Right, so we're up to Jonah chapter 2 of this Bible study of the book of Jonah.
If you remember in chapter 1 last week we saw Jonah, the servant of the Lord, the prophet
he was described as, had been commanded, hadn't he, to go to Nineveh and cry against it.
So basically to preach against it, to shout against it, because of their wickedness.
Now what did Jonah do?
He was commanded to do one thing by God and he went the other way.
So Jonah was meant to go to Nineveh, he decided to go to Tarshish, which was basically the
opposite direction, it was pretty much as far as he could have got on a boat to go to.
And then we saw, you know, while he was on the way there, not obviously his escaping
from the Lord, but during that tempest in the sea, it was a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ, wasn't it?
We saw him sleeping during the tempest.
And then we saw him then sacrifice himself for the men on the ship, and again it was
a picture of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he ends up telling them to cast
him into the sea to save them.
And if you remember at the end of Jonah chapter 1 and verse 17 it said, Now the Lord had prepared
a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and
three nights.
And we looked at Jesus going to hell, didn't we?
And how Matthew 12.40 said, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the world's
belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
We looked at Acts chapter 2 and verse 31, he's seeing this before the spake of the resurrection
of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh should see corruption.
And we just looked at some of that, we studied out some of that, you know, there were some
I thought some good applications in that chapter.
And then of course, you know, the most important bit that God classifies a whale is a fish.
And I think we went deep into the science on that and really, you know, really went
through the kind of real deep science on that, which kind of boils down to this point that
if God says it's a fish, then a whale is a fish.
And we then, I think that was kind of it for Jonah chapter 1, and we're going to go on
to chapter 2 now, where verse 1 reads, And Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of
the fish's belly.
I'd like to go to the Lord in the word of prayer before I continue.
Oh, Father, thank you for this, for this great chapter of the Bible, thank you for the lessons
that we can learn from it.
Please help me to preach these now accurately and boldly and just clearly and help me to
expound what you want to be expounded today and fill me with your spirit, Lord, and help
those here to just stay wide awake now.
It's a hot day, it's been a long day.
Just help them to stay wide awake and alert and to listen to what your word's got to say
to them today.
In Jesus' name, we pray all this, Amen.
Okay, so Jonah's a picture of Christ we've seen, but Jonah didn't actually go to hell,
did he?
So Jonah didn't go to hell.
Like many pictures in the Bible, they're just sat there, pictures, pictures of something
that's going to happen, they're prophetic pictures.
He didn't go to hell, but he did end up in a whale's belly for three days and three nights.
That's pretty horrific, isn't it?
Yeah, a whale's belly.
Now he said in verse two, it says, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto
the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell cried I and thou heardest my voice.
Now yes, Christ went to hell and Jonah is clearly showing that the whale's belly is
a picture, a picture of hell, of the heart of the earth.
Now although anything is possible with God, if right now you're imagining some sort of
little, you know, whale that you might see in a little kid's book where it's hardly as
big as Jonah himself, that's not, that's not, I don't believe the picture we should be getting
here.
Yeah.
And look, God can do anything, but you know, when you're wondering about this story, there's
a little fact for you.
For example, the blue whale, which is the largest, they call it animal on the planet,
we're going to call it a fish.
Its tongue alone weighs as much as an elephant, that's a big tongue, eh?
You'd stumble a bit with your words if you had a tongue that heavy, wouldn't you?
And it can fit anywhere apparently between 400 and 500 people in its mouth at one time.
Anyone, anyone ever seen this about the blue whale?
You know, I've seen a few things on this and look, that is one big, big fish, isn't it?
That is a big fish, 400 to 500 people at once in its mouth.
Now, some say, and you know, I saw a couple of things on this, it's more likely it was
a sperm whale that swallowed him because they try and go, well, he might have survived.
There's your stories.
Anyone ever heard of any of these stories out here of people that claim that they were
swallowed by a whale?
Anyone seen that?
I'm like the only person.
Oh, no, there's my wife there at the back.
I see that hanging.
God bless you.
Well, okay, so we've got, there are these stories out there, there's this guy that claimed
to have got swallowed by a whale, okay, and he was a fisherman and he said he got swallowed
and surprisingly, I can't remember if he claimed it was three days, it was something similar
anyway.
Now, he was completely bleached white afterwards, yeah, but there has been some kind of shade
casted on this story since, yeah, okay, so it was probably a load of lies because I think
it probably would have taken God's miracle to have survived that because what a lot of
people say is that if you're swallowed by a whale, you're not lasting, mainly because
of the hydrochloric acid and the stomach acids are just going to burn you to a crisp, yeah,
which is an interesting point, isn't it, because imagine being in a whale's belly, so imagine
that God has done something for you to be able to survive in there, but you're in a
whale's belly for three days and three nights.
So firstly, we're talking pitch black, aren't we?
We're talking, imagine the fear of having just been swallowed by this thing, imagine
the pain, the pain from those stomach acids, the smell, the probably heat in there because
although they say, I think, that the body temperature of a whale is something similar
to us, around 37 odd degrees, I think they say, that's pretty hot, 37 degrees, yeah,
when you're in a belly and there's no breeze, I mean, what is it meant to be today, 30 odd,
37 degrees, is it?
Can you imagine being just cooped up in this heat in 37 with no fans or nothing else?
Pretty grim, yeah?
So you've got that, then you've probably got the heat of the hydrochloric acid burning
you and you can understand why it's a picture of being in hell, right, because I think some
people see it like, maybe like the old Pinocchio cartoon or something, that maybe he's there
cooking fish, trying to get the whale to sneeze or something else, sorry if you haven't seen
this, you're wondering what's he on about, yeah, or that, you know, it's just kind of
like a bit of a picnic in there and you just say, oh, one day we might get out, you never
know, and have your little swim and fishing and stuff like that, that's not what it's
like, it would be absolutely horrendous and that happened to Jonah, okay, this happened
to Jonah.
Now, I believe that God, in fact, we saw in verse 17 of chapter 1, it said that now the
Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, now you could just say, well, he
got this fish there at the right time, but maybe there was some sort of preparation involved
where Jonah was then able to survive that three days and three nights in the fish's
belly.
Either way, he survived it, Jonah is someone that got swallowed by a whale and then vomited
out three days and three nights later, that's an amazing story, that's an amazing truth,
yeah, that's an amazing, an amazing fact of history, isn't it, okay, that someone actually
did that and survived it and we don't have to sit there going, was it true or was it
not?
No, it's true because the word of God says it was, so yeah, pretty, pretty horrific.
Now, this is an interesting thing that now maybe you're starting to get, maybe some people
already had this picture, maybe some didn't, maybe you just never really thought about
it much, what that actually means to be languishing in the stomach of a whale, whatever size whale
it was, but all of that is absolutely nothing compared to hell, okay, it is nothing compared
to hell and hell itself is horrendous, isn't it, but hell itself is a fitting punishment
because look, every single person does deserve to go to hell, but hell is horrendous.
Turn to Luke chapter 16, well, I read Matthew 13.50, which talks about the angel separating
the wicked and the just and it reads, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire,
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, wailing, yeah, that's screaming, gnashing
of teeth, that's either grinding or chattering and just, it gives you a picture of just terrible
pain, doesn't it, terrible pain and in Luke chapter 16, we see this, don't we, when it's
talking of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar, interestingly there, you know, we talk about
the rich man and then we talk about Lazarus by name, the rich man is not named by name,
obviously, because probably Jesus Christ would have said, I never knew you, you know,
depart from me you that work in equity, okay, maybe he wasn't a false prophet, but he was
a rich guy that never knew Christ and Christ never knew him, you know, and that's why he's
just referred to as a rich man, I believe, and then you've got Lazarus who's on first
name terms, yeah, well, it says here, and in hell, in verse 23, Luke 16, 23, and in
hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in
his bosom, so he's in torments, torments, that's torture, okay, in extreme agony, pain
and he cried and said, father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame, that
sounds terrible, doesn't it, a tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue, he's tormented,
but Abraham said, son, remember thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus receiveth things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented, okay, and that's just
an ongoing eternal torment, isn't it, and beside all this between us and you there is
a great gold fix that they which were passed from hence to you cannot, neither can they
pass to us that would come from thence, then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that
thou would ascend him to my father's house, for I have five brethren that ye may testify
unto them, let's say also come into this place of torment, so it's not just him, is
it, it's a place of torment, everyone's in torment in hell, it's not that some are kind
of, well they're in the higher areas, they didn't do anything that bad, they're just
kind of partying up the top while the bottom is for those who are burning in torment, no,
it is a place of torment, Abraham saith unto him, they are most of the prophets, let them
hear them, and he said, no father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead they
will repent, and he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead, and that's a sad truth, isn't it, but
that is a, for me, a pretty graphic picture of hell, just those words alone, the place
of torment, being tormented in this flame, begging for the tip of his finger to be dipped
in water and put on his tongue, and I don't think that anything in physical life could
even compare, could it, from the descriptions you get of it in the Bible, it's a horrendous
place, now, the thing is, like I said, it's a picture, it's a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ going to hell, but it's also an example of affliction in life, isn't it, so not
only is a whale's belly a picture of hell, and it's probably as close and as fitting
a picture as you could get, burning in acid in the belly of a whale, but it's also an
example of the afflictions that we can go through in life, and it can be, obviously,
at the hands of God, can't it, as well, now, let's not forget that, that Jonah was
commanded to go somewhere, Jonah chooses not to, Jonah flees, Jonah goes in the other direction,
of whom much is given, much should be required, Jonah is expected a lot of, he's a preacher
of God's word, he has the word of God, like every single person here is a preacher of
God's word, everyone has the full, complete word of God, in their hands, on their phones
at home, there's a lot expected of you, and with Jonah, there was a lot expected of him,
and he refused, he said, no, I know what you want me to do, God, I'm not doing it, I'm
going the other direction, and he ends up being, his affliction is at the hands of God,
and it is a terrible affliction, isn't it, now, remember, let's just quickly look
at that, where it said in verse one of chapter one, now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah
the son of Amittai, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their
wickedness is come up before me, it's clearly a command, isn't it, so he's run off, remember
as well, not only did he run off, he tried to die, yeah, don't forget that, he didn't
say, right guys, now I'm going to go into the whale's belly for three days or three
nights, he said, cast me into the sea, he basically suggested that he got killed, he
aided at least in what he considered to be the end of his life, yeah, in the middle of
a tempest, throw me into the water, was he expected to survive in there, no, so not only
that, he's basically committed a form of suicide, but verse two there, where we are, it said,
and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me, out of the
belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice, and we saw in verse one that he
prayed, it's talking about him praying unto the Lord his God, out of the fish's belly,
so after all that, he now prays, yeah, he's now praying to God, and verse two said, he
heard me, it says, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me,
it then says, thou, talking to God, heardest my voice, you know, it, look, it doesn't matter
what you've done, it doesn't matter, even as, you know, a saved Christian, you're trying
to run from God, you're refusing to do what God says, he will still hear you, he will
still hear you if you turn and pray to him, it's never too late, is it, because there
are Christians that get these funny ideas in their minds, where they said, well, I've
really done it now, I've gone too far, I've done X, Y and Z, I'm doing this, I'm refusing
what God said, he probably hates me, he's probably going to do this, he put, God will
still hear you, if you turn and you pray to him, you cry unto the Lord, you call unto
the Lord, even in the worst affliction, even at the hands of the Lord, even when it's a
chastisement of the Lord, and again, that chastisement of the Lord is when a lot of
people start turning on God, or just saying, oh, you know, I just, I'm done with it now,
or, well, he must not, you know, he doesn't care about me, he just wants to, but that's
the time when we need to pray to him, yeah, that's what he wants you to do, that's the
whole point, is to call to the Lord, to cry out to the Lord by reason of your affliction,
and he will hear you, he heardest his voice, yeah. Now, you don't have to turn there, but
Psalm 34 18 says, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and save such
as be of a contrite spirit. So, look, when you are broken, when you are, when you have
that contrite, that humble, that spirit where you're just crying unto the Lord for help,
he's close to you, he's close to you even in your worst times, he's close to you even
when you're doing the worst things, he's waiting, ready for you to be humble and contrite and
to call out to him. Verse three says, for thou hadst cast me into the deep in the midst
of the seas and the floods compassed me about, all thy billows and thy waves passed over
me. What are billows? They're basically huge waves caused by, you know, a tempest or some
sort of high winds. So, he said, for thou hadst cast me into the deep in the midst of
the seas and the floods compassed me about, all thy billows and thy waves passed over
me. So, for me, you know, when you're away from God, this is kind of a picture of drowning,
isn't it? When you're basically being afflicted, when you're as far away spiritually as possible
from God, it can feel like you're drowning, can't it? It can feel like you're just surrounded,
you're in the midst of the seas, the floods compass you about, that's life without the
Lord. You're a Christian, that's life without the Lord. In fact, that's life without the
Lord anyway, really. How many people out in the world would just seem like they're drowning,
drowning in debt, drowning in sin, drowning in all sorts? But when you fall away, when
you pull back from the Lord, when you just, you know, stop doing the things of God, when
you're running from God as a Christian, that's what life feels like. You're drowning, you're
just drowning and drowning, you're surrounded, you're in the middle of the sea, the floods
encompassing you, the billows, the waves, it gets worse, it gets worse. But really God's
calling out to you, isn't he? He's calling out to you and saying, turn back to me. But
sadly how many don't turn back? It says here in verse four, fortunately Jonah did, then
I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. So
Jonah has nearly drowned, he's been swallowed by a whale, but he does the right thing, doesn't
he? What does he do? Well, he said, I'm cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward
thy holy temple. Turn to Ephesians chapter two of Ephesians. When we feel afflicted,
even by the Lord, that's the time to seek him. Okay, that's what we're saying here.
Where do we seek him though? Where do we seek the Lord? Where's the holy temple? Well, look
at Ephesians two and verse 18. Ephesians 2 18 says, for through him we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye, notice the ye there, he's talking to the
Ephesian church here, are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building,
remember this is ye being talked to as a building, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. So who's the building in the New Testament here?
Us. Us. And fitly framed together. So yes, we are all temples of the Holy Spirit, but
coming together as a church, we become that holy temple, don't we? As a group. That's
what this church is. It's us, the church, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also, plural, are building together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit. So it's when you're going through affliction,
whether it's affliction with God, whether you're being chastised, or whether you're
going through your own trials and tribulations of life, that's when you should be seeking
the holy temple, shouldn't it? That's when you should be going to church. That's the
time you need church the most. And that's the time that it's often hardest to get into
church, isn't it? That's the time when people don't come to church, when people aren't here
for a long time, you're not sitting there going, they must just be living a really spiritual
life at home, you're thinking, they're probably going through some stuff right now. And it's
a hard thing for myself, I want to, you know, you try and chase people up, you don't want
to harass them and them to then feel like they, you know, they better just not talk
to you and everything else. But, but you know that they need it, don't you? You know, when
people aren't here, they need to be in church. But that's so often when people then get negative,
don't they? You just want me in church for whatever, you know, start coming up with the
reasons and just bugging me. Look, but that's when you need to be in church, isn't it? And
when people are disappearing, that's when they should be seeking the holy temple. Because
we need it so much, we need it so much. Especially even when we feel cast out of his sight. That's
when you need church. Even when you're feeling like you're just, you're like, and look, obviously
this this, I'm not talking about when it's church disqualifying sin, okay, that's different.
Okay, if you're, you should be pulling yourself out of church before you get kicked out when
it's stuff that's church disqualifying sin, okay? And I'm not going to go into that today,
if you want to go into that, look at 1 Corinthians chapter 5, look at Romans chapter 16 as well,
and you can see what's disqualifying sin. But this is talking about, here I'm talking
about people that are going through affliction, going through trouble, even chastisement for
things in their life which aren't things which were a little leaven leaven of the whole lump.
And in those situations, you need to be in church, okay? You need to find a way to be
back in church, get in church, make sure you're seeking that holy temple. We are fitly
framed together unto a holy temple in the Lord, and here Jonah said, yet I will look
again toward thy holy temple, and in New Testament that is us. He says in verse 5, the waters
compass me about even to the soul, the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped
about my head. Now turn to Psalm 69, which uses similar language here, but it's talking
about affliction from his enemies, okay? So turn to Psalm 69, and this is an interesting
one because it's King David here, he's talking about the affliction that he's receiving from
the enemies of God, but it's also a prophetic psalm, so he's also prophesying of the Lord
Jesus Christ as well, who again wasn't being punished by God for anything he had done.
Now you could say well he was basically taking the punishment of us all upon him, but David
here I don't believe it's necessarily punishment, it could be, but it's the afflictions of life
because either way it doesn't really matter, does it? Whether it's punishment by God, whether
it's just the trials, whether it's the pressure and the ridicule and the attacks of the haters
of God, either way we should be calling on the Lord at that time, we should be seeking,
we should be seeking the Holy Temple. So Psalm 69, and look at verse one here, it says in
Psalm 69 one, save me O God for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire
where there is no standing, I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.
I'm weary of my crying, my throat is dried, my eyes fail while I wait for my God. So straight
away here he's talking about needing to be saved for the waters coming in unto his soul,
and we just saw in verse five of Jonah chapter two, the waters compass me about even to the
soul, the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head, and there's
again those times when you're under the worst affliction, when you're in the worst times
can feel like you're drowning, can feel like you're underwater, can feel like you're gasping
for breath, when you're really feeling that pressure, that persecution, that tribulation,
when you're in those hard times, even when it's the chastisement of God we've seen as
well. He says I'm weary of my crying, my throat is dried, my eyes fail while I wait for my
God, and obviously you could talk about the waters and everything else being like the
tears that he's shedding as well. He then says in verse four, they that hate me without
a cause are more than the hairs of mine head, they that would destroy me being mine enemies
wrongfully are mighty, then I restored that which I took not away. O God thou knowest my
foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee, let not them that wait on thee our Lord God
of hosts be ashamed for my sake, let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake our
God of Israel. So he's got his heart in the right place there hasn't he, because for thy
sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face, I have become a stranger unto my
brethren and an alien unto my mother's children. This verse is even quoted in the gospels,
for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproach
thee are fallen upon me, when I wept and chased my soul with fasting that was to my
reproach. So obviously it is as well a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ here as well but
this is something that David was going through. I made sackcloth also my garment and I became
a proverb to them, they that sit in the gates speak against me and I was the song of the
drunkards. So verse ten to eleven there just looks like you can't do anything right, when
I wept and chased my soul with fasting that was to my reproach. So he's getting grief
when he weeps, when he's fasting. I made sackcloth also my garment and I became a proverb
to them. So even when he's in sackcloth a picture of just being humble and fasting and
praying and seeking the Lord, even then he's just becoming a proverb, it's like he can't
do anything right and he feels like he's drowning, he feels like he's just drowning. You might
have times in your life when you feel like that, you might have times with unsaved family
and friends, you might have time when you're being persecuted, when you've got the enemies
of God in you where you just feel like you're drowning in it, you feel like you're just
surrounded, you feel like sometimes people just want to take you down. But, but David
what does he do? He calls unto the Lord doesn't he? He calls unto the Lord and the Lord will
rescue you from that, the Lord is the one who will save you from that, like he did with
Jonah. Look at verse 13, but as for me, my prayer is unto thee O Lord in an acceptable
time. O God in the multitude of thy mercy hear me in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver
me out of the mire and let me not sink, let me be delivered from them that hate me and
out of the deep waters, let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow
me up and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. So again, prophetic, but also something
that David was living, that was about his enemies, the enemies of God attacking him,
surrounding him, everything, he could not do a thing right but what does he do? He seeks
the Lord. Then back, if you go back here to Jonah chapter 2, what does Jonah do? Jonah
is seeking the Lord, Jonah is in a horrendous situation, he's seeking the Lord, he's calling
unto the Lord, but it doesn't always have to be because of chastisement does it? Now
it says in verse 6, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains and the earth with our bars
was about me forever, yet has thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
Now the earth with her bars is basically a picture of being imprisoned there, but what's
this about the bottoms of the mountains? Did you know that mountains have roots? Anyone
know that mountains have roots? So the bigger the mountain, the deeper the roots. So underneath
it's not that you've just kind of got this mountain sitting on top of the earth, it's
basically the mountain goes underground and with the really tall mountains you can have
miles of roots that go down and spread underneath which actually support the mountain itself.
So going down to the bottoms of the mountains is basically going down to the centre of the
earth, yeah? It's going deep down into the heart of the earth, so again it's that picture
of hell again. And look, the bottoms of the mountains isn't something you usually think
about, is it? But that's a long way down. And you know that when they've tried to drill
down and dig down, they barely even scratch the surface, yeah? But they have to find out
about the bottoms of mountains and they've tried to do, you know, scientists out there
have tried to do some work on this, they basically have to use like ultrasonic waves to try and
bounce back and get some picture and some idea of what goes on down there because they
can't get down there. Because it's so deep but he's talking about being that deep, he's
not talking about being that deep because he happened to have fallen or been thrown
into the water, he's not talking about because he's in a well's belly, it's a picture of
hell, isn't it? It's a picture of hell and yes, just as Jonas was three days of three
nights in a well's belly, so shall the son of man be three days of three nights in the
heart of the earth. It's clearly a picture of hell, it even says out of hell, doesn't
it? I won't go into that again, we did that last week but it is just so odd, is it? It's
so odd that the, just the amount of opposition you get to what is such a clear doctrine in
the Bible, isn't it? Very strange. But here he's talking about being at the bottoms, he
went down to the bottoms of the mountains, the earth with her bars, so basically a picture
of being in prison here was about me forever, again that's a picture of eternal suffering
in hell, isn't it? Yet, so around me forever, yet has thou brought up my life and corruption,
my Lord, my God. So, you know, Jesus Christ went to hell for eternity but was raised after
three days and three nights and it's something that you can't always get your head around
how that worked but this is clearly a foreshadowing of Christ, isn't it? Okay, so here's the thing
though as well, is as much as, yeah, it's a foreshadowing of Christ, again the physical
picture or the application for us here as well is we were all on our way to hell as
well, weren't we? Yeah, every single person here was on their way to hell, yeah, there
was nothing stopping you going to hell, it didn't matter how good or bad you thought
you were, you were all on your way to hell, okay, and who saved you? The Lord your God,
yeah, and every single one of us when we heard the Gospel, when we put our faith in Jesus
Christ, we were saved from what was an eternal damnation just waiting for us, yeah, and we
were all going there and praise God that we got saved, yeah, we got saved and that's
what we're going to see here in a physical way with Jonah here as well. It says in verse
7, when my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord, then my prayer came in unto thee
into thine holy temple. Look at that holy temple again and that can obviously happen
further down the line, you know, after hearing the Gospel, can't it? You could see as a picture
of salvation there that, you know, sometimes people remember the Lord when times are worse,
sometimes you look, and it's a good thing to remember when you preach the Gospel to
people, when you try to get your family and friends saved and they're rejecting and you're
gutted and you're frustrated, but you don't know when they might remember, yeah, make
sure you make it clear, make sure you preach it clearly, it doesn't mean they won't necessarily
call on the Lord at a later date in life, it's not a write-off, is it? Yeah, and remember
that some of you because I think it can be hard, can't it, sometimes you just think,
oh it's done, they won't hear it, but it doesn't mean that, does it? Yeah, and there
are people that you preach the Gospel to and you don't know what's going to happen further
down the line when they will remember the Lord when their soul faints within them, like
here in verse 7, and that's when maybe they'll call upon the name of the Lord, but or maybe
at least they'll then seek the Lord, maybe they'll remember some of it and maybe they'll
start seeking and maybe they'll want the truth and they'll seek the truth and the more churches
we have, the more truth we get out there on things such as platforms like social media
and the rest of it, the more chance they have of coming across the truth and not some wicked
false prophet out there. Talking about false prophets, verse 8 then says, they that observe
lying vanities forsake their own mercy. What does that mean, they that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy? Well, it's basically talking about false religion, isn't it? The
lying vanities of false religion, which basically stops people being able to get that mercy
because they've gone down the route of false religion and look, there's a thing to remember
here, yeah, they that observe lying vanities, the people still choose to observe lying vanities
and it's not a nice truth, is it? But ultimately, people do choose it, don't they? People choose
the lying vanities, they choose the, you know, the work salvation in one of its various forms,
they choose the false religion, they choose the atheism, they choose the agnosticism,
they choose the whatever, whatever false religion out there, they ultimately, they choose it
and, well, yeah, but they're raising it from a child. Yeah, but you would hope, wouldn't
you? You would hope, oh, what about the Islamic child out in, you name the place, it's a remote
place, they've been taught, you know, Islam from young, what about them? Well, what about
them? When they're an adult, do you not think that, even before an adult, that they should
at least take some responsibility and say, I'm worshipping a paedophile prophet? I'm
reading the biggest load of junk probably ever mass-produced. Like, they have that choice,
don't they? They have that choice and they choose not to make it and a lot of the time,
when you talk to them, when you talk to the ones that are open and they reject, what is
it about? Family, family being outcast, being unpopular basically, having problems in the
future, I just, I can't, you know, I've had ones where you're almost pleading with them
and it's just, I just can't because they know it's true, they say, I know it's true but
I just couldn't do that to my, you name it. But is that a reason? Is that a reason to
reject the Lord Jesus Christ and choose hell? It is a reason people choose but it's not
the right reason, is it? And, look, and that's the same with all false religions, isn't it?
The Roman Catholic chooses, yeah, they have chose, they choose to follow a load of wicked
perverts, wearing dresses, doing bizarre things that are, that's unbiblical, completely unbiblical
with their seven sacraments and they make it up as they go along. The whole thing's ridiculous
but they still choose it. They choose it. Oh, well, they're just so brainwashed, maybe
to some degree they still choose it, don't they? Because God gives us a choice in life.
Everything is a choice. They have the choice. Turn to Proverbs chapter 8, well I read Deuteronomy
30 verse 19 which reads, I call, you're turning to Proverbs 8, Deuteronomy 30 verse 19 reads,
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may
live. Look, God gives us a choice in life, doesn't he? And you know what, it's not just
that he gives us a choice. We were talking about this the other day. Do you feel when
you read the Bible, like, there's, and we were using this term that we were talking
about and another pastor uses this term which says, and it says, the term is along this
line, it's basically the Bible gives people enough rope to hang themselves with, yeah?
There's enough rope there. It's like we were talking about Matthew chapter 5. So we're
reading through Matthew chapter 5 and you've got to study it a bit, don't you, to show
what that's talking about is still being cast into hell it looks like, doesn't it? For the
untrained eye, for the person who wants work salvation, they could jump on passages there,
they could jump on other passages, Hebrews chapter 10, et cetera, they can jump on those
passages and go work salvation, can't they? Now, when we study it, when you have the Holy
Spirit and you study and you study to show thyself approved and the needeth not to be
ashamed of rightly dividing the word of truth, you can clearly show that that's not talking
about work salvation, can't you? But it's not like you just open the New Testament,
Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, and it says, put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved, does it? No, you know what it does? The Bible, if you're unsaved, you
ain't going to get it, are you? The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, neither can he neither for their foolishness, sorry, their foolishness unto him, neither
can he neither for their spiritually discerned. Now, he can't understand it and there's enough
there for him to choose, he could choose a false work salvation, he could choose it.
God gives him the choice, see, he puts that choice in front of you, you could choose.
If you're unsaved, you can choose the work salvation or you can listen to the truth.
But the truth has to be preached to you, doesn't it? And you have to choose to be humble enough
to hear the truth, preach to you, or you can choose your work salvation. And there's enough
rope to hang you with, yeah? You can take a verse out of context in the Bible and you
can choose your work salvation and you can hang off that verse and you notice those people,
you can preach them verse after verse after verse after verse, believe, believe, believe,
not of works, not of works, for the works of the Lord shall not flesh be justified.
And then one verse, faith without works is dead. Oh, the rest is discounted, but that's
what they've chosen, haven't they? That's what they've chosen. They've made their choice.
And look, God allows you to make that choice. God doesn't force anyone to get saved. And
that's why I've said before, look, you know, and I, you know, I try and remember as well
because we get in the habit of this, there's no point praying for your family member to
get saved. Okay? No one's getting saved because you, God's not going to make them get saved.
Pray for the right conditions. Pray for the stumbling blocks that you can see. Pray for
the boldness to preach them the gospel. Pray for the timing. Pray for all those things.
But you pray, please God save them. God's not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. It's not God that's making them not choose. It's their
choice. It's free will. They get the choice. We're not Calvinists, are we? And with that
in mind, where we saw in verse eight there, he said, they that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. They choose to observe lying vanities. Did you turn to Proverbs chapter
eight? Sorry, I need to turn to Proverbs chapter eight as well. And Proverbs chapter eight.
And if you look from verse 33, Proverbs 8, 33 reads, hear instruction and be wise and
refuse it not. Blessed is a man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at
the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the
Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death.
See there are people out there, believe it or not, that love death. You know that. I
was talking to someone recently who said basically they feel like they deserve to go to hell
and you know, and they don't really want to accept a free gift. They're people that actually
bizarrely want basically choose death. Yeah. They hate God. They love death. That's what
they want. That's what they want to like. That's weird, isn't it? You know, weird to
think that, but there are people out there and I'm sure you've spoken to people on the
door sometimes. I'm not just talking about reprobates either. Just people that are just
saying, yeah, but I don't really want to believe in that. I don't really want to believe in
that. If so be it, if that's where I need to go, I believe that that's what, therefore
then that's what I'm going to have. It's basically like, I'm going to try and do it my own way.
If God doesn't think it's good enough, well, so be it. Because I hate God. Basically, I
hate the gospel. I hate the true God and I love death. And it's sad, isn't it? But they
that observe lying vanities, they forsake their own mercy. That's what they're doing.
They're observing the lying vanities. They're choosing their own works salvation for their
own pride, their own hiding from the light, whatever it is, and they forsake their own
mercy. But he says, but in verse nine though, back where we are in Jonah chapter two, he
says, verse nine, but I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will
pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, he said, I will sacrifice unto
thee with the voice of thanksgiving. And again, he's not talking here, the salvation here,
obviously there's a picture of spiritual, but it's a physical salvation he's talking
about here. Okay. He's been looking at being saved from the whale's belly. Now, the sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving, you know, God likes him appreciation. Yeah.
You know that God actually wants us to thank him and appreciate him. And if you think about
it, if you put it just in your own kind of worldly terms, if, if you do things for people,
it's a bit annoying when you're doing stuff for people, you're doing things out of the
kindness of your heart and everyone's probably done this at times and they, you don't seem
to get an ounce of appreciation. Does that make you want to do more for them? Anyone
here go, I need to do more and more to get that appreciation. Well, if I maybe do a little
bit more, then they will finally say, thank you. I even acknowledge that I've done something
for them. Probably makes you go the other way, doesn't it? Yeah. I think that's probably
the same with God because God likes a sacrifice being the voice of thanksgiving. He likes
us to praise him. He likes us to thank him. He likes us to appreciate the things he does
in our life. And how often do we pray for things? We get the answer to our prayer and
how often do we not even thank him for it? How often do we just move on to the next thing?
How often do we then complain when things don't go away? I've just had how many prayers
answered by God and then it's something's not going away. Oh God, why? You know, you
don't love me anymore or something else. But, but look, did you thank him? Did you thank
him for what did happen? He said, I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving.
And then he says, I will pay that, that I have vowed. So it's not just that God likes
thanksgiving. Okay. And again, we're not talking about for salvation here, but what about,
what about when we pay that we have vowed and you're sitting there maybe going, I haven't
vowed anything to the Lord. My yay is yay. My nay is nay. Right. Yeah. How about those
of you that are married? Any of you married here? Yeah. We've got a few married people
here. What, what vow did you make to the Lord when you got married? I bet if you were in
this country, you vowed to love your wife. Yeah. No matter what, till death us do part.
Yeah. In sickness and in health, in poverty as in wealth, for better, for poorer. Sorry,
for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. I remember my vows like they were yesterday.
In fact, we got them written on the wall at home just in case. So I think my wife's right,
I might forget. But, but we made those vows, didn't we? Yeah. So when you made those vows,
who were you vowing to? Were you vowing to the, what was it? Some sort of, what do they
call them now? Registrar. Was it the registrar? Was it the C of E priest? Or is marriage an
institution of God? Institution of God, isn't it? Yeah. So if it's an institution of God,
when you, when you, men and women there, at some point in your life, and those you, when
you do, at some point in your life, stand there and vow those vows, you're vowing to
God. Okay. That's a vow to God. God instituted marriage. It's about God. Even if you're some
atheist moron somewhere, getting married outside with some sort of, you know, fairy or something,
you know, marrying them in the woodlands or whatever bizarre things people do, you know,
really, you're still making a vow to God because marriage comes from, from the Lord. Yeah. You're
getting married in God's eyes. So you can say, oh, well, I think I had someone try and ask this
once. Well, we were unsaved. It didn't matter. It doesn't matter what you were. You got married.
Marry is the institution of God. So therefore you made a vow. And if you made a vow, well,
you better pay that, that you have vowed. Yeah. And that vow for wives there, unless you managed
to opt out and do the, the new, less traditional vows, one of those vows usually is to obey and
submit. Did you know that wives? Yeah. In England, I mean, we, we, at our church, when we marry people,
that is a must. They have, if they will not do that vow, well, I'm not marrying them. Yeah.
Because that's clearly what the word of God says a wife should be doing. But husband's saying to
love. Yeah. That is a vow to love. And when you made that vow, that was a vow to God. And you
want to make sure you're not breaking that vow. Now. Yeah. You're going to have times when you
fail, but God knows your heart. If you're choosing and saying, but I am not going to do it. I'm not
loving her anymore. I'm not submitting to him anymore because you know, he did whatever it is.
Yeah. He was rude to me that morning. He said, I don't look good in that dress. Yeah.
He said, I don't look good in those trousers. Yeah. Whatever, whatever it is. Yeah. Look,
you're wicked. Yeah. Because you're breaking a vow to God and say men. Yeah. Oh, well, she's,
you know, I'm not loving her because she wants, she won't submit. Doesn't matter. It didn't say
if she submits. Yeah. You love her. You love her no matter what. So vow to God. Well, he says here,
I will sacrifice something with the voice of Thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed.
Then he says, salvation is of the Lord. And I think it's talking about physical
salvation now, obviously being, being in the whale's belly, but obviously spiritual
salvation is of the Lord as well. Then he says in verse 10, and the Lord spake unto the fish
and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Okay. Why did he speak to the whale?
Why did he speak to the whale? Any ideas? Well, it's because the word of the Lord saves,
isn't it? Yeah. It's the word of the Lord. We're seeing pictures of salvation here.
We're seeing, and not only, you know, the word of the Lord saves spiritually and physically,
but it's a picture of salvation here. He speaks the Lord's way. The Lord didn't have to speak
unto the fish, did it? Yeah. I mean, you don't usually speak to animals. Yeah. The Lord could
have just made him vomit. He could have just, you know, tickled his tonsils and made him vomit.
Yeah. No, he spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Okay. And, and for me,
a clear, clear picture of, of the word of God saving. Turn to Ephesians chapter one.
And look, this is old rope for most of you here. John 5 24 says, verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me and everlasting life and shall not come
into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. Romans 10 to 17 says, so then faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's all about the word of God, isn't it? Ephesians
chapter one and verse 13, Ephesians 1 13, sorry, I'll go there myself as well, says,
in whom ye also trusted, talking about Christ, after that ye heard the word of truth.
What did you hear? The word, the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after
that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit promise. I really love that verse because
it just says it clearly, doesn't it? It's a nice summary verse at the end of a gospel presentation
as well that just shows exactly what it takes. But you trusted him, after that ye heard the word of
truth. It's all about the word of God. It's the word of God that saves, isn't it? It's the word
of God that saves, which is why the Lord spake unto the fish. It's all about the word. But the
word of God also physically saves as well. Turn to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3.
Well, I read Matthew 4 where Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So if we need every word to live, that's because the
word physically saves as well, doesn't it? The word physically nourishes, the word does much
for our physical life as well, does it not? Everything's in the word of God. And that's why
2 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 15 says, and that from a child thou has known the holy scriptures
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. What does it come from? The holy scriptures,
the word of God, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Okay, by the way, he's talking there about
the Old Testament. From a child to Timothy, yeah, we've got no complete New Testament at this point,
thou has known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith,
which is in Christ Jesus, because it's always been by faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for what? For doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So the word of God physically saves as well. The word of
God is profitable for your doctrine, of course, but for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness. And as we know, if you can get those things right, well, you're more likely to
live a longer life, you're more likely to have a better physical life, you're less likely to be
taken home early by the Lord. So there we see, we're seeing both here, we're seeing obviously
that application of the physical salvation of Jonah there, but obviously it's a picture of
spiritual salvation as well, and it's obviously a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ at that as well.
And that's a great chapter of the Bible, isn't it? And some great things in there, and there's
a bit of a shorter one today. But look, there's so much even in those 10 verses, isn't there? I mean,
you could preach each of those verses. But yeah, he got vomited out upon the dry land,
and then we're going to see what he does after that in the next chapter. So on that,
let's go to the Lord in the word of prayer. Father, I thank you for that clear picture in
the book of Jonah, just the pictures of Jesus Christ, but also just of salvation being a view
of the word of God, the importance of the word of God, but also how we see those examples of
you answering our prayers in affliction of us. If we just seek you with a humble and a contrite
spirit, how you're willing to answer our prayers. You're willing to help us. You want to help us
even in our worst times, even when we brought upon those times, even when it's our fault,
even when it's you punishing us. You just want us to draw nigh to you, to draw close to you,
because you are so long-suffering. You are so merciful that you will happily welcome us back
with open arms every time. And Lord, I thank you that you are like that. Help us to be more like
that. Help us to be more like you are. Help us to be more forgiving. Help us to want to help
each other as well in our times of need. And Lord, help us to go forward now and have a great week,
to have a great week where we're in the word of God, where we're dwelling on the things we've
heard today. We don't just listen and then shut our ears and just carry on back into old ways.
Help us to just keep improving. Help us to keep growing in the Lord and help us to return on
Wednesday for the evening service. In Jesus' name we pray, all of this Amen.