Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Is there a sea monster? Big enough to swallow a man. If you believe that God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth, God has no difficulty in specially creating a sea monster which was there in the Mediterranean just waiting. For his disobedient runaway prophet, this character called Jonah.
Welcome to the Verdict with Pastor John Monroe. What happens when you find yourself in an impossible situation? What do you do? Collect your resources, rely on your experience and expertise, Or do you cry out to God? Today, we're learning from the experience of Jonah.
and realizing that God still delivers those who cry out to Him. Here's Pastor John Monroe to introduce part two of his message, A Whale of a Tale. One of the reasons I love the story of Jonah is that this runaway prophet is so like many of us. We want to do the will of God, but only if we agree with it. If it meets our expectations, if it's what we want to do.
But followers of Jesus must learn to practice instant obedience. to obey God and trust Him even when the cost is high. Jonah disobeys. But even in his disobedience, the Lord is watching over him. And God delivers him from from his incredible situation of being swallowed by a great fish.
In our difficulties, we immediately cry out to the Lord. But do we follow the example of Jonah and give praise and thanks to God for his supernatural deliverance?
Now, as we look at Jonah chapter 2. There's four things. I want to share with you this morning. First of all, Jonah's problem. Jonah had quite a problem, didn't he?
Jonah is in the deep. He's in the heart of the seas. He's at the very bottom of the ocean. Jonah's problem. leads.
Secondly, to his prayer. Verse 1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the stomach of the fish. Notice how he praise. He prays to the Lord his God. The end of verse six.
You have brought up my life from the pit. O Lord, My Got it. Together? The question is. Do you know God personally?
When you're praying to God, can you say like Jonah? The Lord is my God. And Jonah here in verse 2 calls out to the Lord, I called out of my distress. To the Lord. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol.
I'm saying to you this morning. very pointedly. In your distress, Will you cry out? Yeah. What happens when we have problems in our life?
Oh, we talk about our problems, we discuss them. But often we are so slow, aren't we, to cry out to the Lord. And as I meet with couples whose marriages are in difficulty, I've discovered over the years. That they talk about their problems. They argue about their problems, they even fight about their problems.
They go to secular councillors, they may go to Christian councillors. But in most cases, They have not cried out to the Lord for divine help, for divine intervention. They have never got down on their knees before God and humbled themselves before the Lord and cried out to the Lord out of their distress for divine help. You say, why wouldn't they do that? Self-reliance, pride.
In your problem, In your distress, wherever it is this morning, will you cry out to the Lord? The wonderful good news is this. Do you hear me this morning? That God delivers those who cry out to Him. If you this morning cry out to the Lord, humbly cry out to Him out of your distress, out of your problem and need.
He will deliver you. We have Jonah's problem, which leads to Jonah's prayer. Thirdly, which leads to Jonah's Preservation. Notice verse too. What a beautiful verse.
Says Jonah, I called out of my distress to the Lord. And He said Go away, Jonah. Got yourself in a bit of a mess, didn't you? Thought you could run away from me.
Now you're gonna pay. Ah, you're just calling on me because you're up against it. Go away. You think you can live without me? Try it.
What are you gonna do? Swim ashore? Then you can deal with this storm. You're weigh the bottom of the ocean. Jonah says, I called out of my distress to the Lord.
And he Answered.
Okay. What a gracious God. I cried for help. From the depth of Sheol, you did hear my voice. The Lord heard his voice, the Lord answered him.
Verse six, you are the one who brings me up from the pit. What grace? What compassion? What love, what a God. Jonah is sinking to certain death in the depths of the sea, and then he cries out to the Lord.
And the Lord answered him. But the Lord answered him in a very unusual way. We'd have said, well, maybe there was some wood that you could. Get on to Jonah. Perhaps some of the other sailors could help Jonah.
Perhaps God could give him great strength to swim. The Lord did none of these things.
Something totally unexpected. Who's going to demonstrate? that the Lord was at work. He sends his special submarine. That great sea monster.
In the right spot at the right time. You picture Jonah, he's going down, down, down. See what he's all around his head? It's right at the bottom. Of the mountain under the ocean.
We don't know how far down he is. He's just about to. Drown. Can't hold his breath any longer. And then the Lord acts.
The Lord answered me. The Lord. Heard me. And it takes Jonah. to dry land verse Can The Lord commanded the fish.
and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land. God's unique way. to get his servant from the middle of the ocean to dry land. And I'm sure the great fish was very relieved to throw up Jonah on the land. I wonder how much thumbs it had eaten during the three days and the three nights.
Imagine of this guy in your stomach, and it throws him up onto the dry land.
Now Jonah is no longer running from the Lord.
Now he is ready. to hear God's word.
Now he is ready to Yeah. And what does Jonah recognize? At the end of verse 9, salvation is from the Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord.
A little boy was asked in Sunday school. What was one of the main lessons he had learned from Jonah? The little boy said this. People make fish sick.
Well That's one lesson I guess, but that's not the main lesson. Notice, although, unlike Jonah, the fish does obey God, verse 10. The Lord commanded the fish. The fish throws up Jonah onto dry land. The creatures are more obedient than the runaway prophet.
No, one of the main lessons of the book of Jonah that we have here in Jonah chapter 2, but also one of the main lessons of the Bible is that salvation is from the Lord. That salvation belongs to the Lord. Apart from the Lord, we have no help, no rescue, no salvation, no hope. No hope. Paul talks in Ephesians 2 of those who have no hope They're without God in the world.
And Jonah And what everyone would have said, including himself, seemed an impossible situation. In a single moment, in a split second At the very last moment, as it were, God acts. When we've exhausted ourselves, When we've gone down, town, town. And we then cry out, Lord, save me. In my distress, I am crying out to you, Lord, humbly.
It is then that the Lord saves. Salvation. Belongs to the Lord. Salvation does not come from the ordinances, through baptism, or through the Lord's Supper, or through taking Mass. It doesn't come from our good works.
It doesn't come from self-improvement. You go to Barnes and Noble or Borders Bookstore and you see all of these books on self help. Many of them telling us that the answer to problems and the answer to despair is found within you. Look within you. The answer is within.
Absolutely not. Jonah's answer was not within. If he looked within, what would he have found? A deceitful, rebellious heart. Salvation doesn't belong to Jonah.
It doesn't even belong to the nation. Salvation belongs. to the Lord. Will you understand that? Will you acknowledge that this morning?
That your help In your situation, is going to come from the Lord? Will you be like the psalmist in Psalm 121 who says, Where does my health come from? Does it come from the mountains? Pretty impressive mountains. He says, no.
My help comes from The Lord Who made heaven and earth? Psalm 121, verses 1 and 2. Will you acknowledge that your help only comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth? And just as God supplied supernatural deliverance to Jonah, so God has supplied a deliverer, a redeemer for us The Lord Jesus tells us that in Matthew twelve, verse forty, when he paints the parallel between the story of Jonah, Jonah being three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, even so he, the Son of Man, will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. His name is Jesus.
For he will save his people from their sins. And the Lord Jesus was in death when he was Was in the grave and rose from the grave for your salvation and mine. The Bible says that he tasted death for all of us and triumphed over it. And we are like Jonah. We have paid for a ticket.
To run away from the Lord. And if we continue unchecked, running away from the Lord, the Bible says that the wages of our sin is death. But the gift of God. Is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And on the cross, Our Saviour, with his own blood, paid the price for a return ticket.
For you, to know God through Jesus Christ. And in a moment. Just as Jonah was saved. At the very Edge of eternity. In a moment Jesus Christ will save you today.
as you call upon him. Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon. The great English Baptist preacher put it this way: He said, If I saw you at the very gates of hell, As long as you had not actually crossed the threshold. If I saw you trembling there and you said to me, Can Jesus Christ save me now? I would reply, yes.
Look unto him. And he will take you from the gates of hell to To the gates of heaven. in a single moment. I like that. That's true.
The gates of hell to the gates of heaven in a single moment. That is, if you look to Jesus Christ, in a moment He will save you, He will forgive you, He will deliver you. Because salvation Belongs the Lord. Jonah's problem. leads to Jonah's prayer.
which leads to Jonah's preservation. Finally, which leads to Jonah's praise. Jonah, too, is a psalm of praise, a declarative psalm of praise. As you read Jonah chapter 2, if you know the Psalter in your Old Testament, you will recognize many of the expressions. Jonah knew the word of God, his prayer was replete with scripture.
He is about to drown. All seems lost, and then God intervenes. The point of death, he prays The great fish comes along and swallows him. And he is saved. What's he going to do?
He's saying, when I get to dry land, I am going to bring a sacrifice of praise, verse nine. I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord. He's going to praise God.
Is that true of you? Are you a person who is thankful? person who praises God. Can you pray? And not ask God for anything?
But praise and thank him. Or are your prayers Confined to asking God for something. You may have a friend. If you're a parent of And I've got a child, particularly A son or a daughter? at college or out of the home.
Yeah. want them to call you and Speak to you from time to time, tell you how they're doing. And when they call you, what do you expect? They're going to say, I want to thank you, Mom and Dad, for the wonderful upbringing you've had. I just want to praise you for how wonderful parents you are.
Well That might be nice if it happened. The reality is We trust that they show you some appreciation, but from time to time, They're going to say, and by the way. I need some money. I've got some books, I've got some tuition, I've got something unexpected. Can you send me some money?
But imagine if your relationship with your friend or your relationship with your children. was only The only time you talked, the only time they contacted you, was when they wanted something. After a while you would say, you know, there's something wrong with this relationship. I've noticed there's no thankfulness. I've noticed there's no appreciation.
I think I'm just being used. Is that the kind of relationship you have with God? You're asking God, but when God showers you with His blessing, we are slow to praise and thank Him. Jonah two is teaching us that those who are delivered, those who are saved, must praise God, that deep truths are learned in deep troubles. And God was teaching Jonah deep truths, and now He was to praise God and bring his sacrifice of praise.
And this is one of the reasons we worship and praise God. The Scripture tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. And over the years I have discovered, and it's also taught clearly in Scripture, that one of the characteristics of a mature Christian, I emphasize mature, is joyful praise. You say, Well, there are problems in life. I understand there's problems in life.
But God is greater than our problems. Are you someone characterized by joyful praise, or are you more characterized by being a whining complainer? Isn't it true? Let's be honest this morning, isn't it true? that most of us gravitate to the negative rather than the positive.
Someone says to students how sky is. How's school? They're going to this great school. Oh, a lot of homework.
Okay. We say to somebody, Tell me about your job. Oh, poorly paid, overworked. Boss, impossible. Tell me about your Your family, tell me about your husband or your wife.
Husband, He's Mr. Insensitivity. Wife. She's a real nag. Tell me about your parents.
Oh, unbelievable. You wouldn't believe how unreasonable my parents are.
Okay? You told me about your school, you told me about your work, you told me about your. Family. What about your your children? Children?
Oh, I got these. Terrible. Twos. I've got these crazy teenagers. Or my kids have just left home and and it's so lonely now.
Okay. Life seems pretty sad for you. Tell me about your church. Church. Oh, we got a strange new senior pastor who talks funny and he preaches long, long messages.
Can you believe that last week he went on so long we were ten minutes late for our lunch? I mean, how insensitive can this character be? And the pastor of worship, well, he's changing things. Can you believe that since he came, he's been here six weeks, we haven't sung my favorite hymn once? Isn't it true?
That so often in life we gravitate to the negative. Rather than thanking God With a grateful, praising heart. What is your focus in life? Has God in His grace not touched your heart and saved you? Can you not say with Jonah, I called out of my distress to the Lord and he answered me?
Isn't it true? But many of us can say we once We're on the road to destruction. And God miraculously intervened and saved our soul Once our back was to God, but then miraculously our eyes were opened and we saw the beauty of the Saviour and our lives have been changed. And I don't understand it all, but I do know this, that it was at the cross where I first saw the lights. And the burden of my heart.
rolled away. And now I'm thankful, and now I'm praising God. And God is at work in my life. And yes, there are these problems. Yes, there are these difficulties.
But God is greater than all of them. And because of that, I must praise Him. And if we don't praise Him, the very stones would cry out. And now the fish, verse 10, throws up Jonah. Jonah is ready to enter a new life of obedience and service to God.
Those whom God delivers when they cry out to Him are never the same again. We are now ready to love and to serve our awesome God. Isn't that the case? When God delivers us and God is at work in our life, we are changed and we are transformed. This morning, I'm saying to you, today in your distress and your problem and your heartache and your hopelessness, will you cry out to the Lord God?
Because God still delivers those who cry out to Him. Here's the psalmist, Psalm thirty-four, verses six and seven. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. and saved him out of all his troubles. That could be Jonah, couldn't it?
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. Marvelous. The angel of the Lord. Surrounding those who fear him and rescues them. Yes, God still supernaturally delivers those who cry out to him.
This story was reported by a I know I'm a medical missionary at his home church. While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, I travelled every two weeks by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This required camping overnight Halfway. On one of these trips I saw two men fighting in the city. One was seriously injured, so I treated him and witnessed to him of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I then returned home without incidents. Upon arriving in the city several weeks later, I was approached by the man I had treated earlier. He told me he had known that I carried money and medicine. He said, some friends and I followed you into the jungle. Knowing you would camp overnight, we waited for you to go to sleep and planned to kill you.
and take your money and drugs. Just as we're about to move into your campsite, We saw that you were surrounded by twenty-six armed guards. I laughed at this and said I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point. No, sir, I was not the only one to see the guards.
My five friends also saw them. and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone. At this point in the church presentation in Michigan, one of the men in the church jumped up and interrupted the missionary. He asked, Can you tell me the exact date when this happened?
The missionary thought for a while and recalled the date. The man in the congregation told this side of the story. On that night in Africa, it was morning here. I was preparing to play golf. As I put my bags in the car, I felt the Lord leading me to pray for you.
In fact, the urging was so strong that I called the men of this church together to pray for you. Will all of those men who met with me that day please stand? The men who had met that day to pray together stood. There were twenty six of them. Yes, it's true.
That the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. And delivers us from all of our troubles. Our great God. This God who is the greatest and greatly to be praised, our great God still today delivers those who cry out to Him. And our great God will deliver you from your sin, will save you and transform you.
This great God will transform your life and put your feet on solid rock.
So, in the middle of your difficulties, don't despair. Cry out to the Lord because our hope is in this God. who delivers those. and saves those who cry out. To him.
Eternal God, we thank you. That you're a God like that. You're a great God and greatly to be praised. May our hope and our trust Always be in you. Strengthen our faith.
We do ask as we give you thanks in Christ's magnificent name. Amen. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever.
But to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at the verdict. org.
While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org.
The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Today take a moment and praise God for His grace and help in your life. Isn't that the case? that you've been in difficult circumstances. and you've cried out to the Lord.
And he's heard. And answered your prayer.
So, No give thanks. And tell others of God's deliverance in your life. This will encourage them. This will also deepen your faith.
Now, after Jonah's deliverance, He's ready to hear and obey the voice of the Lord. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
