Open your Bibles if you would,
the Old Testament, the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah. It's a small book, has four chapters. It's in between Obadiah and Micah. Jonah. Today we'll be looking
at the doctrines of grace in Jonah. the doctrines of grace
in Jonah. Let's start. We'll read chapter
2. That will be our starting point. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord,
his God, out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of
mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly
of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast
me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed
me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me. Then I said, 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. The earth with her bars was about
me forever. Yet hast thou bought me up, my
life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted
within me, I remembered the Lord. And my prayer came unto Thee.
into Thy holy temple, that they that observe lying vanities forsake
their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto Thee
the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
And it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. So we will see
today the Gospel according to the book of Jonah. Now in this
book, it's just four chapters long, we see some of the doctrines
of grace, which we believe proclaimed. And I'd like us to consider those
today. Now we contend for the truth,
which is in the Scriptures. And they warm the heart of the
believer. when we hear about them, when we read about them,
when we hear them preached and proclaimed, we rejoice at these
wonderful truths. And we'll see some that are set
forth. And we rejoice in the wonderful truth set forth in
Jonah chapter 2, verse 9, which every gospel preacher proclaims
time and time and time again, because this is truth. Salvation is of the Lord. That's the heart of the gospel
too, isn't it, really? You can't save yourself. I can't
save myself. Salvation is of the Lord. And this brings the believer
great peace and great joy, because we've been shown our natural
state, we've been shown our inability to save ourselves. And this is
what God does when He saves a sinner. He shows them, you cannot save
yourself. Every one of us who are the redeemed
of the Lord have been shown. We have been shown the truth
of Jonah 2.9. Salvation is of the Lord. We've
been brought to an end of ourselves. And we fled to Christ. Christ
alone and we know we know we've been taught some things right
and this is something we do know That salvation is complete in
Christ Complete in him he's everything he's all my salvation Left to
myself there is no salvation left to yourself. There's no
salvation Not one of your works not one of my works can save
us Not one but the work of one, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, he
saved a number that no man can number. Salvations of the Lord. Think of this. Salvations of
the Lord and its planning. It's all by his purpose and plan
from eternity. Salvations of the Lord and its
execution. You and I can't save ourselves,
but Christ has saved his people by the sacrifice of himself. Salvation is of the Lord in its
application. Salvation is of the Lord in it
being sustained. Because left to ourselves, if
we could lose our salvation, we'd lose it, like Spurgeon said,
a thousand times a day. But God keeps His people. And
we see that. He preserves His people. And salvation is of the Lord
in its ultimate perfection, when we will be in the presence of
our great God. It's of the Lord. So salvation
then is of the Lord from beginning to end. It's all Him. And that's what the believer's
been showing. Again, we've been brought to an end of ourselves.
And Jonah, the word Jonah means dove, and he was a prophet from
Israel, the northern kingdom. And this book is biographical
because it concerns his ministry to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. And unlike most other prophets,
Jonah does not specify the kings during whose reign he ministered.
But according to 2 Kings, turn if you would to 1 Kings. Actually, yeah, 1 Kings. 1 Kings.
14, 23-29. He prophesied during the
reign of Jeroboam II, one of Israel's most powerful and prosperous
kings. Look at this in 1 Kings 14, 22-29. And Judah did evil
in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy
with their sins, which they had committed above all that their
fathers had done. For they also built them high
places and images and groves on every high hill and under
every green tree. And there were also sodomites
in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the
nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Roabam that Shishak,
king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures
of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house.
He even took away all and he took away all the shields of
the gold which Solomon had made and King Roabam made in their
stead brazen shields and committed them upon the hands of the chief
of the guard which kept the door of the king's house. And it was
so when the king went into the house of the Lord that the guard
bare them and brought them back into the guard chamber. Now the
rest of the acts of Roabam and all that he did Are they not
written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? So this
is one of the kings, and it's thought that he prophesied during
the reign of. And the duration of his ministry
is not known. And to some extent, he was a
contemporary of Hosea and Amos. And we see that the theme of
this book, as we look at it today, is God's absolute sovereignty. God's absolute sovereignty in
both providence and in salvation, and over all things. This is
the theme of the book, the absolute sovereignty of God. We will see
God's mercy very clearly, and we see that in verse 9, salvation
is of the Lord. That's God's mercy right there,
very clearly stated in verse 4. And it's a message which is
evident in this book. And we see that in both Jonah's
undeserved deliverance from death and Nineveh's undeserved deliverance
from judgment. We see the mercy of God on full
display. Salvation is of the Lord. It
must be, or our faith is in vain. Salvation is of the Lord. It
must be, or our preaching is in vain. Salvation is of the
Lord. It must be, or our worship is
in vain, and our hymn singing is in vain. Beloved, salvation
is of the Lord. And we know this to be true,
because the scriptures proclaim this in Jonah 2.9. And we bow
our knee to the scriptures. Now today we'll look at, in Jonah,
these precious truths. The depravity of man, salvation
by a substitute, the sovereignty of God in salvation and in providence,
Irresistible grace, known as effectual calling or grace, and
the final preservation and perseverance of the saints. So let us consider
our first point, the depravity of man, here in the book of Jonah. Turn, if you would, to Jonah
chapter 1. Jonah chapter 1. In the book of Jonah chapter
1, we have Jonah, which pictures the flesh running from God. Jonah
flees the presence of the Lord. Look at Jonah chapter 1, verses
1 to 3. Now the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah, the son of Amatai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has
come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto
Tarsh, from the presence of the Lord and 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." Turn if you would over to Genesis chapter 3. So he's fleeing the presence
of the Lord. Now in the book of Genesis we
see Adam and Eve after the fall, hiding from the presence of the
Lord. Hiding from the presence of the
Lord. Look at Genesis 3, verse 8. And they heard the voice of the
Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God
amongst the trees. of the garden. Now look again at Jonah chapter
1, verse 3. And we see that he fled from
the presence of the Lord. Jonah fled from the presence
of the Lord. The essence of depravity is this. fleeing from God, having no desire
to be in His presence, refusing, like Cain, to listen to God. Now, Cain had the same instructions
as Abel, didn't he? But what did Cain do? Cain bought
the fruit of his own labor, didn't he? But he was supposed to bring
a lamb, as God instructed, but he refused. and he bought the
labor of his own hands. Romans chapter 3 verse 10 says
this, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. That means that in the sight of God, everyone
who is born into this world is unrighteous. They're sinners. They're sinners. And then the
scripture even goes on further to say, in verse 11, there's
none that understand it. We don't know who God is in our
natural state. And after we're saved and redeemed
and born again, we only know what He's revealed to us. There's
none that understand it. And that means, the word none
there means none. It doesn't mean, well, some.
It means none. And then it goes on to say, there
is none that seeketh after God. So man in his natural depravity
does not seek God. He flees from the presence of
God. And that's Romans 3, 10 and 11,
if you want to write that down for further study. And Jonah. disobeyed God. Why? Well, he
self-willed, didn't he? He found the ship himself and
paid the fare thereof. Look at verse 3. But Jonah rose
up to flee from Tarsh, from the presence of the Lord, and went
down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to
Tarsh, so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with
them unto Tarsh from the presence of the Lord. And he was asleep down below. Consider this, Psalm 13 proclaims
this, verses 3 to 6. Consider and hear me, O Lord
my God. Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep
the sleep of death. Let mine enemies say I have prevailed
against him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But
I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy
salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully
with me. Oh, lest I sleep the sleep of
death. Jonah had fled from God. Where
was he? He's down below, fast asleep,
hiding below deck. And what was going on above deck?
Beloved, there was a great tempest. It roared above. How many are fast asleep? in
their own depravity with no care for God. No care for their souls, while
all around them roars a mighty tempest." Look at verse 4. But the Lord sent out a great
wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea,
so that the ship was like to be broken. And we see the mariners try in
their own strength to save themselves by lightening the load. Look
at verse 5. Then the mariners were afraid
and cried every man unto his God, and cast forth the wares
that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. But
Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay
and was fast asleep. Now notice, they cried out to
their little gods, right? Little G. They cried out to their
gods, but their false gods, they won't answer. And they try by their own strength
to save themselves by lightening the ship, by casting over their
wares. The foolish mariners in their
depravity cry out to their false gods, but there's no answer.
Because there's only one true God, Jehovah. The one who rules over all things,
visible and invisible. The one who has brought this
very storm upon them. Look at verse 6, So the shipmaster
came to him and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper?
Arise, call upon thy God. If so be that God will think
upon us that we perish not. Next, let us consider salvation
by a substitute. Salvation. by a substitute. Look at verse 7, And they said,
Every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we
may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast
lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. He couldn't hide. He couldn't
hide. Remember, that the lot is cast,
but it's the Lord who determines it. We looked at that in Wednesday
night study, when scripture declares in Proverbs 16, 33, the lot is
cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And look what it says there.
And they said, everyone to his fellow, come and let us cast
lots that we may know for whose causes evil is upon us. So they
cast lots and that lot fell upon Jonah. Look at verses 8 and 9. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is
thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What
is thy country? And of what people art thou?
And he said unto them, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord,
the God of heaven, who which hath made the sea and the dry
land. Jonah declares the absolute sovereignty
of God to them. Look at verses 10 to 16. Then where the man exceedingly
afraid and said unto him, why has thou done this? For the man
knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told
them. Then said they unto him, what shall we do unto thee? That
the sea may be calm unto us for the sea rot and was tempest. And he said unto them, Take me
up, and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm
for you. For I know that for my sake this
great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rode hard
to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought
and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the
Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let
us not perish for this man's life. 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 ranging.
Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice
unto the Lord and made vows. Jonah here is a type of our Savior,
both in death and in resurrection. Again, let us take note of the
foolish efforts of the sailors to save themselves. They cry
to their false gods, in verse 5. And like a sinner under conviction,
crying, I'm going to quit this sin and that sin. Then they cast
their cargo overboard, also in verse 5. And look at verse 13. He's told them to cast me into
the sea. And what do they do? Well, they
row hard trying to save themselves by their own efforts. They're doing the best to save
themselves by their own strength. And this is why we do not do
things by the arm of our flesh. We wholly rest upon Christ and
Christ alone. The scriptures proclaim, not
by might nor power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. They tried everything and anything
in their own strength to keep from looking to a substitute.
Look at verse, Verse 12, and he said unto them, take me up
and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea be calm unto
you. For I know that for my sake, this great tempest is upon you.
What do they do? Nevertheless, the man rode hard to bring it
to land, but they could not, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous
against them. Trying to save themselves by
their own strength. Well. Jonah tells him to cast
cast cast me overboard. But they don't listen. They don't
listen. What does this prove to us here
in verses 12 and 13? This proves to us that man cannot
save himself. That salvation is of the Lord
through the substitute, the one substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 15. So they took
up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from
her raging. They cannot save themselves or
help themselves. They must cast Jonah overboard.
He must die for them. They cast him overboard. And
casting him overboard in the sea, they probably, well, he's
going to perish. There's no way he's going to live. It's a picture of what Christ
did for us as our substitute. A picture. Think of this. The
storm and the mighty tempest pictures the law and justice
of God raging. against us. My beloved, and the throwing
of Jonah into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging, pictures
how Christ has satisfied the law and justice of God as the
substitute of his people. saving our eternal souls from
the wrath of God. In Jonah's being given for a
ransom, the storm instantly ceased. And we behold how Christ has
borne the sins of His people by His own voluntary sacrifice,
the offer of Himself He has satisfied divine justice and made reconciliation
for iniquity, for our iniquity, for the iniquity of His people.
He's perfect, sinless, the spotless Lamb of God. And He dies as our
substitute. And God's justice and wrath is
appeased. It's a wonderful picture. It's
a wonderful picture. He has satisfied divine justice. He has reconciled us to God by
his own precious blood. And think of this, in our picture
here, Jonah was the sole offender in
the storm. And the Lord Jesus Christ, though
as altogether holy and without sin, the perfect, spotless Lamb
of God, He became the surety of His people. He stood forth
with all the guilt of His people, all the sins of His people imputed
to Him. Dying before Jehovah, the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God, the great substitute of His people, And
he bore our sins, didn't he? He carried our sorrows, didn't
he? And God's wrath and justice is
satisfied. And we see it here represented
by Jonah when he was cast into the sea and the tempest ceased. Let us marvel, beloved God, God's
ways are not our ways, as the sinless substitute dies in the
place of sinners. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
Look at verse 17, it says, 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. Let us take note that first God
prepared the storm, didn't He? He caused it. He prepared it,
and now He's prepared a fish. So we see God's absolute sovereignty
right here before us at work. He has prepared all that is occurring. And we have here before us a
picture of our slain substitute having died upon the cross, and
He was buried. But beloved, three days later
he rose again. Turn if you would to Matthew
chapter 12, verses 38 to 41. Matthew chapter 12, verses 38
to 41. And I'll read verse 17 again.
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.
Look at Matthew chapter 12, verses 38 to 41. Then certain of the scribes and
Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous
generation seek it after a sign, and there shall be 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 men be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth. The man of Nineveh shall rise in judgment
with this generation and shall condemn it, because they repented
at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, a greater than Jonah
is here." A greater than Jonah is right there before them. The
Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the flesh, the Son of God,
our Savior, substitute and Redeemer. He arose from the tomb, beloved.
victorious over death and hell and the grave. And His resurrection
is proof that He has, by the sacrifice of Himself as our substitute,
put away all our sins. This is good news for sinners.
Oh my! God is absolutely satisfied with
the sacrifice of Christ because He rose for our justification. for the justification of His
people. And note, everyone on that ship is saved by the one
being flung overboard. All the Lord's sheep, beloved,
all the Lord's sheep are saved by the one sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not everybody in the world is
saved, are they? No, no. But all the God's sheep are.
And we are represented by those men on the boat. All those men
on the boat were saved. Oh my. Let us next consider the sovereignty
of God in salvation and in providence, especially the salvation of Jonah.
We have seen God's sovereignty over all of nature in the previous
points, we've looked at that, and now let us consider God's
sovereignty in salvation. Jonah learned that salvation
was of the Lord. Look at chapter 2 again, we'll
read it again. Focusing on verse 9. Then Jonah prayed unto the
Lord, his God, out of the fish's belly. And he said, I cried by
reason of mine affliction unto the Lord. And he heard me out
of the belly of hell, cried I. And thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the
deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods come past me about.
All thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said,
I am cast out of thy sight. Yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about,
even to my soul. The depth closed me round about.
The weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottom
of the mountains. The earth, with her bars, was
about me forever. Yet, thou hast bought me up,
my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted
within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee,
into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee with
the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that I have vowed
salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Jonah learned that
salvation was of the Lord. He learned that. He learned that. God's people have been taught
that too, haven't they? Every one of us. The sailors over in
chapter one, verse 14, look at they acknowledge the sovereignty
of God and dealing with them. Look at verse 14. Wherefore,
they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord,
we beseech thee. Let us not perish for this man's
life and and lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, Lord,
has done it done as it please thee. Beloved, Jonah is completely
at the disposal of God. Jonah is completely at the disposal
of God. And he learned that it would
not be by his choice, but by God's choice that he would be
saved. Not his will, but God's will.
This was no accident. This was not chance. This was
all according to the providence of God unfolding before us in
this text. And he acknowledges that. After
being taught of God, that salvation is of the Lord. And note again,
the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah in verse
17 of chapter 1. God sent the storm. And Jonah
was taught by God whose will overrules all other wills. He was taught whose will is supreme. the great sovereign God of the
universe, Jehovah, the one to whom all things are subject,
all things, and everyone, every one of us in this room are subject
to Him, whether you believe it or not. All things are subject to Him. Turn, if you would, over to Jonah
chapter 4 and look at verses 6 to eight. We see there that the Lord prepared
a gourd. And the Lord God prepared a gourd
and made it to come up over Jonah that it might be a shadow over
his head to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceedingly
glad of the gourd, but God prepared a worm, so he prepared the gourd
Now is prepared a worm, that when the morning rose the next
day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered. And it came
to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a veminent
east wind. And the sun beat upon the head
of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and
said, It is better for me to die than to live." Who's doing
all the preparing? Who's doing all the execution?
God. He is sovereign, beloved. He
is solid. And then look at Jonah chapter
2 verse 9. When Jonah finally saw in verse
9 and proclaimed that salvation is of the Lord, then God spoke
to the fish to vomit Jonah up on dry land. Look at verse 10. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Let us now consider
that Jonah's salvation, just like ours, is one of irresistible
Word and power of God. God's Word and power brought
Jonah to the end of himself. As it was by His power that the
great tempest arose. It was by His power that the
fish swallowed up Jonah. And we see here in verse 10 that
it's by His Word and power that the fish vomited Jonah up on
dry land, didn't it? It's by His Word and power, beloved.
God is God. He's not what you think He is
or what I think He is. If you're here and you don't
know Christ and God, He's not what you think He is. He's God. He's sovereign. He's in full
control. And the believer says, this is
my Savior. This is my God. And we rejoice. We rejoice. And note too, that God's word
and power will not be thwarted by man. This God that people proclaim,
oh God wants to save you if you let him, that's not God. God saves whom he wills. when
He wills, by His power and might, and by His grace being given
to we who believe. And if you're sitting in here
and you're saved, it's by God's decree, it's by God's power,
it's the mercy of God and the grace of God on full display
in your life. In our prayer, if you do not
know Christ, If it's God's will that he'd save you, oh Lord,
please save your people. Save your lost sheep, just like
you saved us. Grant them faith and repentance.
Regenerate them. But God's word and power will
not be thwarted by man. Never. Never. That which God had commanded
the first time he commands again. And Jonah, Jonah obeys now. Jonah
obeys according to God's purpose and plan by his sovereign almighty
power. And remember. All that happened
in chapter 1 and 2 was also prepared and purposed and planned by God,
wasn't it? But look at verse chapter 3 now. Look at chapter
3 now. We see Jonah goes to Nineveh. Look at this. 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. Does Jonah try to hide from the
presence of the Lord? Nope. 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 forty days in 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. Beloved by
God's word and power, the people of Nineveh repents. And it's
all by His word and power. It's all by His grace and mercy,
just like it is for we who are redeemed. And that's how we've
been saved by His grace and mercy, by His word and power. Salvation
is of the Lord. It ties right in with what Jonah
proclaimed in Jonah 2, 9. Look at verse 6. look at verse
6 for the word came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose
from his throne and and he laid his rope from him and covered
him with sackcloth and satin ashes now look what's set right
here before us is Proverbs 21 1 the heart of the king's heart
is in the hand of the Lord as rivers of water he turneth it
whatsoever he will the king of Nineveh Oh, my, for the word
came under the king of Nina and he arose from his throne and
he laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth sat
in ashes. And then look at verses seven
to 10, and he caused it to be proclaimed and published through
Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles saying, let
neither men nor beast, herd nor flock taste anything. Let them
not feed nor drink water. but let men and beasts be covered
with sackcloth and cry mightily unto God. Yea, let them turn
everyone 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 and 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. Beloved, They're made willing in the day
of God's power. Just like every one of God's
people. Made willing in the day of God's
power. Every one of God's blood, God's saints, we who are born
again by the Holy Spirit of God and granted faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, granted repentance before our great God. The only reason we have done
It's because we were made willing in the day of His power. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
all His doing. It's all His doing. So let us close with this last
point. The eternal preservation of God's
saints. Look over in chapter 4, look
at verses 1 to 5. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,
and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord,
and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I
was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto
Taurus, for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful,
slow to anger and have great kindness and repentance, the
of evil. He knows who God is. He knows
that God is a God of a gracious God and a merciful God. Oh, have
have not we who are redeemed, we who are born again, do we
not know that our God is a gracious God and a merciful God? We know
that personally, don't we? Because he saved us from all
our sins. We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Therefore,
now, Lord, take I beseech thee my life from me, for it is better
for me to die than to live. Then said the Lord, doest thou
well to be angry? Is it OK for you to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city
and sat on the east side of the city and there made him a booth
and sat under it in the shadow that he might see what would
become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a court.
and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over
his head to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceedingly
glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when
the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it
withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that
God prepared a vehement east wind, and the sun beat upon the
head of Jonah, that he fainted, and he wished in himself to die,
and said, Is it better for me to die than to live? God said
to Jonah, doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he
said, I do well to be angry even unto death. Then the Lord said,
thou hast pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored,
neither madest it to grow, which came up in the night and perished
in the night. And should not I spare Nineveh,
that great city wherein are more than six score thousand persons
that cannot discern between the right hand and the left, and
also much cattle? Oh, beloved, think of this. Think
of this. God preserved Jonah in the storm. God preserved Jonah when he was
tossed into the sea. God preserved Jonah while he
was in the whale's belly. Three days and three nights.
God preserved Jonah while he was preaching to the Ninevites.
God preserved Jonah even in Jonah's displeasure. God preserved Jonah in his grumblings
and in his hard-heartedness. God preserved Jonah in his despair
and anger. What mercy we see. Is not our God merciful? Is not our God gracious? Mercy. The redeemed have received mercy. And here before us we see the
preservation of the saints. May we who are redeemed praise
and glorify God for the mercy which we have received in and
through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank Thee again for the time that we could spend together
here. We thank Thee for the wonderful
scriptures where we see Thy absolute sovereignty on full display.
You are sovereign over all things and over all people. And You
are a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, But, O Lord, when we who are
redeemed consider that Thy wrath, like that great tempest that
had arose, that Thy wrath has been appeased by the sacrifice
of You, Lord, upon Calvary's cross, may we ever be thankful, Lord,
for the mercy which have been shown to us. And may You use
these messages that go forth from this place and from all
the Gospel preachers that are proclaiming the Word today. O
Lord, and may You reveal to Your lost sheep their state. And may You be pleased to reveal
Yourself to them. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.