Please almighty God to come and
Bless us together this evening as we meditate in his holy word
Let's turn to the book of Jonah chapter 2 and we'll read verse
9 the second chapter in the book of Jonah and verse 9 But I will
sacrifice unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that
I have vowed salvation is of the Lord. This book of Jonah is not a long
book. but it gives a concise account
of a part of the life of Jonah. And clearly God has ordained
that it is in the Bible so that you and I may be instructed and
directed by it. And although such accounts are
always interesting to read, we should recognise there is in
important truths contained in it. It's really like the deep
that coucheth beneath. There's the surface which we
can read, but underneath the surface there is God's great
and wonderful truth. And what a mercy if it comes
to us and affects us so that we are blessed by reading such
accounts as this. Well, I expect we're all familiar
with this account, it's one of the best known accounts in the
Word of God. And yet how often we perhaps
fail to recognise the importance that it has in each of our lives. For by nature we're no better
than Jonah, And yet what a blessing it is if the Lord guides and
directs us and takes us in hand so that we are not left to ourselves. Like Jonah was, God gave him
a very, very clear instruction. He said to him, arise, go to
Nineveh. that great city and cry against
it, for their wickedness is come up before me.' Well there wasn't
any difficulty in understanding what the Lord meant by that.
And sometimes in our lives we may be directed And it may not
be any difficult really in understanding what the Lord has for us. And yet, just like Jonah, sometimes
we may refuse. And we may think we want something
else. We're not prepared to do God's
will. Well, it's a very solemn statement,
isn't it? For all of us to examine ourselves
to see whether we are doing God's will. And that's not only in
the big things in our lives, it's also the small things in
our lives. And so we read with Jonah, he
immediately rose up and flew unto Tarshish from the presence
of the Lord. Well, how merciful was God to
Jonah. Perhaps how merciful is God to
us? Perhaps God hasn't dealt with
us as we deserve. And as we think of this disobedience
of Joan of Derry was walking in a contrary way and yet initially
things seemed to be working out all right. He went down, found a boat, he
went down the Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish and
he paid the fare, he had the money, he paid the fare and went
down into it and to flee from the presence of the Lord. Well, the Lord knew where Jonah
was and my friends, God knows where you and I are. He knows
where we are physically. He knows where we are spiritually. And we should not therefore think
that somehow we can evade God and continue and please ourselves. It's very easy to do that which
is pleasing to our own nature. However, perhaps we've planned
in our minds what we'll do and perhaps we may have had a nagging
conscience directing us in a different way and when I say this I believe
it has connections to us naturally and also spiritually it's so
easy to think that we need a direction from God in this way and that
way when perhaps we don't, perhaps the way It's obvious, perhaps
it's very simple, and yet it doesn't appeal to us. And we
raise an issue, and we raise a reason why we shouldn't do
that, and why we shouldn't follow that particular situation. Well, what a mercy if God then
looks upon us, remembers us. We're told he remembers us, that
we're dust. And it's good to realise because
really we're nothing. And yet to think that God graciously
deals with us. If we are those who he's loved
with everlasting love. He leads us on safely. He doesn't
dispense with us. He didn't dispense with Jonah. But you see Jonah had a hard
lesson to learn. And sometimes you and I have
hard lessons to learn. Because, as I've said, everything
appeared to be going rosily, got on the ship, went down into
the depth of the ship, went fast asleep, quite peaceful in his
mind, didn't worry him that he was disobeying God. But God knew
exactly where Jonah was, and God knew exactly what he would
do. And so he did that, which Jonah
couldn't have done. He produced a great wind and
there was a mighty tempest. So the ship was likely to be
broken and of course the sailors were afraid. they were afraid
and it's interesting in this first part we're told they cried
every man unto his God further on it seems that they believed
in the true God but here they cried every man unto his God
and cast forth the wares of the ship to lighten it but Jonah
remained fast asleep and the shipmaster came to him and asked
him why are you sleeping? Arise, called upon thy God. He knew quite clearly that Jonah
had a God he told him to call upon that God so they wouldn't
perish and so they followed that pattern and they desired to find
out who was the problem and they cast lots and we're told the
lot fell upon Jonah and they came and asked him then tell
us we pray thee for whose cause this evil is upon us They asked
what his occupation was, where he came from and what people
he was from. Well, he was honest and he told
them exactly this scene. I'm Hebrew and I fear the Lord,
the God of heaven, which has made the sea and the dry land. That's a mercy, my friends, when
in the midst of adversity, we can be honest. and acknowledge
that we fear the Lord God. We read this, we may think it's
simple. Believe you me, it's not so simple.
We need the power of God to give us that grace to speak and to
say who we do fear. And when the men were told that,
they were exceedingly afraid and asked him, Why has thou done
this? The men knew that he'd fled from
the presence of the Lord because he told them. And they asked him what they
should do. And he said, take me up and cast me into the sea. Well, the men were very honourable.
The sailors, they tried to avoid that situation. they rode hard
but they were unable to deal with the sea and therefore they
cried then wherefore they cried unto the Lord and it would seem
here as it's written here it was the Lord God 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,
cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging.
Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice
unto the Lord, and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great
fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the
fish three days and three nights. So we come to the end of the
first chapter and then we see really in this second chapter
the Lord's dealings with Jonah because it would appear
that he'd been in the fish's belly for three days and three
nights. And then he prayed. We're not told he prayed before
that. He was a very stubborn mind and
a stubborn heart. Didn't want to acknowledge, no
doubt, that he was wrong. But then we're told, then Jonah
prayed unto the Lord. And he cried by reason of minor
affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. and to the belly
of hell cried I and thou heardest my voice. Now we know the situation
there but this has a reference to each one of us in our lives. If we are his children the Lord's
very gracious and deals with us in love to our souls. It's important to realise that. and as we see the situation we
find ourselves in this place it appears just like Jonah in
the belly of hell and yet you see what a mercy it is that God
is in every place God knows what he has planned for us as it were
to bring us to our senses to reconcile us with his will with
the mercy if God deals with us in love to our soul doesn't leave
us to that wrong way doesn't leave us in a place of rebellion
but comes to us and brings us to that situation so that once
again we come and call upon the name of the Lord. Well, how did
Jonah react to that situation? Well, he cried unto the Lord
because of his affliction and he tells us, for thou hast cast
me into the deep. In the midst of the seas and
the floods compass me about, all thy billows and thy waves
passed over me. Sometimes it's like that in our
spiritual life. And if we've turned our back
upon God, and if we've said in our heart, I will not have this
man to reign over me, and we try and plan our own life. And we try and dictate to God
as to what it should be. Well, how wonderful it is to
read of God's mercy to Jonah, because he comes and he says,
then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, far off from God,
far away. cast out of thy sight. And yet,
says Jonah, even in that situation, we see God gives him that faith. What a blessing that is, if God
gives you and me faith. What was the faith given to him?
To pray in this way, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. He would come and Look to the
Lord. He would come and pray to the
Lord. And it's good to realise we have
these words. He said, I will look again. He
looked before. He knew what it was. He knew
what it was to pray. And now God graciously brought
him to his senses. And although he'd wandered far
away, hardness of heart, Rebellion to God, yet how kind and gracious
God is. And my friends, God hasn't changed.
He's still a merciful God. He's still a gracious God. And how wonderful it is when
he comes and softens our heart and makes us willing in the day
of his power to come precisely into this situation and say,
I will look again. I will pray again to my God. What a wonderful difference. What a wonderful change. And
he tells us how he felt. He was cast out of thy sight
sometimes. That's how we might feel. Cast
out of God's sight. It's not a very pleasant position
to be in. but it's God's way and God's
purpose to deal with our souls so that we realize we have a
God who we are before and so Jonah says I am cast out of thy
sight but he didn't give up no he didn't give up because of
God's goodness and mercy and God put into his heart this desire,
this prayer, yet, although he was cast out of God's sight,
he says, yet, I will look again toward thy holy temple. It's a great blessing, isn't
it, to be found looking again, looking again to our God. And
so the waters encompassed me about, even to the soul, the
depth closed about, round about me, the weeds were wrapped about
my head." It's difficult for us to realize the fearful condition
he was in. We know that God had made this
fish, or whale as it's referred to, another part of the Word
of God, to swallow him, but there couldn't have been much room
in the stomach of the fish. No, and then he tells us, the
floods compassed him, the weeds were about his head, Remember
it would have been dark, no light, desperate condition really. And
therefore he comes and confesses, 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 depth closed me round about,
the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms
of the mountains, we know of course there are Mountains in
the ocean great troughs and great depths and obviously the fish
can swim there and that's where he was taken The depth closed
about round about me. 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 as they were brought up my
life from corruption, O Lord my God. He realized God was dealing
with him. Dealing with him and how wonderful
that is. And how wonderful it is to us
today. We may not have to go down in
this situation, but spiritually it might be. We go down into
the depths, far off from God. Seems an impossible situation. Seems perhaps that God will never
look upon us again. Well, God was kind and gracious
to Jonah. And my friends today, God is
kind and gracious to his church. And so we're told, yet hast thou
brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. Yes, how gracious
was God to Jonah. And my friends, God hasn't changed
in his mercy, in his grace, and in his favour to his church. And it'd be very wonderful if
you and I, in our little lives, can recognise God's mercy toward
us, God's love toward us. And so, Jeremy goes and says,
when my soul fainted within me, that means he was almost ready
to give up that may come into our hearts like that we may be
almost willing to give up religion because it doesn't seem to be
following a pattern that we like the temptation's there when our
soul faded within me Well, in Jonah's case, what occurred then? He tells us, I remembered the
Lord. Remembered the Lord. Perhaps
in our lives we may remember the Lord. Remember what he's
done for us. Remember how he's appeared for
us. Remember how he's spoken to us. Remember, he hasn't cast us off. Perhaps he's drawn us to himself. We remember. Well, Jonah didn't
come to this situation until his soul had fainted within him. God brings us to extremities
where we have nowhere else to go. Nowhere else to go. The blessing is other people
don't understand our condition, understand our situation. But God does. God knew about
Jonah. God knew his rebellion. God knew
the hardness of his heart. And yet, you see, God graciously
came and appeared for him. Well, what a mercy for us today. We may be feeling far off. We may be feeling alone. We may
be feeling there's no one else understands our situation. Well,
God knew about Jonah. I'm afraid God knows about you
and he knows about me. And so as we follow on Jonah
says, they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. That really means listening to
the devil. Lying vanities. It's very easy,
you see, to listen to the devil. And the devil is very powerful,
and the devil is very cunning, and the devil doesn't give up. As we read through the Word of
God, you'll find many cases where the devil attempted and the devil
succeeded. Well, we know that we have a
God who is superior to the devil, who is more powerful the devil
and what a blessing therefore if we can come to him and cry
unto our God that he would have mercy upon us the devil may flee
from us and so we come down to this ninth verse well it's been
a long introduction but it's worth going through these details
to bring us to this position that Jonah came to after all
this instruction And this terrible experience, he's brought to this
place, to this condition. He tells us, I will, but I will. It's a change, isn't it? He didn't say, but I will not. God had changed him. God had
dealt with him. And it's very humbling when God
deals with us. So instead of saying, I will
not, we say, I will. But I will. And what was he going
to do? I will, he tells us, sacrifice
unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving. He had something to be thankful
for, didn't he? God hadn't cast him off no, he
was there still alive it wasn't a very comfortable position he
was in the whale's belly still but yet he had this confidence
that he would be delivered because he was able to come and say I
will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving What
a mercy when God makes us willing in the day of his power. You
see, God tests our faith, the reality of it. It doesn't appear
all before us so that we don't have to do anything. No, God
tests our faith. And so here was the situation
in Jonah's case. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with a voice of Thanksgiving he was going to have to testify
of what God had done for him and we are told and we are to
testify with our mouth sometimes people try and hide
and they say well of course I'm not very good at speaking and
I don't like speaking and there's no excuse we have a God and if
God has been gracious to us And if God has shown us his mercy
and God has shown us his love, then we should indeed follow
the gracious example of Jonah and come and say, but I will
sacrifice unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving. What does that
do? It brings honour and glory to
God. A wonderful deliverance. was
before Jonah. Wonderful mercy was being shown
to Jonah. And therefore, before it actually
happens, he comes to God and tells him, I will sacrifice unto
thee with a voice of thanksgiving. Now, we should just realize that
no sacrifice is without cost. In Old Testament times, when
a sacrifice was given, it was taken from the flock or the herd,
and it had to be a perfect animal, as perfect naturally as it could
be, had to be the very best, and so whoever was the sacrificer
would have to give the best of the flock and the best of the
herd. They weren't to give that which
was affected or ill, they had to give that which was good.
And so, It was a sacrifice. It cost something. Well, we don't
have to physically do that today, but my friends, sometimes it
is costly to our nature. Costly to confess that we've
been wrong. Costly to confess that we desire
to acknowledge God's kindness and goodness and mercy to us. And these things naturally are
difficult and they're more difficult because the devil doesn't want
us to come and to have this spirit of thanksgiving in this way of
a sacrifice. He tries to stop us. He tries
to hinder us. Well, what a mercy when God gives
us that grace to do his will. As Jonah says, I will. May we
have that willing spirit to bring honour and glory to God. How often I wonder in our lives
have we passed by an occasion to thank God. Thank God for his
mercy toward us. Thank God that he hasn't cast
us off hard-hearted and rebellious as we've been to praise God for
his goodness and mercy. Well here was Jonah in this situation
and he tells us I will Sacrifice with the voice of thanksgiving. And then he goes on. And again,
something very positive. I will pay that I have vowed. Now, we don't hear very much
about people vowing today, but there are those vows sometimes
which are made by people. They come to God and they vow
that they would do this or that if God does so and so. And if
that comes to pass, if it has come to pass, I don't know. You
may have a vow which has not been performed, a vow which has
not been brought to pass, and you are guilty. And what a mercy
to think that if God has blessed you and heard your prayer and
answered your vow, we must not turn our back upon God. We must complete that vow and
praise and thank our God for it and pay that that I have vowed,
whatever that may be. We may sometimes have made foolish
vows. We still need to pay if God brings
it to pass. It may be far more difficult
than we envisaged, but God gives more grace. And what a mercy,
therefore, as we see God's servant here, Jonah, telling us, I will
pay that I have vowed. Now, the wonderful truth is that
having come to this position, God has dealt with him in love
to his soul, And he comes now and makes his grand and glorious
statement. Salvation is of the Lord. That means the saving of our
soul is of the Lord. And what a blessing to realise
the wonderful power of God in doing that. We read about that
in the Acts of the Apostles, in the fourth chapter, in the
twelfth verse. Neither is there salvation in
other name, for there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved and that follows on from
the earlier verses which we read be it known unto you all and
to all the people of Israel the whole church of God that by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom ye crucified you and I have
crucified realize it's our sins that cause the Lord Jesus to
be crucified whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is an account where Peter
was used by God to heal someone and therefore he says, this is
the stone which was set and gnawed by you builders, which has become
the head of the corner. Well, sometimes we may have set
at nought the work of the Saviour. Again, I don't know each position,
individual position, but you know before God, and you may
have set the work of God at nought. You may have discounted it. And
yet, if the Lord has come and shown to you that in fact He
is the God, the true God, the ever-living God, which has become
the head of the corner and brings you then to that position where
you're able to say, neither is there salvation in any other. No, Christ is then precious. Christ is real. You bow down
and worship. You're able to come and say,
for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
and there is not. There's only one Lord, only one
Savior, and that's the great and blessed Jesus Christ, whereby
we must be saved, and how important that is. You and I must be saved
from all our sins. Not surprising, is it, that Jonah
comes and tells us salvation is of the Lord. Jonah knew that he needed to
be forgiven. Jonah knew that he'd sinned,
that he'd gone against God. And yet God in his love had had
mercy upon us. And really it's very wonderful
just the first couple of verses in the next chapter we read about
Jonah. And the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah the second time saying, I wonder whether God has done
that in your life and my life. Perhaps we've rebelled against
God. Perhaps we've said I'm not doing that. and then God has
taken us aside like Jonah perhaps in a different way and yet brought
us to that position where we come and we bow down before God
and we say yes I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have
vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And then we come and hear again. 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. What happened to Jonah now? Previously,
we know he arose and went down and found the ship. Now we find,
so Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh, doing God's will. How humbling it is to realize
that God is so kind and gracious. Jonah didn't deserve that opportunity
again, did he? He utterly disobeyed God. hard-hearted
wretch as he was my friends it's good if you and I realize today
we're no better we're no better than Jonah we can't say well
if I'd been like that I wouldn't have done what Jonah did I'm
sure we would may have done much worse but we have a God who's
kind and gracious God's purpose was to bless the Ninevites God's
purpose was to use Jonah to preach the gospel of repentance to the
Ninevites. And God's plan was not to be
cast aside. It was not to be changed. My friends, God's work has to
be done. Whatever you and I think we can
do to change it, no doubt Jonah thought he could get away with
it. Everything seemed to be going right. Jumped in a boat, off
it went. He thought he was avoiding that
commission by God, but no, he wasn't. And in your life and
my life, we should not think that we can disobey God. We can
change God's course that He has planned for us. You and I would
never be able to change it. And my friends, the Word of God
tells us, if you walk contrary to God, He will walk contrary
to you. That's a very solemn statement. And it's very sad if you and
I do walk contrary to God. And remember, God is in charge. God will get the victory. you
and I might fight and yell and shout we'll never prevail remember
God is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings and it's a
blessed situation to submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God
that he may exalt us in due time casting all our care upon him
believing He cares for us. It's wonderful, isn't it? To
think that the great God, the creator of all things, the ruler
of all things, is gracious and condescending and deals with
us in love to our soul. It's a wonderful testimony of
God's love and mercy to Jonah in this account. And it's good
to be able to trace it out and see how God dealt with Jonah. how kind it was, and even to
the extent of preparing that great fish to swallow up Jonah. You see, God can deliver in his
way. Nothing is too hard for our God. Well, let us appreciate that
and desire, therefore, to do God's will in our little lives,
remembering that all of God's people are His servants. We're born to serve Him. May we do His will. May we be
pleased to do His will. Because in doing God's will,
there's the answer of a good conscience. Because we know we're
doing that which is right and not turning away. from that which
God has commanded us. Well, how wonderful to be submissive
to our Saviour, especially when we think of what he's done. And
at this time of the year, we can think specifically, can we
not, of what he's done to save our souls. This great word, salvation,
is of the Lord. what he's done to deliver us
from the wrath of come. What mercy toward us, what favour. Good and merciful is our God. And therefore, if we look into
our hearts and are able to prove this word is true, that Jonah
was able to spell out, salvation is of the Lord. It was so in
Jonah's case, may we be able to say it in our case. We all need to, as we read in
the fourth chapter of Acts, the 12th verse, we all need to come
there and acknowledge this salvation. and to recognise the mercy and
favour of God. So, tonight, may we ponder these
words and remember what they are, but I will sacrifice unto
thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that I have vowed
salvation is of the Lord. Amen.