Good morning, everybody. If you'd
like to, turn over to Jonah, Chapter 1. Jonah, Chapter 1. That's a tiny
little book. It's four chapters. I guess the
best way to find it, if you find Ezekiel, it's probably the biggest
book close to it. Just start fumbling through all the minor
prophets until you get to it. It's right after Obadiah. Jonah 1, and once you get there,
just pick up in verse 1. I want to read the first three
verses. Jonah 1, verse 1. Now the word of the Lord came
unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come
up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto
Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, 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." Now, I find Jonah chapter 1 to
be one of the most interesting chapters in all of scripture,
especially the way it starts off here. I think Jonah is one
of the most interesting characters in all of scripture. Consider
who this man is. Jonah is a saved man. This is
a man who knew the Lord, and the Lord knew him. This is a
man who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ was
assured to him. This is a man who had been regenerated.
He had a new man dwelling inside of him. This man was a prophet. He was a legitimate prophet.
The Lord used this man like He does all the other men. He just
raises up a common and ordinary man for a period of time. He
spoke through him, and He put him down when he was done with
him. But he was a legitimate prophet. That's who this man
was. And look how he acts here in this first chapter. The Lord
says, Go. Go to Tarshish, prophesy, or
I'm sorry, go to Nineveh and prophesy against them. And He
says, No. And then he flees from the presence
of the Lord as if you could go somewhere where the Lord is not.
This man knew God and he still acts in this incredibly strange
and defiant way. Whether it's supposed to or not,
it gives me hope. But in any case, this man Jonah, a little
back story if you read about this man, he's mostly contained
in these four chapters in Jonah. But when you read about him,
to be quite honest, I'm not beating up on the guy, but you probably
wouldn't have wanted to spend a whole lot of time around him.
And he probably struggled with interpersonal relationships quite
a bit. And to be honest, he was probably a completely miserable
person. And there's really two reasons
for that. And I'll show you here in a scripture that I'm telling
you the truth. But number one is this. He was a hothead. And
he stayed really mad at the Lord. He held a grudge over things
that the Lord would do. He would get mad at the Lord
for his good providence and then he would pray these really angry
prayers to the Lord. He had this axe to grind and
he stayed mad at the Lord. And I'll show you that in a second.
And the second thing he did was this. He tended to value the
opinion of other men over what the Lord thought. He cared more
about what other men thought about him than what the Lord
thought about him. Now I've made some pretty harsh
statements against this guy, so let me back this up with the
scripture. Now we read in the first three
verses, the Lord said, go to Nineveh, prophesy against it.
And Jonah says, no, I'm not going. Why? The short answer is he hated
the Ninevites. So Nineveh is the capital of
Syria at the time. They're Gentiles, right? It's
a whole country, a whole city full of Gentiles, millions of
people. And the Jews hated the Gentiles, the Gentiles hated
the Jews. And the short answer is Jonah hated these people and
he did not want to see them saved. And it's interesting, the Lord
says, but go and prophesy against them, prophesy their condemnation. And you would think that Jonah
would be all on board with this because he hates these people.
He'd go down there, the Lord's gonna get you all, right? You'd
think he'd be happy to carry that message. But he knows better. Keep in mind, this is gonna be
a reoccurring theme for the next couple minutes, this man knows
God. He knows what to expect from
him. And he knows exactly this, the Lord doesn't send a prophet
down to condemn men. Men condemn themselves just fine,
they don't need a prophet for that. He sends a prophet down
when he intends to show mercy. Jonah says this, he goes, I know
what you're gonna do. You're gonna send me down there with this message
and you're gonna use that message to make those people believe
on you and repent. And then you're gonna show them
mercy. And I'm gonna look like a big fat liar because you told
me to go down there with a mess of a condemnation and it didn't
come about. And he gets really, really upset. And let me show
you that from the scripture. Go over to Jonah three. After the ordeal with the whale,
he does go to Nineveh and look at verse four. And Jonah began
to enter into the city at day's journey and cried and said, yet
40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. I'd point out that's not conditional.
It's not, y'all better get your act together or in 40 days the
Lord's gonna wipe everybody out. It's 40 days and y'all are toast.
The Lord's wiping this place out. That's the end of it. This
is a complete message of condemnation. But look how the Lord uses this
message. Look at verse five. So the people of Nineveh believed
God. 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. This is exactly what happens
when the Lord takes that message, that Gospel message, and He makes
it effectual. This is what happens every single
time the man is directed to believes God. He believes on God and he
believes everything God says, and they repented. And look what
happens, look at verse 10. And God saw their works, that
they turned from their evil way, and God repented of the evil
that he said that he would do unto them, and he did it not.
It's just like Jonah thought. You're gonna send me down there
with this message, you're gonna use it to cause these people
to believe on you, and then what are you gonna do? You're gonna
show them mercy. And he gets awful upset about this. Look
at chapter four, verse one. 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
Tarshish, for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful. slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and repentest thee of the evil." He makes this really angry prayer,
and he says, I knew you'd do this. I knew you'd send me down
there with this message. I knew you'd make it effectual.
I knew you'd show mercy to these people. I knew you'd do all these
things. Now, I brought you to this place
for this point right here. This man knew God. Now, most
of you, many of you are married, married for different periods
of time. I've been married to my wife for 19 years now. I know
what to expect from her. I know her. I know this is gonna
make her mad, this is gonna make her sad. I know what to expect,
reliably what I can expect. This man knew God, and he knew
what to expect from him, and you know what he expected from
him? He expected he would show mercy. I'd like to let that sink
in for a minute. I'm gonna read you this scripture. It's Micah 718. It says, who
is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth
not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy. What is God like? Amongst many
other attributes, many, many others, he has this attribute.
He delights to show mercy to sinners. Not only that, now that's
great enough, it's great to hear that he delights, this is what
he enjoys to do. You can rely on him to show it. If you're
a sinner in need of mercy and you come to Christ to get it,
he will show it. And I'm gonna give you a few
scriptures here. These are very simple. These are ones that you've
heard before. This is a Matthew 11, 28. Christ says this. He says, come unto me very simply. This is what that means. Believe
on me. Trust me. Trust me for everything in your
salvation. Everything, everything. Believe
on me. Come unto me. Trust me. That's
what he says. All ye who labor and are heavy
laden, sinners who can't get the job done, can't take the
first step before God. And here is the promise. And
I will. Not, I might, I will give you
rest. That is a command, but that is
more than anything a promise from God, from one who cannot
lie. If you're a sinner and you come
to Christ seeking mercy, he will give it. He just promised it
right in his word. Let me read you another one. This is Hebrews
4.16. It says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. I point you to this, where are
we directed to go? Boldly to go, not sheepishly,
but boldly to go to the throne of grace, not the throne of works. There is no savior on that throne
of works. There is a law. And the law is not without power.
The law does have power. Mind this. But this is what it
has the power to do, to say you're guilty. It has the power to condemn. Don't go to the throne of works.
Don't go to the law. There is no savior there. Come
to the throne of grace. who sits on the throne of grace,
the seat of all omnipotent power. Jesus Christ, God's Son and God's
Savior sits on that throne and he sits 100% accessible to any
sinner who is in need of mercy. What will I find if I go to that
throne of grace? You will find mercy and grace
to help in time of need. This is not he might show mercy.
This is not, he might be gracious. This is the God who cannot lie,
promising, I'll be merciful and I'll be gracious in her. And
the whole thing is summed up with this scripture. You guys
have heard this probably more than a hundred times. John 6,
37, our Lord says, all that the father giveth me shall come to
me. and him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. And if you want to understand
that verse, you work it from the back of the verse to the
front. Here's the promise. All that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out." That is a promise from God. If you come
for no reason whatsoever, will you be turned away? The only
way you'll be turned away is if you've got something to purchase
with. If you've got some works, you've got some obedience, you
have some ability, you come with that, you'll be put away. But
if you're an empty-handed sinner and you come like that, for no
reason whatsoever will you be turned away. Now, who's going
to do that? Well, you go to the front of
the verse. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me."
We make this call. This is the call of the gospel.
Sinner, come to Christ. Believe on Him. We shout that
call from the rooftops. And we don't shout it with a
fatalistic view. God has a people. He has an elect
people. And that call is going to go
out to His people. And you know what they're going to do? They're
going to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that doesn't lead us to fatalism.
We say, well, I'll sit back and see if I'm elect. No, it gives
me boldness. I'm coming. I'm coming because
I'm a sinner. I'm coming because I need mercy.
I'm coming because he promised he would give it to me. I have
to have him. I have to have his mercy. And if you come, just
understand this, that's the evidence that you are, in fact, elect. Now, like I said before, this
man was a hothead. It landed him a lot of misery,
but he was also highly concerned with what people thought. Look
down at verse 3 of Jonah 4. He says this to the Lord, he
says, therefore now will the Lord take, I beseech thee, my
life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. Why
is he so upset? He's just seen all of Nineveh
converted. He sent with this message and
the Lord had mercy on everybody in that town. Millions of people.
And he's so upset. Why? Because now he's afraid
that his reputation is ruined. Lord, you sent me down there
with this message of condemnation. Forty days and Nineveh will be
overthrown. And then you didn't do it. Now
everybody's going to think I'm a false prophet. I've lost all
my credibility. Everybody's going to turn thumbs
down on me. Everybody's going to mock me. Just kill me. It
would be better off that way. He's having a pity party for
himself. He cares a lot what everybody else thinks. Now, here's
my point in saying this. Who knew the truth in this whole
thing? Right? Who knew the truth? The
Lord knew the truth. The Lord knew he sent him down
there with that message. He was not a false prophet. He
was doing what the Lord told him to do. And here's my point
in this. If the Lord is good with me,
if I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ, if I have
fellowship with him, if everybody in this world turns thumbs down
on us and mocks us and resents us for the rest of our days,
have we lost anything? We haven't lost a thing, folks.
hated our Master chances are they are going to hate us too.
That's just the way it is. Now Jonah was an exceptionally
flawed character wasn't he? And he gives me a lot of hope.
There is hope for Jonah and there is hope for me. But he represents one
who is absolutely flawless. He is a beautiful type of Christ
in this chapter. And I just want to go verse by
verse and see if we can see our Savior in this. Go back to Jonah
1 and pick up in verse 4. Jonah 1, 4 says, but the Lord
sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest
in the sea, so the ship was like to be broken. All these men get
on this boat with Jonah, and the Lord sends a storm. And this
is very important. The Lord sent the storm. And
I was thinking about this. All these men got on this boat
to go to Tarshish, right? And each one of them, they all
have a purpose for themselves. Maybe one, he's going to go to
Tarshish because he's moving there. He's relocating. And maybe
another guy, he's found a job there, so he's going over there.
Maybe somebody else has family there. They all have a plan and
a purpose for themselves along this journey. Then the Lord sends
the storm. And all of a sudden they are
terrified. They're fearing for their lives because the Lord
stopped them dead in their tracks and sent them this storm. What
does that sound like to you? It sounds to me like what it
looks like when the Lord begins dealing with a man. Now we're
born, right, and we grow up, and everybody wants about the
same thing. Everybody pursues about the same thing. Find a
significant other, get married, have some kids, get a job, buy
a new truck, have a house, go on vacation. All these different
things we pursue and we make these plans and we make these
purposes. When the Lord goes to one of his people, he sends
a storm. He stops them dead in their tracks
and He puts them in terror of the soul. And what does that
look like? What do they see in that moment? They see that they
are in the hands of a holy and a sovereign God who must punish
sin. And they see that they are a
sinner before Him. That's what He sees. And this
is the scripture I thought of. This is Proverbs 9.10. It says,
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge
of the holy understanding. See this is when you begin to
learn the knowledge of the holy, the knowledge that God is holy,
and He is just, and He must punish sin. And seeing Christ and who
He is I get a glimpse of who I am a sinner before Him. And
this is a good fear. This is the beginning of wisdom.
The fear that is the beginning of wisdom. This is where a man
becomes teachable. He is not teachable up to this
point because he had too many options. Now that he has no options
he is of a teachable spirit. Let's see what these men learn.
Go to 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 to the sides of the ship, and he lay, and
he was fast asleep." Now, there's hidden humor here. All throughout
the scripture, the scriptures mock man's religion. It mocks
false religion, it mocks salvation by works. That's exactly what
it's doing here. It's mocking man's religion. Consider what
these men did. The Lord put them in terror of
their soul, and then he immediately turned to their idols, little
g-gods, the non-existent gods, and they began praying to their
gods, help us, help us, help us. And what did they do right
after that? After they said, help me, God,
they went through the boat and found the heaviest objects and
started throwing them overboard, trying to help their god out.
So, I'll pray to him, we'll see what he can do, and then I'll
do my part, I'll kick this stuff over the side, and maybe between
what he does and what I do, we'll be saved. That's salvation by
works in a nutshell, isn't it? As many idols as have been created
throughout the generations, countless numbers of idols, all an idol
is is a man-made figment of God, and it's wrong. Whatever attributes
that idol has, a man assigned it to him. Every idol that has
ever been made is made with this attribute. He can't get the job
done. He can't save on his own. He always needs help from the
creature to do what he wants to do. That's all of them, ever
made. Why does man assign that attribute
to his God when he makes his own God? Because that means in
that manner of salvation, there's some glory for the man. There's
something I do. I have to help out in some way.
He can't do it all by himself, so I got to do my part. And in
that, I get some glory. But when you hear of the real
Christ and the real gospel, it is not do. It is not meet me
in the middle. The message of Christ is it's
done. It's finished. It is over. Salvation has been
accomplished. There's nothing you need to do.
Just rest. Look at verse 6. So the shipmaster came to him
and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call
upon thy God. And listen to what he says. This
is great. If so be that God will think upon us that we perish
not. Now, that is unintentionally
one of the best statements I have ever heard. The shipmaster said,
here's what we need. We need God to think upon us. You know who I thought of? Remember
the thief on the cross? That man had been converted maybe
a matter of hours. Didn't know much. If you had
asked him, could you explain to me imputation? Could you explain
to me federal headship? He probably would have had absolutely
no idea what you were talking about. This is what he said,
Lord, God, Sovereign, the one who has all
power, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Just think upon me. Just think
upon me. You know what that is? That's
childlike faith. I don't know how you're gonna do it. I don't
know all the ins and outs of this thing of salvation. I don't
know exactly what it takes, but I know this, you cannot fail.
I know that nothing is too hard for the Lord, and all you have
to do is think upon me. All you have to do is think upon
me in love. and remember me, and will my salvation, and you'll
do whatever it takes. I know this. Lord, remember me
when you come into your kingdom. I want more faith like that.
I want more of that child-like faith. Lord, save me. That's
a big word. I don't understand everything
that goes inside of it, but I know you do it. Lord, save me, have
mercy upon me, and just trust him to do it. I love that. But
how does the Lord think about his people? I think that's an
important question to ask. This is what Jeremiah 29, 11
says. It says, for I know the thoughts that I think toward
you, saith the Lord. This is his thoughts towards
his people. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an
expected end. Let that wash over you for a
second. Right now, if you're a believer, your only hope is Jesus Christ
and him crucified. God thinks on you. That's the
first thing. He thinks on you right now. And these are his
thoughts toward you. Thoughts of peace. He's not angry
with you at all. He has no axe to grind with you
because the Lord Jesus Christ has made your eternal peace with
God. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil in any way. Even if it appears that evil
comes knocking on your door, it's simply goodness and mercy
disguised as evil. There's no evil intent towards
you whatsoever. No evil is going to come after
you. He won't allow it. And he says this to give you
an expected end. Not only does he think on you
right now, He has always thought on you. You have always been
a person and had a name before God, and you have always been
in His thoughts, and you've always been according to His purpose
and part of His purpose. He says, I give you an expected
end. What's that expected end? Perfect
conformity to the person of Jesus Christ. And from the foundation
of the world and before that in eternity past, that was always
His purpose for you. This passage of scripture to
Luke 16. You remember this? The rich man
and Lazarus. You remember that story? The rich man, he fared
sumptuously, right? Wore fine clothes. Lazarus, he
was diseased. He was a beggar. The dogs licked
his sores and they both died. It says the angels carried Lazarus
up to Abraham and put him in his bosom. And that rich man,
he woke up in hell. And I don't like that story very
much because that's a story of what hell's like and regret. That's what that's talking about.
But here's what I notice every time I read that story. Lazarus
had a name before God. That rich man is never named
in that story. He had no name before God. God
didn't know him. Yes, he knew him as his creator,
absolutely. He did not know that man. Lazarus
had a name before God. He knew Lazarus. He knew Lazarus
before the foundations of the world were ever built. And yes,
that man had an absolutely miserable life, but it was a blip. A blip
in an otherwise glorious eternity where he would be with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I was thinking about this,
folks. God doesn't do anything unnecessarily. Why did Lazarus
lead such a miserable life? Why was he a beggar? Because
he had to. We're being saved. He doesn't
do anything unnecessarily, but where did he end up? Right there
with Christ. Right there in his bosom. If
you want to feel special, Here's special, right here. If you're
a believer, the Lord has always known you. You've always had
a person and personality and a name before him, the name he
gave you. Now, look at verse seven. And they said everyone to his
fellow, come and let us catch slots. that we may know for whose
cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot
fell upon Jonah. So all these fellows get together
and say, we're all in trouble. The storm's coming after all
of us. We're all going to die. But it's because somebody did
something. One of us among us did something, and now all of
us are in trouble because one man did something. And they cast
lots, and the lot fell to Jonah. Now what's that talking about?
This is the overall message of this story. All of humanity fell
in Adam and all of the elect are saved in Christ. We fell
in a man and we are saved in a man. Now consider the story.
Jonah goes, the Lord gives Jonah a command, go prophesy. Jonah
disobeys God and he flees from his presence. He gets into a
ship. And everybody in that ship is in trouble, deadly trouble,
because of the disobedience of one man. What's that talking
about? That's talking about our fallen Adam. We were all stored
up, all of humanity was stored up in Adam. Adam disobeyed God,
he ate the fruit, and when Adam disobeyed God, he died, he fell,
he died spiritually, and we all went down in the ship, in Adam,
that we are all born spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and
sins. A wrong but logical question
is this, is that fair? Because these fellows got on
the ship with Jonah. They didn't know Jonah was on the ship. They didn't
know Jonah disobeyed God. All of a sudden, they're in fear
for their lives because of what this guy did. Is that fair along
the way? Romans 5 verse 12 says this.
Listen to these words carefully. Wherefore, as by one man, sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, spiritual death. And
so death passed upon all men. We all died in Adam, but listen
to these last five words, for that all have sinned. You know what that means? That means when Adam ate that
fruit and when he sinned against God and did it willfully, I did. I did that. You did that. All
of humanity in union did that. It's not that Adam sinned and
is charged to my account. I did that. That means this sinful,
wicked, evil nature I'm born with, it's what I truly deserve.
Just the same, since that is true, what Adam did, I did. Every believer, we have always
been in Christ. You know what that means? In
that same vein, that means everything he did, I really did do. That means when he kept the law,
I really did keep the law in Him. When He walked the paths
of righteousness, I walked them too in Him. That means when He
was punished, when He went to the cross, I was punished in
Him. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised in Him. My condemnation in Adam is just,
I did it. My salvation in Christ is just,
He did it and I did it too in Him. That's the teaching of this
story. Now, go on to verse 8. 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?"
It's interesting when the Lord put a man in fear of his soul
he starts asking questions he never would have asked before.
He was happy with having his opinion about who God is, but
now he must know who he is. Who are you? What do you expect
from me? What are your attributes? He
starts asking good questions, verse 9. And he said unto them,
I'm in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which
hath made the sea and the dry land. He appeals to these men
on the grounds of what they already know. You know there's a sea. You know there's a dry land.
You know somebody made that. And you know nobody made him.
Here's who he is, his name's Jehovah. He's the God of the
Hebrews. In verse 10, 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, notice capital L-O-R-D, because he had told them. Now
these men who just a few moments prior were worshiping idols,
when they refer to God, they refer to him as Jehovah. Jonah's
preaching a message to these men, he doesn't even know it.
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. Now, what a picture of the cross
this is. Two things I notice here. Number
one, this was Jonah's plan. This is not the shipmaster's
plan. This is not the mariner's plan. They didn't come up with
this. Jonah came up with this plan. They said, what do we do?
What are we going to do to you that we might live, that we might
have peace? And Jonah says, there's only
one way. You throw me overboard. And imagine what he's looking
at right then. He's looking at those waves crashing over the boat,
the winds coming down, the boat rocking back and forth. There's
certain death down there. He said, there's only one way you'll
be saved. You cast me overboard and you'll
have peace. Just one way. And this was Jonah's
plan. The salvation of the elect. is
according to the purpose of God, and it has always been his purpose.
And everything, this world, this universe, and everything that
happens down here, it all led up and precedes that great plan
and purpose. To make it simple, it's this.
This world exists so that there would be dirt. So some 2,000
years ago, a Roman soldier could dig a hole in that dirt. and
he could dump a pike into that hole with our Lord suspended
by nails on that pole, dying between heaven and earth for
his people. This is all leading up to the
cross, the great purpose of God, that the glory of God, the highest
glory would be achieved. This whole thing, the fall of
man, everything that's ever happened, it's all according to the purpose
of God, and it's for the cross, it's for the glory of God. This was Jonah's plan. Here's
the second thing I noticed. Jonah was a willing sacrifice.
That man stood on the edge of that boat with the rain coming
down and the waves hitting the boat and it rocking back and
forth. And he said, throw me overboard. It's the only way
you can be saved. I was thinking about this. I've had the privilege
of watching some pretty brave acts in my life, some men and
women who engage in some pretty brave stuff. And there's a common
thread, I think, that goes through all of it. Acts of courage by
people in this world normally involve two things. Number one,
true courage, true bravery, but also two, impulsiveness. Something
happens, something immediately happens, and that person just
reacts to it. They do what they do really without
thinking about it, without weighing the consequences. There's an
air of impulsiveness, and if they had time to slow things
down and maybe consider the risks, the risk versus reward involved,
they may not have engaged in that heroic act. But I want you
to think about this. There was no impulsiveness in
the Lord Jesus Christ whatsoever. He had all of eternity past to
contemplate what his sacrifice would mean. He had all of eternity
past to contemplate what it would be like to be made sin. He had
all of eternity past to contemplate what it would be like to have
the wrath of God force down upon him. He had all of eternity past
to ponder what it would be like to, in a matter of hours, experience
hell in eternity, times 10,000s and 10,000s and 1,000s and 1,000s.
No impulsiveness in him. He had all of eternity past to
think on these things and to ponder these things. And when
it came time to deliver, to stand up and to go, he didn't bat an
eye. He didn't flinch. A willing sacrifice,
he went to that cross. And this is what the scripture
says. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down on
the right hand of the throne of God, for the joy that was
set before him, all that pain, all that sacrifice, but it was
a joy just to have you, just to have his people, the joy that
was set before him. Look at verse 13. 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, O Lord, we beseech thee. Let
us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent
blood. Listen to this. For thou, O Lord,
Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee. Once again, They pray now,
and they pray to Jehovah, capital L-O-R-D. These men have been
converted for a matter of probably minutes, and what is it they
know about Jehovah? He does as it pleases him. They
know he's absolutely sovereign. Now, this is the dividing point.
You know who loves the sovereignty of God? Men and women who can only be
saved by a sovereign God. That's who loves the sovereignty
of God. Now let me make this as simple
as I can. All these men are in this boat.
The waves are beating down on them, the boat is rocking back
and forth, and in a matter of minutes, if this storm doesn't
subside, they are all going to die. In that moment, they know
two things. Number one, they have no control
over the situation. They have no control over this
storm. They can't make it go away. And number two, if it doesn't
go away, if somebody doesn't remove it, they are going to
die. Now, on to this question. Do you think there was any man
in that boat that was hoping that Jehovah wasn't sovereign? No. The hope of all those men
in that boat was that Jehovah was sovereign, that he sent the
storm. And if he sent the storm, that
means he had the power to remove the storm. They had to have a
sovereign savior in that moment. Nothing less would do. And for
a sinner, folks, we have to have a sovereign savior. I have to
have one whose will overrides my will. I have one who can deliver
without fault, who has the ability to save me all by himself, needing
absolutely no help from me. I have to have one who can draw
me irresistibly to where I can't resist him and do it in a way
to where I want to come. I have to be preserved to the
very end. It takes a sovereign God to save a true sinner. Once
again, who loves the sovereignty of God? Only men and women who
can be saved only by a sovereign God. Now, look at verse 15. So they took up Jonah and cast
him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from raging, just
as Jonah said. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. Now
the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and
Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. And we know from chapter two
what happens. After three days and three nights in that whale's
belly, the Lord commands that whale and it spits Jonah out
on dry land. Now I want to end, turn over
to Matthew real quick. Matthew 12. Matthew provides
some commentary on this. Matthew 12, and look at verse
38. Then certain of the scribes and
of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. But he answered and said unto
them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.
But there shall no sign be given 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." It tells
us right there Jonah is a type of Christ. Three days and three
nights in that whale's belly and out. What does that speak
of? The Lord Jesus Christ died, He was put in that tomb and after
three days and three nights the Lord raised Him from the dead.
Why did He do that? He did that because the Lord
Jesus Christ did exactly what he came to do. He saved his people. He accomplished salvation for
all his elect, and since all the sin was put away, the Father
raised him from the dead. This is the sign. Now, I've read
that several times in my life. An evil and adulterous generation
seeks after a sign. You're right, I do. I want a
sign. I want a sign that God loves
me. I want a sign that I'm in Christ. I want a sign that he
is my savior, that he died bearing my sins, that he put my sins
away. Evil and adulterous, yep. Do
I want a sign? Yep, I sure do. The Lord says
you get one. You get the resurrection, the
sign of Jonah. You only get that one. And you
say, how is that personal? It seems kind of generic. How
is that personal? How can I know if that sign is for me? Because
there's signs all over the place and it may be for me, it may
not. Is that sign for me? It's very, very simple. If what
led to that sign is your only hope of salvation, that sign
is for you. If your only hope is that Jesus
Christ lived and died and was resurrected for you. If that's
all you've got, and I'm sure of anything, folks, it's this,
right? Either that God-man died for me and he made me right before
God or I'm going to go to hell. It's one of the two. It's just so. It's one of the
two. That's all I've got. That is my only hope. And folks,
if that is your only hope, that sign is for you. That sign is
personal. He was resurrected. You have
peace with God through your Lord Jesus Christ. I'm gonna leave
you there.