We're going to look at multiple
texts. I'm going to read the first chapter,
and I know we should be familiar with the Book of Jonah and what's
going on. But we'll look at the first chapter,
17 verses, kind of set the stage, and then I hope you remember It's you know, everybody says
Joan in the whale Joan in the fish. It's a it's we don't know
what kind of Animal creature it is. We know it's a fish. But
anyway, that's That's what we're gonna look at and see What the
Lord has for us in store this morning I Can read what I got
written here is an introduction. I hope by the end of this sermon
that our glorious and great sovereign will be most glorified in us
and that we, we will see Him, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit in everything about us, around us, and in us. God in everything. All to the
praise of the glory of his redeeming grace everything that he does
he does basically two things he does for his own glory and
he does it to redeem his people and that's what we see here that's
what we see here now how he goes about it is very interesting
Jonah chapter one now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the
son of Amittai, saying, so Jonah's a prophet. He's a called man
of God. He's a preacher, however you
want to phrase it. Arise, this is a command, go
to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it. Preach the
gospel. That's the only task we have.
Preach the gospel, cry against it, for their wickedness is come
up before me, God. But, Jonah rose up to flee unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Imagine that, how can
you do that? You can't. And went down to Joppa
and he 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. So he's being disobedient, a
man of God, yeah. He's being disobedient right
off. But the Lord sent a great wind into the sea. And there
was a mighty tempest in the sea so that the ship was like to
be broken. Then the mariners, those who
were experienced in seafaring things, 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."
So they're not believers. They prayed to their gods, okay? So the ship master came to him,
to Jonah, and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper?
Arise, call upon thy God like we are doing, if so be that God
will think upon us that we perish not. And they said, everyone
who is fellow, come and let us cast lots. You know what that
is. It's like rolling the dice that
we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast
lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. No accident. The casting of the
lot is of the Lord. We know that from scriptures.
Then said they unto Jonah, tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause
this evil is upon us, what is thine occupation? Hmm, okay,
now they're getting specific. And whence comest thou? And in
thy country, and of what people art thou? And he said unto them,
I am a Hebrew. And I fear the Lord God, do you?
Okay, the God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry
land. Then were the men exceedingly
afraid and said unto him, why hast thou done this? For the
men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because
Jonah told them. Then said they unto him, what
shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm for us? For the sea wrought is very tempestuous
And Jonah 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. Nevertheless, 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 and said we beseech thee oh lord we beseech
thee let us not perish for this man's life this man's sin this
man's fleeing from your presence and lay not upon us his innocent
blood for thou oh lord has done it as it pleased thee so they
took up jonah and cast him forth into the sea and the sea ceased
from a raging. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows.
Now here's kind of what I want to look at. Look at this verse
17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah
and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days three nights
now I don't have to tell you that is a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ Okay, so the gospel is definitely in Jonah But we're gonna look at that
verse verse 17 now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow
Jonah turn to Jonah chapter 4 Jonah chapter 4 And look at verses 6, 7, and
8. Notice the phrasing. This is
what caught my attention and led to this preacher's anxiety. 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 Jonah from his grief because It was very
hot. So Jonah was exceeding glad of
the gourd. Now look at verse seven. But
God prepared, same word, a worm. When the morning rose the next
day and it smote the gourd, that it withered. Easy come, easy
go. Look at verse eight. 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 wished in himself to die and said, it is better for me
to die than to live. Four verses, it's the same word. The Lord God prepared. What is
that word prepared? Allotted. Predestinated. Allotted. That's what it specifically
means. Allotted. It was this time for
this fish, whatever kind it was, to come up next to the ship and
swallow the prophet. It was the time prepared by God
for this gourd to come up and protect him. He was in the east
part of the city. and the sun had risen. It was
prepared of God that he would raise a worm and smite the gourd. And it was the Lord God prepared
a vehement wind that would beat down and beat upon Jonah. Spurgeon says this, In the great
things in life, as well as the little things, God is ever present. I feel sorry for these people
who don't raise their children in the fear and admonition of
the Lord. They don't talk about God. They don't know what a church
is. It's like they sidestep it. Well, you can't sidestep God. He's everywhere. And this is
what we're gonna see. He's everywhere. To the believer,
That's a comfort, or it should be. To the unbeliever, it should
be frightening. As I said, the word prepared
in chapter 1 verse 17 and chapter 4 verse 6, 7 and 8 is allotted. Surely, if ever there was free
agency, and you know what I'm talking about, free will, if
there was ever free agency, this great fish of the ocean must
possess it. This great fish swims freely,
uninhibited by anything, yet here we have it throughout the
whole book of Jonah. Here we have it, predestination
at its simplest. whether it's a sparrow flying
and the Lord controlling that, which we know out of Matthew
10, verse 29, or whether it's the hairs of her head all being
numbered, Luke 12, or whether it's this fish being used by
our great God, Jehovah, to fulfill his grand scheme, which is salvation. the unmerited favor of God. How do I know that? Well, look
at verse chapter two, to chapter two, verse one, the Lord, then
Jonah cried out of God, out of the fish's belly, and this is
the cry of Christ on the cross. Then said I, I cried by reason
of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. And out of the
belly of hell, cried I, thou heardest my voice. Thou hadst
cast me into the deep, into the midst of the seas, and the floods
compassed me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me, and surely on the cross the wrath of God flew
over him. He must suffer the wrath of God,
do us. This is what he's saying, this
is the gospel here. Then said I, as the cry of Christ,
I am cast out of his sight. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Is what Christ cried. Yet I will
look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compass me about.
Even to the soul, the depths 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 hast thou brought up my life
from corruption? O Lord my God, he shall not let
his Holy One see corruption." That's what the scripture says
about Christ. When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord.
And my prayer came unto thee in that holy temple. Thou that
observe lying vanities, forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have
vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spoke unto the fish
and it vomited out Jonah upon dry ground. Chapter three, and
the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Oh, blessed be God for a second
opportunity. Not a chance, no such thing for
a second opportunity. You blew it. I've blown it. We didn't speak when we were
supposed to speak. We were supposed to speak and we didn't speak.
And when we spoke about the weather or about sports, about something
that is totally immaterial. will not do anybody any good.
Came to the second time. Arise and go to Nineveh, that
great city, and preach. I don't like preaching. I don't
like to sit here while this guy's talking. That's the means God
has used. You say, well, I pray the Lord
will bring this person affliction. Affliction never saved anybody.
Now, it may get your attention, But he uses the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believes as Romans. Go and preach unto
it. The preaching that I bid thee,
the preacher gets up there. He didn't get up here with an
outline from some synod or some organization. He gets something
from God and tries to write it down and tries to speak it. So
Jonah rose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the
Lord. Now Nineveh was exceeding great city of three days journey
and Jonah began to enter into the city of days journey and
he cried and said, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown
because of your sins. Your sins have made a separation
between you and your God. Verse five, so the people of
Nineveh believed God and proclaim the fast and put on sackcloth
from the greatest of them even to the least of them. Salvation
has come. Salvation has come. Has it not? Look at chapter 4, verse 1. This
is a man of God. He's still a sinner. But it displeased
Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry. Why? How could somebody
be angry that the Lord God saved a multitude of sinners? We know that it's, well, turn
to Isaiah 40, Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. Whether it's a fish, a gourd,
a worm, or wind, Isaiah 46 will hold true. Isaiah 46 verse 9, remember says
God the former things of old, for I am God and there is none
else. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times of things that are not
yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all
my pleasure. What is God's pleasure? What
is God's pleasure? What is God's good pleasure?
Well, Matthew chapter one, verse 21 says, they'll call his name
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins and he'll get
all the glory. That's the pleasure of the Lord.
Salvation of his elect, which is what he's doing in Jonah. He did that. He saved a bunch
of folks, and He glorified His name. Now look with me at chapter 4, verse 4. of chapter four, the
Lord says to Jonah, do you be well to be angry? And Jonah went
out of the city and sat in the east side of the city. And there
was, he made him a booth and sat under it, the shadow. So
he might see what the, what would become of the city. He gets Scott
done preaching. He's he's, and the people are
responding and he's almost coming to go out. I think it was like
the like to be around them. I don't like to be around them. He's
contentious. He's a, what did you say? He's
peevish. He's a preacher. He's a man of
God. I don't want to be around him. I'm going to sit over here
and see what happens. Then the Lord brings, prepares, allotted
that, that gourd. And Jonah was exceedingly glad
for the gourd, not for the grace of God, not for salvation, but
for the gourd of mercy of God. Then God prepares a lot of the
worm in the morning and ate, smoked the gourd and it withered. And then he brings us, prepares
this wind. And Jonah says, it's better for
me to die. Does that sound like a man of God? Like I said, a lot of this stuff
in here made me sad. And I realized maybe this morning,
maybe it's because maybe, maybe I'm like this. What this a marvelous thing has
been wrought by God in Christ Jesus preaching the blood and
redemption that's only in Christ and they repent in sackcloth
and ashes. Old Testament, that'd be repentance,
which is we must all have repentance and faith towards God and the
Lord Jesus Christ. Are we upset? Are we angry? Are we unthankful? Are we ungrateful?
Humanly, sadly, yes. Spiritually, we should rejoice
because salvation has come. If the Lord saved your child
this morning, how would you react? Brethren, these things ought
not to be so. how small we are. God, in his free favor, will
send his mouthpiece, Jonah. He sends them some relief. He
sends them a gourd. We don't hear anything of him
thanking God. He's just happy for the gourd. We don't hear
anything of him, of nothing of gratitude or rejoicing in the
salvation, full and free for these, because he's observing
what's going on in the city. He's still in the city, within
the city limits. I say, as I repeat what Spurgeon
says, if we can be exceedingly glad with things or creature
comforts, if we allow such mercies to be reveled in instead of the
mercy giver, they may be soon removed. If we can revel in this
country and this county and the things that we have and the things
that we possess, We can revel in that instead
of, like we talked about back there, the men, God alone. They may be removed. Are we up
today like Jonah because of the gore, because of mercies or circumstances,
and then down tomorrow because of mercies removed? The proof
of the believer's folly or this preacher's folly or fleshliness
is that he is exceeding glad for the wrong thing, the wrong
reason. And once it is gone, he's bitter
and wished himself to die. Verse 8, I wish I could, I wish we would
give God honor simply because of who he is, not His benefits are, that's
a blessing. I'm not saying it's not, it's
a blessing to live in this country. It is, it truly is. But to simply
glorify Him for who He is. Not for the benefits, and there's
nothing wrong with that, but we, you know what I'm talking
about, we get way too, you know, we're looking in our For an outfit,
we can't find it, we get upset. Why? We got 25 other things we
could put on. Whatever comes our way, oh, to
acknowledge, one, we don't deserve the least of His mercies, Genesis
32. Secondly, He does all things,
all things well, Mark 7. Thirdly, He cannot do wrong. He cannot do wrong. By his standards,
not by ours. I didn't like that, that was
wrong. And fourthly, to simply bow to him in all things, Romans
14. May we not become too comfortable
with the vanities or material blessings of the world or its
abilities or self, but simply and humbly submit to our ever-gracious
God in the person and in the work of Jesus Christ, or as he
said, your will be done, not mine. Trust Him for today and
tomorrow as it comes to us, seeking to know His will and to know
Him better. Why? All so He may use us to
accomplish His decree in mercy. Keep reading in chapter four.
And God said to Jonah, do you do well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be
angry. even unto death. There's not even repentance here. And I would think that at the
end of chapter four, verse 11, if there was a next verse, being
a believer, the Lord would, he would say, Lord, you're right.
And I'm wrong. Then said the Lord, thou has
pity on the gourd. For that which thou hast not
labored, neither made it grow, which came up in the night and
perished in the day. And should not I, God, spare
Nineveh, spare our children, spare our neighbors, spare our
friends, spare our coworkers? Where are more than six score
thousand persons that cannot even discern between their right
hand and their left hand? and also much cattle. To save
much people alive, we ought to, may he use us to accomplish his
will. That's why this church is here. That's why this church
is here. To save much people alive, even
those who cannot discern between the right hand or left hand,
which I take to mean that the majority of the people that we
run across are spiritually ignorant of God's saving grace in our
beloved. They believe they have to do
something to be safe. They believe they have to walk
an aisle or confess to some priest in a booth. No, salvation, as
he learned, is of the Lord. Chapter two, verse 10, salvation
of is of, it originates of the Lord. He initiates it. He secures
it. He procures it. Christ satisfied
everything against us. not leaving us one thing, we
gotta believe, no? Believe is a grace of God. We
have to have faith, yes. We have to repent. These are
all bestowed upon us freely by His grace. Oh, I pray that we would be,
that He would be merciful to us and for us to receive this
mercy as always from His hand. He cannot be wrong. Now this
morning I wrote down some reflections on this whole thing. I got, hey, I added one this morning,
another one this morning. Just reflections on, read through
the Book of Jonah and look at his attitude. Am I like that? Are you like
that? Peevish, selfish, wanting our way? Get out of the way,
Lord. I'll put you back up on the mantle,
on the shelf, and when trouble comes, I'll go fetch it. Like an urn, I'll go fetch it.
Or, as we spoke back there, Christ is our life. I ask you to reflect on these
things. Number one, man's will, we see it in here, the Mariners,
Jonah, the people of Nineveh, and we see God's will. Whose
will was ultimately accomplished? And whose will will always ultimately
be accomplished? Secondly, we are, to our shame,
to my shame, and I talked to Tim James this morning and several
other preachers, and we were all just, we just were all shocked
We are to our shame more often similar to Jonah than we would
like to admit. Selfish, angry, discontent, want
our way. I'm okay with God if he does
not cross my will and my desires or my wants to. After service,
we are gonna do this. We're gonna go do this. I live
in Jackson, I'm somebody, we're gonna go do this. If the Lord
wills. will do this and that. That's
pretty small. He's talking about buying and
selling and getting, he's talking about going to harps and getting
groceries. If the Lord wills, we'll do this. Thirdly, may we be thankful that
God will bring all his sheep into the fold even sometimes
if he uses poor personalities. Fourthly, Is this person Jonah
perhaps very similar to these persons that Paul was talking
about in the New Testaments in Philippians chapter one? I'd
never seen this, but in my opinion, when you see something in the
New Testament, it can be verified in the Old. If you see an example
in the Old Testament, it can be verified in the New. Like
Tim and I were talking several years ago, he brought up an example
out of Samuel. I said, that's wonderful. I said,
there's got to be a New Testament principle. And then about six
or seven months later, the Lord revealed it to me. I called him
and he goes, that's it. Same thing here. Turn to Philippians
chapter one. This is what I mean. Is Jonah
like these guys here? I don't know. I'm just asking.
I'm just reflecting. I don't know. Philippians chapter 1 starting
verse 12. But I would that you should be
understand brethren that the things which happen unto me have
fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel according to God's
predestinated plan. He's in jail. He's been put in
jail. So that my bonds am in jail in Christ are manifest in
all the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren
in the Lord waxing confident, he wouldn't call them brethren
if they weren't, confident by my bounds are much more bold
to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ of
envy and strife, that sounds like
Jonah, and some of good will. One preached Christ of contention,
Not sincerely, hmm, he didn't want to preach. Jonah did not
want, I won't be anywhere, as a matter of fact, I tried to
escape God, who's omnipresent. Supposing to add affliction to
my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the
defense of the gospel, what then, notwithstanding every way, whether
in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do
rejoice, yay. I will rejoice. What an attitude.
I'd say if somebody said something to me about somebody that I was
preaching this way, I would not, I wouldn't recommend it. I don't
know. There's somebody else. To have desire like Paul and
personally like Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus, after going through
Philippians, he's something else. Fifthly, I and may we at this
church seek Jonah's results. Wouldn't it be great if Jackson
are too? The Lord just swept through and
saved. What about the people at the
courthouse? What about coaches? What about
neighbors? The Lord just swept through Jackson and they actually
saw what's important. So I pray for myself to have
and to seek Jonah's results, but not his attitude. Not his
attitude. There's enough of that. Sixthly,
in the end, God will be highly exalted in the salvation of all
his elect. May we be of Christ's mind and
be glad and not angry. Seventhly, God uses the preaching
of a crucified Redeemer to the saving of the soul. Verse six of chapter three, for
the word came to the king of Nineveh and he rose from his
throne and he laid his robe from him and covered his head with
sackcloth and ashes and sat in ashes and he caused it to be
proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decrees of the
kings and the nobles saying, let neither man nor beast, herd,
flock, taste anything, let them not feed nor drink, but let man
and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily unto the God,
yea, Let them turn everyone from his evil ways. That's repentance.
And from the violence that is in his hands. And who can tell
from our viewpoint that God will turn and repent and turn away
from his fierce anger that we perish not. That's what I'd like to hear.
That's what I'd like to hear. And lastly, I got to say this,
preachers are sinners also. I know we get up a little bit. I'm a little higher than you
up here. And it goes to our head. It does. All of us are only redeemed by
the grace of God. Who makes us to differ? Nobody. We're all sinners saved
by grace. Well, I'd recommend going back
over it and gleaning even more. I think this is scriptures. It's
a two edged sword. If you if you wield the sword,
it's going to cut you at different places, and it should. It should
cut me before I speak. I'm not trying to cut anybody.
But the Word of God will, and that's that's a good thing. Trust him. confess him, and worship
him. Nathan, would you close us?