Let's turn again in our Bibles tonight to the book of Jonah chapter 1. Jonah chapter 1 and let's begin our reading in verse number 6. So the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation, and whence comest thou? What is thy country, and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, take me up and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you. For I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea wrought and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord and made vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. I ended my message last week by pointing out that Jonah gave the remedy to these mariners. And it is typical of the gospel of substitution and satisfaction. We see substitution in his words where he said, take me up, take me up. And I thought about The words of the Lord Jesus Christ, as they're recorded in John chapter 18, when they came to arrest him that night in the garden of Gethsemane, he said, if therefore you seek me, let these go their way. In other words, take me and let these sheep of mine go their way. And Jonah says the same thing. Take me and cast me into the sea. Now, that's a picture of substitution, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ had to die in the stead of his people, just like Jonah had to be cast overboard in order to the salvation of these mariners. So the Lord Jesus Christ, he had to die in the place and in the stead of his people. We see substitution, but we also see satisfaction in his words when he said, cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm unto you. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the message of substitution and satisfaction. Don't we love to hear those two truths? And when the gospel is preached, we will always hear those two truths. We will always hear of substitution, one dying in the stead and in the place of God's covenant people, and we will also hear of satisfaction. He satisfied the justice of God on behalf of those he represented. Now before we move on, I want to call our attention to the reluctance of the mariners to take Jonah's life in verses 13 and 14. He gave them the remedy. How are we going to be saved? How may we be saved? He said, take me up and cast me into the sea and the sea shall be calm unto you. But we see here that these men, they may have been very rough hard, hardened type men. Sailors usually have that reputation. I don't know if it's always so or not, probably not. But you see their reluctance to do what Jonah told them to do. It says, nevertheless the men rode hard. They rode hard to bring it to land, but they could not. And the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. There is in the heart of most men, now depravity We know every person is totally depraved in the sense that in the fall, the heart of man, which includes the intellect and the will and the affections, was hardened or destroyed in the fall of man. But total depravity doesn't mean that every person is as wicked as he could be. And what I'm saying tonight is there are some people, not many, thank God, but there are some people who think nothing of shedding someone else's blood, of killing someone, murdering someone. There are some who are that hardened in sin. They think nothing of it. But most men, most people, it's a great thing. It's a great matter, and I'm glad that it is, to take the life of another person. It's a very serious thing, isn't it? A very serious thing to take the life. In fact, it's so serious that when Noah came out of the ark with his three sons and their wives and his wife, God gave him this command. God told Noah, whoso sheddeth man's blood, whoever, Whoever takes the life of someone else, sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. In other words, a person who murders someone, then the penalty for that crime is his life, her life is to be forfeited. And God tells the reason why. They were made in the image of God. And that commandment has never been repealed. You know, that's justice. That's justice. They're not trying to re-habitate the person, but he's punished. or she's punished if they take the life of another individual. And it shows to us justice. The mariners did all they could not to take Jonah's life. They did not want to be guilty of throwing him overboard. They rode hard, but they could not defeat God's purpose. And their purpose was, let's get this ship to land. We don't want to be guilty of taking this man's life. They rode hard, but they could not overcome God's purpose. The justice of God was seeking and had found the culprit, and that was Jonah. and he was going to be punished. Through the centuries, think of this, over the many centuries, there have been many men who've been buried at sea, and women also. I've seen pictures, I'm sure you have, movies where they bury a person over the side of the ship, and there's been many people who've been buried at sea. At the last judgment, we are told, we're told this in more than one place, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. Someone might ask, well, if a person's buried at sea, is he going to escape the judgment? No, no. Whether he's buried at sea, buried on land, no matter where. The scripture says, it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment. And no one's going to escape that judgment. We all shall be there. We all shall be there. In Jonah's case, in the minds of these sailors, they were not only burying his body at sea, they were executing him. And notice the scripture says, when they cast him overboard and the sea ceased from raging. Can you picture that? I mean this, as I said last week, this was a storm they were in. Maybe a hurricane, I don't know. But the sea was boisterous. I mean you can just see those big waves and read about it in Psalm 107. Those that go to sea, they do do business in deep waters. And these men were in this ship. It was a tempestuous sea, boisterous sea. And I can just see them in my mind picking this man up, Jonah up, and trying to get over to the side of the ship. And the ship is rocking, you know how it is, in a storm. And finally, they make it over there. And just as soon as he hits the water, There's a calm. There's a calm. A display of God's power. Not only the sea was calm, but you know the wind was blowing, was stirring up the sea. The wind was still. I just imagine it was very quiet on that ship. This made a lasting impression upon these men, and they did three things. Notice what the Scripture says. First of all, it says, So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea, verse 15, and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly. The first thing they did, these men who witnessed this, these men who cast him overboard and saw how that the sea ceased immediately. It's roaring. The first thing that happened is they feared the Lord exceedingly. Was this, and I asked this question tonight, Was this the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom? Was this the fear of the Lord which is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death? Was this the fear of the Lord by which men depart from evil? I asked those questions from those Proverbs, but I can't answer. I hope, I hope it was that kind of fear, that reverential fear, not that slavish fear that some men and women have of God, but that reverential fear, that fear that is a product of God the Holy Spirit working in a person's heart. The fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Reverencing God, respecting God, not talking about God, not using God's name lightly and flippantly and jokingly as society, we see this, it's so common, isn't it, in society. And yet the scripture says that we are to revere the name, the person of God. We're not to take his name in vain. That's the first thing that we see that happened to these men. They feared the Lord exceedingly. Number two, they sacrificed unto the Lord. And I ask this question, was there anything left on board this ship to sacrifice? We know They had already thrown the cargo overboard at the very beginning of this storm. Or was it when they returned to land, and especially when they came to Palestine, to the land of Israel, did they go to the temple? Because you remember it was only at that brazen altar in the temple that God had ordained that sacrifices be offered unto him, that blood be poured out at that altar, and the fat of the sacrifice be burned, and the Lord would smell a sweet-smelling savor." Was that what happened when we read here, they sacrificed unto the Lord? Again, I can't answer that. I hope it was. I trust it was. The third thing we see that they did, they made vows. Did they vow to worship the Lord and Him alone? I pray they did. We can hope that they did. They vowed, we will never again worship these gods that we've always called upon because here, here this is the Lord. Jonah's God. He is God. Ruler. of all things, of all creation. He only is worthy of worship. We find in the book of Revelation chapter 5, that's the occupation in heaven, isn't it? Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Now, realize that as far as these sailors were concerned, as far as they were concerned, Jonah was dead. They couldn't think of anything else. They couldn't imagine anything else. They threw him overboard. He was drowned in the sea. And I mention this because I want to point out to us, they saw part of God's work but only a part. They saw part of God's work, but only a part. And this is true of men at all times. We only see a part of God's work. Many men see God's work in creation. They're forced. In fact, in Romans chapter 1, the apostle Paul tells us that God did not leave himself without witness. That all men in creation know there is a God. They see His power and they see His wisdom in His creation. But many who see only part of His work. They do not see His work in salvation. These mariners, they only saw part of His work. And you and I, at all times, we only see part of God's work in His providence. And because they saw only part of God's work, they came to a wrong conclusion. They had to come to a wrong conclusion. What did they conclude? Jonas did. Jonas did. They saw part of God's work. Them throwing him overboard and then the sea being calm. They had to come to this conclusion because they didn't see that God had prepared a great fish to swallow him. All they saw was He's in the water. He's drowned in the sea. We see only part of God's work in providence and many times we come to the wrong conclusions. And I think, and I've used this many times, but I would remind us of Jacob as an excellent example when he said, all these things are against me. All these things are against me. And yet all of these things that he mentioned were all working together for his good. And he eventually saw all of his sons again together. But he saw only part of God's providence. You see what I'm trying to say tonight to remind us of? That when we see things and when we experience things, We may be upset, we may be anxious, we may be doubtful, but remember this, we are only seeing part of God's providence. We're only seeing part. We're not seeing the whole of His providence. They did not see this part. They did not see that the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Verse 17. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. They didn't see that. All they saw was we threw him overboard and the sea became calm. They did not see that God would preserve his life. That God had prepared a great fish to swallow him and that God would preserve his life inside that fish for three days and three nights. Now this is the first of four things. The first of four things in the book of Jonah where we are told the Lord prepared. First in our text tonight, verse 17, the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. That's the first thing that we see in this book, that the Lord prepared. But now look in chapter 4. In chapter 4 and verse 6, We see that the Lord God prepared a gourd. That's the second thing that He prepared. He prepared a gourd to deliver him from his grief. Notice that in the remainder of verse 6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head. Notice, to deliver him from his grief. So first God The Lord prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Second, the Lord prepared a gourd to come up over Jonah to deliver him from his grief. Third, in the next verse, verse 7, but God prepared a worm. God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And then number four, in the next verse, and it came to pass when the sun did arise that God prepared, here's the fourth thing that God prepared, a vehement east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah. that he fainted, and wished himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live." Now I have three things that I believe we should see in looking at these four things that the Lord prepared. We should say, and I know we know this, but I'll just remind us of it once again, we should say that salvation is prepared for sinners. The Lord God prepared this fish to swallow Jonah. Salvation of sinners is the work of the Lord. that He has prepared. Keep your places here, but look with me in the New Testament at this parable our Lord gave in Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14 and beginning with verse 16. Then said he unto him, a certain man made a great supper and bade many, and sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden come, for all things are now ready. Now he didn't send his servant out with a message You fix some things and bring what you can and we'll have a potluck supper." No, no. He sent his servant out with this message, all things are ready. Everything's prepared. And that reminds us of salvation. All things are prepared. First of all, for the salvation of sinners, God prepared a Savior. He prepared us a Savior, someone who is both God and man, man that He might suffer and God that He might satisfy. Just as God prepared this great fish to swallow up Jonah, to save Jonah from the sea, so the Lord God has prepared a great Savior to save sinners. It's His work. It's his work, isn't it? He doesn't ask these men, he sends out his servant and tells them to come for all things are ready. Come. But notice, and they all with one consent began to make excuse. Well, I don't guess anybody's going to come to this supper. Well, you guessed wrong if you guessed that. No, there's some people. There's some people that God not only has prepared a Savior for, but He has prepared for the Savior. There's some who are hungry. There's some who are thirsty, even though these first, oh, they had something better to do. They were not hungry. They didn't need a Savior. They were not sinners. That's the application, isn't it? And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I've bought a piece of ground, and I must need go and see it. I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I've bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I've married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. I can't tell you over the years how many men have blame their wives for something they don't do. Well, here's one here in the Scripture. Goes all the way back to Adam, doesn't it? I've married a wife. I cannot come. So that servant came and showed his lord these things. And the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the poor. Anybody spiritually poor? He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. I'm not talking about materially poor, but spiritually poor. If salvation costs two pennies, two cents, I can't purchase it. I have nothing, nothing in my hands I bring, nothing. Go out. quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, persons maimed, he's not able to walk correctly. And that's a picture of all of us, isn't it? We cannot walk. Yes, we can learn God's commandments, we can memorize God's commandments, but we do not have the ability to obey. We're maimed, spiritually maimed, and the halt And the blind, we cannot see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. When sinners, when God who commanded the light to shine in the beginning, shines in our heart, then we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and we run to Christ. We run to Him. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded and yet there's room. There's room. Let me tell you, there's room in the heart of God for every sinner, isn't there? There's room. There's a plenteous redemption that the Lord Jesus Christ has wrought. Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. But the point being, the supper was prepared. It was prepared. Come, come. The Lord prepared a great fish to save Jonah, to swallow him up. So the Lord God has prepared a Savior for every sinner who needs a Savior. The second thing that we should see, that God's providence is a mixture of bitter and sweet. And I see that because I see these three things. The gourd, now that was sweet. Don't you know Jonah, oh, he was so pleased, he was so happy that gourd grew up and covered him to relieve his pressure and everything that he was experiencing. But then the next morning, here comes a worm along and helps himself to the gourd, and the gourd withers. And then there's this east wind that begins to blow, hot air. So I say we should see that God's providence is a mixture of both bitter and sweet. Do you remember, and let's look over here to Ecclesiastes. I'm sure you remember this passage of Scripture when we read it. Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Ecclesiastes chapter 3, beginning with verse 1. To everything there's a season. There was a season for that gourd to come up, wasn't there? And there was a season for that worm to come and destroy it. And a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. a time to rend and a time to sow, a time to keep silence and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it, sweet and bitter." Solomon said, I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men, to be exercised in it. He hath made everything beautiful in his time. Also he hath set the world in their hearts so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. No man is able to understand, to comprehend all of God's providential dealings. I know that there's no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God. Remember also that Job said, man that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. Even so, even so, as I thought about the fact that this providence is sweet and bitter mixed together. For most people, I think this would be the majority, if not all people, but at the end of our life, if we could look back over our days, we would see that there have been many more good days than bad days. Many more pleasant days than hard days. Many more days of sunshine than days of clouds. Number three, we should say that we walk by faith and not by sight. And let's turn to 1 Corinthians and we'll close here. 1 Corinthians chapter two. So God prepared salvation, and God prepares providence, both sweet and bitter. And notice here in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 9 and 10, the apostle said, But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. One thing that we know that God has prepared for them that love Him is a place in the Father's house. He said, I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." He's prepared a place. That verse, they tell me, actually means many dwelling places. In my Father's house are many mansions, many dwelling places. And there's a place there that has your name on it. if you're one of His tonight. And He's prepared that place for you. Not for anyone else. It's specially prepared for you. The Lord prepared it. He prepared it by going to the cross and shedding His blood that we might have entrance into the Holy of Holies with the Lord God. He's prepared a place for us. Just like He prepared the fish, the gourd, The worm and the east wind, the Lord has prepared all things for his people. I pray the Lord would bless these thoughts to those of us here tonight.