I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this evening. Let us ask the Lord's
blessing in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven
and of earth, do grant unto us a true spirit of worship this
evening, the help and aid of thy Holy Spirit, thy word to
be with power. Help us to sing Thy worthy praise
with our hearts, with our understanding also. And do come in for poor
sinners, meet them in their need, and send none empty away. We ask through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. Hymn, 836. Tune, Niagara 877. This evening I wish to read from
three portions of God's holy word. Firstly, the Book of Jonah,
Jonah Chapter 3. Book of Jonah Chapter 3. And the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that
great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose and went unto
Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was
an exceeding great city of 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 and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from
the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came
unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and
he laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth and
sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed
and published through 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 mightily
unto God, yea, let them turn every one from his evil way and
from the violence that is in their hands. 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 way. And God repented of the evil
that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not. Now let us turn to the Gospel
according to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. We read from
verse 38 through to verse 42. Matthew 12 from verse 38. Then certain of the scribes and
of the 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. 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. The Queen of the South
shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall
condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon
is he. Now let us turn to the Gospel
according to Luke. Luke chapter 24. And we'll commence
reading at verse 36 and read through to the end. Luke 24 from verse 36. And as they thus spake, Jesus
himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted,
and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them,
Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself, handle me, and see. For a spirit hath not
flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed them, his hands and his feet. And while they yet
believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here
any meat? And they gave him a piece of
a broiled fish and of an honeycomb. And he took it and did eat before
them. And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behove Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. And behold, I send the promise
of my Father upon you, that tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until
ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out
as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed
them. And he came to pass, while he
blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy. And we're continually in the
temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. Lord bless to us that reading
of his holy word and help us in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
once more we come before thy throne and plead the precious
name, the name of Jesus. O Lord, we do thank thee for
the throne of grace. We thank thee for thy work upon
Calvary and the assurance given unto all men in that he hath
raised him from the dead. We thank thee for the empty tomb
We thank thee for the certainty of the gospel, and that thou
dost command and commend thy love toward us, in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. O Lord, do be pleased
to shine in our hearts this evening and grant us some of that warmth
that the two on the way to Emmaus had, as thou didst open up the
Old Testament Scriptures and show thyself in them. And Lord,
do grant us this evening to see thee in one part of the Old Testament
Scriptures. O Lord, do be pleased to grant
us to be strengthened in our faith, to be encouraged in the
way by the message this evening. We do seek, O Lord, that help
again of thy Holy Spirit, without which nothing shall be done,
no power, no sweet savour, no loveliness in Christ, nothing
applied, nothing done, But Lord, with Thy Spirit, Lord, Thou dost
make all things new, and Thou dost change hearts, and renew
lives, and give hope, and give that sweet savour of Christ. O Lord, do be pleased to visit
and bless us thus here, and Lord, do be with other churches that
gather in like manner this evening. We do seek, Lord, Thy blessing
upon them too. O Lord, we do come confessing
our many sins and many iniquities. O Lord, Thou readest and Thou
knowest our hearts, not only our outward sins but inward ones,
not only those things that we have committed but those things
that we have left undone. O Lord, do wash and cleanse us
in Thy precious blood. We pray for a tender conscience,
a teachable spirit, and that we might be made to truly humble
ourselves before thy almighty hand. We pray to be delivered
from Satan, from the spirit of this world, and that which he
constantly tries to bring thy people back again under him and
under the influence of the world. Lord, that is saying that they
that are of the world, they listen to the world, they have an ear
open to it. Lord, once we did, but Lord,
do grant now it might be shut to the world and open to thee. We might hear the gospel that
we might hear thy word, that we might be deaf to the pulls
and allurements of this poor dying world. Lord, may we stop
our ears and run that race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus. Deliver us from our old nature
and all that our old nature loves. Grant us grace to mortify through
thy Spirit the deeds of the body. Grant us grace to put under our
body and not be in subjection under it, but have it under subjection. Grant, Lord, that help that we
might abstain from those lusts, those fleshly lusts which war
against our souls. And Lord, do grant that we might
walk in the Spirit and not after the flesh. Thou hast granted
us to be spiritually minded, which is life and peace, and
not kindly minded, which is death. Grant us also that know thy precious
name, to make the choice that Mary chose, to sit at thy feet
and hear thy word. and leave us not like Martha,
cumbered about with much serving that prevented her from that
close hearing of thy word and communion with thee. Lord, many
of us in the ministry and involved in many sorts of things, trusteeships,
and Lord, we have many things that pull upon our time that
tend to so engross us that we are so liable to be like Martha. O Lord, deliver us from anxious
care and grant that we might live disciplined and orderly
lives. O Lord, we do pray especially
for the Hedging about of our time for reading, prayer, communion,
and fellowship with Thee. We do pray for those that are in
sickness at this time. Do grant Thy kind healing hand,
bless medication, be with them in their paths of affliction,
and do bless the treatment that they are receiving. So Lord,
we do commit them unto thee, sanctify and make these things
work for good. And Lord, do comfort those in
bereavement. We pray for help for those walking
that path at this time. To help those of thy servants
that are to conduct funerals, we pray for them for that help
to be clear, faithful, kind, and sympathetic. Oh Lord, we
do seek that wisdom from above. We do make intercession again
concerning the vote in parliament tomorrow. Oh Lord, be pleased
to settle the minds of those of our representatives who may
be still uncertain and settle them to vote against the proposed
bill that we might not be subjected to the assisted suicide bill
and legislation in this country. We thank thee for former answers
to prayer in this matter and deliverances, and we pray that
on this occasion as well, it might be overturned very, very
clearly. O Lord, hear prayer that has
been put up so much in this matter. Lord have mercy upon us. Hear
us not for our prayers sake, but for thine honour and glory.
O Lord have mercy upon us, as we would seek that we, though
we have departed from thee so much as a nation, that we might
be prevented from going even further away. We confess how many of the unborn
are killed in the womb, Lord, how many wrong things that are
done in this land. Oh Lord, do have mercy upon us
and grant a real spiritual revival again. We pray for those in authority
over us, for our members of parliament, and that they might be given
wisdom and open ear to good advice and shut ear to bad advice. that
Thou has blessed them in their own souls and through these things
be brought to seek Thy word and to know Thee, whom to know is
life eternal. We thank Thee for those that
are raised up, we realise how few of us could ever fulfil such
a position that they hold. And we do thank Thee where there
are those that have minds to be able to grasp law and to be
able to make decisions. But Lord, do grant that they
might be decisions informed by thy word and not by the spirit
of the world. We do seek, Lord, that this evening
we might hear thy word, might be strengthened in our faith,
might be encouraged in our walk, Lord, do visit us and grant us
thy felt presence. We pray for those joining with
us online and thy blessing to be upon them. Be with dear aged
friends and be with the children, the young people. We plead thy
promise that is unto you and your children, even as many as
the Lord thy God shall call. Be pleased to quicken and call
by thy grace. the next generation. Our Lord, we ask Thee these mercies,
giving thanks for our Saviour, for His precious sin-atoning
blood, and giving thanks for another occasion to gather round
Thy Word, to hear Thy Word. O do grant this to be a time
that we truly are blessed and truly are encouraged in the Lord
our God. We ask through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. Let us further sing hymn number
23. Hymn, 23. Tune, Martyrdom 182. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to the Gospel according to Luke
chapter 11. Chapter 11 and verse 30. For as Jonas was a sign unto
the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation. Luke chapter 11 and verse 30. And I want to speak to you this
evening on the sign of Jonah, and its effect. And we have in our text the contrast,
the two, Jonah and we have the son of man. And when we just read the account
of Jonah, we do not have all of the information that we can
now fill in when we compare it with our Lord and the Gospel
account. And when we have the two together,
and our Lord joins them together as a sign to the Ninevites and
a sign to us, I hope we'll find this evening that which really
magnifies the work of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes the gospel
to be more precious and more certain than maybe we have seen
it before. I want to look at three points. Firstly, I want to do a contrast,
a contrast between Jonah or the situation with Jonah and our
Lord. And in that I don't want to go
into too much depth, but rather to highlight those contrasts. And then secondly, to look at
the sign of Jonah and to look at it in the type that is with
Jonah and the Ninevites, and with the great anti-type, our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And then lastly, look at its
effect. The effect that was upon the
Ninevites and the effect in a gospel day. But firstly, I want to look at
a contrast. Now, I know we have not read
this evening the whole account of Jonah. When we're told in Scripture
of a type, it's very important for us to look at just the aspect
that is being picked out. Now, the Lord is very clear,
because he says in the portions that we read, the portion especially
in Matthew, that 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 in that sense,
that is where our Lord is pointing to Jonas as a sign, specifically
in that way. Now, of course, we could have
the contrast based on that, of thinking Jonah did not actually
die. He was kept alive in the whale's
belly. Our Lord did die and did lay
down his life, excruciating death. Jonah, his being in the whale's
belly, did not put away any sin, it did not achieve anything in
that way. Our Lord's was a sin-atoning
sacrifice. And just in the sign our Lord
is pointing to the literal as Jonah was was hidden he was buried
he was to all intents of those that knew what had happened to
him he was dead and then he suddenly appears and our Lord himself
buried and was dead really dead and then appears and arises from
the dead that is the main thrust of the sign, and that is a contrast
on that point alone. But let us just think of some
other contrasts, because you remember Jonah, when he was given
the commission to go and preach to the Ninevites, he did not
want to go. The reason why he did not want
to go, and we're told this in Jonah chapter 4, was because
he knew the Lord was gracious and long-suffering, and if he
sent a minister to the Ninevites, then he would give them repentance,
and the thought that Assyria, the enemy of the children of
Israel and a Gentile nation, should have mercy was so against
Jonah, so Jonah runs away. Now you contrast that with our
Lord, who so willingly came, so willingly suffered, and knew
what he was to suffer. Jonah, when he ran away, did
not know what he was going to suffer. Our Lord knew, and he
came nevertheless, and he came instead of with Jonah not wanting
there to be repentance, our Lord came that there would be repentance,
that there would be life given. Jonah, even after they had had
repentance, he wanted the Lord to change his mind. The Lord
will never change his mind when he gives repentance to a people. And we have this contrast that
run right through this account. how much it highlights the Lord's
willingness, kindness, purpose, and determination that those
blessings do flow through his death and through his work. What a contrast then we have
just in a very quick and superficial look at This account that the
Lord draws our attention to, how the Lord uses means to that
imperfect, and even you might say would try and hinder the
work, and yet accomplishes and does what he intended to do in
spite of the messenger, Maybe then think of those contracts,
and we'll come into this a little later as well. I want to look then secondly at
the sign of Jonah. And this is one area where you
might think, well, in reading the account of Jonah, how How
was Jonah assigned to the Ninevites? Well, we can see clearly when
our Lord says in our text that Jonah was assigned to them. He
wasn't just a preacher. He himself was assigned to them. And it shall be in the same way
that the Lord Jesus Christ, that he shall be a sign. And then
comparing the other portion that we read in Matthew, then we clearly
see as well that that sign is to do with him being dead and
then alive, or thought to be dead and then alive. We think of the word, God hath
given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from
the dead. The great assurance, the great
seal of the whole gospel is the empty tomb. No one has ever died and risen
again. to never ever die again. No one
has ever done it by their own power. We know from the scriptures
that our Lord rising was by the Father, by himself, and by the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit who quickeneth the dead, and the Lord who said,
I have power to lay down my life, power to take it again, and the
Father that raiseth the dead. God hath raised him from the
dead. It is a triune work, a great
mystery. But the seal of the whole Gospel
is on that event. That is to be a sign to our generation. So with that in mind, go back
to Jonah. Jonah, You may say when he set
off, with no reason to believe that the Ninevites had any inkling,
any idea that God was sending a messenger to speak to them. But Jonah, he runs away. and heading, well he would have
if he got where he wanted to go, some 2,700 miles away to
Tarshish, but he wasn't to get that far at all. And the Lord
sends out a wind into the sea, and the sea is so rough, so tempestuous,
that even those seasoned mariners They are frightened and they
are concerned, and they are calling upon their own gods. But Jonah,
he is asleep in the side of the ship, oblivious to all that's
going on until he is awoken by the ship master, exhorted to
call upon his god. Well, then they cast lots. They
cast lots to find out why this had come, whose cause it had
come upon them. And the lot fell by God's direction
to be upon Jonah. So they asked him. Now Jonah,
he knew full well what he was doing. And he made confession
to those mariners that he was the servant of God, that he was
running away from God. And I have no doubt that he told
them that what his mission was, why he was running away, and
that he was a preacher, he was a prophet, he was one that was
to go to Nineveh and to tell them that their city should be
destroyed in 40 days. We could wonder whether Jonah
was thinking If God is going to destroy it in 40 days and
I don't go there, will he still destroy this? The mariners tried very hard
to bring the boat to land, but Jonah said, he said to cast him
into the sea. He owned that he was responsible,
it was because of him, until they cast him into the sea, then
they would all be in peril. And so at last they did. The
Lord had prepared a great fish, our Lord says in the gospel we
read, a whale to swallow up Jonah. Jonah was preserved in that whale
three days and three nights in the sea, in that whale There
Jonah cried unto the Lord, looked again, I look again toward thy
holy temple and cast out of thy sight. As far as the mariners
were concerned, he would have died. They would have sent message,
they would have, the word would have got to the Ninevites that
there was a prophet going to them, that was going to bring
a message to them, and that he had perished. He'd been thrown
into the sea. He had died. He was dead. No doubt leaving them to think
that their gods had intervened and stopped this man coming to
them. What a shock then to suddenly
have, and we're not told the time scale. We do not know how
quickly. We know that it is a good many
days travel between where Jonah would have been cast up on the
shore to then go inland through to Nineveh. But whatever for Jonah to be
himself a sign, to them he must have been, as our Lord was also, a man risen from the dead, one
that they thought that they had killed, one that they thought
that they had finished, And yet suddenly he appears,
and suddenly he is preaching, and suddenly he is testifying
that in 40 days the city should be destroyed. The profound effect, and we're
going to that in a moment, that it happened. But what our Lord
emphasizes on, that Jonah himself was a sign to them. There was
an account I read years ago of a man in more recent years that
was swallowed by a whale and lived and survived. And he was
bleached white by the acid in the whale's stomach. And in that sense, if someone
was like that, they would be a real spectacle in just how
they looked. But that being so, what our Lord
is pointing to is one that was dead, but now is alive. And so when we think of our Lord,
his enemies, the Jews, and then the Romans crucifying him, they felt that they had crucified
him, the deceiver, as they called him, that they had put him to
death, that they had finished his existence. By the things
that the Lord had said, their great fear was that he would
rise from the dead. So they took pains to make sure
that he didn't. They put a stone over the tomb. They sealed the stone. They set
a watch. Everything that they did was
to make sure that the disciples could not steal him away, that he would remain in the tomb,
that he would remain dead. These things again overruled
to highlight the miracle of our Lord rising from the dead, the
certainty of it. When our Lord did rise from the
dead, then again they took pains to bribe the soldiers, anything
to make it that It was not so that he should rise from the
dead. But the resurrection remains
and it will be to the end of time. That great sign, that great
evidence, that great witness of which all four of the evangelists
give testimony to. The Lord is risen indeed. He truly is alive from the dead. He that was dead is alive again. Now, our Lord clearly sets these
two together, as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites. The Ninevites,
looking upon Jonah as raised from the dead, was a sign to
them. A miracle had happened. He that
they thought was dead is alive. So with the Lord Jesus Christ
looking upon him, he that was dead is alive. That is the sign. That is the
message of the gospel right the way through. The summary that
Paul gives to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15, which is
the whole chapter, is upon the rising from the dead. There were those in that church
that said there was no resurrection of the dead. But He says, if
there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is vain? Yea, and we have
found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of
God, that He raised up Christ. whom ye raise not up, if so be
the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. If Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which
are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only
we have hope in Christ with all men most miserable, But now Christ
is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that
slept." You see the importance that is placed upon Christ rising
from the dead. We might think, well, there's
not the importance in the ordinances that Christ died, his blood was
shed, his body was broken, the ordinance of baptism was buried
with him by baptism into death, and risen again in newness of
life. The summary Paul gives at the
beginning of this 15th of the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, was
that he was delivered, he died for our sins according to the
scriptures. that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, that he was
seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that he was seen of above
five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain
unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he
was seen of James, then of all the apostles." A summary that
again emphasizes the Lord has risen again." Now with the Ninevites,
they literally saw Jonah as he came in and as he preached the
message. When our Lord raised from the
dead, the soldiers, the Romans, the Jews, they saw the empty
tomb but it would have always remained with them, but him they
saw not. That was how it was with the
disciples first. But later, throughout that first
day, the Lord began to reveal himself to his people, only to
his people. They were those that saw him
alive, that were to be witnesses, faithful witnesses, of his rising
from the dead, the fact of that. Now, we think of another thing. Jonah, assigned to the Ninevites
when he appeared to them, he was also the preacher to the
Ninevites. They heard at his mouth the message
that they thought would not be delivered, but was delivered,
that the city would be destroyed in 40 days. Our Lord, when he
rose from the dead, himself did not preach. But he sent his apostles, he
sent the disciples, And so we read in our reading in Luke 24,
he says to them, thus it behove Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning
at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. You might say then, how can the
Lord be a witness as rising apart from the witness of the apostles? Well, the apostles are very important
witnesses to have, that they did see him, they knew him, they
had been with him, They saw him when he was taken up into heaven. But there is another witness,
and that is of the Holy Spirit. That that they had to wait and
tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on
high. The Lord in his time on earth
had done many miracles and he did preach. He raised the dead,
he healed the sick, he preached the kingdom. When our Lord ascended
and then by intercession sent the Holy Spirit, then the apostles
and our Lord had told this, greater things shall ye do because I
go unto my Father. Remember with Elijah and Elisha? Elisha wanted a double portion
of Elijah's spirit. If he saw him when he was taken
up, that portion would be given. The disciples, they saw the Lord
when he was taken up into heaven. That double portion was given.
They were miracles. They never ascribed them to themselves. They always ascribed them to
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you think of the multitudes
in that day. that had seen the Lord and all
his miracles and all that he did. And then they thought he
was dead, he was buried, but his disciples say he's risen
again. And then they have 50 days after
the crucifixion and 10 days after the ascension, of course, the
apostles knew that, but the 50 days after was the Pentecost.
Then we have the Holy Spirit full, the languages given, and
they heard those there glorify God. And then the apostles preached,
and they charged the people with the death, the crucifixion of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and testified that God had raised him from
the dead. And from that time, were miracles
of raising the dead, healing the sick, and the power of God
attending the Word, so that thousands believed, three thousands at
Pentecost, and many thousands since. The Word of God grew,
the miracles, solemn miracles of Ananias and Sapphira struck
down dead for lying to the Holy Spirit, All of these things done
as a testimony to the one that they thought they had killed,
banished, got rid of at Jerusalem, was alive. And exactly the same
power and miracles were being done. And the witnesses testifying
of these things, and preaching, and they're preaching repentance.
They're preaching what should be the effect of Christ rising
from the dead. You see, where our Lord says,
as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so also shall the
Son of Man be to this generation, a risen Saviour that was dead
and is alive for evermore. We do not worship a dead Christ. We do not have crucifixes with
depicting a dead Christ on. He is alive. We have a living
Savior and the witness from heaven.
is the greatest witness of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven,
and every miracle of a sinner saved by grace is a testimony
to the living Savior. Because I live, he said, ye shall
live also. I want to look then, lastly,
at the effect I want to consider, firstly,
the message that was proclaimed. With Jonah, his message was,
in 40 days the city should be destroyed. There was not much hope in that
message, was there? 40 days, really, the time was
what was of a hope. 40 days in scripture, it's always
a testing time. 40 days, the rain descending
in the flood. 40 days, Elijah in the wilderness. 40
days with the children of Israel passing through the wilderness. And we have 40 days, or 40 years,
rather, with the children of Israel through the wilderness.
40 days the Lord tempted of the devil in the wilderness, and
40 days from our Lord's crucifixion to his ascension into heaven,
and through that time, appearing to his disciples again and again,
bearing real witness that he had risen from the dead. The Ninevites, nevertheless,
they said this, who can tell? Who can tell? If they were to
repent, if they were to change, that is what repentance is, turn
from their wicked ways, that the Lord would turn, that
he wouldn't destroy them. And on that, who can tell? They
did repent. They stopped their wicked ways.
They gave every evidence of their sorrow, their grief, their intention
to turn around, to not continue in that way of wickedness. And
God saw their works and he did not do what he said that he would
do. Jonah, He had testified really
that was the Lord's intention all along. All along. We began in our first point with
doing some comparisons. You think of the comparison of
the message. The message that Jonah had and
the message that we have in the gospel. The message of the law
is that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But our Lord says,
I came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. The message
of the gospel is not to tell people who can tell. If you will repent, God might
have mercy and save you from a deserved hell and bring you
to heaven. The message is that not only
if you repent, but the Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered, bled and
died, put away your sin, and he is exalted to give repentance
and remission of sins. He not only has made a way that
mercy and forgiveness can be shown, but he proclaims it that
he will give that effect in those that hear the message. It's not
an uncertainty. This is another contrast, I often
think of this in the book of Esther, When Esther is to go
into the king, which was her husband, there was one provision
in the law that if she was not called, if he held out the golden
scepter, then she would not die. If he didn't, she would die.
She knew she could die, but she ventured. They made it a matter
of prayer. And then she ventured, if I perish,
I perish. with the Ninevites, who can tell? But with the Gospel, in coming
to the Lord, in seeking life of Him, every convinced guilty
sinner, and those Ninevites, they were convinced that they
were under the sentence of death. And everyone that is convinced
and under the sentence of death, the Gospel proclaims liberty. forgiveness and pardon, and that
in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is repentance, that He gives
that repentance, He gives that sorrow, He gives mercy. There's
not a need of a who can tell, there's not, well maybe, maybe
we'll repent and the Lord won't save us, maybe we won't be saying
the gospel is not really the good news that it's made out
to be. Yes, it is. And the Lord has
given that assurance in the raising up of our Lord from the dead. The gospel is very, very different
than the law. The law brings condemnation and
no hope. that all the world might become
guilty before God. The law is a schoolmaster unto
Christ, but every convinced sinner, everyone that knows what the
Ninevites did, that they would be destroyed unless mercy was
shown, they are welcome to the throne of grace. They are welcome
to the gospel table. There is the come whosoever will. There is that invitation to sinners
and to those under condemnation, that in the Lord Jesus Christ
there is mercy, there is life, there's forgiveness, there is
repentance. And where the Lord gives repentance,
that is the evidence of forgiveness of sins. Our Lord is exalted not just
to do one thing, but both. to give repentance and remission
of sins. And it is through the message
proclaimed. Going back to Jonah, he must
bring that message, he must preach, he must proclaim it. He wasn't
offering salvation even, but he had to proclaim, authoritatively
declare what God sent him to do. And that's what he did. And in the ministry, that is
what we also proclaim, what the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished
and done at Calvary, and that he has been raised from the dead,
and that in him is life, that in him only is hope. You know, that message was heard
by the Ninevites. They didn't stop their ears.
They didn't say, what's this madman saying or doing? You weren't even like those at
Athens who said, oh, Paul, what shall this babbler say? It's a blessed thing to have
a hearing ear. This is why in every letter that
was sent to the churches in Asia, read at Revelation 2 and 3, The
end of those letters, he that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches. Paul is very clear when he writes
the Romans in chapter 10 of the need of a minister, need of a
preacher. How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent? Jonah was sent. The Lord sent
his servants and he still sends his servants. and he still sends
them, and he sends them with a message of grace, of mercy,
a message of the finished work of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. That news to those who do not
feel condemnation, who have no need of it, who are full of this
world, they despise it, they don't want it, they reject it. But for those who feel themselves
as sinners, Those who know they're under condemnation. Those that
know that death is on the road. This is a message of life. God
commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. And he rose again for our justification. The sign that is set right at
the very start of the age, you might say, of the preaching of
the Gospel, is the risen Saviour. A sign so much stronger, so much
more effectual than that of Jonah. And yet Jonah's was effectual. Repentance was given. They did
turn. And when they turned, God turned
away his wrath, and he didn't destroy them. And you know Jonah, Jonah's a
hard character, isn't he? He couldn't get round his anger.
He wanted God to change his mind. He wanted him to destroy them.
He sat over against the city to look. The Lord had to teach
him lessons, and one lesson was that where he'd given repentance
and where then he turned away his wrath he wasn't going to
change his mind he wasn't going to take away that mercy hath
he said and shall he not do it the seal of the gospel the lord's
love is an everlasting love his mercy is an everlasting mercy
we read it In Psalm 136, after every verse, is mercy endureth
forever. The hymn writer says, mercy through
blood. I make my plea, God be merciful
to me. If the Lord has taught you your
need, my need, then the gospel is for you, is for me. The message
of it is for us, and the message is to be proclaimed, and it is
to be believed, to be received. And to you which believe He,
Christ, is precious. Faith cometh through hearing,
hearing by the word of God. When the apostles preached, We
read some believe the word spoken, some believe not. Even though
it's the same gospel, same word, same message, same sign. Some
did not believe, but some did. We're told that as many as were
ordained unto eternal life believe. There's nothing wrong with the
message. But may we never listen to Satan. May we never undermine the word
of God. Remember, Satan always will try
to undermine the word of God. Has God said there's mercy? No,
he says there's not mercy. Has God said that the gospel
is for sinners? No, you're too deep a sinner.
It's not for you. And all the time will be obstacles. You're not elect. You're not
the right sort of sinner. You don't know sin enough, not
deep enough. all of these things, but may
we have eyes to see and ears to hear the beauty of the sacred
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, who
put away the sin of his people, rose again, ascended into heaven,
and sends forth his servants to proclaim not a half-finished
work, but a finished work. and to accompany it with the
power of the Holy Spirit. And so the apostles could say
of the Thessalonians that the word came to them not in word
only, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And may when we read our text
then, Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, to us, when we view
the Lord Jesus Christ, what he has done, a sign to us, and may that sign,
as it were, cast a shadow or a sweet sabre over all the preaching
of the Gospel. Christ is risen from the dead. He has put away sin. He is at the right hand of the
Father. He has done it not to begrudgingly
give mercy, or not that people, he hopes people won't repent
or that they won't be saved. He's not like Jonah in that.
The whole reason why he came, why he suffered and why he bled,
it commends his love toward us, that this is the will of God,
that those that hear the word, that hear the gospel, that they
believe and that they be saved. It is good news, good news for
sinners. Sinners can say, those that feel
themselves sinners, and none but they, how precious is the
Saviour. May it be as you hear this word,
as I hear it, that the Lord is precious to us, and that we truly
embrace that gospel and believe what the Lord has done, and then
in believing, have life through His name. May the Lord bless
this word. And we see, as contrasting these
two and see these two signs, what it was to the Ninevites,
what it is to be for us in our day. May we never lose sight
of a once crucified but now risen and exalted saviour and all that
that message brings. and all the authority it gives
to the preaching of the gospel. He is the only name given among
men, whereby we must be saved. May our testimony be as the Ethiopian
eunuch. I believe that Jesus is the Son
of God. Amen. Hymn, 239. Tune, St. Denio 915. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and