. Jeremiah 18, if we read from
verse five, we read these words. Jeremiah chapter 18. And verse
5, and we read down to verse 8. Then the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this
potter, saith the Lord? Behold, as the clay is in the
potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. At what
instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom
to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it, if that nation
against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil and will
repent from the evil that I thought to do unto them, at what instant
shall I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build
and to plant it? If it do evil in my sight, that
obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith
I said I would benefit them. So God can speak concerning a
nation. At what instance they speak concerning
a nation and concern to pluck it up if that nation turn from
their evil and repent of the evil that I thought to do them,
That instant, he said, God, if we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But what a blessing it is that
God heard their cry. He heard them. Their confession that they gave,
God acted on and therefore their souls were saved from the destruction
that would come to them. Who can tell if God will turn
and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish
not? And God saw their works that they turned from their evil
ways, and God repented of the evil that he said he would do
to them, and he did it not. God sent Jonah, yes. Jonah had to be turned around,
his life, his soul, and his attitude toward God. God prepared a fish to swallow
up Jonah. God ordered the fish to vomit
him up on the dry land. And the God of all grace is in
all these things. The God of all grace ordered
Jonah the second time to go and preach at Nineveh. And the God
of all grace worked in his people. They repented, and God by his
grace saved them. and God's grace spared them. And so, when you get home, you can read
the fourth chapter in this account, and it's most interesting to
read that God has a perfect right to spare and save who he will. None can say unto God, what doest
thou? And God said, should not I spare
Nineveh, that great city wherein are more than six score thousand
persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left
hand, and also much cattle. I understand that these six score
thousand persons could well have been about 120,000 babies or
infants. those who could not discern which
was their right and their left hand. God spared them. The same power that said, suffer
the children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such
is the kingdom of heaven. I feel I've only scratched the
surface of this great truth, but may the Lord bless his word
to us this evening and May we be enabled to take God's word
with us to our prophet and to his praise. Amen.