Good morning. We'll continue
our studies this morning in the book of Jonah, if you would turn
to the book of Jonah. I want to apologize to anybody
who may think that I've been kind of rushing through this
book. We've had four lessons already and I've gotten about
Three to four verses on each lesson, and this one is going
to be even tougher because I'm only going to cover one verse
in the book of Jonah today. So needless to say, I think taking
our time and looking at these words the Lord has given us in
this book have been profitable for us, pointing us to the Christ,
the Lord Jesus. The verse I want to look at this
morning is the last verse of chapter one. 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." Before we go over to the New
Testament, I want to remind us of what it is we're talking about
in this book. We're talking about the things
of Christ, just as Steve brought out in his devotional The Trinity, Christ, part of
the Trinity, with one, with the Holy Spirit, with the Father,
all in complete agreement. The Lord Jesus Christ expounded,
revealed the things concerning Himself throughout all the books,
starting at Moses. That's what He said to those
two men on the road to Emmaus. And that's exactly what we see
here. Lord of all principalities, Lord
of all dominions, Lord of all powers and might, as it says
in Ephesians chapter one. All things have been put under
his feet, the feet of Jesus. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess, as we saw in our last lesson. Jesus is
Lord of all. This Lord spoken of here in Jonah
1.17 is Christ the Lord, the very one who brought the winds
and made the sea raging and tempestuous. He is the very one who prepared
this great fish to swallow up Jonah. And as we will see in
our future studies of this book, this event will be a sign to
the Ninevites that salvation is of the Lord and of the Lord
alone. Now if you would, turn over to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. We're going
to leave Jonah for now. Lord willing, we'll come back
to that book after the conference is over. I think today's lesson will be
sufficient, although Actually, I've got to take that back, no,
because there are so many messages that we could come up with, so
many things that we could study just in this first chapter. I don't think I've actually spent
hardly any time at all taking a close look at those things.
There's so much more that we could have seen. But yeah, we
do need to go on. So if you're with me in Matthew
chapter 12, Let's look at the New Testament and how it refers
to that book of Jonah, that verse in 117. Then, as it says in verse 38,
then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered, saying,
Master, we would see a sign from thee. Now, I want you to hold
your spot there and just turn back one page to chapter 9, one
or two pages there. No, same chapter, I'm sorry,
chapter 12, but look at verse 9. Verse 9 of that same chapter. And when he was departed thence,
he went into the synagogue, and behold, there was a man which
had his hand withered, that they might accuse him? And
he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall
have one sheep, and if it fall into the pit on the sabbath day,
will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is
this man better than the sheep? Wherefore, it is lawful to do
well on the sabbath days. And then he saith unto the man,
Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth, and
it was restored whole like as the other. Now, I've heard a
message given on this, and it was described in a way that this
man had a hand that had been deformed, completely deformed,
withered away, gone. I know a friend that had a stroke
once, and his hand withered up on him, his right hand. It withered up to the point where
he couldn't use it at all. That hand. The Lord touched that
man's hand and it became whole. You cannot deny that that's a
miracle. No doctor has ever been able
to bring a hand that was withered like that and miraculously bring
it to whole. These men saw that miracle happen
right in front of their eyes. Turn over to verse 22. Then was brought unto him, unto
Christ, one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he
healed him, insomuch that the blind and the dumb both spake
and saw. And all the people were amazed
and said, is not this the son of David? Here again, we see
another miracle, a man who could not speak, who could not see. Now, we can give eyes to the
blind. Well, cochlear implants to people
in their ears, like our sister Maxine has, so they can hear.
But there is no man who has ever been able to touch somebody and
make them whole, as that man with that hand, or the deaf and
dumb person here, the dumb and blind. So we see, in this very
same chapter, miracles. Miracles that happened right
before these very men. You don't need to turn there,
but allow me to read for you from John chapter 10, verse 24. Because this is what I think
of when I read that. I know I've got it marked here
somewhere. There it is. Then came the Jews around about
him, and said unto him, speaking to Jesus, How long dost thou
make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly." What does it say after that? Most of you know these
verses. Jesus answered them. He says, I told you. I told you
who I am. And ye believe not. The works
that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. No man
can create those miracles. I don't care what the Catholics
say. Christ is the only one who could do those miracles. Yeah,
the apostles did it for a while, but they did it in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But ye, ye believe not, because
ye are not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them
me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Perfect
introduction, Brother Steve, to today's lesson. The Trinity. I and my Father are one. The
God of Glory stood right in front of them. He miraculously healed
the sick, yet they could not see it. Here's why. Dead men can't see. Dead men
can't hear. No matter how religious they
think they are, no matter And each of us were in that same
camp at one time. On my way back to Matthew, allow
me to stop and mark and read. It says, And the Pharisees came
forth and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from
heaven, tempting him. These were the men, the Pharisees
from Dalmanutha. Remember in my devotion a few
months back, I brought out how the Lord left these men. Oh,
how desperate that must be to have the Lord walk away and leave
you." And he sighed, our Lord Jesus
sighed deeply in his spirit and saith, why does this generation
seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, there
shall be no sign given unto this generation. And he left them. Oh, how wonderful, folks, it
is to also know the words that I shall never leave you nor forsake
you. That's the words our Lord Jesus
gives to all of his people. Again, we see our Lord has a
people. And obviously these folks from
Dallamuthu were not his people. Are you with me again in Matthew?
Look at verse 39 now. 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 once
again, we come to a section of scripture that inspires dispute
or confusion between some. There are those who want to argue
that three days and three nights doesn't fit. I've read several different arguments
to this. And to be honest with you, I
don't know either. But that's not the point. It's not the point, folks. The
point is who is the sign. They get lost. They miss the
point by getting lost, trying to figure out the three days
and the three nights. You see, the point here is the
Son of Man. That's what it's pointing to.
So shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. It's the Son of Man. It's what
He must be. Argue that three days and three
nights thing all you want. I don't care about that. What
I care about is that the Son of Man was in it for my sake. And because He went there, I
stand before my Father as righteous as He is. Because He took my
sin upon Himself into that grave, because He was made sin for me,
I stand righteous in Him. Just as it says in John 3.14,
and Moses lifted up the servant in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. It's not talking about the serpent.
It's talking about how the Son of Man must be lifted up. He's
the one that we must look to. That serpent was just on the
stick. That was nothing more than just
a figure. It wasn't about the serpent.
It wasn't about the serpent being lifted up. And it wasn't about
Jonah or Jonas, as it is interpreted in the New Testament language. It's about the Son of Man. It's
about what He did. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Remember the theme of our studies?
I started off with it this morning, I started off with it at the
beginning of the book of Jonah, in Luke 24, 27, and in the beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, He, our Lord, expounded unto
them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. Oh,
how I pray that the Father may expound or reveal the things
of Christ in these scriptures that we have read. It's all about
the Lord of Glory who humbled Himself and became a man born
of a virgin, born of the Spirit, a true and sinless nature, pure
in all that He was and all that He did, perfect in every way. There was no sin in Him, yet
He was made to be sin for us. He willingly took all the sins
of His people and paid that price for them so that by His perfect
obedience, we will be found righteous in Him. Because He went to the cross
willingly, because He paid the price willingly, because He took
our sins with Him as He was buried in death, we stand in His righteousness
justified before God. And because God looks upon the
blood of His only begotten Son, He sees no sin in you. They are put away as far as the
east is from the west, God's word says. God remembers them
no more. I don't know about you folks,
but that's jumping up and down good news to a sinner like me. You see, when God the Father
reveals Christ and Him crucified to His people, His chosen before
the foundation of the world to be conformed to the image of
His Son, Christ and His crucifixion is the only sign that we need. We sing a song. And the scripture written before
the song from Romans 5, 6 says, when we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. One day when heaven
was filled with his praises, one day when sin was as black
as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin, dwelt
among men, my example is he. One day they led him up Calvary's
mountain. One day they nailed him to die
on the tree. Suffering anguish, despised and
rejected, bearing our sins, my redeemer is he. One day they
left him alone in the garden. One day he rested from suffering
free. And angels came down for his
tomb to keep vigil. Hope of the hopeless, my savior
is he. One day the grave could conceal
him no longer. One day the stone rolled away
from the door. Then he arose over death he had
conquered. Now he has ascended, my Lord
evermore. One day the trumpet will sound
for his coming. One day the skies with his glory
will shine. Wonderful day, my beloved one's
bringing. Glorious Savior, this Jesus is
mine. Living, He loved me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far
away. But that's not where He is anymore,
folks. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He's coming. Oh, glorious day. Let's close
with Luke. Luke, chapter 11. Do you look for something more? Are you seeking a sign? The end
times? There was a whole bunch of people
over there in the Bay Area that followed after some guy. Kept declaring the end of times
were coming. kept declaring a sign here, a
sign there. Where are their signs now? The Lord still hasn't come back.
You know why? He still has people to save. When that last one is
called out of darkness to be a member, to be a loved one,
who was loved before all time, that's when our Lord is finished
with His work. That's when our Lord will come back. Are you
with me in Luke chapter 11? Let's look at verse 27. And it came to pass, as He spake
these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her
voice and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and
the paps that But he said, Our Lord, yea, rather
blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. And
when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say,
This is an evil generation. They seek a sign, and there shall
no sign be given but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as
Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of Man
be to this generation. Christ and Him crucified. As
Paul said, I wish to know nothing of you except that. Would you
stand with me, please?