GOSPEL - JONAH

GOSPEL IN 3 VERSES

• Romans 3:23 the problem
• John 3:16 the solution
• Romans 10:9 a call to action.

HYMN 120

THE WORDS OF JESUS - ON JONAH

• Matt 12:39
• Jonah a sign of Jesus' death,burial, and resurrection
• We can also see thru Jonah the natural sinful heart of man
• Romans 8:7 "the carnal ('natural') mind is enmity ('hostile toward')
• Against God; For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be"

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Read Jonah 1 (pause at v2...)
• Jonah: before or during reign of Jeroboam ll. 2 Kings 14:23-27
• ...1 of the mightiest monarchs to reign in the northern kingdom
• ...who ruled from approx. 793 to 753
• The northern kingdom included ten tribes of Israel

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Jonah 1:1-2
• God called him to preach repentance to Nineveh capital of Assyria
• Assyrian nation - that threatened the NK where Jonah was Prophet
• ....and 70-80 years later the Assyrians would wipe out the 10 tribes
• Cruelty - inscriptions. Flaying victims alive, heaps of skulls

GOD'S WORD TO JONAH

• Jonah 1:1-2... Go to Nineveh and cry against it (evil and gentile)
• No other prophet of Israel was asked to go preach...
• ...repentance to a gentile nation
• 1 kings 17:8-19 - Elijah asked to live in Zare-phath
• ll Kings 8:7 - Elisha traveled to Damascus...but only Jonah asked to preach

JONAH REFUSE/FLEES

• Jonah 1:3 - boards ship for Tarshish
• Tarshish lost to history, southern peninsula of Spain (2000 miles), or India
• 2 Chron 9:21 - 3 year round trip while Nineveh was a 3 day trip

JONAH REFUSE/FLEES

• May wonder how foolish he was...heard God's word directly, yet turns away
• This book contains God's word and it calls sinners to repentance
• Salvation that could only be provided - the death of our Lord Jesus Christ
• Who bore our sins on the cross. Ignoring message, no different than Jonah
• This book...God's Word is as powerful now as it was in the ear of Jonah

JONAH REFUSE/FLEES

• Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword
• ...piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
• ... and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
• Pray that the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit will convict your heart of sin tonight

JONAH REFUSE/FLEES

• Jonah was trying to flee far from God, fleeing is futile Psalm 139:7-8
• "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from they presence...
• I ascend up into the heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell (Hades), behold thou art there.
• No escaping from God - heed His word today or face Him in a future day as your judge.

STORM COMES

• Jonah 1:4-7 - Lord sends a storm
• Sailors terrified, each calls upon their god.
• Jonah asleep...awakened by the shipmaster "Call upon your God"
• No ordinary storm - sailors recognize it must be a punishment
• Cast lots....fell on Jonah

JONAH EXPLAINS

• Jonah 1:8-10 Jonah explains what he has done
• The sailors realize he can offer them the way of escape
• Vs 11 - what can we do?
• Although a sinner...picture of Lord Jesus...Jonah 1:12-13...cast me into the sea
• Sailors try harder but soon realize they can't save themselves

JONAH CAST INTO THE SEA

• Jonah 1:14-16 Sailors realize...necessary to throw Jonah into the sea
• Ask God to hold them innocent of Jonah's blood
• They cried out to the Lord, forsook their gods and offered sacrifices...
• ...made vows - signs of true repentance thru God's grace and mercy.
• Not Israelites...gentiles...like Christ's death...for everyone...all nations

HYMN 65

STORY OF JONAH

• Fish? Whale?
• Frank Thomas Bullen. Born in 1857. At the age of 12 went to sea.
• The Cachalot...yankee whaler sperm whales...
• Said objection to whale swallowing a man "a piece of crass ignorance"
• and a shark fifteen feet in length has been found in the stomach of a cachelot [= Sperm Whale]

IN THE FISH'S BELLY

• Jonah 2
• He speaks prophetically of what our Lord would do for us...
• ...in his prayer, quoting passages from the book of Psalms...
• ...that spoke of the coming Messiah and the sufferings he would endure.

SIN AND DEATH

• Adam and Eve created sinless, not facing death
• Yet thru their fall into sin, they brought death into the world
• Now life has been restored by Christ's sacrifice.
• Heb. 2:9 " that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man"
• He restored life by dying in our place...reach out...free gift of eternal life.

CONTRAST JONAH TO OUR SAVIOUR

• Jonah disobeyed God's Word. Lord Jesus was perfectly obedient
• John 5:30 & John 8:28-29...perfect obedience to the will of the Father
• Garden of Gethsemane..."not my will but thine be done.

THE CRUCIFIXION

• Matt 27:11-35, 45-51, 57-60, Matt 28:1-7a
• Read thru the story of The death, burial, resurrection.
• How different the picture from its fulfillment
• sailors unwillingly threw in Jonah vs crucify him! Crucify him!
• Sailors asked God to forgive them vs. His blood be on us and on our children

HYMN 29