Sermon Prepared by James McCullen
Email Preach Him with Dr. Jim

YOU CAN'T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN
JONAH 1:17 - 2:10

INTRODUCTION:
A Lady SAID to a Bible believing preacher "I can't believe YOU THINK NOAH swallowed a whale." The minister asked her to repeat her statement. She did, and the Preacher said "mam you are guilty of talking without really thinking. Noah did not swallow a whale but a prepared fish swallowed Jonah".
 

Liberal Skeptic, and a New Christian young Lady.

How did Jonah survived in the belly of the whale? I'll ask him in heaven.

What If he didn't go? Then you ask him yourself.
 

I believe Jonah was in the belly of the prepared fish just as the Bible says. The conclusive proof for me is the words of Jesus in Matt 12:40 "for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (NAS)
 

I believe the message of the story is a missionary story and not a fish story. God works and He decides to bring Jonah up from belly of the whale. God believes you can't keep a good man down.
 

BECAUSE GOD PROVIDES A PLACE OF . . SAFETY.
 

BECAUSE GOD PROVIDES A PLACE OF . . SUPPLICATION.
 

BECAUSE GOD PROVIDES A PLACE OF . . STIMULATION.
 

BECAUSE GOD PROVIDES A PLACE OF . . SACRIFICE.
 
 

A. SAFETY WITH GOD'S APPOINTMENT. v 17 a

1:17 a "And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah,. . . "

A phrase by phrase exegesis:

1. The text makes it clear the fish was especially prepared by the Lord.

2. It could be any large fish of even something created for the moment.

3. A miracle is needed Jonah was not consumed;

by miracle he breathed; by miracle, retained his senses.

4. A tomb for Jonah, never before used similar to the Lord's tomb.

5. An offer he could not refuse.
 

B. SAFETY WITH GOD'S AGENDA. v 17 b

v 17 b ". . . .. and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights."

1. The Hebrew counting the first and third parts of days as whole twenty-four hour days.

2. Christ says in MAT 12:40 ". . . for just as \Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster,\ so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

3. It is not credible that Christ would use a mere legendary tale, with no historical basis, to

confirm his most solemn statement concerning the momentous fact of His resurrection.

4. The antitype confirms the truth of the type.

5, Three days & three nights (an expression including even a part of 3 days and nights) consider: Esther 4:15-16; 5:1

15 Then Esther told {them} to reply to Mordecai, 16 "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish." 17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

EST 5:1 Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace in front of the king's rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace.

ILLUSTRATION
A little girl had just finished witnessing to a small group of friends. Joyfully she told of God's saving grace and how His love had touched her heart. With assurance, she appropriately concluded her testimony by quoting these comforting words of Jesus recorded in John's gospel: "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:28.29).

Just then a joshing, doubting friend piped up with the question, "But Maggie, suppose you slip through His fingers?" She replied, "Never, never! You see, I'm one of the fingers!" Maggie may not have been well versed in the language of theology, but a biblical principal had been lodged in her heart; namely, that "we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones" (Eph. 5:30). She knew that she had been joined inseparably to Jesus and that she belonged to Him.

APPLICATION:

God does punish sin. He disciplines His children. Jonah is not on a Mediterranean Cruise but he is safely in God's control.
 
 

A. Supplication out of a Prepared . . Fish. V 1

phrase by phrase exegesis:
v 1 a "Then Jonah prayed to the \Lord\ his God . . . "

1. Jonah ceased to pray when he began to rebel, rebellion cannot join hands with Godly communion

2. Notice the word "then".

3. Jonah had finally become willing to pray. Note "His God" v 1 b ". . . ..from the stomach of the fish, . . . "

1. The voice of a child is heard wherever he cries in distress.

2. No place is amiss for prayer.

B. Supplication out of . . Frustration. v 2

v 2 a ". . . and he said, "I called out of my distress to the \Lord,\ . . . "

1. Jonah at least knew to whom to pray.

2. Jonah, however, had always known the true God.

3. In the past tense throughout, as it was composed after the experience.

v 2 b ". . . And He answered me. . . . Thou didst hear my voice."

1. He did not pray for deliverance from the fish, but praised God for hearing him.

2. God heard the prophet's cry, though uttered from the ocean's depths, and when he heard, he came to the rescue of his servant.

v 2 c "I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;

1. Inside the fish was a kind of grave.

2. FOUR WORDS FOR HELL

a. Sheol (sheh-ole'); Hades or the world of the dead JON 2:2

b. gehena (gheh'-en-nah); Mat 5:22

c. Hades (hah'-dace); Matt 16:18

d. tartaroo (tar-tar-o'-o); 2 Pet 2:4

3. Did Jonah die? In a figure Heb. 11:17-19. Lev. 14:1-7

ILLUSTRATION
Rudyard Kipling at one time was so popular that his writings were getting ten shillings per word. A few college students, however didn't appreciate Kipling's writings; they facetiously sent him a letter enclosing ten shillings. It read, "Please, send us your best word." They got back a letter from Kipling, "Thanks."

APPLICATION:

No doubt Jonah gave his best words in this prayer. But it was the Grace of God that saved him
 

A. Stimulated to See the . . Pursuit of God. V 3-7

phrase by phrase exegesis

v 3 a "For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas . . . "

1. "Thou" Jonah recognized the source whence his sufferings come.

2. Notice the number of times Thee and Thou. Quite an emphasis on God and His activity.
 

v 3 b ". . . And the current engulfed me. All Thy breakers and billows passed over me."

1. Surrounded him, encompassing him on all sides.

2. Thy waves and Thy billows, the servant of God and of His wrath, to punish sin.
 

v 5 a "Water encompassed me to the point of death, . . . "

1. There was but a breath between him and death. Death seemed so certain.

2. Portions of sea-weed, swallowed by the fish, wrapped around him.

3. So that there was no escape. The weed was like a grave-band.
 

v 6 a ". . . "I descended to the roots of the mountains.; . . . "

1. The Hebrew conceived of the earth as floating upon the great deep of waters.

2. The cuttings off, where the mountains seem to be cut off by the ocean floor; the roots of the mountains.
 

v 6 b ". . . The earth with its bars { was} around me forever, . . . "

1. The bars signify a physical beam of a city gate. The author thought that he was doomed for ever to separation from the land of the living.

2. The gate by which I might return was locked behind me. Forever.
 

v 6 c ". . . But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, . . . "

1. The deliverance already taken place, God sent the fish to deliver him.

2. Like a resurrection of the body, and displayed God's grace and power.
 

v 6 d " . . .O \Lord\ my God."

1. Being the God of all, He was especially his God.

2. These words full of meaning, express the faith and joy of the Prophet.

B. Stimulated to See the . . Position of God. V 4 & 7

2:4 "So I said, 'I have been expelled from Thy sight.

1. "I", in the emphatic position. I am cast forth, driven forth.

2. A strong term, implying banishment with violence. Interesting that he was trying to flee the presence of the Lord, until it became a reality.
 

v 4 b ". . . Nevertheless I will look again toward Thy holy temple."

1. His faith pierced the darkness, and pictured the mercy-seat.

2. Magnificent faith!
 

v 7 "While I was fainting away, I remembered the \Lord\; . . . "

1. Faith revived when Jonah "remembered the Lord."

2. This suggests the renewal of his submission to the divine will.
 

v 7 b ". . . And my prayer came to Thee, . . . "

1. God heard the prophet's cry, though uttered from the ocean's depths, and when he heard,

he came to the rescue of his servant.

2. No sooner had he so prayed, than God heard.
 

v 7 c " . . . Into Thy holy temple."

1. Many commentators are certain this temple is not the building in Jerusalem, but the

heavenly palace of Isaiah.

2. The sanctuary where God's presence was most assured.

3. Jonah prayed from the lowest depths to the heights of heaven.

4. Pictured the mercy-seat and the Divine presence.
 

ILLUSTRATION

In 1910, the boll weevil wiped out the cotton crop in the south, forcing southern farmers to diversify by planting peanuts and other new crops. The change brought prosperity to the region. Growers in Enterprise, Alabama, were so grateful to the destructive beetle for ending their one-crop dependency that they eventually erected a monument to him in their town square in 1919. Time has a way of putting things into the right perspective.

APPLICATION:

Difficulty many times stimulates a person to action. It stimulated Jonah.
 
 

A. Sacrifice Regardless of the . .Pain of Life . V 7

phrase by phrase exegesis

v 7 "While I was fainting away,

1. The word is used of actual faintness from heat, thirst, exhaustion.

B. Sacrifice Regardless of the . . People of Life. v 8

v 8 "Those who regard vain idols

1. Reverence to idols, powerless to save.

2. Vanity equals worthlessness.

3. All men's idols, idols of flesh, idols of intellect, idols of ambition, idols of pride, idols of self and self-will. Men guard them as though they could keep them, but the are breath and wind, vanishing like air into air.

4. His own idol had been his false love for his country.

5. Patriotism is a national benefit but a poor God.

v 8 b ". . . Forsake their faithfulness,. . . "

1. Forfeit the "loyal love," "grace," or "mercy" they could have from Yahweh.

2. In abandoning their God, they give up the love and mercy.

3. They take nothing from God, but rob themselves and commit moral suicide.

4. Mercy is not getting what we deserve--Grace is getting what we don't deserve.

C. Sacrifice Regardless of the . . Position of Life . V 9

v 9 "But I will sacrifice to Thee . . . "

1. An expression of gratitude to God, rather than an effort to appease his wrath.

2. The emphatic I plus the adversative conjunction but makes a contrast with the idolaters.

3. INSIDE A FISH.

a. SACRIFICE b. VOW

v 9 b ". . . With the voice of thanksgiving; . . . "

1. The law appointed sacrifices of thanksgiving; these he would offer.

2. His sacrifice of thanksgiving should be offered with prayer and praise.

3. The praise of Yahweh is the most commanded activity in scripture.

4. Thanksgiving is grateful acknowledgment of favors and gifts.

5. So Jehoshaphat appointed singers to praise the Lord in front of the army before the battle

with Moab and Ammon, as if the victory was already gained. God honors such confidence in Him.

Illustration:
I took my granddaughter Brittanie to breakfast the other day. When we left she held my hand and looking up said "this was fun wasn't it papa." That guaranteed another breakfast out for her and me. She had a voice of thanksgiving.

v 9 c ". . . That which I have vowed I will pay. . . "

1. He would pay what he had vowed, chiefly himself, his life which God gave back to him.

2. Although the vow was not required, once made it was to be performed.

The Hebrew word seemeth to imply two things:

1. That his vow till paid was incomplete.

2. Till that were done he could not be at peace with himself.

3. Probably his vow was that if God would deliver him he would readily go wherever he should please to send him,

v 9 d ". . . Salvation is from the \Lord\.. . "

1. Salvation is a gift of God, not an achievement of man. It is wholly His, none can share in bestowing it, none can have any hope, save from Him.

2. It was a complete salvation. Jonah was not left in the deep, nor sent to the surface to swim to land. He was left in no danger, but enjoyed a perfect rescue.

3. This is a confession, a praise, a creed, and a summary of the psalm. In truth, God alone saves and delivers.

4. Salvation is an act of God in the face of the impossible.

ILLUSTRATION:
On a television program a small boy was asked if he had any pets. "Well," he replied, "I did have some goldfish but water softener got into the aquarium and they softened to death." So, also, self-indulgence, laziness, indifference and lack of self-discipline can become a part of our lives. Our spiritual muscles become flabby, we are prey to temptation and sin.
 

Warren Wiersbe noted that when God permits his children to go through the furnace, he keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat.

APPLICATION:

Are you a born again child of God? Have disobeyed God? There is hope and the love of God will pursue you. He desires to bring you back into the center of His will for your life. You can't keep a good man down.

CONCLUSION:
YOU CAN'T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN BECAUSE:
 

I. God Provides a Place of Safety.
 

II. God Provides a Place of Supplication.
 

III. God Provides a Place of Stimulation.
 

IV. God Provides a Place of Sacrifice.
 
 

Return to Preach Him Home Page.

Return to Preach Him Sermon Index.