As the Lord may help us this
morning, I would like to direct your prayerful attention to the
portion of scripture we read together in the book of Jonah. And we'll take as our text the
last clause in verse nine of chapter two. Jonah chapter two. And there's five words there
at the end of that verse. Chapter two and verse nine, salvation
is of the Lord. That's a statement that seems
to override and strengthen the whole account contained in this
portion of scripture. It's a wonderful blessing. that
salvation is not of us, it is of the Lord. The same God who commanded creation
and said, let there be light, and there was light, is the same
God who looks down upon lost souls those who he has eternally designed
to save, and he speaks that word, let there be light. And as the apostle Paul wrote
to those in the New Testament church, that word went forth. that God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And therefore, we're on firm
ground with this statement that salvation is of the Lord. The setting of this subject is
that Nineveh was a huge great city and it was the major or capital city at
that time of the Assyrians who were no friends of the nation
of Israel they were often an enmity one with the other but
God in mercy looked down and made it known to Jonah that Jonah
was to give the glorious good news of the gospel to these people. And as we well know, Jonah was
not the easiest man to get on with. He had a lot to learn from
God. Although he was a prophet, he
was not obedient to what God told him to do. He couldn't understand
how that such sinful people should be the subject of the glorious
gospel of the Lord Jesus. And I expect any of you who have
known anything of the conviction of sin and the seeking to know
the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is the way of eternal life, When God first works in us, we're
not really aware of what's happening, but there's a disturbance going
on in our heart and soul, and God brings us to a realization
of our need. And when we receive that wonderful
comfort that is to be known in the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave
his life a ransom for many, We think me, with all my sin
and my failure, and God's having mercy on me, what a blessing. And these people at Nineveh, We read the message to Jonah
was, arise, get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against
it, for their wickedness is come up before me. Their wickedness
has come up to God. Just as way back in the Old Testament
in the days of Abraham, the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah came up
before God, and they were to be dealt with. But here there
was a purpose of grace. Salvation is of the Lord. And
that purpose of grace was sent out. Now this event recorded here
regarding Jonah and his dramatic experience of how God dealt with
him in his disobedience took place just about the same time
in history as the great prophet Isaiah was born. It's somewhere
about 770 or 780 BC. And so when Isaiah was prophesying
and those tremendous words went forth regarding the Lord Jesus and
there's so much, tremendous lot of gospel in the prophecy of
Isaiah. That would have been about 700
years before Christ and yet what we've shown to dear Isaiah is
tremendous, isn't it? You read chapter 53 regarding
the suffering and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. God showed
him every detail of that tremendous event in the salvation of souls
and the glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's believed by godly scholars
that Jonah actually wrote this prophecy and account of his own
experience. Who else would have known, apart
from God, what happened? And so Jonah was the instrument,
he was the writer, the penman of his own experience. Sadly, many who claim to be educated
can't believe it and they regard the book of Jonah as a story
or a myth that some people believe and some don't. But there's every
reason to believe that this account is absolutely true. It actually
took place because twice in the New Testament the Lord Jesus
refers to what happened here. In Matthew chapter 12 we read
of the Pharisees and scribes, it would seem that they were
looking for a sign from heaven regarding the work of the Lord
Jesus. What we read in the opening verses
in the Gospel of John is absolutely true, that the Lord Jesus came
to his own people and his own received him not, but as many
as received him, To them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to those that believe on his name. They were looking for a sign
from heaven. The Lord Jesus gave them a sign from the deep. We read these words, Matthew
chapter 12, and Matthew chapter 12 and verse
40. Master, we seek a sign from thee,
we read. And verse 39 says, but he answered
them 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 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 telling them. Just as Jonah had three nights
inside that great fish that was prepared for him, so three days
and three nights would the Lord Jesus be in the tomb, before
that glorious resurrection day when he came forth having conquered
sin and death and hell for all who come to trust in him. That's
one mention of what happened to Jonah. And then we read that
the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation. The Lord Jesus condemned these
people because they would not believe. And in the eyes of God,
unbelief is a sin. But to those who believe, it
is to their profit and praise. And the men of Nineveh shall
rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. because
they repented at the preaching of Jonas. They did, didn't they? We read it this morning, how
that when Jonah proclaimed 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown,
they repented. They even fasted. They went without
food and drink, them and their animals. And God saw what had
happened. He saw that their change of heart
was real. They came to trust in God for
mercy. They didn't believe they deserved
anything. No, they were sinners before him. And they repented at the preaching
of Jonas. And we read the Lord Jesus says, and a greater than
Jonas is here. He himself is there as the Lord
Jesus Christ, their Saviour, believe on Him. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, we read, and thou shalt be saved. And so Jonah was sent to Nineveh and Jonah, we read, was the son
of a man called Amitiai, which means my truth, and ought to
be one of the sons of truth. It was a great honor that God
gave to Jonah in giving Jonah the commission to go and prophesy
to Nineveh, and it's a great honor to serve God in any way.
Whatever we do, be it practical, spiritual, or whatever, for the
Lord's work, it's an honor. And therefore, as we gather here
this morning to hear his word, what a blessing it is that the
Lord watches over us and he's able to make his own word a lamp
to our feet and a light to our path. The word of the Lord has power
and substance. The word of the Lord in creation
was effectual. I think it's 10 times in the
first chapter in the Bible we read of creation, and every time
we read, and God said, something more was created. It's there
for our learning. Nineveh had a great tremendous
population it was a great city it's in three
days journey there must have been millions of people living
there and Jonah even the first day he made it known so they
could hear yet a 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. That was his message. God's going
to destroy you. And their wickedness was such
that it was an affront to the holiness of God. and Jonah's
work was to cry out against it. How many great cities today and
how many great cities live in darkness and despair? God's sovereign love and mercy
sent Jonah on this errand of grace to such a godless people And so it is with so many today. Oh that they knew. Oh that they
were wise. Oh that they would consider their
latter end. We read of people almost drunk with power. They know not the Saviour. They
know not the glory and power of God. But God is able. to make grace abound. And what we have here is a very clear
picture of what happened to Jonah for a start, leading up to this
great conviction and conversion of this great city of Nineveh. We read how Jonah was instructed
in chapter one, in the first two verses. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up
before me. And then there's a but. But Jonah rose up to flee unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. And he went down to
Joppa and 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. It's very sad, isn't it, how
that so often when people go against the word of God, things
seem to work out in their favor. Jonah must have thought, well,
this is remarkable. There's a ship in the harbor.
going the completely opposite way to the way God wants me to
go. Could this be an indication that
I haven't got to obey God? What a temptation. What a sin
Jonah committed. He should have gone to the east.
Tarshish was to the west and this was obviously a merchant
ship and they were trading from one port to another and Tarshish
I think in Bible history is going towards the Mediterranean coast
of Spain where at one time they were trading for gold and that
sort of thing so there was money in all these transactions and
Jonah was a passenger on this merchant ship. We read but Jonah
rose to flee in the opposite direction in the fourth verse
we read but the lord but the lord sent out a great wind into
the sea and that wind dear friends which was had the ability to
ruin the ship and it caused it to break up so the crew might
have been drowned That wind was God's answer to Jonah's disobedience. God's answer to Jonah's disobedience. It was for Jonah's cause that
this great wind came. And the crew of that ship were afraid.
They cried every man to his God. To his God. Little G God. Idols. Eyes have they, but they
see not. Ears have they, but they hear
not. Noses have they, but they smell not. Neither speak they
through their throat, we read, don't we? What useless idols
they are. They're of God's making. But the true and living God is
He who answers prayer. And it's a remarkable thing,
even in the middle of Jonah's disobedience, we read here how
that those heathen crew of that ship were brought to a knowledge
of their need of salvation. God is remarkable, isn't he?
He's sovereign. Who can say unto him, what doest
thou? We can't, can we? God works all
things according to his will and purpose. And here we read
how that they were so desperate, they were so afraid, just as
those fishermen were on that ship on which the Lord Jesus
was on the Lake of Galilee when that tremendous storm blew up,
they were afraid, they cried out, Lord save us, we perish.
And the Lord Jesus said, where is your faith? And he rose. And at his command, peace be
still, there was a great calm. The wind stopped blowing, the
sea was flat. And we read then, the men feared
the Lord exceedingly. And they said, what manner of
man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey
him. Indeed, the Lord Jesus is God. They hadn't been disciples for
long, had they, before this? And it gave them a very clear
indication as to who the Lord Jesus truly is. He is God. And none can say unto him, what
doest thou? Now, Jonah was gone down into the
sides of the ship and was fast asleep. The shipmaster came to
him and said to him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call
upon thy God. If so be that God will think
on us, and we perish not. And they said every one to his
fellow, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause
this evil is upon us. They had a realization it was
God's judgment upon them. What were they to do? Well in
some way they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. He was identified
as the core trouble, the cause of this tremendous event of God
sending a storm which had the power to destroy them because
of their obedience, the obedience of Jonah himself. The lot fell upon Jonah and they
said unto him, tell us we pray thee. He had to then confess before
them. They were unbelievers. Yes, but for whose cause this
evil is upon us? What is thine occupation? And
whence comest thou? What is thy country? And of what
people art thou? Now he answered them and said,
I am a Hebrew. The Hebrews dated right back
in the Old Testament and they were easily identified apparently
because when they wrote something, young children would understand
this when you pick up a piece of paper to write something you
start on the left hand side at the top and you write across
from left to right when the Hebrews wrote they wrote from right to
left and their book started at the end and they worked back
that's the way they were written opposite to us now that identified
them That and the very fact that God, right back in history, worked
through the Hebrews. They were, in many ways, his
servants. But he said, I'm a Hebrew. I fear the Lord. And notice there
in verse nine, the Lord is in capital letters, that is Jehovah,
God in relation to his people. He was a true and living God,
the creator of all things and sustainer of all things, who
Jonah was a prophet of, how he had failed. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven,
which made sea and dry land. Yes, he also had the ability
to use the elements to bring about his purposes, and this
he did. Then the men were exceedingly afraid because God was at work. Why has thou done this? For the
men knew that he had fled from the presence of the Lord because
he had told them. No doubt when he bought his ticket to pay the
fare, that having purchased his ticket and
paid the fare to go on in the opposite direction, they might
have said, well, why do you want to come with us all in a hurry?
And he might have said, well, I've had an instruction to go
right across to Nineveh, that great Assyrian city, and I'm
not going. I'd rather come with you. You're
going in the opposite direction. What a thing to share with other
people that you're actually obeying God. He had told them that he
fled from the presence of the Lord. Can we flee from the presence
of the Lord? No we can't can we? We read that
the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. We can't flee from the presence
of the Lord and therefore the ship master and the crew who
were overtaken in this dramatic scene of events They asked him
to tell them, and having told them, they feared exceedingly. They were convicted because this
deserter, Jonah, was the cause of all this trouble. The wind sent by God, God who is a God of great mercy,
He's also a God who has power beyond all our ability to understand. He has power to give. He has
power to withhold. He has power to create. He has
power to destroy. And Jonah, who was an instrument
in God's hand, Jonah could be used and directed and instructed
according to God's divine power and sovereignty. And from verse 11 we read, 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 tempestuous,
And he said to 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. That's something to admit, isn't
it? All this has come upon you because of me, my disobedience,
and the only way to save your life is for you to cast me into
the sea. Jonah's situation was that he
had to be cast into the sea to create a calm. He had caused
the problem. The Lord Jesus had to give his
life on the cross for the salvation of lost souls. He gave his life
a ransom for many. He did not give his life because
of his sin, because he uniquely lived a perfect life. The sea can only be calm if Jonah
was cast into the sea. God's justice is satisfied by
the glorious good news of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave his
life a ransom for many and then rose again on that third day having conquered death which
is the effect of sin. So there's a contrast here and
therefore The only way they could do this
was if they picked Jonah up and threw him over the side of the
ship. And these men weren't willing
to have that on their conscience that they had done this. Nevertheless,
we read, the men rode hard to bring it to land, but they could
not, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them.
Wherefore they cried unto the Lord. Now, a few verses before,
when they were in danger, what were they doing? When they were
afraid, every man cried unto his God, little G God, idol. The Lord was at work in their
souls, and we read in verse 14, wherefore they cried unto the
Lord. the Lord God Jehovah, 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. The Lord that they cried unto
and said, let not this sin be laid
on to our charge, lay not upon us innocent blood,
for thou, O Lord, Jehovah, hast done it as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah and cast
him into the sea. and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. The Lord is in control. The Lord
is in control of these men's souls. In a short while thou
brought out of darkness into light, the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God, the true and living God on whom our hopes
of heaven depend. But the remarkable thing is,
dear friends, God is in control of all this. Who would have thought that when
they threw Jonah over the side of the ship, that right underneath,
God had already prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. like a trawler net just under
the side of the ship. God knew what side of the ship
they would throw him and you can imagine Jonah being swallowed
up. 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. It was then that Jonah prayed.
before he'd been going against God. He might have thought he
would be drowned, his soul would be taken to glory because he
believed he belonged to God. Yes, but he had much to learn.
The time of his life was to be extended. God still wanted him,
under his instruction, to be the one to proclaim the gospel
of salvation to those in Nineveh. Jonah prayed unto the Lord his
God out of the fish's belly and we have a record of his prayer
giving us every indication that Jonah himself wrote all these
things it would be brought to his memory afterwards what he
prayed and God would inspire it to be written in his word.
He said I'm cast out of thy sight yet will I look again toward
thy holy temple He couldn't see anything, it would be dark. I
understand that there would be sufficient oxygen inside a huge
fish so that Jonah could still breathe. It would be very warm
and the stomach acid would have made his skin a funny colour
most likely. but medical people say that it
has been done. There was a whale factory ship
years ago and they caught this whale and when they began to
butcher it out came a person, a man from inside and he he related
the experience yes he'd been swallowed by this he said it
was very hot it wasn't uncomfortable but he thought he was going to
die there but all these events are in God's
hand And he went down to the bottoms
of the mountains. The earth with her powers was
about me forever. Yet thou hast brought 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. Jonah could well have been looking
back to the Tabernacle worship where the mercy seat was. And what did God say when the
mercy seat was designed by God and set up for worship? He said,
I will meet with thee and commune with thee from above the mercy
seat. That was God's promise. When
they came to worship, they came to the Mercy Seat,
where Jesus answered prayer. There humbly lie before his feet,
for none can perish there. We come in the New Testament
by that new and living way which the Lord Jesus has provided for
us. Himself, that new and living
way, we come pleading the perfect righteousness and full merits
of the Lord Jesus Christ. who loved us and gave himself
for us. They that observe lying vanities,
he said, forsake their own mercies. Those who believe their own lies,
yes, they forsake their own mercy. And Jonah says, but I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving I will pay that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And
what a blessing that salvation, the way of eternal life, through
the full merits of the Lord Jesus, is of the Lord. and we read again the Lord Jehovah
spoke unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. The fish came up to the shore
and where did it land? With its mouth towards land and
God caused it to regurgitate and vomit and out came Jonah
on the dry land. has been over the years apparently
some argument as to exactly where Jonah was they were on their
way in a ship going towards Tarshish and God intervened sent the storm
and where the fish went we went down to the bottoms and up to
the top and Jonah could sense that he was in this submarine
and being down to the depths and up higher and down again
but he was still able to pray to God. We can pray to God anywhere. But where did he land? Well we're
not told in scripture, not told the geographical place but we
are told the spiritual place where he landed. And he landed
just here, a place called Salvation is of the Lord. And what a blessing
that in all his disobedience, God in mercy showed to him that
God is merciful. And then the word came to the
second time to Jonah, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city
and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose
and went into Nineveh according to the word of the Lord and God so made the word of Jonah
powerful that it took effect straight away. The word of the
Lord is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword
we read. He entered in And the sword is the only weapon of defense. You look at the Roman
soldier with his armor, the shield, the helmet, the breastplate,
the shoes, everything, that's all for defending. to keep off the weapons. A shield is that which is able
to withstand impact. But the sword of the Spirit,
the Word of God, has effect. We can never underestimate the
reading of the Word of God, how God uses the Holy Scriptures
as a powerful way of working in people's heart, mind and soul
to show to them that salvation is of the Lord. And these things worked out to
such an extent that even the king was affected by it. Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall
be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed
God, proclaimed a feast, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth
from the greatest of them to the least of them, all of them,
the whole population. The word came to the king of
Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid his robe from him,
and covered him in sackcloth and sat in ashes. What a state
he was in! He was, his life was so disturbed
that he forgot that he was a king. He was so concerned about his
never dying soul. Who can tell if God will turn
and repent and turn away from his fierce anger that we perish
not? But what a wonderful blessing it is that we see the salvation
of the Lord in that 10th verse in chapter three. And there we
must close. And God saw their works, that
they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil
that he said that he would do unto them, and he did it not. Their lives were saved. Their
souls were saved. And all the praise, the honor,
and the glory is to our God, on whom we depend. To his name
be praise forever and ever. Amen. Let's sing together our final
hymn this morning from Gadsby's, number 984. 984. Hark, how the
gospel trumpet sounds, Christ and free grace therein abounds. Free grace to such as sinners
be, and if free grace, why not for me? Hymn 984, tune 401. Look how the gospel trumpet sounds,
Christ and free grace their hymn abounds. Free grace to such a
sinner's fee, O dear free grace, why not for me? The Savior died, and by His blood,
Pro-tribal sin was near to go. He died to set the captives free,
? And for I, my soul, I'm not worthy ? ? The blood of Christ,
how sweet it sounds ? ? To cleanse and cleanse and cleanse ? ? Till
the skin of wounds ? ? The dreams thereof are written free ? ?
And my eyes show the hope I got for thee ? Thus Jesus came, the
poor to bless, To clothe and wear His righteous face. Now earth is faultless, full
and free, And for I love my soul, I'm not for thee. Eternal life, I cried, Then sing
of grace so rich and free, Then say, my soul, why not May the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen.