On July 2nd, 1505 22 year old, Martin Luther, was returning to Erfurt Germany after a visit with his parents. He recently finished his masters and was set to continue his education and pursue a law degree. But God hurled a thunderstorm causing Luther to fear for his life. A lightning bolt hit nearby, knocking him off his feet, he looked and grabbed a large granite rock and called out, “Help me Saint Anne and I will become a monk.” As John Piper notes, “He feared for his soul and did not know to find safety in the gospel so he took the next best thing, the monastery.” Luther’s father was a copper miner and Saint Anne, being the patron saint of miners was probably prominently displayed in Luther’s home. The following week, Luther kept his vow and sold all his law books and entered the monastery. Luther trusted religious obedience to honor the vain idol, he gave credit to save him.
Luther believed the storm was sent because God was angry with him and the only way he could appease God’s anger was his fervent religious activity. The rash decision of a scared 21 year old led him to abandon his career and reject his father’s counsel. Luther would later say his vow and decision to go to the monastery to become a monk was a flagrant sin for it was made in fear and it dishonored his father, but would also say, “But how much good the merciful Lord has allowed to come of it.” The Lord used his fearful hope in the vain idol Saint Anne to open his eyes to the steadfast love of Jesus Christ who came to rescue him from God’s wrath by making peace through the blood of the cross. God pursued Martin Luther through a thunderstorm, God pursued Jonah through a tempest, and perhaps God is pursuing you as you pay regard to vain idols.
My prayer is for you to open your eyes to God’s steadfast love so you would be able to say as Luther did, “How much God the merciful Lord has allowed to come from it.” The Lord will accomplish the purpose of his sovereign will. God determined to use the brash German monk to ignite the reformation of the church and God determined to use the fleeing Israelite prophet to ignite the repentance of a wicked nation. God will accomplish his purpose. Isaiah 46:8–11
[8] “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
[9] remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
[10] declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
[11] calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it…
[13] I will put salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
God will accomplish his purpose and his purpose is to bring salvation to all who turn from vain idols to his steadfast love. Beloved, Salvation belongs to the Lord. He will accomplish his purpose. Let us open our eyes to see the merciful hand of the Lord and let us lift our voice to him in prayer.
Pray to the Lord in Chaos
Before we get to Jonah’s prayer for salvation, we must see how God was working salvation for him. Remember Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to call out against that wicked city, but instead of obeying God, Jonah fled to Tarshish and boarded a ship heading in the opposite direction. God hurled a storm at Jonah causing the sailors to hurl Jonah into the sea. The sea calmed, the sailors were saved, and Jonah was sinking to Sheol, the place of the dead. But God. John 1:17, “And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.” The word appointed is used four times in Jonah showing how God is the main actor in the story. The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. The Lord was moving in Jonah’s life. The Lord is always moving to accomplish his purposes.
Beloved, your life may seem chaotic and confusing but remember the words of David in Psalm 138:8, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” You can focus on the chaos or you can focus on the God who works in the chaos. Beloved, God is for you. God is working right now in the midst of whatever chaos you are facing to fulfill his purposes for you in accord with his steadfast love. Let me encourage you to call out to the Lord in your distress for God hears your voice. As Jonah was sinking to the bottom of the sea, he called out to God and God saved him. But remember before he even prayed God had appointed a fish to save him. Jonah 2:2–3
[2] saying,
“I called out to the LORD, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
[3] For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Jonah called out to the Lord and the Lord heard his prayer and answered it. But I want you to notice how Jonah sees God’s hand in bringing him to a place to call out to Him. Jonah prays, “For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas…all your waves and your billows passed over me.” The sailors were the agent of God’s purpose. The sailors hurled Jonah into the sea, but as Jonah prayed he realized everything was appointed by the sovereign Lord. Beloved, salvation belongs to the Lord.
As a friend reminded me this week, we should not only pray to the Lord in the midst of the chaos and distress. We should be praying to the Lord at all times. Prayer refocuses our minds to God’s will. John Stott says, “The purpose of prayer is emphatically not to bend God’s will to ours, but rather to align our will to his.” God wants you to echo the Lord Jesus, “Not my will, but your will be done.” God uses the chaos to crystallize his care for his children. Spurgeon declares, “Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble. They must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction; otherwise we will not truly receive them.” Do you see God’s care in the chaos? Pray to the Lord. Align your will to His.
Pray to the Lord in Certainty
As Jonah sank into the deep, he still had confidence in God to save. Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish, but his prayer was uttered before he was saved. Jonah 2:3–7
[3] For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
[4] Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
[5] The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
[6] at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O LORD my God.
[7] When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the LORD,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Jonah had confidence in God. He believed in God who saves. He did not trust in his works to save him, but in God alone.
Where is your confidence? Where are you placing your trust? Jonah remembered the Lord and believed he would look upon the Lord in his holy temple. He believed he was going to be saved. We do not know if he believed it was going to be in life or in death, but he was certain he was going to be with the Lord.
Friend, every day we are one moment away from eternity. A stroke, a heart attack, a car accident, or an aneurysm could come at any moment. Life is fragile and brief. God was gracious to Jonah because Jonah had a few conscious moments as he sank in the sea to call out to God. We may not be given that grace to get right with God at the end so get right with God now. If you are not following Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, where are you placing your confidence? Where are you placing your trust? We live in a world of constant distraction; a world that wants you to avoid thinking about the end. We cannot avoid death. It is coming for us all. Are you ready?
Pray to the Lord for Clarity
God wants to be known. The Lord has given us his Word to reveal himself to us. He not only gave us his Word but he became the Word. Jesus came to us to show us salvation. Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross to reconcile the world to himself. Jesus was raised from the dead to eliminate vain idols and to show his steadfast love. Jonah 2:8, “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.” The book of Jonah is about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jonah’s life was given to us so that we would forsake vain idols and pay regard to the hope of steadfast love. Jonah’s life is meant to point us to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the resurrection of Jesus Christ is meant to show the world, salvation belongs to God and no one else. And salvation is not only for the Jews but for all, Jews and Gentiles, who trust in Christ.
Jesus tried to show the Jews that he was the Messiah. They believed, much like Martin Luther, they could be saved by religious observance. They first century Jews were paying regard to the vain idol of works. Matthew 12, Jesus’ disciples plucked grain on the Sabbath and the Pharisees rebuked Jesus, but he replied, “I tell you something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is the lord of the Sabbath.” The same day Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath causing his withered hand to straighten. Instead of praising him for his power, they conspired to destroy him. Jesus said to those who followed him, Matthew 12:18–21
[18] “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
[19] He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
[20] a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
[21] and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
Jesus told the people he came as God’s chosen servant to save the Gentiles but the Pharisees would have none of it. Jonah was much like the Pharisees. He wanted salvation for himself, but did not want the Gentiles, the Ninevehites, to experience salvation. Jesus is so kind to save. He is so patient with the rebellious. Matthew 12:22–24
[22] Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. [23] And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” [24] But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute and made him see, speak and sane in his right mind. Some praised him, while others called him the prince of demons. Jesus begins to teach about the unforgivable sin and the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was revealing to them that Jesus was the Christ, the Savior of the Lord, but they were blind. They rejected God’s salvation for salvation was being extended to the Gentiles. They wanted salvation for themselves, but not for others. Let’s pick up Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees as he teaches about being known by one’s fruit. Matthew 12:33–41,
[33] “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. [34] You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. [35] The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. [36] I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, [37] for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” [38] Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” [39] But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [41] The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Jesus does not offer them a new sign, but he tells them of Jonah. Jonah was given to us to see that the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth and then raised from the dead. Do not miss this. Jonah is a sign of the resurrection. The resurrection is God’s declaration to the Lord that salvation belongs to him. Jesus’ was showing the Jews while he was on earth in healing the demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. The Jews were unwilling to see it. Jesus pointed them to the Scriptures. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Remember Jonah’s prayer, “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.” The Jews were forsaking their hope of steadfast love because they were trusting in their own heritage and religiosity for salvation. What is your hope for salvation? God makes it clear for all. Any other hope outside of the resurrection of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, from the dead, is a vain idol. The vain idol of good works has led many, many ‘good’ people to eternal condemnation. Friend, no one is good, not even one. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And if we are all sinners, then we all need a Savior. Jesus came to the world and shouted, “I am the Savior!” “I am the Son of Man!” “I am the Son of David!” “I am the One greater than Jonah!” “I am the Son of God!” And the Jews missed it. They forsake steadfast love because they trust in the vain idol of good works and religious observance. Friend, do not pay regard to vain idols. Do not try to earn your way to heaven. It is an empty hope. We cannot save ourselves. We need a Savior.
Jesus said, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Jesus was pointing to his resurrection from the dead implying that he was first going to die. The perfect Son of Man gave his life on the cross for sinners. Romans 5:8-11,
[8] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[9] Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. [10] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. [11] More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Salvation only comes to those who believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All other hope is in vain and empty and meaningless. Jonah learned in the belly of the great fish, “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.” Are you forsaking your hope? Pray to the Lord for clarity. Ask him to show you what is true.
Pray to the Lord for Comfort
Martin Luther made a vow and kept it. Jonah made a vow and kept it. Jonah 2:9, “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” The pagan sailors made vows of trust to God after he saved them from the storm and now Jonah makes a vow with God after he saved him with a great fish. God wanted Jonah’s heart. He wanted Jonah to follow him in full obedience not as a means of salvation but as a response to his salvation. Good work is not the root of salvation, but the fruit of it. Good work as the root is a vain idol. It places man at the center of his own salvation and causes him to boast. Salvation belongs to the Lord so no man can boast. If we boast, we boast in the Lord.
Beloved, we must thank God for his salvation. We must pray to him to comfort us as our Savior so we can share the comfort of all salvation with others. Hear Pauls words, 2 Corinthians 1:3–9,
[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, [4] who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. [5] For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. [6] If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. [7] Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
[8] For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. [9] Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
Our comfort is in God who raises the dead. He comforts in our affliction so we may comfort others. Jonah was saved and will fulfill his vow and preach to the Ninevehites. We have been saved and should fulfill our vow and share the gospel with the world.
Our comfort is not for ourselves only but for others. Jonah was not saved for himself but for the Ninevehites.You are not saved for yourself but for others. Salvation belongs to the Lord. He wants to use his people to do his will and to sow his seed. If we know God can save us, wretched sinners by his grace and his grace alone, we should have confidence that God can save others. He comforted us in our affliction of sin and death so we can help comfort others in the same way. Beloved, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Do we believe that? If we believed it, wouldn’t we share it? If we truly believed in the resurrection of the dead, it would change everything about us.
The book of Jonah is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. God appointed a fish to save Jonah. God appointed his Son to save us. God reminded Jonah that salvation belonged to all who would trust him. Jesus reminded the Jews that salvation belongs to all who trust him. Revelation 7:9–10
[9] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Pray to God of all comfort to comfort others for salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb who was slain and who was raised on the third day. Oh beloved put away vain idols and false hope. Rejoice in the steadfast love of God. Rejoice that “Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
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