And look at Jonah chapter 2 in verse number 2.
It begins by saying,
And said,
I cried by reason of my infliction unto the Lord,
and he heard me,
out of the belly of hell cried I.
The title for the sermon tonight is
Out of the Belly of Hell.
Now, we'll get to chapter 2 in a moment.
I just want to bring some other thoughts that
well, you know, after I preached last week on chapter number 1,
there were some other thoughts that came out of the conversation after the sermon,
so I just want to share that with the rest of you.
So let's just go back to Jonah chapter 1 very quickly.
I mean, Jonah chapter 2 is not very long anyway,
so let's just quickly have a look at Jonah chapter 1 verse number 13.
And obviously you remember the story very well.
It says in verse number 13,
Now, as I said to you when I was preaching through chapter number 1,
that many aspects of Jonah's life is symbolic or a type of what Christ would fulfill.
And the first thought that I want to bring to you,
and I was going to mention this last week,
but I don't know, whatever reason it skipped my mind,
but the fact that the men are saying,
you know, the mariners on the ship,
they're praying to the Lord and saying,
and lay not upon us innocent blood.
You know, when they look at Jonah, he's innocent in their eyes.
He's saying, well, he's not really innocent, Pastor Kevin.
He's running away from the Lord, the Lord is angry.
Yeah, yeah, but remember what he's being considered.
They're considering throwing him overboard,
which in their mind would be death.
You know, running away from the Lord is, you know,
it's not equivalent to the death penalty.
You know, there are certain sins, there are certain crimes in the Bible
that God does prescribe the death penalty on,
but running away from God is not one of them.
And so from their perspective, you know, they look at Jonah and say,
yeah, this is innocent blood.
And of course, the parallel with Jesus Christ there,
is when Jesus Christ was brought before Pilate,
it says in Matthew 27-24,
when Pilate saw that he could prevail with nothing,
but that rather atonement was made,
he took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying,
I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see ye to it.
And so even Pilate recognized that Jesus Christ was innocent.
Like he does not deserve, Christ does not deserve to be put to death,
even though he gave permission for Christ to be crucified.
And so there's another parallel that we see
between Jonah and Jesus Christ.
Now if you're still there, look at verse 15,
Jonah 1 verse 15, it says,
So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea,
and the sea ceased from her raging.
So the other good point that was brought up by
actually both Matthew and Brother Tim after the sermon,
was when we look at chapter 13, we know that obviously,
the mariners do not want to throw Jonah overboard,
and what are they trying to do?
They're trying to sail the ship to the sea.
They're working very hard.
And the excellent parallel there is that when it comes to salvation,
you cannot work your way to salvation.
No matter how hard you try, you know what you need to do to be saved?
Innocent blood had to be thrown overboard.
Innocent blood had to be crucified in your place.
And again, the picture of Jonah being thrown overboard,
innocent blood being thrown overboard,
and then the sea's been calmed, and the people on the ship
were delivered from the storms that were delivered from the shipwrecks.
So again, that's a great picture of salvation.
One man died in our place,
that we would be saved, that we would be delivered.
The Bible says in Romans 5-15,
But not as the offense, but also as the free gift.
For if through the offense of one man, sorry,
through one many be dead, much more the grace of God,
and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ,
have abounded unto many.
And so the sacrifice of Christ has given many salvation.
We've been saved from our sins,
because one man was thrown overboard, as it were,
one paid for our sins, and then the Lord God is satisfied.
He's appeased by the thrown overboard of Jonah,
which is again a picture of Christ dying in our place,
and delivering us from the wrath of God to come.
All right, so again, as we keep going through Jonah chapter 2,
I just want to bring forth other parallels that we see of Jesus Christ.
So let's get there to Jonah chapter 2, verse number 1.
It says, with obviously Jonah being swallowed by the whale at this point in time,
it says in verse number 1,
Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly.
All right, Jonah was definitely in the fish's belly.
He wasn't just in the whale's mouth.
He went all the way in.
So obviously in the belly, I'm assuming a whale is not all that different.
You know, with stomach acids, and whatever other junk that whale has been swallowing.
I mean, this, for Jonah, is not a great place.
This is not feeling good for Jonah, okay?
So, you know, he's at a point, he's at his wits end now,
he prays to the Lord God, and it says in verse number 2,
and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord.
So yeah, Jonah says, look, I'm being afflicted in this whale's belly three days and three nights.
Then he says, and he heard me.
Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
It's interesting that for Jonah, being stuck in the whale's belly,
to him is equivalent to being in hell.
Like the frustration, the torments, the suffering of being in the whale's belly to him,
for his perspective, it's the closest he's going to get to hell, all right?
And so he cries out of the Lord God, and speaks about being, crying out of hell.
Now, as I said to you, there are parallels of Jesus Christ.
One thing that is not taught very well in many Baptist churches
is the fact that Jesus' soul went to hell, okay?
And I'm going to show this to you in a moment,
because I think one reason that pastors don't preach on this
is they think it might sound blasphemous.
They think that it might just not sound right.
And I do share some of those concerns, all right?
You know, one of the things that I've heard from members of my church,
outdoor to those soul winning, is some people would say this phrase,
they'll say, well, when Jesus Christ suffered for our sins,
he paid for our sins in hell.
I've heard that said many times, and yet the Bible never makes that claim.
I find it interesting that it actually comes out of the mouth of soul winners
that Jesus Christ paid for our sins in hell, but where is that found in the Bible?
It's not found in the Bible, but it's something that sometimes gets spread.
And one thing that I want to challenge this church,
I want to challenge our church members,
is that whenever you're preaching God's word,
whether you're behind this pulpit or you're preaching to a lost person,
you want to make sure that what you say is accurate.
You want to make sure that what you say are the words of the Bible
and that you're not, you know, adding something potentially
to what the Bible doesn't say, okay?
Now, I'm going to share some thoughts here.
I know there are some of you that believe that Jesus Christ suffered in hell fire
for three days and three nights, and some of you do not.
You say, what do you believe, Pastor Kevin?
I tell you the truth, I'm not sure, okay?
But what I can do is tell you what the Bible says,
and I'll show you what the Bible says,
because we know that at the end of the day, Jonah did not really go to hell.
He's likening his experience to what he believes hell would be like.
In fact, what I believe this is teaching us, and I'll prove this to you later,
is that this is a parallel or a picture of Christ in hell, okay?
His soul going to hell during the three days and three nights
after he was crucified on the cross.
Okay, I'm going to explain a few things to you.
Please just pay attention, give heed to what I'm saying,
be patient, and it's all going to come together, okay?
But some people believe that when a lost person without Jesus Christ goes to hell,
they say and believe, and look, I've said these words,
so I know where you're coming from.
If you're one of these people, I know where you're coming from.
But we often say things like, well, if you die without Christ,
you're going to pay for your sins in hell.
Again, the Bible never says those words.
You do not pay for your sins in hell.
I just want you to think about that for a moment.
Think about what that means, okay?
If you could pay for your sins in hell, eventually you're going to pay it off.
And eventually, if you believe that you're paying for your sins in hell,
eventually you're going to pay it off and you're going to get out of there.
In fact, that's what the Roman Catholic Church teaches,
not about hell but about purgatory.
They'll say, well, those that aren't exceedingly bad but they're not quite right,
you know, they go to a place called purgatory
and there they've been tormented by purgatory fires for a period of time
and once it's all been paid off, once all the fires of purgatory,
you know, cleanses that person from all their sins,
then they go to be with God in heaven.
Yeah, that logic is accurate if you could pay for your sins in hell.
Now, the other thought is, well, and this is an extension of this thought.
Again, these words are not in the Bible and I'll show you in a moment.
Because you're thinking, no, no, I know of the verse past Kevin.
I'll get to that in a moment, okay?
And so the extension of this is, well, if we pay for our sins in hell,
then logically if Jesus died in our place,
then he would have had to pay for our sins in hell.
But you see how that logic comes from the thoughts or the phraseology
that does not appear in the Bible, okay?
Now, did Jesus pay for our sins? Of course he did.
Okay, and I'll show you very clearly that he did
and I'll show you how he did that in a moment, okay?
But again, this thought that, well, going to hell is where we pay for our sins.
It's wrong. It's not in the scriptures.
The closest that you're going to get to this teaching is in Romans 6.23, okay?
One of the verses that we go out sowing with,
which says, for the wages of sin is death.
And of course wages, you know, if you go to a job,
you know, you've got work, you earn a wage.
That's your payment.
So it's kind of, well, your payment for sin is death
and we know that if someone dies without Christ,
they're going to go to hell fire.
So that means your payment is hell and you're paying for your sins in hell.
But that's not what it's saying.
It's not saying we go to hell to pay for our sins.
What it's saying is that death is the payment for our sin.
Not that we go and pay for it,
but rather that's the payment we receive
for the sins that we've committed against the Lord God, okay?
So you're not paying for sins.
You're paying hell for the sins that you've committed.
You're receiving, sorry, the payment.
You're receiving the payment which is death and hell
if you reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
You're not making the payments, okay?
And so you can see where that thought goes.
If you have to logically pay for your sins,
then Christ has to pay for our sins in hell,
but that's not what the Bible teaches, okay?
And I know some of you guys are adamant this is what took place.
Maybe you're right.
But what I'm trying to teach tonight, brethren,
is that we need to use the right phraseology.
We need to use Bible words.
Let's stay true to what the Bible teaches.
Did Jesus pay for our sins?
Of course he did. Of course he did.
It's a payment in full
and he offers us a free gift of salvation
simply by putting our faith and trust
on what he has done.
If you can please turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1 verse number 7.
Ephesians chapter 1 and verse number 7.
The Bible reads,
In whom, speaking about Jesus,
in whom we have redemption,
through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace.
Brethren, how were we redeemed?
Do you remember?
Think of the word redemption.
If you've got a voucher
and you're redeeming that voucher,
that voucher is taking care of that payment
or the necessary transaction
for our sins to be forgiven.
It's been paid for by the blood of Christ.
Did Christ pay for our sins?
Of course he did.
How did he pay for it?
Through his blood.
His blood is the payment for our sins.
Please go to 1 Peter chapter 1.
1 Peter chapter 1 verse number 18.
1 Peter chapter 1.
And I really want you to see this one.
If you can turn there please.
1 Peter chapter 1 verse number 18.
The Bible says in 1 Peter 1.18,
Forasmuch as ye know
that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things,
as silver and gold,
from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers,
but...
So how were we redeemed?
But with the precious blood of Christ
as a lamb without blemish
and without spot.
Reverend, the Bible's consistent.
There are many passages that teach us
the payment or the redemption
has been made through the blood of Christ.
It's his precious blood that cleanses us.
The Bible also says,
I'll just read it to you.
In fact, actually turn there please
because we've got some other passages here.
Romans chapter 3.
Please turn to Romans chapter 3
in verse number 25.
Romans 3.25.
Which of course,
before we get to Romans 6.23,
we would have read Romans 3.25.
Romans 3.25 says,
Whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past
through the forbearance of God.
So what is the propitiation?
When you think of that word propitiation,
it means to appease,
it means to satisfy,
it means to regain favor.
What is it that satisfied the Lord God?
What is it that satisfies God?
Our faith in the blood.
In the blood of Christ.
His sacrifice on the cross,
his broken body
and his blood flowing for us, brethren,
that is the payment for our sins.
Did Jesus pay for our sins?
Of course he did.
How did he pay for our sins?
According to the Bible,
he paid for it through his blood.
Okay?
The Bible says that God
has purchased his church
through his blood.
There are so many references
that speak of the purchase
of the price paid
as by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The Bible also says,
I'll quickly read to you Revelation 1.5.
And from Jesus Christ,
who is the faithful witness
and the first begotten of the dead
and the prince of the kings of the earth
unto him that loved us
and washed us
from our sins in his own blood.
What has washed us from our sins?
His own blood.
All right, brethren,
the Bible is consistent.
Over and over and over again,
I can pull out many other references.
Very clearly,
the washing, the redemption,
the propitiation,
the satisfaction,
all of this,
the purchase, the payment
is through the blood.
Okay?
And of course,
the climax of that blood being spilt
was what took place on the cross.
But even what led through,
up to, you know,
the crown of thorns,
you know, the whipping,
the beating,
the blood that was on the streets
all the way to Calvary,
of course counts for that blood
that was shed for us,
brethren, for us.
All right?
Now, if you can please
turn to another passage.
Please turn to Romans 8.3,
because you're there in Romans.
Please turn to Romans 8.3.
Because sometimes I think,
you know,
when we've got this
phraseology,
we say,
well, Jesus paid for our sins
in hell.
Okay?
What we can do is,
and I'm not saying
this is done on purpose
or any intention,
but we can minimize
the body and the blood.
Okay?
Because you say,
well, maybe he had to go to hell
to dump our sins in hell
or something like that.
Okay?
But look what it says here
in 1 Peter chapter 2.
Sorry, is that where?
No, no.
Sorry, Romans 8.3.
Romans 8.3.
It says,
Where was sin condemned?
Okay?
Condemnation, damnation,
or judgment that fell upon sin.
Where was it condemned?
In the flesh.
In the flesh of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
There's a reason why
when Christ asked us to remember
his death and his sacrifice,
you know, he asked us to remember
his body and his blood.
His blood that watches us from all our sins,
but his body,
where our sins were condemned unto,
upon his flesh.
The Bible also teaches in 1 Peter
chapter 2 verse 24,
who his own self bare our sins
in his own body
on the tree.
And we being dead to sins
should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes ye were healed.
By the stripes, by the whipping.
The whipping of that body.
The blood that was coming out
as Christ was beaten
and whipped.
That was the sacrifice.
That's the purchase.
That's where our sins were laid upon.
On the body of Jesus Christ.
It said there,
bare his sins in his own body on the tree.
And of course when we're speaking
of the tree there in the Bible,
it's speaking about the cross.
The Bible says in Galatians 3.13,
Christ have redeemed us
from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us,
for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.
So Christ have redeemed us
from the curse of the law.
When did that take place?
Again, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.
The cross is where the curse
was removed from us and placed on Christ.
That's when our curse fell on him.
His body, his beaten body,
his shed blood upon the tree of Calvary.
That is the purchase.
That is the price that was paid
to give us salvation.
Again, Bible's consistent,
Bible's clear, and you know,
you say, what happened exactly
the three days and three nights past Kevin?
I told you already, I'm not sure.
But I'm telling you what I know for sure.
What the Bible clearly states
is that the payment of sin was his blood.
Okay?
Sin was condemned in his flesh.
You know, Christ told us to remember
his body and his blood.
And he says this is how we remember his death
till he comes.
Alright?
So, I'm explaining all this
because I want to fix terminology.
You know, if we're going out
and preaching God's word,
I know how much effort we do
to say what is true behind the pulpit.
Well, I want the same level of effort
to say what is true,
what the Bible teaches when we go
and explain the Bible to someone that is lost.
It's preaching.
We're still telling people God's word.
In fact, it's the most important preaching
you'll ever do.
Leading someone to Jesus Christ,
showing them what the Bible says
about salvation.
That's the greatest preaching
anybody can do.
Man, woman, or child.
Now, you say, well,
Pastor Kevin, sounds like
you're contrary against the belief
that Jesus Christ suffered in Hellfire.
Well, I'm not against it.
All I'm saying is
I can't preach it with authority.
Say, but Pastor so-and-so
and Pastor so-and-so,
they preach this with authority.
Well, praise God for them.
Praise God for them.
You know what I mean?
Look, you know,
the last thing I want to be
is someone that split hairs
about what the Bible is not clear about.
Did he go to Hell?
Did Christ's soul go to Hell
during those three days and three nights?
It did.
And I'll show you for a moment
that it did.
But he said, well, Pastor Kevin,
if you went to Hell
for three days and three nights,
surely that means
he suffered in Hellfire.
Maybe you're right.
But the Bible doesn't tell me that.
Maybe you're right.
But you know what?
I'm a preacher of the Bible.
I'm a preacher of God's Word.
What I want to preach
is what the Bible clearly says.
And the Bible clearly says
that the payment of our sins
was his blood.
Okay?
Now, here's what I might,
you know, I consider,
and I think it's in the realm
of possibility
that he did suffer in Hellfire
for the three days and three nights,
but not as a payment for our sins,
because that's already been done
by his blood,
but as a natural consequences
of dying with the sins
of man placed upon him.
I'm willing to accept that,
but does the Bible tell me that?
The Bible doesn't tell me that.
Okay?
This is something that,
you know, some believers,
some Christians come together,
they see certain passages,
they see that his soul went to Hell,
and then the conclusion is
that he suffered in Hell
and paid for our sins.
But again,
if we want to be clear,
we want to be, you know,
as biblical as we can be,
when we speak about the payment of sins,
we must speak about the blood.
We must speak about Calvary.
That's what the payment of sin was.
Alright?
As a consequence, potentially,
suffering in Hellfire,
granted, I accept that,
but I can't preach that with authority
because the Bible does not tell me that.
I hope you guys understand
the differences here.
Okay?
You know what?
I'm not this guy
that just wants to split hairs
over every little issue.
You know,
any pastor that you speak to,
any pastor that you listen to,
we're going to have difference of opinions.
You know,
I've been to church where,
you know,
you've got the senior pastor,
you've got the assistant pastor,
and I've literally heard,
you know,
back-to-back statements
about the same passages,
and they contradicted each other.
Or they held slightly different beliefs
toward one another.
I never thought,
oh man,
what if we could say something differently?
People see things differently
in the Bible.
You know,
we're not talking about
major issues here.
What we have to believe,
the gospel that we believe to be saved,
is His death,
His burial,
His resurrection.
The Bible's very clear,
that is the gospel message.
What happened during the
three days and three nights?
That's not part,
was He dead for three days and three nights?
Yes it is.
That's part of the gospel message.
But what took place exactly in hell?
You know what?
It's one of these mysteries
that I'm happy to wait
till I go to heaven
and ask God exactly what took place.
You know what?
And I'm not going to fight
with people that have different opinions,
because I view this as
something of a minor issue,
a minor disagreement.
People seeing things
a little bit differently,
okay,
but what I do want to make sure
is that again,
when we preach,
we say what the Bible says,
okay?
The payment of sin
was the blood of Christ.
Let's keep going there,
verse number three,
verse number three.
So,
my point being brethren,
is that this is not worth
breaking your fellowship over,
okay?
There are other Christians
in your other
certain IFB churches
that believe that,
yes, they do believe
that Christ's soul went to hell.
In fact,
I've never met any Baptist
that's not believed
Christ's soul didn't go to hell.
It's just that they believe
Christ's soul went to
the nice part of hell.
That some heads,
this is what they,
obviously I don't believe this,
that they believe there's
some type of paradise
in hell where Christ went.
And that's like the nice,
you know, park area.
That's not where it's
burning with fire,
and that's where Christ went
with all the Old Testament saints
and he delivered captivity captive
and took them all into heaven
during those three days
and three nights.
You know, again,
does the Bible teach that?
No.
Okay?
There are passages here
about Christ's soul going to hell
and people try to piece things
together as to what took place.
But you'll never find me
breaking fellowship,
or making this some major issue,
or calling out some pastor
because they see things
differently to me.
And again,
what exactly do you see,
Pastor Kevin?
I don't know.
Can I at least be honest enough
to say I don't know?
And people respect me for that
because the Bible does not
state it very clearly.
Okay?
We can have opinions,
we can have thoughts,
but when we come to the house of God,
we want to hear the Bible preached.
We don't really want to hear.
You know, from time to time,
I'll give my opinions,
but primarily,
we just want to hear
the Bible preached.
What does the Bible teach clearly?
Okay?
That's what we need to hear.
Now, verse number three,
verse number three.
Nehemiah, sorry,
Jonah chapter two,
verse number three.
It says,
about Nehemiah.
He says,
Again, you know,
Jonah being very descriptive,
very poetic in his description
of what he's going through.
You know,
he's feeling himself in the ocean,
being tossed in the whale's belly there.
But what I find quite interesting
in verse number four,
he says,
Does that remind you
of something else that took place
on Jesus Christ?
When he suffered for us?
When he was crucified on the cross?
The Bible says in Matthew 27, 45,
Why hast thou forsaken me?
When Christ was on the cross,
when he took on our sins, brethren,
he became the curse for us,
and he was separated from the Father.
He was forsaken by the Father.
Christ is calling out to the Father,
saying,
Why hast thou forsaken me?
What does Jonah say?
Then I said,
I am cast out of thy sight.
So again,
you can see some parallels
between how Jonah's feeling
with what took place in Jesus Christ.
But what I like about Jonah,
not only does he feel
that he's cast out of the sight of God
in the darkness of the whale's belly,
he says,
Yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple.
Jonah says,
This is not the end of me.
You know,
there's coming a time
where I'm just going to look
toward the holy temple,
you know,
in Jerusalem,
you know,
his heart is to be back
in fellowship with the Lord God.
And we know that death
did not keep Christ.
We know that after three days
and three nights,
he rose from the dead.
All right,
let's keep going there.
Verse number five,
The waters came past me about,
even to the soul.
The deaf closed me round about.
The weeds were wrapped about my head.
I mean,
that would make sense
that this whale had swollen,
I guess,
seaweed.
That would be the weeds
wrapped around the heads
of Jonah.
And again,
we see another parallel there,
don't we,
of the weeds about the head of Jonah.
And the Bible tells us
in John chapter 19,
verse two,
it says,
And the soldiers plaited
a crown of thorns,
and put it on his head.
And they put on him
a purple robe,
and said,
Hail, king of the Jews!
And they smote him
with their hands.
And so I think
another parallel that we see there
is that,
yeah,
Christ,
as he were,
had a weed,
right,
had these thorns
put about his head.
And Jonah is experiencing
the seaweed
just wrapping themselves
around his head.
And so I think
there's a lot of images
that are like unto Christ.
You know,
I personally think
it's really interesting
the fact they put this crown
of thorns upon his head.
You know,
that he bled
from top to bottom.
You know,
he was crucified.
We know his feet
were crucified.
There would have been blood
running down from his head,
blood running down his back,
you know,
running down,
you know,
being pierced at his feet,
blood coming at his feet.
You know,
from top to bottom,
the body of Christ
was broken for us
and his blood was shed
for our cleansing.
Let's keep going there.
Verse number six.
And I went down
to the bottoms of the mountains.
The earth with her bars
was about me forever,
yet thou has brought up my life
from corruption,
O Lord my God.
And so as Jonah continues to pray,
you know,
he feels like
this is going to go on forever.
All right?
Her bars,
like, you know,
he's in the depths of the ocean.
You know,
he knows he's far from land.
You know what I mean?
What's going to deliver him
from the whale's belly here?
But what I like is his hope.
He says that yet has thou brought up
my life from corruption.
What does that mean?
When you look at that,
he brought up my life
from corruption.
Well,
I want to bring you now,
if you can keep your finger there,
and turn to the book of Acts.
Turn to Acts chapter two.
Because we know that Jonah,
he feels like he's
in the depths of hell,
and he says,
no, you know what,
you're going to bring up
my life from corruption.
What is he referring to?
Well, Jonah believes he's going
to be delivered
through the hand of God.
Okay?
And when you talk about corruption,
he's talking about his flesh.
Okay?
You know,
he knows that his flesh
is not going to corrupt.
He knows his flesh
is not going to rot.
Okay?
It's not going to be digested
in the whale,
but it's going to be delivered
out of the whale's belly.
He knows this at this point.
Okay?
Because he speaks about being
brought up,
his life from corruption.
Look at Acts chapter two,
verse twenty-two.
Acts chapter two
and verse number twenty-two.
These are really interesting words,
you know,
really deep teaching
that gets taught here.
It says,
ye men of Israel,
hear these words,
Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God
among you by miracles
and wonders and signs,
which God did by him
in the midst of you,
as ye yourselves also know.
Him, being delivered by
the determinate counsel
and full knowledge of God,
ye have taken,
and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain,
whom God have raised up,
having loosed the pains of death,
because it was not possible
that he should be holden of it.
For David speaketh concerning him,
I foresaw the Lord
always before my face,
for he is on my right hand,
that I should not be moved.
Notice the next words.
Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad,
moreover also my flesh
shall rest in hope.
What hope does the flesh is resting?
You know,
when David spoke this in the psalm,
these aren't just the words of David
in his time of anguish,
these are the words of Christ.
Because then it says here in verse number 27,
because thou will not leave
my soul in hell.
Notice that.
Once Christ was crucified,
Christ would yell out to the Lord,
to his Father, saying,
Thou will not leave my soul in hell.
How could he say these words?
Where would he have to be
in order to say these words?
Jesus would have to be in hell.
The soul of Jesus Christ.
Thou will not leave my soul in hell.
Where was Christ's soul
those three days and three nights?
It was in hell.
Again, the Bible is clear about this.
Again, Christ knows that his soul
would not be left there.
This is why his flesh
shall rest in hope.
Let's keep going there.
Neither will thou suffer
thine holy one to see corruption.
That's what Jonah said.
What did he say again?
Jonah, he goes,
Yet hast thou brought up
my life from corruption,
O Lord my God.
What does Jesus Christ say?
Neither will thou suffer
thine holy one to see corruption.
Notice again the parallels there
between Jonah and Jesus Christ.
What is that corruption about?
Let's keep going.
Verse 128.
Thou hast made known to me
the ways of life.
Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance.
Men and brethren,
let me freely speak unto you
of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried
and his sepulchre is with us
unto this day.
And notice this.
Therefore being a prophet,
that's King David being a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him
that of the fruit of his loins
according to the flesh
he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne.
He seen this before
spake of the resurrection of Christ.
Brethren, who spoke of the
resurrection of Christ?
David spoke of the
resurrection of Christ.
Do you see that?
Look at this.
That his soul, the soul of Christ,
was not left in hell,
neither his flesh
did see corruption.
This Jesus have God raised up
whereof we all are witnesses.
Alright?
So notice that.
The fact that Christ's soul
was not left in hell
would mean that his flesh
would not see corruption.
His flesh would not rot.
Christ's flesh would not be
utterly destroyed,
you know, being swallowed up
by the worms or whatever,
you know.
No.
You know, Christ came back
from the dead.
So his flesh did not rot.
And not only that,
when Christ was resurrected,
he had that glorious
resurrected body.
Okay?
One day when we passed away,
we too were going to receive
a glorious resurrected body.
But I want you to notice
that the corruption
that has been spoken of
by Jonah and by Jesus
through King David
is that the corruption
would not be that the flesh
would be corrupted.
Okay?
Because the soul
would not be left in hell.
The soul would come out of hell
and the body would be revived.
Okay?
The body would not rot.
What is Jonah's hope here?
Jonah is speaking
symbolically of Christ.
But it's about himself.
He feels that he's in hell.
He feels he's in the belly
of hell right now.
But he knows his flesh
would not see corruption.
He's trusting that God
would deliver him
from the whale's belly.
And again, I love the fact
that we have these parallels
with Jonah,
who's like this backslidden,
cold-hearted prophet.
Okay?
And yet his story
has so many parallels
with what took place
with Jesus Christ.
Did Christ's soul go to hell?
Of course it did.
The Bible is clear.
I don't think you can get
any clearer than Acts 2
right there.
David did not speak of himself.
David spoke of Jesus Christ.
That his soul
would not be left in hell.
Neither his flesh
did see corruption.
King David knew about Christ.
King David knew
that one day God would send
his son to die in our place,
that he would be dead
but rise from the dead.
King David spoke
of this resurrection
under the influence and power
of the Holy Ghost.
All right, back to Jonah 2,
verse number 7.
Jonah 2, verse number 7.
Jonah says,
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came in unto thee
into thine holy temple.
Okay?
My soul fainted within me,
I remember the Lord,
and my prayer came in unto thee
into thine holy temple.
And so notice that many times,
Jonah refers to his soul
as he's going through
this suffering in the whale's belly.
Now we know he's also bodily
in the whale's belly, obviously.
Okay, but contained within his body
is his soul.
And what I want you to turn to now
is Luke chapter 23.
Please turn to Luke chapter 23
and verse number 43.
Luke 23 and verse number 43.
Because I want to teach you
something else that the Bible
clearly teaches.
Something else the Bible
clearly says, all right?
Luke 23, verse 43.
We're talking about the time
when Christ was on the cross
crucified and one of the thieves,
you know, asked the Lord Jesus Christ,
Remember me, when thou comest
into thy kingdom.
How did Christ respond
in verse number 43?
Let's think about these words.
Luke 23, 43.
And Jesus said unto him,
Verily I say unto thee,
today shalt thou be with me
in paradise.
Brethren, where is paradise?
I've proven this many times before.
Paradise is the third heaven.
Paradise is where
the throne of God is.
Jesus Christ promises
the thief on the cross
that he's going to be that
very same day with him
in paradise.
Say, Pastor Kevin, this doesn't
make a lot of sense to me.
Didn't you say that his soul
went to hell?
Well, let's keep reading.
In the same chapter,
Luke 23, verse 46.
It says,
And when Jesus had cried
with a loud voice,
he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit.
And having said thus,
he gave up the ghost.
You know, the word ghost
and spirit, it's one and the same.
We speak about the Holy Ghost
and the Holy Spirit.
We're speaking about the one
and same person of the Lord God.
The ghost is the spirit.
What does Jesus Christ say?
Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit.
And he gave up the ghost.
He gave up that spirit.
But he told the thief on the cross,
Today thou shalt be with me
in paradise.
The third heaven
where God's throne is.
Say, Pastor Kevin, what took place
the three days and three nights
that Jesus Christ was dead?
I'll tell you what took place.
His body was taken
and he was buried
in the grave.
His soul went to hell
and his spirit was with the Father
and with that thief on the cross.
Okay?
And this makes perfect sense
because Christ came
in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Christ was not just 100% man
but he was also, sorry,
not just 100% God
but also 100% man.
And we know as a man
we have a body, soul and spirit.
And something supernatural
beyond my understanding,
all I can tell you, brethren,
is what the Bible teaches,
the Bible teaches Christ's soul
was in hell.
The Bible teaches
his body was in the grave.
The Bible teaches
his spirit was with the Father
and with the thief on the cross.
And I'm satisfied.
You said, I don't know.
I'm satisfied with that.
You know what?
And look, if other things took place
that is beyond my comprehension,
beyond my understanding,
I'll learn that
when I get to heaven.
I've read my Bible cover to cover
many times
and I don't have the confidence
to go beyond that understanding.
Alright?
I mean, I'm honest with you, brethren,
when I say I've got a fear of the Lord.
I don't want to, look,
have I said things
that were probably wrong?
Have I said things
that are probably
exaggerations of the truth?
Maybe.
But I don't try to.
I really don't want to.
I really want to stay
as truthful to the Scriptures
as we can.
And you know,
regardless of who teaches what,
you know what,
if that pastor or that church,
if they're my brothers in the Lord,
I love them.
I want to be a blessing to them.
I want them to preach boldly
very accountable to God.
Every pastor is accountable
to the Lord God
for the church they've pastored.
And I'm accountable
for blessed up at this church
and new life at this church.
God's going to hold me accountable
for what I preach.
And I've got to have
a clear conscience
about what I say.
And I hope you realize
that in this pastor,
you've got a man
who's very careful with his words.
Okay?
Not because I'm timid,
because I have a fear of God.
Okay?
I want to be careful
with what I say.
And I want you to be the same.
I want you to be careful
about what you say
when you speak
of God's word.
It's God's word.
Have you ever had
your words twisted?
Exaggerated?
Where you've maybe
said a few things
and you know,
you don't mean much by it,
but then someone's
taking your words
and they've communicated
that to someone else,
but they've not communicated
it very well.
Or it sounds like
you've been aggressive
or offensive,
but when you initially said it,
you did not mean such things.
It doesn't feel nice
when your words are taken
and exaggerated and twisted.
You know, text messages.
But be careful with that.
But ever be careful
with text messages.
You know what?
If you're ever dealing
with a conflict, an issue,
please don't text the person
that you have a conflict with.
Don't text them.
You have a conflict with someone,
take it with them one on one.
Try to speak to them face to face.
And if they refuse to speak
to you face to face,
pick up the phone.
If they refuse to take
your phone call, then text.
Last resort.
Okay?
Last resort.
We've got to be careful
because, you know,
I've heard this many times
that 50% of text messages
are misunderstood.
50% of text messages
are misunderstood.
And if you've got
a conflict with someone
and you text them
and you're trying to make peace
with them,
your tone is not being
carried via text.
It's just the words.
And that person
can receive your text
and think you're having
a go at them
or being offensive
when you meant no such thing.
So just be careful.
Be careful with words.
I'm saying this because
I don't like it
when our words are taken
and exaggerated
or misunderstood.
I don't want to take God's word
and exaggerate it
or misunderstand
what God is saying.
Okay?
Even more so
than just a regular man.
All right?
Pastor Kevin,
are you willing to consider
that Christ suffered
in hellfire for three days
and three nights?
Of course I am.
Okay?
And if, you know,
with that in mind,
I would say this is a consequence
of the fact that
He took on sin for our body.
He did not go to hell
to pay for it
because the payment
was His blood.
Okay?
Do you understand that?
Okay?
But am I going to boldly preach
that behind the pulpit?
I can't.
I can't do it
with a clear conscience.
All right?
Now, some of the pastors say,
well, again,
Abraham's bosom.
The paradise that Christ went to
was not the paradise
mentioned in the Bible,
which is the third heaven.
He went to another paradise,
which is in the cooler
parts of hell
where the Old Testament saints went.
And look, you know,
I think that's crazy.
I think our teachings,
I mean, where does the Bible
even teach that?
You know, pastors preach that boldly.
Okay?
It's strange to me.
Why preach things?
Well, the Bible does not
clearly say that.
But again,
am I going to split hairs about this?
Am I going to get angry at them?
Am I going to think
they're wicked people?
No.
You know, being a pastor,
one thing that really helped me
being a pastor
was to open my eyes
to understand
how much work
goes into running a church,
how much work goes
to be a pastor,
how much sacrifice,
how much love,
how much you have to give
of yourself,
how much you have to give away
that you might,
time that you might lose away
from your family
that you otherwise would have.
The last thing I want to do
is be critical
and, you know,
go against a brother the Lord
over things that the Bible
is just not super clear about.
Okay?
I know what's important,
what the Bible is clear about
is what's important.
The blood was the payment.
He sacrificed himself,
Jesus Christ.
He was dead for three days
and three nights
and he rose again from the dead.
That's what's important.
Preaching the gospel message,
that's what saves the soul.
Alright, let's keep going there.
Jonah chapter 2, verse number 8.
The Bible says,
they that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy.
So, you know,
Jonah has the hope
that he's going to receive
the mercy of God.
Jonah has the hope
that his flesh
will not see corruption,
that God's going to deliver him
from the whale's belly
but he says those, or they,
so those that are not saved,
they observe lying vanities.
The Bible often uses that term,
lying vanities,
with idol worship
because the idols are vain,
you know,
and they're liars, obviously.
The preaching,
or the teaching that comes
from false religion
is lies in comparison
to God's word.
And so those that observe
the lying vanities
or worship idols,
they forsake their own mercy.
What is Jonah saying?
The only way we receive
the mercy of God
is through Christ, okay?
By having the right God.
You know, you have
some other God,
you have idols,
false gods, brethren,
you're going to
forsake your own mercy,
the mercy that God
wants to give each one of us.
You forsake it
if you turn and worship
some false God.
Salvation is only available
through the true God of the Bible
and through his Son,
Jesus Christ.
Verse number nine,
But I will sacrifice unto thee
with the voice of thanksgiving.
I will pay that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.
All right?
So I think this is wonderful.
You can really see
Jonah has turned a corner
right here, okay?
Remember, he's in the midst
of the whale's belly.
How would you feel
after going through
these several days
in the whale's belly?
Are you ready
to offer your sacrifice
to God with the voice
of thanksgiving?
Thank you, Lord,
that I'm in the whale's belly.
Are you ready to do that?
I don't think so.
I think when we're going
through tribulations
and hardships,
the last thing you want to do
is thank God
for what you're going through.
It's easy to thank God
when things are going well.
It's easy to thank God
when our prayers rancid
and sometimes we forget
to thank God for that, okay?
But when we're going
through hardships,
when we're going
through trials, all right,
think back to the last few years,
COVID, the lockdowns,
the restrictions.
Were you thankful
to God for that?
And you think that's worse
than the whale's belly?
If Jonah can be thankful
to God in the whale's belly,
then look, we've got nothing
to complain about, Reverend.
We've got nothing
to complain about, okay?
In fact, keep your finger there.
Turn to Hebrews 13.
Turn to Hebrews 13,
verse number 15.
Hebrews 13, verse number 15.
Hebrews chapter 13,
verse number 15, it says,
By him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God,
continually, that is,
the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks to his name.
Reverend, we're to offer.
You see this again
in the New Testament.
We see what Jonah is doing
is what we're instructed to do
as New Testament Christians,
to give God thanks continually.
That means don't stop.
Oh, but Pastor Kevin,
I'm going through a hardship.
Don't stop giving God thanks.
Oh, Pastor Kevin,
my family's turning against me.
Give thanks.
Pastor Kevin, I've lost my job.
I've been fired.
Give thanks.
Give thanks continually.
Give God thanks for everything
you go through in life.
Your problems have been,
God has allowed you
to receive those problems
that you go through.
Reverend, let's not run away
from problems.
Let's accept it, you know,
as a method, as a vehicle
for God to mature us.
You know?
To teach us a lesson.
Do you think Jonah
got taught a lesson right now?
Being swallowed
in the whale's belly?
I mean, what?
He didn't want to go
to Nineveh and preach.
But what's worse?
Preaching to people
you don't like
or being swallowed by a whale?
He goes, man,
it would have just been better
if I just went to Nineveh
and preached.
He goes, like,
his mind has changed.
You know, going through
this experience,
the chastisement of God,
the judgment of God
has taught him a lesson.
To be thankful,
even when things
aren't going well.
Reverend, we need to learn
to give God thanks.
Please look at 1 Thessalonians 5.
1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18.
I know it's not easy
to give thanks even
in the midst of tribulation.
Look, if one day you get
swallowed by a whale
and you get spat out,
you know, I'm not going to get
mad at you if you say
I didn't give thanks to God
while I was there.
I'd understand
where you're coming from,
all right?
Nevertheless, the Bible says
in 1 Thessalonians 5, 18,
in everything give thanks.
Look at this.
For this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Isn't that what people
are always asking?
What is God's will in my life?
I just can't wait for God
to reveal his will.
Here you go.
In everything give thanks.
There you go.
If you can do that,
you're accomplishing
the will of God in your life.
In everything give thanks,
not just when things
are going good,
when things are going bad,
when you feel like
your life is falling apart,
when you feel like you're
going through torments
and torture and you think,
man, this must be
what hell is like.
You know what?
Stop.
Thank God it's allowed
you to go for this.
It might be his hand
of chastisement.
It might be God trying
to mature you,
to chasten you,
to make you more perfect,
to make you more like Christ,
and just thank God.
God, thank you for the struggle.
Thank you for the difficulty.
My plane was delayed.
You know what?
Thank God.
Gotta thank God for it.
Okay?
You know, it doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.
Man, being delayed on a flight
for an hour and a half,
who cares?
Imagine being a whale's belly.
Oh, being locked down
during COVID.
We're having to wear a mask.
Who cares?
Are you serious?
That's just bad.
Imagine having seaweed
wrapped around your head.
You know, the acid,
the stomach acid of that whale.
We just complain about masks.
We kinda complain about
not being able to travel
past five kilometres,
whatever it was.
Just think about those,
you know, I want you,
we may never have
all these lockdowns
and all these problems
ever again in our life,
potentially, I don't know.
Okay?
But I want you to not forget
the years that we've gone through.
I don't want you to forget them.
Okay?
I want you to appreciate them.
Okay?
I want you to appreciate
and say, thank God
that you've allowed us
to go for a time like this.
There was something
that you taught me, Lord.
You taught me patience.
Maybe you taught me
to prioritize the things of heaven
more than the things of earth.
Lord, maybe you taught me
not to be so overly concerned
about this physical body,
but to be concerned
about the body to come.
Okay?
Lord, maybe, you know,
being away from church.
Thank you, Lord.
You know, I've realized
what I've lost.
During those times
that we were locked down,
we can't meet for church,
we can't be gathered together,
and now I've learned
to appreciate church
more than I have before.
You know, there are so many things
that we can give God thanks.
He allows us to go for difficulties
with a purpose.
Everything has a purpose
for us, brethren.
That's the advantage of being saved.
Last verse, verse number 10.
Jonah chapter 2, verse 10.
And the Lord spake unto the fish,
and it vomited out Jonah
upon the dry land.
I like the fish.
The fish is obedient, right?
I mean, the fish was more obedient
than Jonah was, right?
But yeah, he gets spat out.
Now, one more passage,
one more passage.
Matthew chapter 12, please.
Matthew chapter 12
and verse number 39.
Matthew chapter 12
and verse number 39.
And I did read this out
last week as well,
but just a reminder once again.
Jonah being spat out
of the fish's mouth,
obviously, again, is a picture
of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell,
and his flesh did not seek corruption,
but he was brought to live again.
Christ lived again.
And it says in Matthew 12, 39,
again, the words of Christ,
but he answered and said unto them,
An evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign.
Remember the story,
that I asked Christ,
Christ, show us a sign,
for us to believe on you,
show us a sign.
He said, look,
an evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given it,
but the sign of the prophet Jonas.
But everyone,
when we go and preach the gospel,
we are proclaiming the sign
of the prophet Jonas.
Okay, what is a sign?
Think about that.
A sign.
Well, a sign is an indication.
When we think about a signal,
that's a sign,
you know, sign or signal, okay,
it's something that is visible,
something that can be witnessed,
alright, something that can be seen.
You know, it represents something great.
Of course, Jonah being vomited
out of the whale
represents the greatness
of Christ's resurrection from the death.
And this is the sign that we preach.
This is the sign that we go out
to this lost community to speak about.
What was witnessed?
What could people see?
Obviously, people could not see
what Christ experienced in hell, okay,
but what they did see was Christ
crucified on that cross.
What they did see was a buried body.
What they did see is a grave
that had the stone rolled away
and the body was gone.
What they did see was the resurrected Christ,
a bodily resurrection, okay.
So, Jonah being spat out of the whale,
the sign that we are to witness,
what was seen as a sign is, of course,
that Christ was not kept dead.
After three days and three nights,
he rose again from the dead.
And again, the Bible makes a big,
big news or, you know,
big significance, obviously,
significance about the fact
that there were many witnesses
of the resurrection of Christ.
This is what we preach, okay.
Yes, Christ died for us.
Yes, His blood paid for all our sins,
but if He did not rise from the dead, brethren,
we are yet in our sins.
His resurrection is the victory over death,
over hell, over sin, okay.
It's that victory of the resurrection
that gives us the hope that one day,
we too will be resurrected from the dead,
that we too will have new bodies
that will never sin,
a body made like unto Christ.
And brethren, that millennium to come,
we will rule and reign with Christ,
never having to deal with
the temptations of sin,
that we can stand righteously before Christ
and rule a world with Him,
with the Word of God, okay.
So, just a reminder,
the story of Jonah is so important.
You know, it's about the resurrection of Christ,
that He was not kept.
When we speak of three days and three nights,
what we're saying is that He did not stay dead.
He rose again from the dead.
We worship a risen Savior.
We worship a living God, okay.
Hey, our founder of our faith, Christianity, lives.
You can't say that about other religions.
People that founded other religions,
they died and they're still in their grave.
In fact, they're suffering in hell for eternity, okay.
Salvation is only through Jesus Christ.
He rose from the dead.
We serve a living Savior.
Christ is in our midst right now,
where two or three are gathered in His name.
They're in the midst of them.
Okay, let's pray.