I invite you to turn with me to the Book of Jonah. We're back in Jonah after a couple-week break, and it's good to be back with you guys. I appreciate all your prayers. I was ministering at IBC, and I'm thankful for how the Lord just raises opportunities and allows His Word to be preached. So, I had a good time there, and I'm grateful to be back here with you all. Today we're looking at Jonah 1, verse 11 through 16. The title of the sermon is called, The Gospel According to Jonah. For context, let us just go ahead and read, starting in verse four, and we'll read to the end. So let us give attention to the reading of God's word. It says, but the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God. Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. They said to one another, come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you? He said to them, I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, what is this that you have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Then they said to him, what shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, pick me up and hurl me into the sea, then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life and lay not on us innocent blood for you. O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. This is God's holy and inspired word. May he add his blessing to it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask now for you to help us to understand your word. Help us to not see this in isolation, but in light of all of scripture and what it's pointing to. And Lord, help us to put into practice these applications that we can also have for ourselves. Help us to see Christ, we pray in His holy name. Amen. So often when we come to the book of Jonah, we don't just think gospel, right? We think about a story of a man who was eaten by a fish, who then went out and sought to preach in obedience to the Lord. But Jonah is saturated with gospel truths, and today I want us to see some of that today. Jonah, just to recap, has been on an assignment from the Lord. He gave him an assignment to not just be a prophet to Israel, though he was, but to also go to this foreign people, to go to this foreign nation. He sees the evil that's arisen from Nineveh and he says, go to Nineveh and cry out to it. Speak about the judgment that is to come. And the only reason God would send him there is to give them opportunity to repent. But Jonah is not liking that assignment. In fact, he hates it. And so what does he do? As we saw, he turns away from the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord came to Jonah and Jonah goes the other direction. He is called to go to Nineveh. Notice the great city. You get the picture of the repetition of great, right? There's the great city, a great storm, the great fish, that God's doing something great. All while Jonah in his disobedience and sin is going down, down, down. And that's meant to show us that where sin leads, but also what God is doing is great. Nineveh at the time was the capital of Assyria, which was a world power. And they were a constant threat to Israel at this time. And Jonah knew, based on just the Mosaic Covenant and everything, that if they failed to obey the covenant, that there will be judgment for the house of Israel. And he knew that it would be a foreign nation that would come and do this. And so he knew that if Nineveh gets an opportunity to repent, they're going to have an opportunity to come and torment us, to judge us. And that's not what Jonah runs. So Jonah being caring for Israel as much as he does, runs the other way, even though it's against the Word of the Lord. Jonah doesn't want to go. He doesn't want them to be repentant. He doesn't want them to be spared. He wants judgment. And so instead of obeying, he runs the opposite direction. And in so doing, he goes down, down, down, down to Nineveh, down to Joppa, down into the boat, down into the sea, down into the bowels of the boat to where he sleeps. And he's gonna continue his downward direction in his rebellion. But even in his downward direction of rebellion, God pursues him as we saw last time. The Lord brings about his wrath, his judgment upon his wayward prophet in a great storm. He raises a great wind that provides massive waves. And these expert sailors who've done this numerous times, who have seen numerous storms, are fearing for their life. This is no ordinary storm. Jonah's sin has affected those around him. Now the life of the sailors are at risk because of Jonah. and the ship threatened to break up. It can barely take any more. And so they're fearing for their lives, and in vain, what do they do in their paganism? They cry out to their false gods. They cry out to their false gods, and then we also saw that they start throwing things overboard, hoping that the ship could stay afloat. This is their whole livelihood, their whole possessions, but they care more about their life than any of that, and they're trying to just get by and live. So the mariners were afraid, each cried out to his own God. This is a representation of the nations, a representation of the Gentiles. It's this idea of the nations of the world are here and they're paganism and they're crying out in vain. These gods can't help them. All of this happening, where's Jonah? He's asleep, he's asleep in the boat and he doesn't care what happens. He doesn't care as long as he doesn't have to go to Nineveh. If he perishes with them, so be it. Which brings us to our text for the day. God's not gonna let him run. God's not gonna let him run. And the big idea I want us to see is this, because God is holy, he must punish sin. And the sinner's only hope is a sacrifice that satisfies God's wrath. And as we're gonna see this in Jonah, it's a picture of the salvation Jonah being tossed in the sea into God's wrath. It's a picture which points us forward to mercy and salvation we have in Jesus. We're going to see this in three ways. First, we're going to see God's wrath and Jonah's guilt exposed. We're then going to see God's saving mercy and wrath appeased. And then lastly, God's promised Savior. So let's consider God's wrath and Jonah's guilt exposed. Now, we talked about the sea. And we talked a little bit about this last time. Whenever you see the chaotic seas, whenever you see this in scripture, it always talks about God's judgment. chaotic waters, right? In the very beginning, before God brought order and structure in the world, you had the chaotic waters that surrounded the earth. God then spoke and brought order. As the chaotic waters happened when God brought judgment to the world in which Noah was rescued from, the form of judgment was a watery judgment. And oftentimes we see storms, we see chaotic waters as a symbol of God's judgment and wrath. Jeremiah 23, 19 says, behold the storm of the Lord. Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest. It will burst forth on the heads of the wicked. So we see this with the flood when he judged sin. We see this in the watery judgment when God judged the Egyptians who pursued Israel. How did he judge them? The sea. Jonah is now in full rebellion mode. He's running away. He's not listening to God, and he's asleep in the boat. He's not concerned about his life, as long as he doesn't have to go to Nineveh. As long as that doesn't happen, and notice he hid himself away where he can't be bothered by the other sailors. And he does so so that he can avoid that task. We talked about he was running away from the presence of the Lord, and that idea is he's abandoning his office as prophet. He said, I would rather not be a prophet of God. I would rather not do any of that, because prophets came before the face of God. He would rather not do any of that and face the wrath of God than go to Nineveh and have them repent. Jonah had a sense of nationalism, that he wanted grace for himself, but not for the nations. And this sense was opposite of God's plan. He's more concerned about him, his people. than what God is doing. And when we come to the prophets, and we're gonna see this when we do our overview as well, the prophets are always, they're usually these covenant prosecutors. They tell, here's what God has done, here's what he commanded, here's how you fail, and then they preach of the promise of the new covenant that is to come. Well, in Jonah, what we see is we don't see much prophecy, but the whole book is prophetic. And I want us to see that too as we continue. And it's showing us something. It's showing us something here. So Jonah is on the bottom of the ship, but God doesn't allow him to stay that way. Look at verse six. So the captain came and said to him, what do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call to your God. Perhaps the God will give you thought to us that we may not perish. So this, we talked about this phrase here, what do you mean, you sleeper, is to say like, what is wrong with you? How in the world can you do this and sleep at a time like this? All right, in our scripture reading, that should sound familiar. It's for a reason. And so he goes, don't you realize we're all perishing? Everyone's praying to their gods. We need you to pray. We need everyone to do this if we're to have a chance. It just shows the utter fear and desperation these sailors were in. They realize this is a divine storm. This is something that's not ordinary. There's a god out there, and he's angry. And there's no way we can survive this unless we figure out a way to appease his wrath. How can we appease this angry god? God is against them, they don't know why. And so they're saying, you go and pray, perhaps he'll hear you. They were out there, and as we saw last time, while Jonah is the cause of a lot of this, while he is responsible for bringing this and bringing God's wrath, these people aren't just innocent bystanders. Last time we talked about, they are also sinners, and we get that throughout the text, right? They were worshiping false gods. They were superstitious and cast lots. They rest in their own kind of efforts. And God's truth has been plain to them, right? And this is what we see in Romans 1. God's truth has been plain to them, yet they suppress it, right? They deny that, you know, God says, you just look at creation, you can know that there's a God who made everything. Yet they're worshiping all these other false gods. So they're without excuse. and they're here as well, and they ask Jonah to pray. They're praying, sinners are praying, pagans are praying out to their gods. They have this innate idea in them that there is some kind of deity, though they're praying to the wrong god. And Jonah, who knows the true God, who understands a way in which he can appease this God, what does he do as they ask him? He doesn't pray. He refuses to pray. He would rather perish, and he doesn't care if they die with him. As long as he doesn't go to Nineveh. And so he continues rebelling. He continues in his stubborn, rebellious heart. And they don't know why this is happening. And the waves just continue to hammer the boat more and more. The longer they endure, the more the storm ramps up, the more the waves pound. And you can just imagine the wood as it feels like it's breaking and bending. You can feel the gravity as it goes up and down the waves. And you're like, this is not going to last much longer. So they're trying to figure out what's going on. Jonah refuses to pray to his God. Verse seven, they said to one another, come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose accounts this evil has come upon us. Jonah remained silent. And they cast lots, which was kind of a superstitious thing back then, but God, in his sovereignty, as we understood from our Sunday school time, he is in charge of everything. Nothing happens by chance, nothing is random. But Jonah still tries to conceal his guilt. He's just thinking, okay, as a lot is cast, maybe it'll fall on someone else. I'm gonna remain silent. And so as a lot's cast and it's no, no, no to all these different people, Notice, so they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. God doesn't allow his sin to remain concealed. He exposes his sin before the whole boat, all the sailors. Imagine what Jonah must be feeling at that time. The guilt, singled out, divinely selected here. Yes, it was a superstitious act, but God in his sovereignty used it, right? Psalm 16, 33, the lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord. God directed it to expose his servant who is in rebellion. And this exposure of his sin is a gracious thing God does for Jonah because he's trying to get him to not continue to run in his sin. In our Sunday school, we talked about this is something that the Lord disciplines those whom he loves. And sometimes discipline can also mean exposing their rebellious ways. And in God's grace, he reveals a sin. They know, here's why the storm is upon us. It's because of this man. So what do they do? They slam him with questions. Look at verse eight. They said to him, tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What's your occupation? Where do you come from? What's your country? Of what people are you? So they slam him with all these questions, trying to figure out why on the earth is this happening? What are you doing? He answers. He said to them, I'm a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. Notice Jonah doesn't answer the first question about the occupation. What's his occupation? I'm a prophet. My job is to tell people, here's what God says, now obey it. He's doing the exact opposite. He would be a hypocrite if he exposed that. And he is. And it shows based on even his profession here. He doesn't want to admit that he's left his appointment of prophet. But Jonah does answer the other two. He says, I'm a Jew. I'm a Hebrew. Notice that's the first thing he replies with. It's as if to say, this is my identity. You are the Gentiles. You are the nations. But I'm a Hebrew. I'm of God's chosen people. the people who worship the true God. And notice his confession of faith. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. That might sound like irony or hypocritical, and it's because it is. I fear the Lord? Really, Jonah? You're running away from that God. Do you really fear him? Notice he says, Lord Yahweh, to say this is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the covenant-keeping God, the God of heaven. And notice, by the way, he made the sea that's raging against us and the land that you're trying to get to. He made all that. Jonah has good doctrine. He's saying good truth. In fact, he's actually quoting scripture. Psalm 95.3 says this, Jonah replies as a typical Jew would probably reply, who's informed with the scriptures, who's read the Psalms. He goes, I fear him. He made everything. That's the God I worship. He's the God that made the seas, that threatens to consume us. He's the one in charge, and the land you're trying to row to in vain, He made that too. Back then, these false gods that these pagans were worshiping, they thought there was a deity for the water, a deity for the land, for all these different things, and they would worship each god for this specific thing that they were wanting to get. But Jonah says, this is the God who made everything. He spoke truth. He has good doctrine, but his life doesn't reflect it. His actions are doing the very opposite. I fear the Lord. Oh, really? You're running away from the Lord in disobedience. He doesn't want the Ninevites to repent, and so it doesn't really show that he loves God as much if he's not willing to obey and listen to Him, even when it goes against his own plans. He's living hypocritically. He is living in a way because of his hatred for others and his pride He wants God's grace to himself and his people and no one else to experience it, especially his enemies. He forgot that he too is a sinner who has been shown great grace, but in a sense of his identity and his self-interest, he doesn't want that grace going out to anyone else. And we can be quick to be like, you know, come on, Jonah. What are you doing here, Jonah? But like Jonah, we can have good doctrine. We can say scripture, but does our life actually show it? We can boast that we have the confession of faith. We can study it in Sunday school, but then how do you live during the week? Does it show that you truly worship and love that God that we try to study robustly and understand? Doctrine's supposed to provoke and motivate our worship. We don't just have doctrine just to have doctrine, just to have puffed up heads. It needs to match your life, so does it. And when we see that it doesn't match up, may we not be like Jonah and continue in rebellion, but may we be quick to repent and turn to the Lord. Notice what happens when they hear about this God. This is the God you are running from. Notice it says these men were exceedingly afraid. and said to him, what is this that you have done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he told them. Now the men are very much afraid. They're afraid when this great storm came, and it was a divine storm that is bringing, some kind of God is upset with them. But now that they learned this is Jonah's God, the God who created everything, and Jonah's rebelling from them, they were like, what have you done? Don't you realize what this is gonna cost us? It's the same thing that is echoed in the garden, right? When Adam and Eve are hiding from God in their sin, God comes and says, what have you done? Same thing. Why would you bring this evil upon us? Why would you go and sin against this God if you truly believe that in your confession? That you fear him? That he made everything and you're trying to flee from him on the sea? He made it. He knows where you are. He made the land you're trying to reach. How could you do that? Why would you bring this evil upon us and sin against this God? And this is really the same question we need to be asking ourselves when we indulge in our sin. Isn't it? when you realize who is the God that we profess to believe, when you realize what He has done for us, and remember how He's been good and kind, how He sent His Son, and then when we want to indulge in our little sins, our pleasures, the way we can get maybe that quick fix of pleasure, even though it goes against God's Word, or the way when we can compromise what God's Word says at the point of being accepted by a sinful culture. At what point are you willing to go against God's Word? It's right when we have the conscience and the spirit convict us and the word go forth and says, what have you done? When you realize you've sinned before the God of the universe, what have you done? What we need to do in that sense is repent and turn to him. But Jonah has nowhere to hide. God has exposed his sin. Well, now we see the next point. God's wrath appeased in the calming of the storm. Look at verse 11. They said to him, what shall we do to you? that the sea may quiet down for us, for the sea grew all the more and more tempestuous." You would think, rather than asking that and coming to him, these pagan sailors who reject God, you would think they would say, what should we do to him? Let's just throw him overboard. Instead, they come together and they're trying to survive and they're like, what are we going to do? What should we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us? There is a fear of God before them now. They're fearing his wrath. It's before them. And this is the basic question that they're asking. What must we do to be saved? How can we make things right? God is angry. We're gonna suffer his wrath. You brought this upon us, Jonah. How can we escape God's wrath? Why are you running away from him in rebellion? And this is the key question. It's not unique for the sailors, but for everyone. What must we do to be saved? These sailors, as we said, are not so innocent. Romans 118, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them in the things that he's made. So they're without excuse. God will be completely just here if it ended like that. But in a desire to escape God's wrath, they ask, what can we do? How can we avoid this wrath of God? We all, like the sailors, come into this world to praise sinners. We deserve God's wrath. We've all fallen short of God's glory. We've broken his law. The wages of sin is death. But God, in his love, provides a way of escape. Notice what Jonah replies. The right question is, what shall we do to you? They know God's angry with Jonah. You're sinning against him. You need to do something to make things right. You need to make atonement for your sins so God's wrath can be appeased. God stirred up the sea. He stirred up the waves and the wind. It's a picture of his wrath for sin. And they realize, we want to make things right. We need to survive God's wrath. Jonah doesn't really want that. Meanwhile, the sea grows more and more chaotic. The more they resist, the more it's prolonged. God's wrath is building. The more his prophet is rebellious, God's wrath grows. Verse 12, and he said to them, pick me up, hurl me into the sea. The sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Jonah admits he is the cause. Jonah here admits his guilt. He's not fully repenting because he's not becoming obedient to the Lord. He's not turning around. A repentance is what? A change of mind? To turn from the way you're going and go the opposite way God desires you to go? He'd rather face God's judgment. He'd rather face the wrath of the raging sea, be thrown in and immersed into God's wrath, than turn and obey and go to Nineveh. He goes, toss me in. Let's just get it done with. I know the wages of sin is death. I know I rebelled against the God of the universe. I know he commanded me to do that, but I didn't want to. Just throw me in. He's believing he will die. He doesn't know there's a whale down there. He's fully believing, look at these waters, look at these waves, no one can survive this. The sailors think that too. He goes, let me receive my due. Jonah would rather die than preach to these pagan people. But God and his sovereignty is gonna orchestrate all things and he is going to do what glorifies him the most and execute his plan. From the very beginning, what did God tell Israel they would be? He told Abraham, you're gonna be a blessing to, just Israel? No, you're gonna be a blessing to the nations. Jonah doesn't wanna see that promise. Go to the nations, especially Nineveh. So he says, pick me up, hurl me into the sea, then the sea will quiet down for you. He communicates, it's because of me, it's because of my rebellion. God is upset. This word for hurled here is the same word here that the Lord hurled a great wind. Or with the sailors, what did they do? They hurled their cargo overboard. He goes, you guys, you hurl me into that wrathful sea. the sea of God's chaotic waters that indicates his judgment. Toss me overboard. I'm the problem. If you want hope to survive, get rid of me. He speaks correctly. He gives them good news. But this scene, God is using, prophetically, to communicate something greater to us. To these sailors, too. There's only one way to appease God's wrath. In the Hebrew, it says literally, lift me up and toss me in. Jonah must be lifted up and delivered unto death into the raging seas of God's wrath to face the judgment of his sin. Notice Jonah doesn't say, when they ask him, what shall we do to you? Notice he doesn't say, you know what, you just need to stop worshiping your pagan gods and worship the true God. He also doesn't say, you know, turn the boat around and let's just row back to the way we came. He also doesn't say, I just need to obey God. I just need to go to Nineveh. That's the only way. No, a sin was committed. A crime was committed against the God of the universe. Justice must be paid. Jonah admits he's responsible. He confesses his sin, but it's not enough. More is needed to appease the wrath of God. and to calm these chaotic judgment waters. So why does Jonah have to be thrown into the sea? Why is that the only way to quiet down this sea? What's the only way to appease God's wrath? It's a picture of something. You must be asking, well, if that's the case, why doesn't Jonah just throw himself in? He doesn't care about these pagans. He doesn't care if they perish with him. Also, a good Jew would know that, you know, you don't commit suicide. And so he's just saying, you tossed me and you bear the responsibility. But being tossed into the chaotic waters is a picture of God's wrath being satisfied for sin. The wages of sin is death. So the one who sinned must be tossed into the wrath of God. Notice repentance and confession here. He confessed his sin, he's done this. It's not enough to appease God's wrath. He doesn't care about the pagans. He doesn't care if they perish with him. But he's willing to be tossed in there because he knows that's the only way. And he knows he deserves the wrath. The wages of sin is death and God is just. He can't just overlook sin. He must punish sin. Just to give you an example, suppose you go to court and you're witnessing this man who has committed mass murders. And he's there before the judge and the judge is there to hear him out. And he says, yes, I've done all this. I've committed all these crimes. But you know what? I'm turning. I am going to live a better life. I promise I'll never do that again. I'm responsible. I did all these things. Would it be just if that judge just said, OK, you're free to go? No, justice needs to be paid. Imagine if that was one of your family members. Justice needs to be paid. He would be a corrupt judge if he just swept it on the carpet or looked the other way, just because he said, I'm sorry. He needs to pay for his sins. There's consequences for actions, and the only way God's wrath can be satisfied here is a payment for sin. God's wrath, as we said, is pictured in the chaotic waters, and the only way for Jonah to satisfy God's wrath is Him to be immersed in it, into the judgment waters. And so we have a picture here that God's communicating to us of how God is satisfied with the sin of man. It's for one appointed man to be tossed into God's judgment to satisfy His wrath. Thankfully, who have sinned don't have to pay for our sins in this way. Thankfully, we have another God's appointed man who indeed satisfied God's wrath in our place, as we'll see here soon. Nevertheless, the men rode harder to get back to dry land, but they could not for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. You would think after they heard what Jonah said, You're the only way, throw me in the sea. You would think, all right, let's be quick to do it. Let's get this over with. We're about to die. We lost all our things, all their possessions, their costly worldly possessions. They're probably in the hole for the rest of their life because of that. All they want to do now is live. And Jonah told them how. But the men, nevertheless, row hard to get back to dry land. These men, they don't wanna toss Jonah in. They don't wanna be responsible for his life ending that way. There must be another way. So they try harder. They try harder. They try it by their own efforts and strength. They wanna pass through God's judgment waters on their own, on their own terms. In biblical times, notice these men rode hard. In biblical times, the position of a rower was that of a slave. The slaves were the one who took that position. So these men are humbling themselves to take on a lowly position of a slave for the sake of Jonah so he doesn't have to die in the chaotic waters. And they're wanting, by their own effort, to push through and power through by their own strength. They sound more godly than Jonah. Jonah, the one who knows God, but he doesn't care about them, he doesn't care about Nineveh. And here's men who have no relation to him before he stepped into their boat, who are pagans, who are now showing more care for Jonah than he is for them. That should be a stark rebuke to Jonah, that a godless world could care more for him than he does, who he's called to be an image of God and loving all people. They care more for him than them. They show such compassion. Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh so thousands could be saved, but these sailors are doing everything they can to not have to throw Jonah in just so he could be saved. Notice what they do. They work harder and harder to get back to land. They urge him to pray, yet he refuses. They have this fear of God. Jonah shows no fear by running away and doesn't care with all the collateral damage he brings with him and who suffer the consequences too. But these sailors are doing everything they can to not throw him in. The compassion they have for Jonah is a sharp contrast for Jonah's lack of compassion for these Gentiles. And this can be a rebuke to the church as well. When the world shows more compassion for loving its own than when we do, we're no different from Jonah. We deserve the rebuke when that happens. We should be the forefront to step up and say, you know, how can we love and serve? How can we sacrifice? How can we do these things for the sake of loving fellow people who are made in the image of God? But the sailors, they do everything in their power to survive the storm without having to throw Jonah in. But despite all their efforts, it's in vain. Notice what it says. All their human efforts, they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempentuous against them. Human effort cannot out-overpower the mighty axe of God. Human effort cannot overpower the mighty acts of God. The raging sea of God's wrath grows all the more. It's demanding justice. They realize then there's no way. We cannot survive. We can't do anything on our own efforts, no matter how hard we try. We cannot satisfy God's wrath. We've exhausted everything. We've tried everything. We've thrown everything overboard. We tried to row. We're physically exhausted. There's nowhere else to turn. One person said this, they're in a legal and ethical double bind. If they take the man's word at face value and perform it, then they may be guilty of murder. However, if they don't obey his word, not only are they contruding what the prophet has commanded them to do, but the prophet who they know is responsible for their plight, they themselves might very well drown in the storm. God's wrath must be satisfied, and it must be satisfied His way. There's nothing we can do to do that by our own efforts. They need to turn to God. And so what do they do? They turn to God's, Jonah's God in prayer. Look at verse 14. Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man's life and lay not on us innocent blood for you, O Lord, notice capital Lord, Yahweh, have done it. as it pleased you." The sailors are no longer praying to their gods. They haven't responded because they're false gods. They don't work. They're now praying to Jonah's God. They're praying to Yahweh, something Jonah refused to do. They cry out to the one true God, the one who made the seas and the land. And they see that this is God's hand here. His wrath must be satisfied, and they realize the only way is for this appointed man, this Jew, to go on in God's wrath and die for the sake of the world. They realize that God's right for this. Though they don't fully understand, they're echoing Psalm 135.6. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deep. Verse 15, so they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the seas ceased from its raging. They followed through with what Jonah said. They throw him in the sea overboard. Imagine what that must be like. Imagine as the boat's rocking back and forth, the waves crashing, and they're just struggling holding Jonah, and they toss him over an instant calm, right when he goes into the depths of the water. The wrath of God has been satisfied. In scripture, we see the symbolization of a sea being calm as God being at peace, as having no more wrath. What happens when Noah, the judgment waters are pounding the earth and judgment destroying the earth, but Noah got to ride it out. And what happens when the waters were ceased? They were calm. He was able to walk out on dry land. Why? Because God's wrath has been satisfied. Zechariah 10, 11 paints this picture, the last day when the Lord returns. It says, he shall pass through the seas of trouble, in other words, the chaotic waters, and he will strike down the waves of the sea. In other words, he's gonna make the seas calm. And what's the picture we get in Revelation 4 when we see the throne room of heaven? We see a sea before the throne, and what is it? It's calm like glass. Wrath has been satisfied. And now Jonah is thrown into the raging sea in instant calm. There's no longer wrath for the sailors. From the perspective of the sailors, think of what was just communicated to them by this picture. I'm surely they, after they threw him in, they're looking all over the waters. Hey, it's calm now. Let's see if we can find him. They never found Jonah. From their perspective, he hit the water, he went in and never came out. and is as good as dead. And he did that. He died so that they might live. They search for Jonah, and he's gone. They were saved through his death into the Judgment Waters because one man was plunged into it. The many were able to live. It should sound familiar. Right? Didn't Caiaphas prophesy that for this death of one man, speaking of Jesus, that many people will live? Look at verse 16. It seems these men here, with the picture of the gospel that they just had, which was sufficient for that time, right? God gives sufficiently the knowledge that he needs, and he gave it in a picture. There needs to be an appointed man who's going to go behalf on the others to satisfy God's wrath. And it comes by having faith in that, right? Why did they have to throw him in? They had to participate and have faith that that's what would happen. That you believe what the prophet said. And so doing, they executed, they did what he said in an act of faith. And in an instant, the sea was calm. It seems they were converted. They understood the picture that was communicated to them. And notice they feared the Lord. Notice now they fear Yahweh. First they feared the storm. Then they greatly feared Jonah's God when he said, this is the God who made the seas and the land, because they knew he was rebelling. They greatly feared. Why did they fear back then? They feared then because of God's wrath. They were fearful of his wrath. But now God's wrath has been fully satisfied in the sacrifice of the one man. And now, no longer is this a fear of God's wrath because it's been satisfied, now it's a holy, reverent fear. A fear of this is the great God, this is Yahweh, the creator of everything. And he's not like me, he's far greater. This is a holy, reverent fear, not a fear that fears the wrath. Wrath has been satisfied. Psalm 22, 33 says, you who fear the Lord, praise Him. We don't praise Him because we're fearful that He's just gonna smite us. No, we fear Him because the wrath has been paid. We praise Him because Jesus has paid it all. And there's no more wrath for us. Once you realize the salvation you have in Christ Jesus, that should motivate you and provoke you to worship, right? And that's what happens, look at the text. They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. This sounds like Psalm 107. We read this last time, but why don't we just read it again? Psalm 107 verse 23 says this. Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters. They saw the deeds of the lords and his wondrous works in the deep, for he commanded and raised up the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in evil plight. They reeled and staggered like drunken men who were at their wit's end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for their steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man." So they saw that God did this. They worshiped him because he spared them from his wrath on account of the one man who calmed the sea for them. But God wasn't done with Jonah, and we read in verse 17, the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Jonah had gone down to the depths. All the way to the depths, it's a picture of a grave. It talks about Sheol, and he's swallowed up. The idea of swallowed up is judgment in scripture, right? When the people committed sin and the earth opened up and swallowed up the people, right, that was a sign of judgment. When the waters came and crashed down on the Egyptians and they swallowed them up, it was a sign of judgment. And here you have a whale, a sign of judgment, and now there's symbolization here of death being in the whale for three days and three nights. Symbolically, it pictures that he satisfied God's wrath. Now, we'll touch on that more next time. But for now, we should see a contrast of prophets. We should see Jonah, and we should see the true appointed man who will satisfy God's wrath for us, which leads us to God's promised Savior. Jonah is a type. He is pointing us to Christ. He's a type of Christ. He's not Christ, for sure. He's a sinner. But in a way, he pictures him. He points us forward to him. And there's many differences between Christ and Jonah. And as we read in our scripture reading in Mark 4, if you wanna just flip over there, There's some parallels in Mark 4.35. I'll just read it. They go to the other side. They leave the crowd. There was a great windstorm that arose and the waves were breaking and filling the boat, but the boat was already filling. He, Jesus, was in the stern asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we're perishing? He awoke and rebuked the wind and the sea, peace be still. The wind ceased and there was a great calm and he said, why are you afraid? Have you no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who is this that even the wind and the seas obey him? Jonah, like Jesus, were both prophets who spoke the word of God to the people. Jonah disobeyed from his assignment and fled. Jesus fully embraces God's assignment for him, and he says, I have come to do your will. His assignment was ultimately to redeem a people, to die for sinners, to be the one that satisfies God's wrath, right? Both were asleep in the midst of the sea and the storm. We see that Jonah here was one who was asleep because he didn't care. He didn't care if he perishes, he didn't care if the people perished with him. But Jesus is in the sea, asleep in the sea, in the boat, because he knows he's in full submission to God's plan. He's resting in his sovereignty, and he's the one who's in control of the wind and the waves, because he is the God-man. He is embracing the Father's will. He knows He is the means by which He will calm the sea. Jonah and Jesus were both lifted up to die, to face God's wrath. Jonah suffered, though, for his own sins. Jesus, having never sinned, suffered for the sins of His people. One person said this, Jesus Christ, the son of man, gave his life as a ransom for many. Jonah could not give his life for the sins of the sailors. Only the sinless Jesus Christ could fill that role in an eternal sense. Here, the disparity between Christ and Jonah could not be more apparent. The sacrifice of Christ is clear, the greater than the opaqueness of Jonah's relatively meager expiation. They both pictured being in the depths of Sheol, being in the grave. Jesus actually said this, and he draws a parallel. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the well for three days and three nights, and the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jonah, or Jesus here, interprets Jonah. It says it pointed to him. Right, and he says that in Luke 24. All the law, Psalms, and prophets are about him. And here's a prophet here, a minor prophet. He says, even that's about me, in which way we want to see So Jonah's picture's for us what Jesus would do in a sense. While Jonah is real and historical, it's a picture that points us forward to the true Savior who will come. Matthew 12, 41, Jesus said this, the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Jesus is the great Jonah who really satisfied God's wrath for sin. He wasn't lifted up and delivered into God's wrath for his sin, but for the sins of everyone else whom he represented. He is the one who was lifted up to die because God's holy, because he must punish sin. He doesn't just sweep sin under the carpet. He demands absolute perfection. His wrath must be satisfied for sin. You can't just say, you know, I'm sorry, Lord, just forgive me without him paying for sin. On the cross, Jesus was plunged into the full wrath of God. We can say he was thrown into the chaotic judgment waters, if you will. He was immersed in it and there was no escape. He must fully endure to satisfy God's wrath. At the cross, he was lifted up and tossed into that, not for his sins, but for ours. He is our sinless substitute, our promised Savior who was perfect in his life. And in his death, he satisfied God's wrath for us. Romans 5.8 says this, but God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Why? Because Jesus endured the wrath for us. There is no way to escape. God must be just. He must punish sin. Just mere confession and forgiveness is not enough if someone hasn't paid for your sin. Jesus has satisfied God's wrath for us. He has taken upon our sin, and when you place your faith in Him, God's wrath is satisfied. There is no more wrath for you, because Christ fully took it Himself. When we trust in Christ, we know that Jesus paid it all. It's paid in full. You don't have any more penance or something else to do on your part. You don't have to fear the wrath of God if you're resting in Christ. This is the only way to escape God's wrath. There is nothing we can do to make things right on your own efforts. You can't just paddle harder, trying to paddle through God's judgment waters to escape. It's vain. You must rest in the sinless sacrifice for us. The wages of sin is death. You cannot row against it. But Jesus takes our guilt, laid upon his shoulders, and pays for it in full on the cross. Isaiah 53 says it this way. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was a chastisement that brought us peace. With his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. This was God's will. This was the Father's will. It was the will of the Lord to crush him, to put him to grief, to make an offering for our guilt. When you rest in Christ, when you rest in God's appointed man, who was sent to die to satisfy God's wrath, it is only then can you escape God's wrath. It is only then can you be considered righteous. Second, 1 Timothy 2 says this, for there is one God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given at its proper time. One person said this, Jesus is our propitiator, absorber of God's wrath, against our sin and satisfied it in full, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but instead enjoy the Father's favor forever. That's when we hear that song. When we realize that, we want to sing out in worship. We want to praise Him till on the cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin was laid on Him, here in the death of Christ I live. So as we close, are you resting by faith in God's appointed man who would satisfy the wrath of mankind? who is immersed into God's judgments to satisfy the punishment for sin? Does that describe you? Or are you more like, you know, how the sailors were before? I'm just gonna try and row a little harder. I'm just gonna try and do it on my terms. I don't wanna admit that, you know, there's guilt. I don't wanna, I would just wanna keep doing my good works, and I wanna try and, yes, I sin, but I just wanna have my good outweigh my bad. That's in vain. It's in vain. But God is patient right now, and he's keeping his wrath away. And his patience, though, is meant to lead you to repentance, so that you can repent and turn and trust in God's appointed man who did satisfy his wrath. Jonathan Edwards paints a gruesome picture about the wrath of God being held back, and he does so by using the imagery of water. Listen to what he says. about the presence of, he says, the patience of God's wrath, and he interestingly uses water. The wrath of God is like great waters that are damned for the present. They increase more and more, they rise higher and higher till the outlet is given, and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course once it is let loose. It is true the judgment against your evil works has not been executed, Right now, the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld, but your guilt in the meantime will constantly be increasing. And you, every day, are storing up more wrath. The waters are constantly rising, waxing, and more mighty. And there is nothing but mere pleasure of God that holds the waters back. that are unwilling to be stopped and pressed hard to go forward. If God only withheld his hand of the floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of God's wrath and fierce judgment will rush forth in fury and would come upon you with omnipotent power. And if your strength were 10,000 times greater than it, yea, 10,000 times greater than the strength of the shall-estrudious devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it. So turn to Christ while you can. Oh, his wrath is being withheld because he's the only one who's satisfied God's wrath. And if you reject him, you will satisfy God's wrath, but it will be for eternity in hell. But for now, God provides a way of escape. He is patient. He is saying, if you are weary from all your working, come to me and I will give you rest. Because he fully accomplished his work. He didn't run from his assignment. will never be good enough. So give it to Christ who was, and rest in him. Romans 8 says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So maybe you're here today too, and you're just thinking, I'm in Christ, but I've sinned in such a way. My sin is holding me back. I just really can't worship God. He's gonna punish me. He's gonna do these things. Well, there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Jesus paid it all. And we need to remember that there's no more wrath for us if you place your faith in Christ. When we fail, yes, we confess it before the Lord. And then out of love and thankfulness, we seek to live for him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for this picture of the gospel. Even in the Old Testament, you are pointing us forward to what Christ would do. through types and shadows, though shadowy. Lord, we're thankful that your word and the fullness can help us better understand. Lord, we're thankful that we don't have a appointed man who is only like Jonah in his sins, rebellion, but we have the perfect man, Jesus, who've lived a perfect life. who died a substitutionary atoning death, and we know as we look to Him that you fully accepted His sacrifice for us because you raised Him from the dead. So Lord, we're so thankful for the work of Christ. Help us then out of love and gratitude to live for Him, we pray in His holy name, amen.