Good morning. Can everyone hear
me all right? OK, good. Please turn with me
this morning to Jonah. Already got it, Matt. Yeah. We find Jonah in between
Obadiah and Micah. I'm going to go ahead and just
begin reading. Now the prophet of the Lord,
I'm sorry, the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai,
saying, Arise and 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. He
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. Jonah 1 verse 4. But the Lord sent a great wind
into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest into the sea, so that
the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid
and cried every man unto his God, 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 unto 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, Every one to his
fellow come. 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? And whence comest thou? And what
is thy country? What people art thou? He said
unto them, I am in Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, 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
he told them. Then they said unto him, what
shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us? For
the sea was wrought and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, take me
up, 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 the land, but they could not. For the sea wrought
and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore, they cried unto the
Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee. Let
us not perish for this man's life. Lay not upon us innocent
blood, for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they
took up Jonah, cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased
from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord
exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto 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. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord
his God out of the fish's belly and said, I cried by reason of
mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly
of the hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hast
cast me into the deep, into the midst of the seas, and the floods
can pass me about. All thy billows and thy waves
passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of
thy sight. Yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about,
even to the soul. The depth closed me about. The
weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of
the mountains. The earth with her bars was about
me forever. Yet has thou brought up my life
from corruption, O Lord, my God. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord. My prayer came in unto thee,
into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Sorry, I know that was a long
text. Jonah prophesied during a time when Israel had multiple
evil kings, most of whom had compromised the worship of God
to the point that it actually blended the worship of God with
idols, much like in our country and in our city. And as bad as
things were in Israel, yet the Lord had given Jonah a message
to send him to the Assyrian nation and the city of Nineveh. Nineveh
and the Assyrians had actually attacked, harassed, and even
enslaved the Israelites. When Jonah heard this, he was
determined he would go as far away as he could unto Tarshish. So he went down to Joppa, a city
of the Philistines. Joppa actually means beautiful.
And when Jonah arrives, he sees a beautiful seaside city with
a full harbor of ships, possibilities. And so he thinks everything is
going his way, for he finds a ship going to Tarshish that very day.
He checks the price, it's affordable, so he buys a ticket and he goes
down into the ship. It's not long after their voyage
that a storm overtakes them. The Jonah has no idea, unaware
of the imminent death all around because of him, the sailors eventually
find him after they've exhausted all their attempts at salvation,
both through their gods and through their deeds. And they beg him
to call on his god, but even now Jonah was silent. So as a
last resort, they throw lots, almost as the altar to the unknown
god, and they've all pointed to Jonah. And then Jonah confesses
who he is. that he serves the Lord, and
it's the Lord that sent this storm because of him. Jonah knew that the only way
to quell the storm was through a sacrifice, and he was guilty. The sailors, hearing this and
fearing the vengeance of the Lord if they threw him in, tried
their best to row quickly for the shore one more time, and
it proved that they were unable. So they eventually begged the
Lord's forgiveness and mercy and cast Jonah over into the
deep. And as soon as Jonah went in
the water, the storm ceased. And when they saw their salvation,
they truly feared the Lord and offered sacrifices and vows unto
Him. And we've all heard the story of Joan and the Well. It's
easily one of the most popular biblical stories, probably spoken
in Sunday schools in multiple classrooms, Sunday school classrooms
in this city or in land. It's even seen in books and movies.
But when it's told, it's typically a fantastic tale of the animal
world, disobedient man, and judgment of God. And while all of these
things are obviously seen in that text, that's not what this
Old Testament account is actually about. This book is not even
really about Jonah, even though it bears his name. with the Lord delivering his
word and declaring judgment unto a certain city of sinners because
of their sin. And the last verse, the last
two verses end with the Lord declaring that he will have mercy
on those same sinners whom he had freely chosen and so he saved
them. This book, as every book in scripture,
is only about the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. And
it can be summed up in Jonah's confession at the end of chapter
two, salvation is of the Lord. My prayer this morning in our
short time, the Lord would teach us what this means, that he would
cause his people to again rejoice that salvation is of the Lord,
as he did to Jonah. And he would call some who were
not his people to plead even today that salvation is of the
Lord, as we'll see he did with Nineveh. Now the Lord told the Pharisees
in Matthew 12, you don't have to turn there, that an evil and
adulterous generation seek after a sign, and no sign will be given
but the sign of the prophet Jonas. 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 earth. The Lord pointed out that Jonah
was a type of himself. So let's look at these few verses
in that light, beginning in verse one of chapter one. The word
of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai. Likewise, God the Father, who
cannot lie, entrusted the salvation of his people unto his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he did so before the foundation
of the world. We'll read this, we see this in Ephesians 1, I'll
just read it. Verse 3, according as God hath
chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that
we, his people, should be holy and without blame before him
in love. Verse 2, arise and go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it. The Lord Jesus Christ was
commanded to go, being a surety for His people, and save those
people whom the Father had given Him because of their sin. He came because of judgment declared
for one city, His bride, spiritual Jerusalem. Verse three, the Lord
left His presence He was rich, yet for your sakes he became
poor. And going down, as Jonah went
down to Joppa, to the earth, he became a man like his brethren
that he came to save, frail, weak flesh, sin accepting. In
verse four, we see the offended law of God blows hard because
of his people's transgressions. The justice of God demands satisfaction
for their iniquities, and the wrath and judgment of God storm
and stir for sins unpaid. Left to ourselves, we will surely,
as this ship, be broken. Verse five, we see all men in
their natural state, trouble comes, conscience pricks, and
the fear of the law and death seem imminent, every man turns
to his own gods of his own imagination. Some turn to those that are actually
carved out through Buddhism, through Islam, Catholicism, take
your pick, or they turn to their gods that are not carved, but
carved out of men's imaginations, that are free will, works, religion. They are both equally damning.
Any God that cannot save unless a man does something, whether
it be good works or free will, is a false God. Salvation is
only of the Lord. And we also notice in verse five,
halfway down, but Jonah slept in the ship. With all this going
on, who else was able to be fast asleep in a ship in the midst
of a raging storm? we read about this in Mark 4,
the Lord was at peace with God's law, though it raged for sinners,
because he was a lawgiver. Though being a man under the
law, he was righteous and without sin. Verse 6, the Lord, Jesus
Christ, was also sought for and had to be woken up, but not for
himself, but to save others. We only seek a savior when we
see that we are bankrupt and needy and without hope. Just as David wrote, I am poor
and needy. We'll move down to verse 10,
I'm sorry, verse 12. And he said unto them, take me
up, cast me forth into the sea, and so shall the sea be calm
unto you. He was counted among the transgressors
and taken up, the just for the unjust. In John 3, 14, he said
unto Nicodemus, even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. And he also said later in John
12, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me. All men that he came to save
to spiritual Israel, to spiritual Jerusalem. Verse 15, they did
lift him up and they cast him forth in the sea. He's cast forth
away from the ship because this transaction of salvation is between
the God-man Christ Jesus as a sacrificial lamb and the justice of God the
Father alone. Man does not enter into this
in any way. When the Lord was on the cross
suffering, darkness fell on Golgotha's hill as the Lord suffered. And the reason he's cast forth
into the sea was the Lord was drowned and submerged in the
judgment and wrath of God for his people's sins. He had made us to be sin who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. And immediately as Jonah went
in, the sea ceased her raging. Just like Elijah's fire, consumed
the sacrifice, signifying acceptance. The Lord's offering of his soul
for sin actually was fully accepted, meeting all of the law of God's
demands, completing the satisfaction and justice of God by consuming
the wrath in himself and establishing righteousness for his people.
And in verse 17, once he went into the deep, When the Lord
knew that all was accomplished, he cried out in victory, it is
finished, and gave up the ghost, and he was buried for three days
and three nights. And we'll move into chapter two.
And Hawker wrote that only the casual observer can see this
as anything other than the words of the Lord. And honestly, these
are so profound that they probably should not even be commented.
I'll just make a few comments and cite a few verses. Verse
one, chapter two. Then the Lord prayed unto the
Lord his God out of the grave. Remember, this is after the three
days and three nights. And he said, I reasoned, I cried
by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord. He wasn't just
made like sin, or as if he were sin. He was made sin itself,
and afflicted justly by God as a guilty man. And I cried in the reason of
my affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me out of the belly
of hell. Only the Lord has been plunged
into what can only be described as the heart of hell that was
the cross. In his suffering, he bore the
full heat and extent of God's wrath for his people at one time. And I cried, and thou heardest
my voice. When was his voice heard? At the end of his sufferings,
when he cried, Father, I'm sorry, I just wanna make sure that I'm
in order. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Verse three,
for thou hast cast me into the deep, into the midst of the seas. As the seas of wrath built up
for his people's sins, that no sinful man could begin to drink,
just as no one can drink a drop of the ocean, much less all it
contains. For thou hast cast me into the
deep, into the midst of the seas, and the floods come past me about.
All thy billows and thy waves passed over me." Again, these
are things that truly only the Lord can enter into. Chapter
4, then I said, I am cast out of thy sight. The one in whom
God the Father declared he was well pleased with cried out,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He did this for
his people's sins, but because of his own sin. This was not
a superficial thing. It was personal. It was his own
grief he was going through. Then I said I was cast out again,
verse four, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. In Isaiah
63, five, he again says, I looked around and there was none to
help. I wondered that there was none
to uphold. Therefore, with my own arm brought salvation unto
me. In my fury, it upheld me. If
he did this for himself, if he established salvation for himself
and upheld it, so did he for all of his people for whom he
died. Verse five, the waters come past me about, even to the
soul. The depth closed around about,
the weeds were wrapped about my head. Isaiah 53 verse 10,
yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief
when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin. Verse six,
I went down to the bottoms of the mountain. The earth with
her bars was about me forever. The Lord Jesus Christ purged
eternities of hell deserving sin away in his own death. How
heavy was that death that was described by the eternal Son
of God Himself as forever? What sin and what a payment due! But yet He did pay it. For we
read next in that same verse 6, Yet thou hast brought up my
life from corruption, O Lord my God. for he has raised for
our justification, satisfying and completing his work. Verse
seven, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord and
my prayer came in unto thee and to thine holy temple. Psalm 27,
13, he also says, I fainted unless I believed to see the goodness
of the Lord and the land of the living. He fainted unless he
believed to see the goodness of the Lord. And how has he delivered
that goodness of the Lord to his people in full salvation
that only he could procure? Verse 8, they that observe lying
vanities forsake their own mercy. They observe lying vanities.
about the cost and the wages of sin that is really due and
deserving of death. Anyone that believes in a false
gospel or false salvation or concept of how sin is put away
does not truly believe that sin and death fully costs what the
Lord paid. But truly, only this Christ must
and could have fully paid that debt of eternal life for his
people. Verse nine, but I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have owed. He alone fulfilled all that was
required for a complete salvation for his people. So the father
says to him, sit down on my right hand until I make thy enemies
thy footstools. Salvation is only of the Lord. I'm sorry, Isaiah 63, verse one, He's described as, who is this
that cometh from Edom with dyed garments of bas-raz, that this
is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
And he answers, I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. And the last verse in that chapter,
chapter two, verse 10, and the spirit of the Lord spake unto
the grave, and it opened with life unto the Lord. Next in the last few minutes
that we have, let's look at the salvation of Jonah and his recovery. Jonah has sunk into those waves
and probably thought if he was going down, now I've done it
and the Lord's given me exactly what I deserve. And when the
whale snatched him up, the last thing he expected, again he thought,
now the Lord has me, the slow end, the slow death. But in time,
in three days, he was still not consumed because what Jonah didn't
realize until that point was that that well was the Lord's
mercy unto him. Truly in Jonah's case, and every
one of God's elect, those whom he died for, being in that well,
safe from the destruction outside that we deserve, the well bearing
the pressure and the depth of the sea, and arriving safely
to the other side without a scratch. This is union with our Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ that we just read about. When he lived
perfectly, I did too. When He was crucified on the
cross, so was I. When He was buried, I was too. When He rose again
in life, so did I. Truly salvation is only in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Please turn with me to Isaiah
30. Isaiah 30, we'll begin in verse
15. I'll just begin reading. For
thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning
and rest shall ye be saved. He's speaking to his people,
in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength, and ye
would not. But ye said, No, we will flee
upon horses, therefore shall ye flee. We will ride upon the
swift, therefore they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall
flee at the rebuke of one, and at the rebuke of five shall ye
flee, till ye be left as a beacon on top of a mountain, and as
an ensign, a flag, a banner, as an example on a hill. And
therefore in that place will the Lord wait, that he may be
gracious unto you, just as the Lord had prepared that well to
capture Jonah and protect him and keep him. Therefore, will
the Lord be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you. The
Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait
on him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. Thou
shalt weep no more. He shall be very gracious unto
thee at the voice of thy cry. When he shall hear it, he shall
answer thee." The Lord knew before Jonah did
what his reaction to the message to Nineveh was going to be. He
knows our frame. There were only dust. He has
made us who we are and what we are. This is never an excuse
for our sin. Our sin is our fault and is never
justified. Thankfully, the Lord is plenteous
in mercy and grace for Christ's sake, and he does not deal with
his people because of what we just read after their sins. The Lord providentially brought
Jonah into that well. and exactly where he needed to
be, so in the appointed time, three days, the Spirit gave him
the grace to pray, crying out in trouble, remembering that
mercy belongeth unto the Lord and salvation is his. And in doing so, this experience
of Jonah fulfilled that type of the Lord Jesus Christ and
made him a preacher willing and ready to give the message he
had not wanted to deliver. But now he was ready to go and
declare, salvation is unto the Lord, to Ninevites. Now, we're running short on time,
so I'm just going to read I just want to read my conclusion. The Lord God rules over all creation,
as we've read, controls everything and everyone in it. And if he
purposes to show mercy on one or many people, they will be
saved. He will send his preacher out. preaching the salvation that
is in Christ the Lord and him crucified. The Holy Spirit calls
sinners to rejoice in that message, making them willing in the day
of his power. Thankfully, all things, the rebellion
of men, the natural world, the disobedience and obedience of
his object of grace, work together for good to the eternal purpose
for those who love God, and it all gives Christ the glory and
salvation. May the Lord give us all grace
to stay with Jonah, the city of Nineveh, and that public temple. Lord, be merciful unto me, the
sinner. Thank you.