and a reading service in the
afternoon at 2 o'clock. Mr John Hart is due to preach
on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock and there will be a prayer meeting
on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. May the Lord help us to commence
our worship today with hymn 696 tune Harewood 959. Within these walls, dear Lord,
display thy matchless grace, thy constant aid afford, and
show thy smiling face. And may thy blessed family enjoy
salvation full and free. Hymn 696, tune Harewood 959. ? When peace comes to the world
? ? Yes, when thy majesties praise ? ? Thy constant aid afford ?
? And truth proclaim ? And may thy blessed family Enjoy
salvation full and free. Here may thee die Victorious and free, Victorious
and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free,
Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free,
Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free,
Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious
and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious
and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious
and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious
and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free,
Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free,
Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious
and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious and free, Victorious
and free the wonders of His love, and
makes His children's hearts at home. May your gentles of God Keep our vows of decline, Proclaim
our Savior's blood, To vanquish guilty fear, Let us read together from the
Word of God, three portions. The first you'll find in the
book of Jonah, and chapter 1. Jonah comes after Obadiah before Micah. Jonah and chapter 1. Now the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah the son of Amittai saying arise go to Nineveh that
great city and cry against it for their wickedness is come
up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee from
Tarsus from the presence of the Lord and went down to Joppa and
he found a ship going to Tarsus So he paid the fare thereof and
went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence
of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great
wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the sea so
that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were
afraid and cried everyone unto his God and cast forth the wares
that were in the ship. into the sea to lighten it of
them. But Jonah was gone down into
the sides of the ship, and he lay and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him
and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call
upon thy God. If so be, that God will think
upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his
fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose
cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot
fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is
thine occupation, and whence cometh thou? What is thy country,
and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an
Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath
made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceeding afraid,
and said unto him, why hast thou done this? For the men knew that
he had fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told
them. Then said they unto him, what shall we do unto thee? that
the sea may be calm unto us, for the sea walked and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, take me
up and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm
unto you, for I know that for my sake this great tempest is
upon you. Nevertheless, the men rode hard
to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea warped
and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore, they cried unto the
Lord and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let
us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent
blood, for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they
took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased
from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly and offered a 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. Now I want to turn to
the New Testament Testament to Matthew's Gospel and Chapter
12. And here we have the Lord Jesus
speaking of the Prophet Jonah. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 12,
and reading from verse 38. Matthew 12, verse 38. Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, answering, saying, Master, that's speaking
to Jesus, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and
said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and 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 whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of
Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall
condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas. And
behold, a greater than Jonas is here. And lastly, in the book
of Epistle of Paul to the Romans and chapter five, Romans and chapter 5. Romans 5 and verse 18. Here Paul is showing how that
Adam and Christ are heads of two races really. how that in Adam we all fail
and in Christ we're all made alive. Romans 5 and verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so,
by the righteousness of one, the free grift came upon all
men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense may abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ, our Lord. May the Lord bless those readings
of his holy word and help us now to draw nigh to God in prayer. Let us pray. Kind and gracious and eternal
Lord God, as we bow before thee in worship this Lord's Day morning,
we do pray for thy presence to be with us. that we might, Lord,
know that grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that one who came to
seek and to save that which is lost, that one who came, Lord,
to reverse all that Adam did in the Garden of Eden, Lord,
in the fall and how that affects the whole posterity of Adam and
Eve, and Lord, as we are all in Adam, Lord, so that we, by
nature, are far off from God. And we pray, Lord Jesus, that
we might each come to recognize and realize that that is true
of us personally, that we, by nature, are far off from God. And yet, Lord, we pray that we
might, Lord, each know some have that saving interest in that
last Adam, in the Lord Jesus Christ, that one that came to
reverse all the awful, fatal effects of sin and came to bring
life and hope and restoration and redemption to a people, to a number that
no man can number, of every kindred, nation, tribe, and tongue. Lord we thank thee Lord for the
breadth of the gospel that we Lord perhaps most of us if not
all of us do not have Jewish origin and therefore we would
be classed amongst the Gentiles for the most part and Lord those
who are far off from God and yet Lord Thou didst come to seek
and to save that which is lost, both Jews and Gentiles. And Lord,
we thank Thee then for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy mercy that made a
way whereby those lost and ruined in the fall can be made right
with God. And Lord, we pray for each that
have gathered here, from the youngest to the oldest, Lord,
we pray thy blessing upon them as a church and people gathering
here, we pray for their pastor. On holiday, Lord, Lord, do watch
over him where he is at this day. Lord, grant him a good Lord's
day in thy house as a hearer and that his soul may be fed
and that he might be able to feed on those precious truths
of the gospel that he so delights to preach. And Lord, we pray
then that thou help us as we, Lord, now come to preach, Lord,
here this day. Lord, we do pray that this might
be one of thy appointments, that it might be a time when the glorious
truth of the gospel might be seen. Lord, as has been prayed
already, Perhaps for the first time, Lord, we pray that that
light of the gospel might shine. If there are those that have
never seen it before, that it might shine for the first time.
But Lord, those of us who have seen the beauty of Christ, oh,
how we need it again and again and again. How we need again
to come to that well of Bethlehem, to come again and drink of the
water of life freely, to again be able to bask in the beauties
of Thy salvation, that we, Lord, again might be able to be fed.
For, Lord, day by day we grow cold and far off from Thee, Lord,
we're in a wilderness world. We are, Lord, in enemy territory. Lord, we have sinful hearts that
constantly veer away from the right way. And Lord, we left
to ourselves go our own way. But Lord, we pray then that we
might, as we come on this first day of the week, we might be
refreshed. It might be as that market day
of the soul, as the Puritans used to speak of, the Lord's
Day as the market day of the soul, that they may gather the
goods for the rest of the week. They might be able to go on their
way rejoicing and be able to feed upon that which they have
fed upon on the Lord's Day. Oh, we pray then that today may
not be an empty, barren, fruitless day, but there may be glimpses
of the Saviour. Glimpses of that one who loved
us and gave himself for us. The wonder of the gospel, the
freeness of the gospel, the kindness of God, the mercy of God, the
long-suffering of God. Oh, that these wonderful precious
truths may echo in our hearts and that they might give a hope,
that they might give, Lord, a who can tell. Lord, for thou knowest
where each one is. Lord, thou knowest the places
where each of thy people are. Lord, Jonah himself knew what
it was to be in a very dark place, in the belly of the fish, of
the whale, for three days and three nights. Total darkness. And yet, Lord, out of that very
place of darkness he was able to look again toward thy holy
temple. Lord we pray then that if there
are those that are in the dark, in dark paths, they cannot see
the way forward, they feel they're at their wit's end, that they
cannot see any way out, they might realise that there is hope.
in the gospel. There is the mercy of God from
everlasting to everlasting. We pray then that the gospel
might be really precious today and that there may be food in
thy house. Break thou the bread of life. Lord, we need thee to
come. We need thy Holy Spirit, Lord.
But we read, Lord, if he then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly
Father give the gift of the Holy Spirit to them that ask? Lord, we then ask for that gift
of the Holy Spirit this day. For Lord, I need it so much in
speaking, to be able to speak well of the one that we love.
But Lord, it's not just me that need it. each heart, Lord, that
receives the word, that hears the word with the hearing of
the ear, that there may be an entering of the word into the
hearts of the people, that it might be a life-giving sound,
or that there might be those things done this day which will
be for thy honour and glory and for the building up of thy church
and the blessing of thy kingdom. O thy kingdom come, thy will
be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Bless us each, then we
pray, from the youngest to the oldest. Do be with each one in
their pathways, give them wisdom, grace, provide for each one,
Lord. Let the children and young people be with them and bless
them, provide for them, Lord. Growing up in a world which,
for the most part, despises the knowledge of thy ways, give them
the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Show
them the good way. Open their eyes to see the foolishness
of walking in rebellion against God. Oh, it's foolishness is
bound up in the heart of a child and Lord, what children we are,
how foolish we are. Lord, leave us not to walk in
disobedience. Take us by the hand. and look
upon us in mercy. Lord, it is thy mercy we need.
Lord, Jonah needed it. Lord, we need it. We need thy
mercy. Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song, the hope of my heart and the boast of my tongue. Lord,
help us to, Lord, delight in thy mercy this day, but Lord,
let us never abuse it. Let us never use thy mercy as
an excuse for sin. Let us not sin that grace may
abound. Paul said, God forbid. We pray
then that we might hate sin more and more in all its various uglinesses
as they arise in our lives and that we may love the Lord Jesus
more and more in every office he sustains, in every victory
he gains, in every counsel of his will, he's precious to his
people still. Bless us each, then we pray.
And Lord, we thank thee for thy mercies. We pray thy blessing
upon all the gatherings of thy people up and down this land
and throughout the world. Oh Lord, may it be a good day
in Zion, a good day amongst thy people, the Zion of God, that
stronghold which was once given over to the powers of Satan,
Oh, the stronghold of Zion. Lord was a stronghold of the
Jebusites, a stronghold of resistance against Israel and Israel's God. And yet David, nevertheless,
David took the strongholds of Zion and transformed that to
be a city of David, the city of God, the place where God's
name was honored. And Lord, how each of us are
by nature a stronghold of the enemy, a stronghold of Satan. And Lord, then come and be that
greater David, great David's greater son that comes. Nevertheless, David took the
strongholds of Zion. And Lord, do come and take us
captive and lead us in those ways of life and truth and holiness. Bless us then. Help us now, Lord,
as we turn to thy word. Go before us, we pray. And Lord,
have mercy upon us. Be with our government, Lord.
Have mercy upon them. We do pray, Lord, that those
laws that have been voted on in the House of Commons, Lord,
as they We understand they have to go to the House of Lords and
be approved there. We do pray that if it is thy
will, that thou will overturn them. Those laws that make it legal to commit suicide. Those laws, Lord, which further
desecrate the unborn child in the womb. Lord, Hear our cries. Lord, it will only bring more
and more shame and sadness and wickedness into our nation. Lord,
have mercy upon us. We beseech thee. Give wisdom
then to those in authority over us, and give wisdom, Lord, and
grace, and that they might be kept from doing those things
that are wrong. Those on the world scene, Lord, so many wars
and There's so much sadness and so much of a manifestation of the hideous nature of sin. Lord, that which lives in ourselves
is manifest in all the world. And Lord, O Thou hideous monster
sin, what a curse hast Thou brought in. O Lord, we need that cleansing
fountain. Help us, Lord, to flee to it
today, and then help us to tell to others, to be thy witnesses,
to bring it to others, that we have obtained mercy. And by God's
grace, they can too. Lord, do go before us and do
us good then. Bless us in the singing of the
hymns. Bless each that have gathered and any that join online. May
it be a time of blessing. For Christ's sake, amen. Hymn 678, tune Evan, 136. There's not a man that's born
of God, but readily will say, if ever my poor soul be saved,
tis Christ must be the way. Hymn 678, tune Evan, 136. Namo Buddhaya. There's not a man that's born
of God God heals the plague of sin,
When the disaster he can't be, He heals the pilgrim's sin. and strongholds of such a name. Let the praises and praises in the field, when Jesus Christ
was dead. Sleep and do nothing well In
her sweet avatars He came to see both sinners attend Him,
and even to us. Lord may graciously help me,
I turn your careful attention to Romans chapter 5 and verse
19. Romans chapter 5 and verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Romans 5 and verse 19. In this chapter in Romans, the
Apostle Paul is laying out this great truth that there is two
great heads, often referred to as federal heads. Adam being
the first federal head, he represented all that were in Adam he represented
the whole human race and as Adam fell in disobedience to God's
commands the whole human race fell with him he represented
them and as he fell they fell and thus we have the doctrine
of the original sin and of course then we compound that sin ourselves
because we are sinners as well as well as being in Adam as sinners. That's for one man's disobedience. That's speaking of Adam. But
then there's another side. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. And here Paul is speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who was referred to in other places as
the last Adam. He is the one that came to reverse
all the awful effects of sin. And so by his obedience, just
as by Adam's disobedience, it had effect upon everyone that
was represented in Adam, the whole human race. But so by the
obedience of one, the obedience of Christ, then everyone in Christ
would be made righteous, just as everyone in Adam, who then
hadn't got a part in the second Adam or the last Adam Christ,
would perish. So here in this chapter in Romans,
Paul is laying out these two great truths. And you might think,
well, what has that got to do with what we read in Jonah? what we read about in Matthew's
Gospel was the fact that Jonah had some similarities to the
Lord Jesus Christ. We read that, for as Jonah was
three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the
Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of
the earth. The Lord Jesus was drawing a parallel in some aspects
of Jonah and himself. And so I want to have a look
at this record that we have of Jonah and look at how it illustrates
these great truths and the effect of them and the need of each
one of us to be found in Christ. You see we are all in Adam. We
all are descendants of Adam and Eve. So many generations we have
come from Adam and Eve, each one of us, the whole human race.
But you see, if all we have is a, if all we are is in Adam and
never also in Christ, then all we will find is we will perish
and we will be going into everlasting punishment. But if we have an
interest in that last Adam, then we have salvation. So if we look
at this account that we have given about Jonah, Jonah, the
name Jonah means a dove. He was a son of Amittiah, which
is the son of truth. And you might say, well, how
can you liken Jonah to the Lord Jesus Christ in any way? Jonah
was a disobedient prophet. That is a stark contrast with
Christ, and that is true. But you'll see that what Adam's
sin, sorry, Jonah's sin affected much more people than just himself.
Other people came into great difficulties and troubles because
of Jonah's sin. And that's similar, you see,
to what was true of Adam, by Adam's disobedience. He ended
up living more than 900 years after that disobedience. And
would he not have seen the fruit of that disobedience right through
his life? In his own family, it was the
killing, Cain killing Abel. His own sons, one killing the
other. It must have been a tremendous cause of sadness to Adam and
Eve. But down the generations, there was so much sin. And to
trace it all back to that disobedience as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners but then we have the glorious gospel that
as by one man's obedience many should be made righteous and
that's the glorious gospel if we only had Adam and only concentrated
on him and his disobedience then we have no good news we have
no hope but even in the Garden of Eden, before they were thrown
out of the Garden of Eden, there was this first gospel promise
that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. And that was, of course, speaking
of Christ, who would come of a seed of a woman, of the Virgin
Mary, that there would be that blessing. If we look then at
this chapter that we read in Jonah, now the word of the Lord
came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has
come up before me. So here we have a commission. Jonah is given a commission as
a prophet of the Lord, and he was a true prophet of the Lord,
though in this occasion he was disobedient. And yet he did really
know the Lord. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up
before me. He had a commission given him. But in verse three,
we see what he did with that commission. But, but gives a
contrast. There was this commission, but
Jonah arose to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord,
almost in the opposite direction to what Indeneva was. He went right away. He didn't
want to do what God told him to do. And here we see Jonah's
disobedience, similar as it were to Adam, not to eat of the fruit
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and he went
ahead and ate it, in disobedience to God. And then all the awful
effects of sin that flowed from that. For their wickedness has
come up before me. But Jonah arose to flee unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. We read in Psalm 40
how this is contrasted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 40 verse
7 it says, Then said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of book it is written
of me. I delight to do thy will, O my
God, yea, thy law is within my heart. You see, the Lord Jesus,
when he was given a commission by his father to come to this
sin-cursed earth, to work out a righteousness for his people,
to preach the gospel there, and to work out the gospel, to make
the gospel possible, he came willingly. A contrast. So Jonah fled from the presence
of the Lord and went down and we read he found a ship going
to Tarshish so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it
to go on to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So see
here that this is walking in disobedience and Provident seemed
to help him. He seemed to just have a boat
that was ready to go and he just had the money to be able to pay
the fare. So be careful. Just because you
can do something and it seems that the door might be open doesn't
necessarily mean it's right to go through it. Jonah went through
this door. The ship was just ready to go,
but it was a wrong way. It was in disobedience to God. But then in verse four you see
we have another but. But the Lord sent out a great
wind. And so we see that God was going
to overrule. Jonah was not his own. He was not going to get away
with it. But the Lord sent out a great wind. And often, the
tempest and the storm is picturing the wrath and anger of God against
sin. Jonah had sinned, and now he
was going to be exposed to the anger of God. Adam sinned in
the Garden of Eden, and he was thrust out of the garden. The
wages of sin is death. Sin has consequences. To sin
against God is not an easy path. It will ultimately be a path
of difficulty and of judgement. But the Lord sent out a great
wind into the sea and there was a mighty tempest in the sea so
that the ship was like to be broken. Then we read that the
mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his God. So the
ship was likely to be broken. As such a strong storm we're
told that and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship
into the sea to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down
into the sides of the ship and he lay and was fast asleep. So
Jonah seems oblivious of the trouble that he's caused and
how often we can be like that we can go on in hardened in our
sin. But these mariners, these other
sailors are all affected. You might say, but it was Jonah
that had been disobedient. But these mariners, these other
sailors were going to, if the ship sank, they were going to
die because of Jonah. And so this is where I say there's
a likeness in our text where it says, For by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. And judgment came upon them as
a result. And so as Jonah disobeyed, then
it affected all the people on the boat. And of course, we don't
know how many other boats there may have been on the Mediterranean
at that time. Could have been many other ships
as well, which were likely to lose their lives because of this
great storm. Then the mariners were afraid
and cried every man unto his God. These sailors did not know
the true God. It's clear that it says with
a little g they prayed unto their God that they were not the true
God but yet they cried out in their distress, in their trouble.
But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship and he
lay and was fast asleep. And so we see how we can, in
trouble and difficulty, we can be oblivious to the danger. We can go on as far from God
as sheep can run. But then we read in verse six,
so the ship master came to him and said unto him, what meanest
thou, O sleeper? Rise and call upon thy God. If
so be, God will think upon us that we perish not. And they
said everyone to his fellow, come and let us cast lots that
we may know for whose cause this evil has come upon us. So they
cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. So here God overruled
this casting of lots that they often used to use to find out
something. What was the way forward? God
overruled that to the lot fell on Jonah. It was clear that Jonah
was the cause. And that was true, he was. And
the lot fell upon Jonah. And so they turn on him and ask
him lots of questions. And they said unto him, tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us? What is
thine occupation? And whence comest thou? And what
is thy country? And of what are thy people? They
want to know about Jonah. And he said unto them, I am in
Hebrew and I fear the Lord. But you're running away from
him. So often, you see, we can be disobedient. He knew the Lord,
and yet he was trying to run away from you. You say, how foolish.
And yet that's how foolish we are. We can just do that too. We need to come with repentance.
And he said unto them, I am in Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the
God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then
were the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him, why hast thou
done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of
the Lord because he had told them. So these men recognized,
these other sailors recognized that what Jonah had done was
wrong. God had told him to go to Nineveh, that great city,
and he'd gone in the opposite direction. He recognized it was
wrong. But we read, you see, verse 10
starts with this. Then were the men exceedingly
afraid. Why were they more, you see,
we're told that they were afraid earlier. Earlier in the account we're
told that they were afraid but then we're told that they were
exceedingly afraid and what changed? We're not told that the storm
got heavier. What the difference was that
these men now connected a storm with God. This was not just a
random effect of some meteorology event. This was the hand of God. And you see, in your life, when
things come into your pathway, illnesses, difficulties, afflictions,
and when you recognize that this is the hand of God, that's different
than just saying, well, it just happens to this person and that
person. It's just one of those random things. When you recognize
that this is God's hand. It was so with Joseph and his
brethren. You see, Joseph, when he was
bringing his brothers to repentance and to show them the evil of
their ways, he put that money back in their sacks when
they came to Egypt to buy corn. But when they opened their sacks,
they said this, every man's heart failed them. And they said, what
is this that God has done unto us? They recognized that God
was in this and that made them much more afraid because this
God who made the sea and the, Jonah says this, the Lord, the
God of heaven which has made the sea and the dry land, this
is the creator of the universe that is now angry with us. This
is serious. We haven't offended a person
who's pretty weak and can't do much about it. We've offended
somebody who controls everything and nothing can escape his grip. Then, were the men exceedingly
afraid. Have you come to realize that
yourself? That we haven't offended somebody that doesn't matter
too much. We've offended a holy God. That as in Adam, all die. we have a part in Adam, we realize
that it's not just something we're told but we recognize it
working in our own hearts, that sin which so easily besets us
and we've sung of it in the last hymn about there's not a man
that's born of God but recognizes that and these you see they recognized
that this was a difficult, this was a terrible situation But then in verse 11, we have
a strange question really, that these mariners ask Jonah. In verse 11 it says, then said
they unto him, what shall we do unto thee that the sea may
be calm unto us? For the sea walked and was tempestuous. So these sailors recognized that
if they did something to Jonah, in punishment, in correction,
then it would change the situation for them. There was a linkage
between Jonah and their safety. And here you see we have a truth
in the Gospel. There's a link between what happens
to Christ and our security. A link. They recognized it. What should we do unto thee that
the sea may become unto us? If we do something to Jonah,
that will affect what happens to us. Well, I don't know what
they had in mind when they asked Jonah that. But when we see what
they did and how they responded, they clearly didn't have this
in mind, what Jonah said. Verse 12, Jonah gives a very
drastic solution. A solution that shocked them.
A solution that made them pull back and say, no we don't want
to do that. That's not the solution. And he said unto them, take me
up and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm
unto you. You think about it. You have
a raging sea, a sea that is just about to sink a ship. And these
sailors, which are used to sailing, they've seen many seas in their
time, but this is about to finish them off. This is a raging sea,
and if you throw somebody out of the boat in that conditions,
it's, naturally speaking, it's certain death, isn't it? It'll
be certain death. You may be good at swimming,
but that's not gonna do you any good. You're soon gonna get smashed
by the waves and go under. And he said unto them, take me
up and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm
unto you. For I know that for my sake this
great tempest is upon you. Now here we have this really
a shadow of a sacrifice. Jonah was willing as it were
to give himself to lose his life as it would naturally appear
so that these men and the ship would be saved and he was willing
here and there's a foreshadowing of course Jonah says that I know
for my sake this great tempest is upon you but here there's
a contrast with the Savior The tempest, the wrath of God
was upon his people, not for Christ's sake, not because he
had done anything. Then I restored that which I
took not away. Christ had not taken away anything
from the human race, but he came to restore that which he had
not taken away, a contrast. And yet you see here, take me
up and cast me forth into the sea so shall the sea be calm
unto you for I know that for my sake this tempest is upon
you and when we look at verse 13 we see the reaction of these
sailors they didn't like the solution they didn't want to
do this this didn't seem a good way to them nevertheless that
means They heard what he said, but they wanted to do something
else. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring it to the land.
They thought, if only we can row to the land. We don't want
to throw Jonah overboard. We'll just try and get to land
by rowing hard. Oh, and it's so much in us, isn't
it? We don't like such a drastic
solution. One of our hymns Hymn 144 has
these lines in it. Verse 4 it says, The more I strove
against its powers, I sinned and stumbled, yet the more. Till late I heard my Saviour
say, Come hither soul, I am the way. But you see, they were they were doing everything
they could to avoid having to do what Jonah said told them
they had to do. And you can understand it on
a natural level can't you? They didn't want to kill as far
as they considered it was a be a case of killing or murdering
Jonah. To throw him over into a raging
sea is basically being responsible for his death as far as they
could judge that. Nevertheless, the men rode hard
to bring it to land, but they could not. And you see, that's
why a place where we each need to come to in our spiritual experience,
a place of extremity, where there is no other way. No other way. They tried it, but it didn't work. You see,
these sailors were not very different, really, than Peter, the disciple. Peter, the disciple, in Matthew
16, Jesus just asked his disciples, whom do men say ye that I am?
And Peter replies in Matthew 16, verse 16, and Peter answered,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter knew
who Jesus was. Then later on in verse 21 of
the same chapter, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto
his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer
many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and
be killed and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took
him and began to rebuke him saying, be it far from thee, Lord, this
shall not be unto thee. Peter said to Jesus, we do not
want this solution. This is not the right way. Nevertheless, the men rode hard
to bring it to the land. They didn't want this solution.
See, Peter hadn't recognized that this was the only way. Peter,
you by nature of being in Adam, you are destined to an eternity
of punishment. And unless somebody stands in
your place and dies on your behalf, Adam, you're going to die yourself.
And go to that place of eternal punishment. And so Peter had
to come to realise, Peter later writing in his epistle, he doesn't
carry on in this way. He doesn't continue to think
that this was an unnecessary way. You're not redeemed with
corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Christ. Oh, he realized that he needed
redemption. And you see, unless we realize
the seriousness of sin, we don't realize we need the redemption.
We don't realize the cost of the redemption is absolutely
essential. Nevertheless, the men rode hard
to bring it to the land, but they could not. They could not. As in Adam, all die. So in Christ,
they all be made alive. You see, there was no other way. There needed to be the death
of one, figuratively in Jonah's case, to be the life of the others. So they took Jonah. Then in verse
14 they cry out, Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said,
We beseech Thee, O Lord, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this
man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For Thou,
O Lord, hast done us it, please Thee. They're concerned that
they will be responsible for Jonah's death. We don't like
to think that we're responsible for the death of somebody else,
do we? We say, no, we wouldn't do that. We wouldn't be responsible
for somebody else's death. We're respectable people. But you see, one of the great
truths that we've got to come to understand in the Christian
faith is that we are responsible for the death of somebody else,
the death of our savior. If we are going to be saved,
we have a link We are responsible. We are verily guilty concerning
this one. They didn't want that link, but
they realized they had no choice. You see, the sea carried on being
as dangerous as ever, and soon the whole ship would be sunk
and all of them would be dead. So very reluctantly, verse 15. So they took up Jonah and cast
him into the sea. They took up Jonah and cast him
into the sea. We don't read that they chased
Jonah around the ship, do we? Him trying to get away from them.
We see much more here the idea of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. He gave himself as a lamb to
the slaughter. Jonah didn't resist, but they
had to do it. They had to do it. Jesus, you
see, himself, he didn't just go and die himself somewhere. This was something that was done
to him. They had to take me up, and we
think of the Lord Jesus on the cross. I, if I be lifted up,
will draw all men unto me. And how Jonah was lifted up and
cast forth into the sea. And then we read of a tremendous
miracle. Really two miracles took place
here. The first miracle was that suddenly, instantaneously, the
storm was over. That's just, if you stop the
wind blowing, it doesn't mean that the sea will be calm immediately.
But we read that the sea ceased from her raging. Suddenly the
storm was over. What a tremendous thing. They
throw Jonah over the side and no doubt he goes under the water,
they don't see him anymore. Of course the second miracle
is that this great fish was prepared of God to swallow up Jonah. So
as far as the ship sailors were concerned, Jonah had died. You
threw somebody over into the raging sea and then the sea was
totally calm and then you don't see the person bob up and swimming
around. You must come to the conclusion
they've died. They've died. And yet, the effect. And you see, this was true of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. When he died, there was a tremendous He cried, it is finished. The
wrath of God that was likely to break that ship, and it was
about to, and those men were gonna die and perish. Suddenly,
it was over. It was finished. And you see
here these beautiful words in Romans chapter eight, as Paul
says, Roman as Paul is preaching the gospel Romans 8 starts with
these beautiful words there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus in the last Adam in the one that
gave his life a ransom for many if we have a hope in his mercy
then you see though in the first Adam we are condemned to death
because of his disobedience and by our own disobedience as well. But you see when they threw Jonah
over the side then there was an immediate calm. The wrath
was gone. It is finished Christ cried.
Vengeance was was spent. The wrath of God had spent itself
upon the Saviour. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly. These men, they must have been
amazed, wasn't it? You think of that, in the midst
of a sea with the boat rocking to and fro, no doubt feeling
extremely seasick, I expect as well. And all of a sudden, the
whole thing over, the whole thing calm. Just because this one person
has been thrown out of the boat, you say it's a miracle. What
does it mean? Well, the Lord Jesus was going
to say that this was a sign. For as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Men of Nineveh
shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn
it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas and behold
a greater than Jonas is here. The Lord Jesus saying there's
some likenesses with what happened to Jonah as to what happened
to me, what will happen to me. And as we see this stark contrast,
it's a vivid, a picture of the gospel. A picture of no hope
without the death of one. Without Jonah. You see, you think
of what we read often. Paul says, I determined to know
nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him. Born at Bethlehem? No. Jesus Christ and him crucified. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
was absolutely vital. Peter didn't want it. The disciples
didn't think it would ever happen. But it became the only way that the church
would be saved. And it's a way that is opposite
to our thinking. It's a drastic way. The disciples
couldn't imagine it. that their Lord and Master would
be taken and would be beaten and would be scourged and would
be crucified and would die and become the song of the drunkards
on the cross as we read in Psalm 22. This was the way. This was the way. Then the men
feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the
Lord and made vows. So for these men on the ship,
it seemed that they were, they worshipped. They realised that
their life had been spared by the death. As far as they were
concerned, it was the death of Jonah. Of course, it wasn't really
the death of Jonah, we know. Jonah was miraculously preserved
by that great fish or whale that he was inside of. God had prepared,
we read in verse 17, 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. Three days and three
nights. This was a great trial for Jonah. Jonah was gonna be
in that position for three days and three nights. There's a contrast,
you see, with the Saviour here. Because with the Lord Jesus,
when he said, it is finished, on the cross, I believe it really
had finished. He wasn't then to go into, when
he went into the grave, I don't believe he suffered. Because
he said to the dying thief, this day shall thou be with me in
paradise. But you see for Jonah, those
three days and three nights in the belly of the fish were some
very dark, the darkest place that Jonah had ever known. The
most hopeless place, naturally speaking. And yet here we see
the mercy of God in Christ. And we see that as Jonah was
to pass this way, he was foreshadowing the Lord Jesus Christ who would
pass this way on behalf of his people. He would be that one
that would pass the deep so that we have not a high priest that
cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He was going
to pass this way so that he can succor them that are tempted.
You see, the Lord Jesus is that one who was so gracious. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one. You see,
in Jonah being willing to lay down his life, instructing the
men to do so, and I'm sure he didn't oppose it, He gave himself,
as our Saviour did. Our Saviour gave himself willingly. Lo, I come, I delight to do thy
will, O my God, and thy law is within my heart. For as by one
man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one. The obedience of Christ. We think
of the Lord Jesus in his obedience. After he was baptised, he was
led led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. But
you see in that wilderness, Adam, you see in the Garden of Eden,
surrounded with all that paradise, disobeyed God. But the last Adam,
in the wilderness, no food to eat for 40 days and 40 nights,
he was obedient. He didn't disobey his father. And he was encouraged, you see,
by Satan to command these stones to be made bread. He was told
to, if he would bow down and worship Satan, then all the kingdoms
of the world would be his and the glory of them. The crown
before the cross. But no, the Lord Jesus Christ
was one that endured the cross. He realised that he needed to
stand in his people's place. He needed to be that one who
would be that one to reverse all that Adam brought in in the
Garden of Eden and how his whole posterity, the whole human race
was affected with this sin. Now there was to be a way made
whereby sinners will be brought back to God. And at the end of
chapter two, we have those precious words, salvation is of the Lord. Jonah was going to experience
that himself. The Lord Jesus was gonna experience
that himself. Thou will not leave my soul in
hell, nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Jonah didn't
see corruption, did he? no doubt you'd think he's three
days he's disappeared in the water you say well it's obvious
he's dead he's decomposing Jonah wasn't Jonah wasn't nor was the Savior
you see of course Jonah was still alive but the Lord Jesus was
going to be raised from death his body did not see corruption
he was raised again as as a declaration that the father had accepted
that sacrifice. That it was all, that the debt
had been paid and his people could be free. And so we see
here this great truth that in the Old Testament and how Christ
used this and he also used it of course as a solemn warning.
He used it as a solemn warning. In verse 41 of Matthew 12 it
says, and the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this
generation and shall condemn it. Because they repented at
the preaching of Jonas. Jonas went back, as we hope to
look at later today, went back to preach in obedience to what
God had told him to do, to preach to these people. And they repented. They heard and listened to his
voice. And so, but a greater than Jonas
is here. We want to look at that, how
much greater the Lord Jesus Christ was than Jonah. And yet, we see
here then a foreshadowing of what Christ would do. Christ
is that one, and this great stark thing, are we, by nature we're
all in Adam, but have we an interest in Christ? That federal head. Because everyone in him, as he
has obtained the blessing as he has walked in perfect obedience,
worked out a perfect righteousness, therefore all those in him will
have that clothing of a perfect righteousness, not their own.
They'll be clothed upon with the righteousness of another.
And so, this is the great doctrine of imputation. Adam's sin came
upon the whole human race. But the last Adam, the Lord Jesus
Christ, his righteousness worked out in those 33 years living
on this earth. And then that's sin atoning death.
If we are in him, then we are secure. And so this great need
to recognize our sin, to recognize the foolishness and the futility
of rowing hard to get safe to the land, that we will never
do it. Well, we may try. But to come to that point, we'll
never do it. I've tried, but I can't. And
the need then to do what it says in the gospel. As Naaman was
told, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest
thou not have done it? How much more then, wash and
be clean. To put your trust for time and
eternity in God's way of salvation, which is the death of his only
begotten son that we might have life, not trusting in our own
righteousness, the end of our own fullness. No, we look out
of ourselves to his fullness. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. We'll close this morning with
hymn 1033, tune Seekum 838. In Jesus combine all the riches
of grace, what glory and grandeur I see in his face. Jehovah's
eternal and co-equal son took all our transgressions and made
them his own. Hymn 1033, Tune Secum 838. Lifting angels from high O'er
the ridges of grace For glory and grandeur I see in His face Firm as eternal and conical sun,
to go the transgressions and lengthen his own. Thee, children of Zion, atroph
of your tears, O ye, the Redeemer in glory have pierced. Now he, now he breaks, now he
dwells in the sky To answer the needy whenever they
cry Afflicted believer, thy course
He'll maintain, Thou'rt happy, Thy way He'll remind thee again. Induct his pensations, his learners
in room, and teach thee to praise his immutable love. But though thy corruption found
it many and strong, Thy gracious Redeemer will help thee along. His promise I chose him when
troubles assailed. The counsel of loving life I
cannot fail. Kind and gracious and eternal
Lord God, we thank thee, Lord, for all thy mercies, and we pray,
Lord, that in each of our lives we might recognize our great
need of one to stand in our place and realize the wonder of the
gospel, that was one that was willing to stand in our place
and willing to be a substitute Lord, we pray then that we might
truly delight in that gospel and that we might then live unto
him that loved us and washed us in his blood. Lord, may the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father's love and the fellowship
of the Eternal Spirit be with and abide with us each and bring
us up again this afternoon, we pray for Christ's sake. Amen.