I want to begin by reading 1
through 5 of Psalms 105. O give thanks unto the Lord,
call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto
him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in his strength.
Seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works,
what he hath done, his wonders, and the judgment of His mouth. Alrighty, let's begin tonight,
if you would. I want to share with you the
title as you see at the top of your handout. For we walk by
faith, not by sight. That sure is a tough verse to
handle, isn't it? I mean, we're so used to this
flesh seeing the things in front of our face, proving things to
us by what we see. It's so hard for us to put our
trust in something we can't see, but we've read it from the Word
of God, and we believe it. And the only reason we can put
our trust in that is because God has given us the gift to
believe. It is a gift of God, not of works,
lest man should boast. And we know that we would, don't
we? So I want to begin by reading the first four verses of Matthew
chapter 16. The Pharisees also, with the
Sadducees, came and tempting desired him that he would show
them a sign from heaven. And he answered and said unto
them, when it is evening, ye say it will be fair weather,
for the sky is red, and in the morning it will be foul weather
today, for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye
can discern the face of the sky, but can you not discern the signs
of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign, there shall
no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them and departed. If you would now, first paragraph
of page one on your handout, you've heard me share this, share
my account of flying from Sacramento to Dallas Fort Worth And at 30,000
feet, how you can see the plains from the Rockies all the way
down. There was an empty, there was
hardly anybody on the plane that time, so I was able to jump back
and forth between the windows. And I was just amazed at how
you could look out across the Rockies and you could see plateaus
feeding one into another. large areas where if it had gathered
water in that area, you could obviously see there was only
one place for it to go. That was into the next plateau.
And then down and further and further. And there were all kinds
of them. And every single plateau led down into that one spot that
we call the Grand Canyon. And I've shared this with you
how, as I was flying over and observing this, I was thinking
to myself, there's evidence of the flood right there. I mean,
only water that was just receding in a very rapid way could flood
all the way down and cause all that water to come down into
that one area and right through the Grand Canyon, wash it all
out. Well, I would be a liar if I did not admit that I look
at that as proof of God's Word. I'd be a liar if I didn't admit
my natural desire is to see proof of God's truths. It's our very
nature to see with our eyes rather than by face. Brother Don Fortner
wrote, since the beginning of time, unbelieving men and women
have always demanded signs to corroborate the Word of God. Before he will believe God, the
unregenerate, unbelieving man wants signs and evidence to convince
him that what God says in his word is true. The rich man in
hell foolishly imagined that if his brothers could hear a
preacher who was risen from the dead, they would believe God.
But God says this. He says, if they hear not Moses
and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one
rose from the dead. Luke 16.31. I ask this question, is this
generation any different than any generation before? And the
answer is no, not when it comes to spiritual, not when it comes
to the soul, not when it comes to our nature. No. Every man other than Christ,
or woman, who have walked this world walked in spiritual darkness,
dead in trespasses and sin. Listen to these words from Ephesians
2, 1-3. And you hath he quickened, meaning
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. You know,
you could take that hath he quickened out, that was added later to
help us understand it. Just read it this way. And you,
who were dead in trespasses and sin, were in times past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of error, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past in the lust of our flesh. fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. Last paragraph, page 1. I'm not
saying that looking upon God's creation, the mighty Rocky Mountains
and the plains that empty into the Grand Canyon, and seeing
His mighty hand in all that is, is evil. But Lord, let me never
put my trust in what I see with my eye. For we walk by faith,
not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 7. Tonight,
may the Lord be pleased to strengthen our faith through the hearing
of His Word. So then, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10, 17. Him that hath
ears, let him hear. How many times have we heard
Christ say that very thing? Him that hath ears, let him hear.
Hearing of what? Listen to these words from 1
Corinthians 1, 18-25. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved it
is the power of God, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. The preaching of the
cross, Christ and Him crucified and risen again. That's the sign
given. That's what the sign of the prophet
Jonah is. It is a picture of Christ. Now let me remind you of what
we read back in chapter 12 of Matthew's gospel. Then certain
of the scribes and other Pharisees answered, saying, Master, 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." And that's exactly what it was, too.
That's exactly what it is. The sign of Jonas is a picture
of Christ. And I want to look at that tonight.
You may recall my comment last week that people are not offended
by being called a dog, the people of God. That's just a word to
describe one in a derogatory way. The Lord does not mix words
as we do. He calls us plainly for what
we are, a wicked and adulterous generation. What is an adulterer? An adulterer is one who goes
outside of marriage in a a knowing way, as the Word of God uses
the word no, new, in a knowing way. An adulterer, one who goes
outside of the marriage. Yes, a Wiccan adulterous generation
in verse four, yes, this is the unregenerate soul of unbelief,
but it is also the old man we battle daily with, page three. God often confirms his word to
those who believe him by special providential occurrences, even
as he once confirmed it to his people by special miracles. He
showed Noah the sign of his covenant by putting a rainbow in the sky.
He showed Gideon a sign using the fleece Gideon spread before
him. He showed Elijah a sign on Mark
Carmel and our Lord performed many miracles himself and by
his disciples called signs and wonders as we read in Hebrews
2 verse 4 by which he confirmed to us that he is the Christ.
But any faith that is built upon signs, miracles, and evidence
is false. It's a false faith. Listen to
these words from John 2 verse 23 through 25. Now when he was
in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed
in his name when they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus
did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men. and
needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was
in man." Our faith must be based on the Word of God alone. not
upon signs and miracles, scientific evidences, or human reasoning
or learning, or even our own emotions and experiences. Martin
Luther wrote this, he said, feelings come and feelings go, and feelings
are deceiving. I trust the word of God alone,
not else is worth believing. I say amen to that. So let's
spend the rest of our time considering this sign given that we might
believe. Turn to the gospel according
to Jonah. Our brother Norm uses that for the Old Testament. I
like that. I like that. This is God's These
are God's Prophets and they're bringing the gospel of Christ
out in the word If you're looking at it still for in your Bible,
you've got Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obedad, Jonah. If you've come to Micah or Nahum,
you've gone too far. So we want to look at Jonah and
I'd like to read with you the first two chapters if you would.
Jonah chapter 1. Now the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah, the son of Amitieh, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come
up before me. I've heard, before I go on, I've
heard a preacher bring out how this city of Nineveh, if you
go through and you look up these words in the original language,
that that great city and the cry against it for their wickedness
is come up before me. This is pretty serious stuff.
This is like the Lord asking one of us to go into a biker
bar with a bunch of Hell's Angels in it and preach the gospel to
them there. I'd be a little bit... I'd be
a little bit... Skeptical about going and doing
that, to be quite honest with you. That would take a lot of
courage from the Lord for me to go into a place like that.
Verse 3, But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence
of the Lord, and he went down to Joppa, and he found a ship
going to Tarshish. 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.
The Lord sent out a great wind. Here's that trouble coming up
against this ship brought on by the Lord so that the ship
was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid,
and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares
that were in the ship into the sea, so 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 he
said everyone 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. Who do you think controlled that?
Then said they unto him, verse 8, Tell us, we pray thee, for
whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation,
and whence comest thou? What is thy country, and what
of the people art thou? And he said unto them, I am in
Hebrew, and 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. Then said they unto him, what shall we do unto
thee that the sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought
and was temptuous. 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, men rode hard to
bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought.
and was temptuous 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 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. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord
his God out of the fish's belly, and said, 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, into the midst of the seas, and the floods can
pass me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me. Then said I, I am cast out of
thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters
compassed me about, even to the soul. The depths closed me round
about. The weeds were wrapped about
my head. I went down to the bottoms of
the mountains, the earth with her bars was about me forever. Yet hast 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 and
to thy holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee with
the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I avowed
salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah upon dry land. Page four of our handout,
if you would. What an honor to be sent of God
to proclaim his gospel. That's what we see in verse 1.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah and told him, arise and
go. So he went to a great city, yet
a city of heathen, unregenerate souls, full of wickedness as
we read in verse 2. And Jonah rose up to flee as
we read in verse 3. This is where we begin to see
the sign given, first and foremost, Christ is Lord of all. All that
is and all that which is yet to be, He is Lord of all. And
nothing comes to pass outside of His providential will and
purpose. He is the first cause of all
things. I ask people at times, was Jonah
in error in running from the Lord? I tell you here tonight
that our Lord showed us that Jonah ran from the Lord by the
will of God. Was it purposed by God? Absolutely. Was God the author of the sin?
No, absolutely not. That was Jonah's and he owned
up to it. Third paragraph of page four,
this act of fleeing is a picture of natural man. And this is the
condemnation that light has come into the world. And men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. John 3, 19 through 20. God allowed Jonah to flee. He's
Lord of all, folks. And as God, he could have stopped
him. Yet God, in his wisdom, allowed sin. Man's sin. God is not the author of sin.
We sin by nature and we love it, rather than coming to the
truth. That's what I just read there
in John 3, 19-20. Search the scriptures, it says
in John 5, 39-40. For then, then, ye think ye have
eternal life, and they are they which testify of me, and ye will
not come to me, that ye might have life. Folks, the nature
of man is enmity, as it says in Romans 8, 7, and with the
Word of Truth. That means it's hostile, it's
opposed, it's completely the opposite. This is why the Lord
must take you from among the heathen and gather you out of
all countries and will bring you into your own land. He says,
then I will sprinkle clean water upon you. Notice who is doing
the work here. And again, it's salvation of
the Lord. He says, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and ye shall be clean. From all your filthiness and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take
away the stony heart of your flesh and I will give you a heart
of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk
in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them.
and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers,
and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." That's Ezekiel
36, 24-28. Folks, that's the gospel right
there. That's the gospel in Ezekiel 36, 24-28. Salvation is of Lord. Page 5. This sign given
is a picture of fallen man saved by the birth, the death, and
the resurrection of Christ Jesus the Lord. Our Lord declared that
one solemn indisputable sign would be fulfilled by him. He
said the sign of the prophet Jonah. Matthew 16 for Jonah was
sacrificed look at verses 11 and 12 of Jonah here once again
Then said they unto him what shall we do unto thee that the
sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought and was temptuous
and now look at look at what Jonah says back. This is a picture
of our Savior sacrificing himself and he said unto them take me
up and Cast me forth into the sea Into the sin. That's what the waves of the
sea is a picture of. The waves of sin that come upon
us and overwhelm us in our natural state. Take me up and cast me
forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm unto
you. When we see Christ Jesus crucified,
sacrificed by His own will, the sea becomes calm. Our sins are
put away. Just as it did for Peter when
he was out walking on the water to Jesus. He took his eyes off
of Christ and focused on this tempestuous sea that was surrounding
him, this storm that was swelling up all around him and he began
to sink. Remember what the Lord did? He
reached down. grabbed him by the arm, and would
not let him go. He said unto them, Take me up,
cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you. Look at verses 17 through verse
10 of chapter 2. 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. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord
his God out of the fish's belly. Oh, how often we have seen in
the psalms pictures, messianic psalms that picture and give
us the picture of our Lord buried in the grave, crying out to the
Father, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And I cried
by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Let's go on now in our handout.
One man for many, this is the second full paragraph there on
page 5. One man for many to save all who were in the ship with
him from the wrath of God So the Lord Jesus was sacrificed
as our substitute. He died to save all of God's
elect. Listen to these words from John
11, 47 through 52. Then gathered the chief priests
and the Pharisees of counsel and said, what do we? For this
man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe on him, and the Romans shall come and take
away both our place and nation. One of them, named Caiaphas,
being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know
nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that
one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not. And this spake he not of himself,
but being the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus
should die for that nation. and not for the nation only,
but that also he should gather together in one the children
of God that were scattered abroad." Or how about these words from
1 Peter 1.18-20, For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, as the Lamb without blemish and without spot,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. Now I want to
go back to what we were reading a moment ago and pick this up
again in verse 3 of Jonah chapter 2. For thou hast cast me into
the deep, in the midst of the seas and the floods compassed
me about, all thy billows and thy waves have passed over me.
Then said I, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again
toward thy holy temple." This is that very one who laid down
his life and shed his precious This One who is the Lamb without
blemish and without spot, crying out from the deep. In verse 5,
He says, the waters compassed me about even to the soul. The
depth closed me around about. The weeds were wrapped about
my head. I went down to the bottoms of
the mountains. The earth with her bars was about
me forever, yet hast 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. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee with
the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And
the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon
dry land. Last paragraph of page 5, we
read in Hebrews 10, 5, Wherefore, then, he cometh into the world,
he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body
hast thou prepared me. As Jonah was in the belly of
the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of God
was buried in the heart of the earth for three days and three
nights. As Jonah was delivered from the whale's belly, so the
Lord Jesus was raised up from the dead on the third day. Having
put away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself, He was justified
in the Spirit. When God raised Him from the
dead, as Jonah declared, so the Son of God declared, and all
that He did and suffered was for us. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah was a picture of our substitute. The gospel is Christ and Him
crucified for the sins of His people. We read that in 1 Corinthians
1. But here in 2 Corinthians 5,
verse 21, it says, For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. That's our sign. Christ and Him
crucified. Yet this sign can only be seen
through revelation by God Himself. He saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art this Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father. which is in heaven. And that's
over in Matthew 16, the last part of it, and we'll get to
that in one of our future, we'll look at that a little closer
in one of our future studies. But this is why the Apostle Paul
was so adamant about preaching Christ. He says in 1 Corinthians
2, verse 1 and 2, And brethren, when I came to you, came not
with excellency of speech and wisdom, declaring unto you the
testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I continually
fall into that trap of seeing with my eyes. Our Lord is telling
us to stand on Him, put our trust in Him. He is the Prince of Peace
to His chosen blood-bought people. The only sign I should need is
the substitutionary death and resurrection of my Lord. and say, His name is Jesus the
Christ. In closing, let me bring a warning
of our Lord gives to us through His word. The last part of our
text in Matthew 16, verse 4, it says, He left them. Oh, what
a solemn word. He left them and departed. Folks,
why is that so important? Why is this warning so important?
This is not a warning that he's going to leave his people. This
is a warning that if he had not saved us, if he had not called
us, if he had not redeemed us by his grace, we would be right
there with those that he leaves behind, those who he had left
and departed from. And of that place he saw no more."
Page 7. Because they would not hear him
and would not believe him, he left them to themselves. What
a horrible thing to consider. This could have been me. This
could have been you. It is his judgment upon men who
will not receive his word. Listen to Hosea 4.17. Therefore the people that doth
not understand shall fall. Turn to Proverbs if you would.
Go back from Jonah there to Proverbs. The first Proverbs if you would.
I want to read several verses there in the first chapter. The first Proverbs if you would.
Proverbs chapter 1. I want to begin at verse 23.
Turn you at my reproof. Behold. Take a hold of this. Notice this. Don't just read
over it. It says, behold, I will pour
out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto
you, because I have called and ye refused. I have stretched
out my hand, and no man regarded. But ye have said it not, all
my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh
at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as a desolation
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon me, but
I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of
my counsel. They despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be
filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple
shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall
be quiet from fear and evil. Folks, only by God's grace do
not those words 23-32 apply to you and I. Only by His grace
does that not stand as our statement of reproof. Thankfully, thankfully God has
given the gift of belief to certain ones, to those who hearkeneth
unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear and
evil. Back in our handout second paragraph
of page seven again I quote from Brother Don Fortner, what great
wrath our God heaps upon those who refuse to believe him. He
orders His servants to preach no more to them. He allows none
to tell them of the good news of life and salvation by Him. He even commands His prophets
not to pray for them, and even if they try to do otherwise,
they simply cannot. Robert Hawker wrote this, he
says, there are multitudes in every age who amuse themselves
and deceive others by falsely interpreting the Scriptures to
suit themselves and by misrepresenting God's faithful servants to get
people to follow them. Like Diotrephes, they love to
have the preeminence. The cross of Christ is always
an offense to them. They want something more. They want a sign from heaven.
But no sign shall be given them, and they shall only be offended
more if God has given them to their reprobate minds. Matthew
24, verse 23-24, Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here
is Christ, or there, believe it not, For there shall arise
false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and
wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, I love that word,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Folks, if it wasn't for Christ, each and every one of us could
be deceived by our own desires, our own selfless and pride. The only sign I need is my Christ
and Him crucified. Luke chapter 10 verse 21 through
22, the bottom part of page 7, In that hour Jesus rejoiced in
spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and has revealed them unto babes. Isn't that good news? God has
revealed these things, Christ and His Son crucified, unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me
of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father,
and who the Father is, but the Son, and He to whom the Son will
reveal Him. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18, For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. Again, we
read 1 Corinthians 1, 20-22, this time through 29. For the
Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But
we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, And the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. And that God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
and base things of the world, and things which are despised
hath God chosen, yea, the things which are not, to bring to naught
things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. When Christ in him crucified
and risen is your sign, he gets all the glory. Amen.