Would you turn to 2 Kings chapter
14? I'm just going to read one verse
and it's where Jonah is mentioned. And from there, we're going to
spend the next three or four weeks in the book of Jonah. 2
Kings 14. Verse 23, in the 15th year of
Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam, the son of
Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria. And he reigned
40 and one years, and he did that which was evil in the sight
of the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam,
the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. Then it speaks of the good
things he did. 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." That's the same Jonah that was swallowed
by the whale. The son of Amittai, the prophet
which was of Gethsephe. Let's pray. Lord, we come into
your presence in Christ's name. And we ask in his name that you
would be pleased to meet with us and to speak in power to our
hearts from your word. Enable us to worship that dear
son, enable us to believe on that dear son. Teach us what it is to glory
in his cross. Lord, we confess our sins, we
pray for forgiveness and cleansing and how we thank you for the
forgiveness of sins. how we thank you for our acceptance
in the beloved. Cause your gospel to be preached
for the glory of your name. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
Now would you turn to the book of Jonah. Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah. Now I just read where Jonah is
mentioned in the Kings, and this is actually the only time in
the scriptures that he is mentioned other than the book of Jonah. And the Lord, if you're at Jonah
1, hold your finger there and turn to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. The Lord speaks of Jonah Beginning in verse 38, Matthew
chapter 12, then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees
answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. We
want some kind of proof that could verify that you are who
you say you are. But he answered and said unto
them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall be 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. Now here,
he's mentioned by the Lord himself. Some people have said, well,
Jonah was not real. Yeah, he was. The Lord spoke
of him. And somebody says, well, did
he literally stay in a whale's belly three days and three nights?
Yes, he did. How? I don't understand. It's a miracle.
How the acid juices didn't burn him up, how he was able to breathe
during that time, I don't understand. It was a miracle. But the Lord
said it literally happened. And I love this sign of Jonah
three days in, three days out. The resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If the Lord's still dead, there's
nothing to the gospel. but he's risen indeed. And that's
why we believe the gospel of his grace. We're so thankful
for that. Now Jonah's name means dove. Now you think of the way the
dove is used in the scriptures. First time the dove is used is
remember Noah's ark, the dove Came out, he sent a raven and
a dove. The raven never came back because a raven can eat
on carrion. He can eat on dead, rotten stuff that the dove couldn't
eat on. A natural man can live off the
carrion of false religion. A true believer can't. A dove
was also used for the poor. They couldn't afford a lamb,
they would sacrifice a dove. That's something everyone could
afford. And a dove is the symbol of peace, and I love the way
the gospel is the gospel of peace. Now, Jonah was a prophet, and
one could say he was not a very nice man. He disobeyed God right
at the beginning. God tells him to go to Nineveh,
that great city, and he goes in the opposite direction. He
doesn't want to go to Nineveh. I can give you two reasons why.
Number one, Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. And it was a Gentile
city and he hated Gentiles like all Jews do. He didn't want to
see God's mercy toward the Gentiles. Look in chapter four. This is after God had mercy on
Nineveh, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very
angry. Now I want you to think about
that. He was mad at the Lord because he had mercy on Nineveh.
He was angry and he prayed to the Lord and he said, I pray
thee, O Lord, was this not 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 of great kindness
and repent of the evil. He was upset that the Lord did
that because he hated the Gentiles. Somebody says, well, how could
that happen? Well, why did Peter have such a hard time loving
Gentiles? I think of that passage of scripture in Acts chapter
11, where they confronted him about going into the house of
Cornelius. And Peter said, well, who is
I that I could withstood God? I wouldn't have done it, but
the Lord did this. He caused this to take place.
And I was not necessarily in agreement with it. What could
I do about it? The Lord sent me to these Gentiles. And so
he was also upset because he knew it would make him look bad.
God said, you're all going to be destroyed. You had mercy on
him. And it makes me look bad. What
I said did not take place. I was saying you were going to
destroy him. And here you didn't. And now look at me. So he was
what somebody called the peevish prophet. And I would agree with
that. He's not really a very nice guy.
I'm thankful the Lord saves people like that, aren't you? But he
was a prophet of God. Let's look at this first of all,
this first chapter of Jonah, and we're given a beautiful type
of Christ in this first chapter, verse one. Now, the word of the
Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai. The word of the Lord
came to Jonah, now the Lord speaks. The word of the Lord came to
Jonah, and I'm so thankful the Lord speaks. First of all, he
speaks by nature. All you have to do is look at
this world and you know God is. You know somebody made this and
nobody made him. Everybody knows that by nature. Somebody says, well, I'm an atheist.
Well, you didn't start off an atheist. You might have shut
the truth off because that's what you wanted to do, but nobody
by nature is an atheist. We all know that somebody made
this. Anything else is irrational. Somebody made this and nobody
made him. He speaks by nature and he speaks
by his word. The word of the Lord came to
Jonah. He speaks by his word. I'm so thankful for the word
of God. I'm so thankful for the Bible.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Every verse. Where would we be without the
Bible? You'd be dependent upon somebody like me to tell you
the truth. You'd be in trouble then, wouldn't you? Thank God
we have the Word. 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. Now, Nineveh, as I said, was
the capital of Assyria. And I read where it was the largest
city in the world at that time. You remember here at the end
of this book when he said they've got 120,000 people that don't
know the difference between right and left? I guess that's talking
about infants or children that don't know the difference. So
this was a city of probably millions of people. And it was a three
day walk to get through it. So that must have been 30 or
40 miles at least as far as how large the city was. And the Lord
told Jonah, go cry against that city because the wickedness of
that city has come up before me. Now they would have been
like the people described in Genesis chapter six, verse five.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continued. That's what God saw when God
looked upon Nineveh. Now he says, you go up and cry
against it for the wickedness has come up before me, but verse
three, But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence
of the Lord." He didn't want to do this. God told him, go
this way. He went that way. They're direct
opposites. He went to flee from the presence
of the Lord. Like what did Adam do when Adam
fell? He fled from the presence of
the Lord. The scripture says there's one
problem with that. The Lord's omnipresent. You can't flee from
him. You can't go anywhere where he's
not. He's omnipresent. That's part of his glorious being.
So Jonah, what he was doing was really quite stupid, thinking
he could flee from the presence of the Lord. Somebody says, well,
how could he have thought something like that? Same way me and you can.
Same way. He was just, he was one of us
and he flees from the presence of the Lord. He does not want
to do what the Lord told him to do. But, and we know it's
because he said, I knew you were gracious and I knew you'd end
up having mercy on him. And that's why he was so upset.
And he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare
thereof and went down into it to go with him unto Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord. But, verse four, 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. The Lord sent
this storm. Now, let me remind you. What
he did was wicked, right? What he did was willful, right? Yet the Lord is going to bring
good out of this. You know, the Lord brings good
out of everything. It doesn't ever excuse our sin in any way,
but the Lord always brings good out of evil. We're going to be
given through his act of disobedience. We're going to be given such
a clear type of the gospel. Then we get this story of the,
of his prayer from the well's belly. And there's so much good
that comes out of this wicked act of Jonah. I'm thankful for
that. Now, Your sin and my sin is all
our fault, and we can't ever try to take comfort. Well, you
know, Lord is going to bring good out of it. That's our sin.
But he does because he's God and he always brings good out
of evil. And the most obvious reference
to this is the cross. What's the worst thing to ever
take place? The cross. What's the most glorious thing to ever
take place? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. God brings
good out of evil. So he sent this storm and the
ship's about to break up. I love that scripture. What manner
of man is this that even the Sea and the storms obey him.
The winds and the sea obey him. I know what manner of man it
is. It's God-man. He sends this storm and everything that takes
place, he sends. He really is sovereign. That
means he controls everything and everybody and every event
and every thought going through your mind right now. He's in
absolute control of it. He is sovereign. So he sends
this storm. Then the mariners were afraid
and cried every man unto his God." That's what happens when
people get afraid. They start praying. They didn't know what kind of
God, but they start praying everyone to his God. And then they cast
forth the wares that were in the ship, in the sea, to lighten
it of them. I liken to this, when men get
afraid, they start throwing stuff, I'm gonna get rid of this sin,
I'm gonna get rid of that sin, make it better for me. Somehow
I can make it better. They started trying to lighten
the ship. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship,
and he lay and was fast asleep. Remember somebody else who was
in a ship during a storm, and he lay there fast asleep? That's
the Lord Jesus. And in this, Jonah is a powerful
type of Christ. And we're gonna see that. Now
let's go on. Verse six. So the ship master came to him
and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise and call
upon my God, if so be that God will think upon us that we perish
not. They were scared to death. 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. The lot is cast into the lap
and the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. There's no such
thing as chance or luck. This lot came out to discern
that Jonah was the problem. Verse eight. 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? What is thy country, and of what
people art thou? And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew, and
I fear the Lord God of heaven, which made the sea, and the earth,
and the dry land, the living God, the God you all are praying
to, won't do you any good. This is the God who rules. Then
were the men exceeding 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 told them." Now, two or three things out
of those verses. Number one, these men's trouble
was because of what Jonah did. They were in a ship, they were
getting ready to get killed, they were scared to death, and
it was all because of the sin of somebody else. Now what this
is talking about When Adam fell, me and you fell. When Adam came
into condemnation, me and you came into condemnation. By one
man's sin, death entered into the world, and death by sin. When Adam fell, and when Adam
was condemned, me and you fell, and me and you were condemned
by what he did. Now, somebody is thinking, well,
how could that be fair for me to be condemned by somebody else's
sin? Well, he said two or three things
about that. Number one, forget your connection
with Adam. How have you done on your own? Just forget Adam. How have you
done on your own? You've been guilty, I've been
guilty of great sin. So it wouldn't do you any good
if you weren't connected with Adam's sin. But the fact of the
matter is, Adam did what he did. Every one of us were in him.
And when he sinned, I sinned. It's not like I'm really charged
for somebody else's sin, because when he sinned, I sinned. I was
in him. When he sinned, I sinned. Now,
let me tell you what's good about this. If I could be condemned
by being in a man, Adam, I can be saved by being in a man, in
Christ. If I can be condemned for somebody
else's sin, which is really mine, but I can also be saved by somebody
else's righteousness. Let me show you that in scripture.
Hold your finger there in Jonah 1, turn to Romans 5. Verse 18. Well, first let's read verse
12. Wherefore is by one man sin entered
into the world and death by sin, so that death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. Now that means when Adam sinned,
I sinned and you sinned. You would have done the exact
same thing. Don't think you wouldn't have
done it. Look in verse 18 of this same chapter. Therefore,
as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift, came upon
all men in the justification of life. For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous." So here we see these men in this ship. God has sent the storm. They're
in trouble. They know it. And they're in
trouble because of somebody else's sin. Now let's go on reading
back to Jonah. The lot fell on Jonah. They saw
he was the problem. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is
thine occupation? And whence camest thou? What
is thy country? And of what people art thou?
You know, I can't help but wonder why they're asking him all these
questions. I guess, you know, it's, it's, um, Jonah hated the,
uh, Assyrians, the people of Nineveh,
they were Gentiles. Everybody's got all these hatreds
of other people. And they're trying to find out
what's the problem here? What have you done? They're thinking
it's probably because of your ethnicity or the country you're
from. Because everybody always, we're the best, everybody's the
bad guys. And that's the way they were thinking. What brought
all this on? Verse nine, he said unto them,
I'm a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven, which made
the sea and the dry land. I fear the living God. Your God is not God, my God is. He's the one who made everything. Verse 10, then the men were exceeding
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 told them. He said, I fled from the presence of the Lord.
He told me to do this. I'm doing this. And that's why
this storm is here. Verse 11. 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 tempestuous. It was this storm was going on
and they were scared to death. 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 there we have the gospel. If Christ is cast
into the sea, there will be satisfaction. The tempest will be over. Verse 13, nevertheless, the men
rowing hard to bring it to the land, But they could not. Now they didn't want to cast
him into the sea right off the bat. They were doing everything
they could to bring him into land and try to get the boat
to land. But I guess finally they said, he's not worth this.
This is not working for us. And so nevertheless, the men
rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not for
the sea rot was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto
the Lord and said, we beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee.
They're believers now. They're believers now. They know
who the Lord is. They're not praying to their
false gods. They're praying to the God of Jonah. You know, here's
another good that came out of Jonah's disobedience. These men
would have never heard the gospel if it wasn't for Jonah being
on that ship going to flee from the presence of the Lord. But
through this, these fellows hear the gospel, and these fellows
believe. You look who they're praying to now. They're praying
to Jehovah, not their false gods. They're praying to Jehovah. We
beseech thee, O Lord, Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish
for this man's life and lay not upon us innocent blood, for thou,
O Lord, has done as it please thee. They believed in the sovereignty
of God. You see, anybody who knows the Lord knows his sovereignty.
Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. You're in control of this. They
understood that. They understood who God is. So they took up Jonah and cast
him forth into the sea. And what happened? The sea ceased
from her raging. Now here we have the gospel.
Christ dies. The wrath of God is over. Now that's the gospel. When Jonah was thrown in, the
waves stopped. We are saved by the death of
Christ. Now let me put an emphasis on
this. Most people that go under the
name Christianity, I'll be honest with you, I don't even like the
word Christianity. I just don't. Yes, they were called Christians,
but Christianity, you know, that's one of the world's great religions
and all. I just don't feel comfortable with that. It's the truth. But
most people that would say they are Christians, they believe
that Jesus Christ died for all men and made salvation possible
for all men. He died for everybody's sins,
but they also believe that if there's something that you don't
do that makes what his death work, if you don't accept him
as your personal savior, if you don't whatever, fill in the blank,
you might end up in hell anyway. Now, all that does is make the
death of Christ meaningless. Someone who believes that does
not believe the gospel. Because the gospel is how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, according
to the Passover, according to the great day of atonement. Now,
when Jonah went over, what took place? The raging stopped. When Christ died, all of the
wrath of God was put away. My sin was put away. the raging
ceases. So here we see what a type Jonah
is of Christ. When he's thrown over, the raging
ceases. Now listen to me. If Christ died
for you, God is utterly and completely pleased with you. You have perfect
righteousness. You do not have any sin at all. That's the gospel. He was thrown
over and the raging ceased. Verse 16, then the men feared
the Lord exceedingly. And look what they're doing now.
They're offering sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. I know what that vow was. I'm
not going to worship that false God anymore by the grace of God.
I'm going to look to Christ alone. And the only hope I have is sacrifice
to him. They were actually offering up
sacrifices to Jehovah. There was a great salvation that
took place on this boat through this man leaving. Verse 17, now the Lord had prepared. And that word is generally translated
ordained. And the Lord had ordained, prepared
a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of
the fish three days and three nights. And the Lord tells us
that that is the sign that he gives. When they said, give us
a sign. And he said, a wicked and adulterous generation seeks
a sign, but there shall be no sign given, but the sign of Jonah.
Three days in, three days out, speaking of his death, burial,
and resurrection. But the Lord had prepared this
fish. And I realize people say, well,
how could that be? How could he survive? I don't
know. But I love what Donnie Bell said. This is one of my
favorite statements I've ever heard about the scripture. He
says, the Bible said that Jonah swallowed the whale. I believe
it. And I would too. I believe the Bible is the Word
of God. It's the inspired Word of God. And nothing's too hard for the
Lord. And it would not be too hard to keep him preserved in
that fish's belly for those three days. He did it. But what a reminder
that God is God. And we're going to get to his
prayer in Chapter 2 next week. So if you have some opportunity,
read that this week. And that's what we'll consider
next week.