Alright, you have your Bibles
open there to Psalm 31 for our scripture reading this morning.
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me. Deliver
me speedily. Be thou my strong rock for an
house of defense to save me. For Thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for Thy name's sake,
lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they
have laid privately for me, for Thou art my strength. Into Thine hand I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord
God of truth. I have hated them that regard
lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and
rejoice in thy mercy, for thou hast considered my trouble. Thou
hast known my soul in adversities, and hast not shut me up into
the hand of the enemy. Thou hast set my feet in a large
room. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for
I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed with grief,
yea, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief,
and my years with sighing. My strength faileth because of
mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was reproached among
all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors. And a fear
to my acquaintances, they did see me without They that did
see me without fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man
out of mind. I am like a broken vessel. For
I have heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side. While
they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away
my life. But I trusted in thee. O Lord, I said thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. Deliver
me from the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute
me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Save me for thy
mercy's sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord,
for I have called upon Thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and
let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to
silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously
against the righteous. O how great is Thy goodness,
which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast
wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride
of man. Thou shalt keep them secretly
in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord,
for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city." Has
He shown you His marvelous kindness in a strong city? Can you cry
with David and see how this psalm speaks of Christ? For I said
in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes. Nevertheless,
thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto
thee, O love the Lord, all ye his saints. For the Lord preserveth
the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank
you for the gift of your Spirit. that gives to us faith to look
to Christ. We thank You that You've shown
us Your ways. We thank You, Lord, that we have
some understanding of how it is that the Lord Jesus Christ
bore our sins to the point that He called them His own and suffered
Your judgment to meet justice and righteousness. We ask, Lord, that you would
be pleased to lift him up here this day. Bless your word. Bless your people. Call from
the darkness of unbelief those who have yet to believe. We ask
it in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. Will you turn with me in your
Bibles to the book of Jonah. Jonah. The fourth of what has been referred
to as the minor prophets. Minor only in the sense that
they are briefer than the other prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel
and Isaiah. but certainly not minor in the
message. I suppose the story of Jonah
and the whale, and it was a whale because the Lord said in Matthew
chapter 12 it was a whale. In Jonah, it just says a great
fish. But when our Lord Jesus Christ made reference to this
prophet, he called it a whale. But I suppose that the story
of Jonah and the whale is as familiar to as many people as
any story in the Bible. Everything from entertaining
children in the form of cartoons to being the subject of debate
among those skeptics who doubt its literal truth. The story
of Jonah is well known for its brief yet fantastic narrative
events. A man being cast into the sea
and swallowed by a fish, remaining there for three days and vomited
out again to preach the gospel to the Ninevites and then to
have the whole city of Nineveh repent and believe what he says? As popular and familiar as this
story is, relatively few have read it with any true understanding. Few have seen it with the eyes
of faith. in Christ. Few have heard the
events as they were intended by God to reveal the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, there are lessons to be
learned about the consequences of disobedience. There are lessons
to be learned about the effect that one man's sin can have on
a lot of people. There are lessons to be learned
about the Lord's persistent faithfulness to preserve His children and
to deliver them even in their rebellion. But, as it is true
with all the Scriptures, are they which testify of me." Jonah
is a type of Christ. He is a type of Christ. Before
we begin reading the book of Jonah, turn with me to Matthew
chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. The most
striking way in which Jonah is a type
of Christ our Lord speaks of in Matthew
chapter 12, and we'll begin reading in verse 38. Then certain of
the scribes and the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we
would see a sign from Thee. They required the Lord to prove
Himself, to authenticate his authority by performing a miracle. The other prophets performed
miracles. You perform a sign and then we'll consider believing. But he answered and said unto
them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. It is unbelief that demands a
sign, that will not take God at His word, that wants some
outward manifestation of a miracle in order to believe. That's unbelief.
That's an evil and wicked heart. They're the ones that seek after
a sign. There shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of
the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Jonah typifies
the Lord Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection
clearly. The Lord says so right there.
That's the reason that God ordained it to happen. You know, the amazing
thing is that no one other than Jonah ever spent three days in
the belly of a fish and was vomited up alive. No one ever had that
experience. And so it is. So it is that no
one, no one ever went down into the belly of the earth No one
ever suffered the full wrath of God's judgment and justice
and was raised again from the grave three days. Jonah is typical
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 41, the men of Nineveh
who believed Jonah's preaching shall rise in judgment with this
generation and shall condemn it. They believed. They had no
other evidence other than what Jonah said, and they believed
God and they repented. Because they repented at the
preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is among
you. Speaking of himself. All the stories of Scripture
are given to us not to entertain, but to enlighten. They're given to us in order
to reveal the person and work of Christ. And that's especially
true here in the book of Jonah. Are you with me now in Jonah
chapter 1? The Word of the Lord came unto
Jonah. Well, in that sense, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the Word of the Lord. For the Scripture says,
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And the Word became flesh. And He tabernacled one greater
than Jonas here. He dwelt among us. And He spoke
of Himself, the Word of God. The Word of the Lord came unto
Jonah, so the Word of the Lord came unto us, both bodily and
through revelation. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God. What other word does man need?
My word doesn't mean anything. Your word doesn't mean anything.
If it's not consistent with what God says, Well, the Scripture
says God alone tells the truth. All men are liars. All men are
liars. I want to know what God says,
don't you? I want to know what the Word of the Lord is. At the
end of the day, it's the only thing that's going to matter.
It's the only thing that's going to matter. What saith the Scriptures? It's amazing to me. I discuss
the Gospel with people who have questions. And they always want
to raise up an argument by some dead theologian. Well, so-and-so
said and so-and-so believed. Yeah, but what does the Scripture
say? They're not my source of authority. I don't really... I'm encouraged to read men like
Spurgeon and Vettner and Gill, but I, you know, They've got
to be filtered through the Word of God. They're but mere men.
What sayeth the Scriptures? The Word of God is the final
authority for you and for me. And the Word has come. And He
has spoken. And He's revealed Himself. And
He reveals Himself here in this book. And He calls Himself Jonah. Now, Jonah translated, if you
have it in the margin of your Bible perhaps, means literally
dove. In the Hebrew language, it is
the word dove. And it speaks of the gentleness
of our Jonah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me back to
the Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon. Psalms, Proverbs,
and Ecclesiastes. Song of Solomon, chapter 2. Here's the child of God speaking
of Christ. Here is the bride talking about
her bridegroom. Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse
14. O my dove, thou art in the clefts
of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs. Let me see thy
countenance. Let me hear thy voice, for sweet
is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Oh, he delights in
showing mercy. He is tender-hearted. He has compassion for sinners. Are you in need of one like that?
It is the love of God that leads us to repentance. Jonah was a
gentle dove. The Lord Jesus Christ here is
referred to as my dove. My dove. He is a dove in the
fact that he is gentle. And he is also a dove, look with
me, to Isaiah chapter 38. We are told to mourn over our
sin. Blessed are they that mourn.
But no man ever mourned like the Lord Jesus Christ over sin. Isaiah chapter 38. Look with
me to verse 14. Like a crane or a swallow did,
so did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove. My eyes fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed. Undertake
for me. If you read that verse in its
context, it's clearly a prophecy of what the Lord Jesus Christ
would go through. And he said, I am like a dove
that's mourning. You've heard the sound of a dove. In a sense, it is a sad sound,
isn't it? It's the mourning sound of a
dove. Our Lord Jesus Christ, typified
here by Jonah the dove, is gentle to sinners. And he mourned like
no man ever mourned over sin. He cried unto the Father in agony
over the sins of His people. And He pleaded with the Father
that the cup might pass from Him, the bitter cup of justice
and judgment for the sins of His people. The Holy One of God,
who never knew anything of sin, mourned when He hung on Calvary's
cross. And He pleaded with the Father
why it was that He had to be forsaken, knowing That's why
it was. He is our dove. Notice back in
the text, now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son
of Amittai. Amittai translated means, my
truth. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No man can come to the Father
except by me. If they speak not according to
this law and this testimony, it is simply because there is
no truth, no truth in them. The Lord Jesus Christ came as
the truth. Everything must be judged by
Him and everything one day will be measured by Him, including
you and me. Jonah, the son of Amittai. Arise, verse 2, and go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has
come up before me. Jonah arose from a city in Galilee. Turn back with me to 2 Kings
chapter 14. The book of Jonah doesn't tell
us where he was from, but the scriptures do tell us that Jonah
was a Galilean. Chapter 14, verse 25. And it came to pass, I'm sorry,
2 Kings chapter 14. At verse 25, He restored the
coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath into the sea of the
plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which
He spake by the hand of His servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the
prophet which was of Gathipher. Gathipher is a city in Galilee. What did the Pharisees say about
the Lord Jesus Christ? Can anything good come out of
Galilee? Never has there been a prophet come out of Galilee. They knew the Scriptures. They
knew where Jonah was from. But in their self-righteousness,
they could not believe that God would raise up one out of Galilee.
Jonah is the only prophet that was of Galilee. But in that sense,
he typifies the Lord Jesus Christ in his humility. He was a Galilean
sent in order to preach to Nineveh, the largest and most wicked city
of the world. And the Scripture says that the
wickedness of Nineveh had come up before God. And you can be
sure of one thing. God is aware of all the wickedness
of men. And it comes up before Him. And
must be. It must be paid for. It must
be justified in His sight. It must be exposed. And it will
be. It will be. The Lord said, what you cover
now, I will uncover. What you uncover. What you uncover
in repentance, in faith in Christ, I will cover with the precious
blood of my Son. your Jonah, your Dove, your Truth,
the One who has come in order to bring a message of salvation. Oh, just like those Pharisees
who the Lord said, you are of a wicked and perverse generation,
we are of a wicked and perverse generation. We are in need of
an advocate. We are in need of one to stand
before the Father on our behalf and plead our case. We are in
need of a covering for the wickedness of our own sin. For it comes
up before God. It does come up before God. But
Jonah Verse 3, But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from
the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa. And he found
his 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. Notice how many times the word
down is mentioned in that verse. Every step of the way, Jonah,
fleeing from God, went down. That is always the progression
of sin. Always. The progression of rebellion
is a downward slope. And it will lead to perdition.
It will lead to ultimate destruction. God in His sovereignty will not
allow His people to go that way. He interrupts Jonah, doesn't
He? Oh, but if we can learn anything here of the fear of God, we ought
to beware of the things that Jonah experienced and the consequences
of sin. But as this story typifies Christ,
it typifies Christ at this point by contrast, not by comparison. It typifies Christ by contrast,
not by comparison. For as Jonah And as you and I
often attempt to flee from the Lord, often disobey, the Lord
Jesus Christ never did. He always was obedient to the
Father. And we are to bring into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. This is my beloved
Son. In Him I'm well pleased. In the
volume of the book it is written of me. I've come to do Thy will,
O God. And he did. And so we see by
contrast that Jonah typifies the Lord Jesus Christ in that
the Lord Jesus is just the opposite. Just the opposite. Every time
the Father spoke, the Lord Jesus Christ said, Yes, Lord. Yes,
Lord. When the Father sent Him from
His throne of glory into this earth, into this sinful world,
He said, Yes, Lord. When the Father commanded Him
in everything He was to say and do, He said, Yes, Lord. And when He told Him, Now the
time is at hand, set your face like a flint toward Jerusalem,
He said, Yes, Lord. He laid down his life willingly
for the sheep in obedience to the Father. When he was rebuffed,
when he was tempted, when he was ridiculed, he always sought
the Father's pleasure. When he was confronted with Satan
to shortcut the purpose of God, he refused. He said yes to the
Father. He said, God alone shall you
serve and Him only. Him only. Oh, unlike Jonah, and
unlike me and you, the Lord Jesus Christ was always obedient to
the Father. 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. 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. 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, And they said, everyone 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. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is
thine occupation? Whence comest thou? And what
is thy country? And of what people art thou? And he said unto them,
I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which
hath made the seas 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
he had told them. The Lord often sends tempestuous
storms into the conscience of men to awaken them to the condition
of their souls. And that's what happened here.
These mariners feared destruction. God had sent a storm. Has he sent a storm? Sometimes the circumstances of
our lives may not be very rocky. Compared to most folks, I suppose
that our circumstances are pretty easy. But when God is pleased, to call
out one of His children, He will stir the conscience of their
hearts and cause them to see that their problem is their sin,
their rebellion toward God. Can I tell you how many times
as a pastor I've had people come to me with temporal problems,
wanting God to solve their issues of life to make things go a little
easier. And never is there a confession
of sin. It's all about me. It's all about
my comforts. It's all about my peace in this
world. There's never a stirring of the
heart over their sin. That's the real problem. That's
the problem that has to be dealt with. Our sinfulness before God. And that's what the Holy Spirit
will stir up in the hearts of those that He's pleased to save. He will cause them to see that
their biggest problem has nothing to do with their wife, or their
children, or their husband, or their job, or anything else,
their bank account. Their biggest problem has to
do with their sin against God. And they will fear God. for their
own destruction. These men tried to do everything
they could in order to calm the seas. They tried throwing overboard
the extra provisions that weren't needed. They tried praying to
their gods. Isn't that the way men are? They'll
do everything necessary, everything they think might help in order
to solve their problem until there's no place else to turn
but to cast Jonah into the sea as a ransom to God for their
sin. You see, Jonah's got to be cast
into the sea. He's got to be cast out of the
boat. He's got to be taken outside the camp. He's got to become
a reproach to men. He's got to be put to death in
order for those that are in the ship to be spared. God has a boat. He's got a ship. But Jonah's got to bear. He was
given over to the raging sea as a ransom to save those that
were on the ship. Let's continue to read. They
were exceedingly afraid in verse 10. Verse 11, Then said they unto
him, What shall we do unto thee? that the sea may be calm unto
us, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous. And he said 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. He pronounced his own judgment. He willingly gave up his life. He said, the only way you can
be saved is for me to die. That's what this story is all
about, isn't it? You see how this pictures the Lord Jesus
Christ Verse 13, Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring it
to land, but they could not. Oh, won't you give up rowing? Won't you give up trying and
start trusting? Won't you see that there is a
dove of God? There is one and only one who
is the truth, the Amittai. who has been cast in the sea
of God's judgment in order to make calm the sea, men will row. They'll be heavy burdened, laden
down with all their works, trying to earn their righteousness and
merit their favor with God. But there's only one way. You
cannot get the boat to the side, to safe haven. They wrought, but the tempest
was against them. 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 lay not upon us innocent
blood. That's what Jonah is. Arjona,
the Lord Jesus Christ, He's innocent blood. Oh, Lord, charge me not. Charge Him for my sin. Be satisfied with what He's done. Don't charge me. For Thou, O
Lord, hast done as it pleased Thee. And He has. God has saved sinners in the
manner in which it pleased Him. And it pleases Him to save sinners
by grace because it gives to Him all the glory and salvation. We come to God in the way in
which He is pleased. No other way. He is pleased in
Christ. So they took up Jonah, verse
15, and they cast him forth into the sea. And the sea ceased her
raging. When the Spirit of God comes,
He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not in Me. You see, that's the real problem,
isn't it? Unbelief. Unbelief in God is the source
of all sin. That is the easily besetting
sin that causes all men to fall away. If it is not a faith, it
is sin. When the Spirit of God convicts
us of our unbelief, when He stirs the seas of our hearts, causes
such discomfort that we cannot so much as sleep without getting
peace with God. then we'll see that there is
one who has been offered up as a sacrifice and looking to him,
having been cast into the sea of judgment, the raging of our
own conscience will cease and the peace of God that passes
human understanding will come. Then, verse 16, the men feared
the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and
made vows. You see, the truth is that the
Lord Jesus Christ bore the entire guilt for the crew. by voluntarily
offering himself for sin, he alone satisfied divine justice. He made reconciliation for the
iniquity of his people, and he alone brought in eternal righteousness. That's why he was cast out. He
bore our sins. He carried our sorrows. He calms the seas of God's wrath. by taking the wrath of God upon
Himself and His people. His people, look at verse 16,
feared the Lord exceedingly. When did they fear God exceedingly? When did these men fear God exceedingly? In the midst of the storm, they
were afraid. But when was the fear of God raised to the level
of being exceeding? When the storm was calm. You see, the truth is that what
is often born in a storm dies in a calm. Often times. People go through temporal conflicts
and they turn to God for help. And when the storm passes, they
forsake the Lord. It's called foxhole religion, isn't
it? Get me out of this mess. And
they make all sorts of promises to God. True salvation. True salvation fears God more
in the calm than it did in the storm. For the true fear of God is born
out of salvation. True fear of God is born out
of forgiveness, not out of the threat of judgment. See the difference? And that's when the evidence
of salvation is really made known. when one is brought to fear God
more as a result of His calming the storm of their heart than
as when He was stirring it. See that? They feared God exceedingly after the sea was calm. And what they do? They made sacrifices
unto the Lord. They offered up sacrifices of
thanksgiving for what He had done. Out of fear for Him. Out of honor of Him. And respect
and reverence for what He had done for them. They offered up
offerings of thanksgiving. 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 and three nights. How in the world could
a man survive in the belly of digestive juices for three days
and three nights? How in the world could the Lord
Jesus Christ have come forth out of the tomb after being clearly
dead three days. Oh, it's a miracle. Don't question
the veracity of God's Word. Don't say, well, that's impossible. The Lord Jesus Christ, we already
read in Matthew chapter 12, confirmed this miracle when He said, even
as Jonah was in the belly of the whale. We don't need to explain it.
We just believe it. And the purpose of this miracle
is to typify Christ. No man ever spent three days
in the belly of a fish and came forth. No man ever went through what
the Lord Jesus Christ went through. Look at chapter 2 briefly. Then
Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly.
and said, I cry 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." The Lord Jesus Christ suffered
the overwhelming torrents of God's justice. The bitter vials,
the bitter vials of justice were poured out. on His mighty head. And He treaded the winepress.
He treaded the winepress of the Father's wrath. The Scripture
says, alone. And no man ever went through
what He went through. He was forsaken of God. the agonies
of the garden when he prayed for the cup to be taken from
him, and the humiliation of the cross when he cried out to God
as to why he had been forsaken is what's being talked about
here in Jonah chapter 2. This is Jonah's desperation,
his humiliation. Look at verse 3. Yet hast Thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord my God." He could not allow His Holy One
to see corruption. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came unto Thee into Thine
holy temple. Now what is the temple a picture
of? We spent several weeks looking
at the tabernacle in the Old Testament. It's a picture of
Christ, isn't it? Jonah prayed to the Father through
the temple. If you and I have any access
at all to God, it'll be through the temple, His holy temple.
We'll have to come to the Father in Christ or we won't come at
all. God will not hear our prayers in any other way. When we conclude
our prayers in Jesus' name, we're not just saying, we're finished. We are saying, by His merits,
and for His glory, and only according to His righteousness can we come
into the presence of a holy God. And we are pleading, Father,
that for His sake you will hear us. Jonah prayed to the Father
in light of the Holy Temple. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one that is able to come directly into the presence of
God without an advocate, without a substitute. And He did. Look at verse 8. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercies. That's a verse worthy of memorizing. They that observe lying vanities. They that choose friendship with
the world over friendship with God. They that pervert the gospel
to embrace another gospel. They that choose to follow the
ways of the world. over the ways of God, forsake
their own mercies. Now, our God is a God of mercy.
And He delights in showing mercy. But men often forsake the mercy
of God by choosing their own way. But, He says in verse 9,
I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. Giving. I will pay that which I have
vowed. Salvation is of the Lord completely. Jonah was saved from the belly
of the fish when he made that confession. And that last phrase in verse
9 is the summary of his entire prayer of chapter 2. He summarizes his prayer when
he says, Lord, if I'm going to be saved, you're going to have
to do it. You're going to have to choose
me. You're going to have to save me. Lord, I don't have anything. I don't know anything. I can't
do anything. You're going to have to represent
a righteousness for me. You're going to have to change
my heart. You're going to have to bid me to come unto thee.
You're going to have to cause me to believe. You're going to
have to keep me. And you're going to have to take me to glory.
Lord, if I'm going to be saved, you're going to have to do it.
Salvation is of the Lord. That's the summary of my need. And when that confession was
made, look at verse 10. The Lord spake unto the fish.
And it vomited out Jonah on dry land. Now, two final points very quickly.
Chapter 3 talks about Jonah. I'm just going to summarize chapter
3 and 4. We're not going to read it. It speaks of Jonah going
to Nineveh, this great city of, what does it say, three days
journey across this city. Some scholar speculated that
60 of a day's journey would have been about 20 miles by foot.
60 mile wide city. Full of people. Gentiles. And Jonah goes and preaches what
God told him to preach. And the entire city repents.
The entire city repents. Every one of them put on sackcloth
and come before the Lord and they believe. And God withholds
His judgment against them. You know, the preaching of the
Lord Jesus Christ is always effectual. Always. I'll tell you something. Every person Jonah, who typifies
Christ, speaks to, believes. Everyone. I mean, here's a whole
city repenting and believing God. That's not true of your testifying. It's certainly not true of my
preaching. But it's true of Christ. The outward call, sometimes not
effectual, but the inward call always is. When the Lord Jesus
Christ is pleased to speak, People are saved, always. Chapter 4, somewhat confusing
in that it is the only time where we
have any evidence of a gospel preacher being distraught over
the salvation of people. The city repents and Jonah, the
scripture says in chapter 4, is displeased exceedingly and
very angry and was ready to die because God showed mercy toward
them. The only explanation for that
is that Jonah was concerned with two things. Number one, that
God had spared the enemies of Israel his judgment. Jonah had to go back to Israel. The Lord Jesus Christ came unto
his own, and his own received him not. He took the vineyard
away from Israel and gave it to the dogs, the Gentile nations. And those who the Israelites still
considered to be their enemies are the ones who now believe
as the result of the preaching of Christ. Jonah also feared being labeled
a false prophet. I told them that God was going
to judge them and he didn't. because they repented. You know
the Lord Jesus Christ is accused of being a false prophet. He's accused of being a false
prophet. He's accused of having forsaken His own when in truth
they forsook Him. He's not in the least displeased
with what God's done. And in that sense we learn again
by contrast that Jonah's not like Christ. He fulfilled his
purpose in reaching out beyond Israel and bringing in to the
commonwealth of the true Israel, Gentile dogs like me and you.
And he has no concern over the fact that others would accuse
him, whatever they want to accuse him of. Jonah typifies Christ. I hope
you can see that. I hope that like those men on
the ship, and like Nineveh, you see your need for Christ. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You that You were pleased
to send Your Son into this wicked world Wickedness that came up
to you like that of Nineveh. Wickedness that you were justified
in destroying, and yet you were pleased to send a prophet and
to save. Oh, Lord, we pray that like the
men of Nineveh you would give us ears to hear. We pray, Lord,
like the men of that ship, that you would enable us to see that
true fear comes in salvation. Oh, calm the seas and give peace
like only you can give. We thank you for this gospel
picture now in your table with the unleavened bread and the
wine and we pray you'd bless it to the hearts of your people,
that you would enable us to receive it in faith, and we would see
that it is Christ's righteousness and His shed blood that gives
us our only hope of salvation. For it's in His name we pray,
Amen.