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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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.