Participants: Pr. Louis Torres
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000727
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01:01 Well, hello, and welcome to Digging up the Future,
01:05 Bible Prophecy Exposed. 01:06 We're glad that you are back. 01:07 We've had an exciting series 01:09 that's been building night by night 01:11 and the Holy Spirit's been with us. 01:13 And we're just delighted with 01:15 what he's doing in our hearts and in homes 01:17 and we're glad that you are with us tonight. 01:19 As always however, we want to ask 01:21 the Lord's presence before we open His word, 01:24 before we worship together and learn together. 01:27 Let's just bow our heads in prayer. 01:30 Father in heaven, today we're indeed grateful 01:32 that You protected the Bible, 01:35 but You also filled it with prophecies. 01:37 Some 27% of the Bible filled with prophecy. 01:40 We can try You, we can test You 01:42 and we can know that You are true. 01:44 And we've seen that in this seminar. 01:45 So we ask a rich measure of blessing 01:48 to those watching today, those listening today, 01:52 and also to our speaker today. 01:54 And we come in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:59 Well, we have been graced with special numbers 02:01 throughout the series and again, 02:03 Chris Albrecht will play for us, 02:06 this time "How Great thou Art." 04:38 And the people said, Amen. 04:43 It's wonderful to be with you again in this presentation. 04:47 It's wonderful to stud the Word of God 04:49 and to see how much there is that gives us hope, 04:52 especially the prophecies that are in the scriptures. 04:55 And this particular segment, we want to study 04:59 the Book of Jonah, Jonah and the whale. 05:04 But before we do, let us pray together 05:07 as we open God's word. 05:08 Father, thank you so much for thy word 05:12 and as we study it, speak to our hearts, we pray. 05:15 Help us to understand and to draw closer to thy, 05:19 as our prayer in Jesus' name with thanks giving. 05:22 Amen. Jonah and the whale. 05:27 This particular story is an outstanding-- 05:31 astounding story 05:36 because it seems to be unbelievable. 05:40 When you think of what the Book of Jonah says, 05:47 many skeptics would believe it if it were not for two verses. 05:54 One of the first verses 05:55 that they have problems with is Jonah1:17. 06:00 And it simply says, "Now the Lord had prepared 06:02 a great fish to swallow up Jonah. 06:05 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish 06:08 three days and three nights." 06:10 People believe that, that can't happen. 06:14 The other verse in the Book of Jonah 06:16 that people have difficulty accepting 06:18 and believing is Chapter 2 and verse 10, 06:22 "And the Lord spake unto the fish, 06:25 and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." 06:32 There is no question that the Bible says 06:35 a lot of things that are difficult 06:37 to understand and even to believe. 06:40 But, my friends, 06:41 it's important for us to understand 06:44 that if God wrote it, it must be true. 06:49 Listen, I want to tell you this, 06:52 there's no question in my mind 06:54 that the Bible is advanced in science. 06:58 In fact, it is ahead of the scientific field. 07:02 You may ask the question, how is that? 07:04 One day I was sitting in a plane, 07:06 flying from Oslo, Norway, 07:09 and coming back toward the United States. 07:12 And it so happened that next to me sat a lady 07:16 and as we began to chat together, 07:19 I discovered that she was in charge 07:22 of all the apparatuses that are pointing 07:25 towards heaven to discover 07:26 if there are any signals or any life out there. 07:30 And when she told me that, I said to her, 07:32 "You folks are too late." 07:34 And she looked at me and she said, 07:36 "What do you mean?" 07:37 I said, "The Bible already tells us 07:39 that there are living beings out in space." 07:43 She said, where? 07:44 So I then showed her the Book of Job 07:48 and of course Paul says, "We made a spectacle 07:50 unto the universe and unto the worlds." 07:55 Then I said, "You folks are thinking of 07:57 building a space city, is that true?" 07:59 She said, "Yeah." 08:01 I said, "You guys are too late again." 08:03 And she said, "What are you talking about?" 08:05 I turned her to the Book of Revelation 08:07 and showed her that God speaks about a city out in space. 08:13 She was quite surprised. 08:15 I shared with her many other scientific points 08:19 and when we finally finished our conversation 08:23 we were near landing 08:24 and this is what she said to me, 08:27 when my brother became one of these born again things, 08:33 he invited me to his church 08:35 and the pastor sat us around in a circle 08:38 and gave us Bibles and turns to some place 08:41 about some bones, connected to some bones. 08:44 And then asked us to look and give our impressions 08:49 as to what we were seeing concerning to these bones. 08:52 And she said, "I sat there feeling kind of silly, 08:56 looking really what bones 08:58 and trying to come up with some impression." 08:59 And then I thought to myself, 09:01 is that all that the Bible has to offer, who needs it? 09:06 But she said, "When I get home, 09:09 one of the first things I'm doing is getting a Bible." 09:13 Listen, let me just share some things with you 09:17 that help you to understand 09:19 how far and advance the Bible is to science. 09:24 In the scriptures, 09:25 God speaks about the Lord doing several things 09:31 that He uses simple language to express. 09:35 For example, the first anesthesia 09:39 is recorded in the scriptures. 09:41 The Bible simply says, "And the Lord God 09:44 caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam." 09:48 Now obviously, if you're going to perform a surgery 09:52 what do you have to do with the patient? 09:53 You have to put him into a deep sleep. 09:56 Well, scientists have to use the large word, anesthesia. 10:01 God just simple said a deep sleep. 10:04 God wrote it so even children could understand it. 10:07 Amen. 10:08 It's wonderful to see how simple God says it. 10:10 Well, the first surgery is recorded in the Bible. 10:13 Notice, it says that, 10:15 "And he took one of Adam's ribs, 10:18 and closed up the flesh instead thereof." 10:21 Notice that it says then, that the Lord actually 10:24 pulled out the rib, opened up the side, 10:26 pulled out the rib and closed it back up. 10:29 We call that surgery, don't we today? 10:32 And so God then performs the first surgery. 10:36 God also does perform the first or creates the first clone. 10:40 Now you may not think of it as a clone, but think of it. 10:43 God took from that rib and made a what? 10:46 A woman. Right from the rib. 10:50 And so it says, "And the rib, 10:53 which the Lord God had taken from man, 10:56 made he a woman, and brought her unto the man." 10:58 Genesis 2:22. 11:00 And so the first clone, first anesthesia 11:03 and the first surgery are recorded where? 11:05 In the Bible. 11:06 And let me say this, for millenniums, 11:09 people did not believe that it was possible for you 11:11 to open somebody up 11:12 and close them back again and live. 11:16 It's only something that's taken place 11:18 within the last few perhaps hundred years 11:22 that surgery has now become a common place. 11:26 In fact my wife has two cousins 11:29 who are organ transplant surgeons. 11:32 And so surgery now is something of a common day thing. 11:35 But you have to remember, 11:36 in the days of George Washington, 11:39 they tried to begin something in that arena 11:43 and many people didn't make it. 11:45 In fact they used to believe in bloodletting 11:48 and our first president got sick 11:50 and they thought the problem was 11:52 if you get enough blood out of him he will get well. 11:54 So they actually took blood out from George Washington 11:58 and sped up his death. 12:02 Surgery then is something that is known today 12:08 but not known for millenniums. 12:11 You can see then that the Bible is advanced. 12:13 But I am not finished yet, there are other things. 12:16 Notice then, the first what? Space flight. 12:19 The first space flight. 12:21 "And it came to pass, 12:22 as they still went on, and talked, 12:25 this is Elijah and Elisha, the two prophets, 12:29 that, behold, there appeared 12:31 a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, 12:34 and parted them both asunder; 12:36 and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." 12:41 The first space flight is recorded where? 12:44 In the scriptures. 12:45 Now people don't look at it as a space flight 12:47 but, friends, if you get caught up into heaven 12:50 you certainly are taking a flight. 12:51 What do you say? 12:52 Well, there's no question about it. 12:54 Listen, there's more. 12:56 The first projection is recorded in the scriptures. 12:59 Notice then that 3ABN is not the first one 13:03 to project something around the world. 13:05 Notice that the scripture says 13:07 that when the devil was tempting Christ, 13:10 the devil then took Christ into a high place 13:14 and projected or show them all the world. 13:16 Notice, it says, "Again, the devil taketh him up 13:19 into an exceeding high mountain, 13:20 and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, 13:23 and the glory of them." 13:25 Now how did the devil, 13:28 how was he capable of showing Jesus 13:32 all the kingdoms at once in as much as, 13:36 he just took Him to one place, not too many place? 13:38 Obviously then, he was able to project things 13:41 and enable Christ to see these things. 13:44 Now we talk about the space city 13:46 that I was talking to the lady about. 13:48 In the Bible in Revelation 21:2 it says, 13:52 "I John saw the holy city 13:54 coming down from God out of," where? 13:56 Well, it says, "Out of heaven." 13:59 Now, it also mentions that 14:01 this particular city has streets of gold 14:04 but it's interesting that it says transparent gold. 14:08 What kind of gold? Transparent gold. 14:11 Now think of it, again, for millennium, 14:14 for centuries people never knew 14:18 that you could make transparent gold. 14:20 In fact, when John wrote this 14:23 and he spoke about transparent gold, 14:25 I'm sure there were people around his area 14:27 who thought he must have been hallucinating 14:30 or taking a few drinks. 14:32 Because whoever saw gold used to see-through? 14:38 Skeptics and infidels have 14:40 mocked and scoffed at the scriptures 14:42 because of things like this, fairytale, they say. 14:45 But no longer are they saying fairytale 14:47 because modern science has discovered 14:50 how to make transparent gold. 14:53 And most of you who fly in airplanes 14:56 without realizing it are actually 14:59 able to see transparent gold. 15:01 The transparent gold is in the windshield. 15:04 In the windshield of a cockpit usually it is made 15:08 of two plate glasses about an inch and half thick 15:12 and they are put together and in the midst of it, 15:16 or between those two plate glasses 15:18 is a film of transparent gold. 15:21 And this transparent gold is used of course to defog 15:25 as well as to keep the window pane flexible. 15:29 I was speaking to a technician not too long ago in Nebraska 15:33 who told me that he installs these windows in the airplane. 15:39 And he said that it takes a 120 bolts to install them. 15:42 And then he told me that in order to test them 15:46 they put them in a place 15:47 and then take a cannon and take a turkey 15:50 or a bird of the size of a turkey and throw it 15:53 and then shoot it from the cannon 15:56 right into the pane of glass to see if it holds the impact. 16:01 If it holds the impact 16:02 then they mount the glass into the plane. 16:05 And then he told me that this particular glass 16:11 costs $20,000. 16:14 Now you know why it costing you so much to fly, 16:19 besides the petrol of course. 16:21 Well, you can see then 16:25 that according to the scriptures 16:27 the Bible is advance in science. 16:31 And so what about Jonah and the whale then? 16:36 One of the things I think 16:37 is important for us to understand 16:40 is that Jesus Himself believed the story. 16:43 Why? 16:44 Because Jesus himself inspired the story. 16:48 And friends, if the Lord believed it 16:52 and you and I professed to be Christians, 16:55 then a Christian believes what Christ taught, 16:58 what do you say? 16:59 And so if for no other reason than that Jesus believed it, 17:04 you and I ought to believe it also. 17:06 We should not need science to support what the Bible says. 17:10 We should have faith. We should have what? 17:13 Faith, that the Word of God is true, 17:16 and believe in what Jesus says. 17:18 Notice, Jesus says in Matthew 12:39-40, 17:22 "There shall no sign be given to it, 17:24 but the sign of the-- " What? 17:27 "Of the prophet Jonas. 17:29 For as Jonas was three days and three nights 17:33 in the whale's belly so shall the Son of man be 17:37 three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." 17:39 And by the way, I should add here 17:41 that the first submarine ride was experienced by Jonah. 17:52 Jesus believed it and friends 17:54 I think that as Christians we must believe it. 17:58 Jesus never made a mistake and so He taught that. 18:03 You know, there are a lot of people 18:04 who have a hard time believing the scriptures. 18:07 I heard of a particularly young man, 18:10 his father was a farmer, 18:12 and his father sacrificed to send him off to college. 18:15 Young man off to school and studied, 18:18 when he finished his schooling, came back home 18:22 and promptly announced to his Dad, 18:24 "Dad, thank you so much 18:26 for supporting me through school 18:28 and I've learned so much that now, Dad, 18:31 I can't believe anything unless it could be proven 18:37 and unless I could understand it perfectly well. 18:41 Well, the old man said, "Oh, is that true?" 18:45 He said, "Yes, Dad, I am educated, 18:48 I got my degree." 18:49 The old man said, "Okay, son." 18:52 Well, you can tell me then, 18:54 how it is that a black cow can eat green grass 18:57 and give white milk perfectly well? 18:59 When you can explain that to me, 19:01 then you can have milk, 19:02 until then no more milk for you. 19:05 Well, it wasn't long before that young man realized 19:09 that there are many things in life 19:11 that you may not be able to understand 19:12 or explain them perfectly well but you can believe them. 19:15 What do you say? 19:16 And so we believe what the Lord says 19:19 and what the Lord teaches. 19:20 In fact, if my Bible says it, I believe it. 19:23 I remember seeing a sunlight 19:24 that is I was traveling down through south 19:26 for the United States towards Georgia, 19:29 there's a big, big billboard that said "The Bible says it, 19:33 eyes believes it, that settles it." 19:36 I thought that was a wonderful, wonderful sign. 19:38 But look, what about the story of Jonah 19:41 being swallowed up by a whale? 19:44 Is that possible? Can it happen? 19:47 Are there fish in the sea 19:48 that are big enough to swallow a man? 19:51 The answer is yes. 19:53 Let me first begin in sharing with you 19:56 an interesting experience 19:57 that took place in Key West, Florida. 20:00 In Key West, Florida, there was a man 20:02 who was fishing off the shore and snags something. 20:07 It was something big, he didn't know what it was 20:10 but he struggled with the thing for 39 hours. 20:17 Finally, it was brought in 20:19 and that turned out to be a fish 20:20 that was 40 feet long, 45 feet long. 20:24 And 15 meters, for those of you 20:28 who are in that arena of meters. 20:35 The fish actually weighed 15 tones. 20:39 Or if you know what a ton is, 20:41 it's 2000 pounds, so it's 30,000 pounds. 20:45 The interesting thing about this particular fish 20:48 is that its width was 23 feet or 7.5 meters. 20:53 And from the tail to the tip of it 20:56 was 10 feet long or 3 meters. 20:59 Now something amazing about this fish 21:02 is that in its stomach it had an octopus, 21:07 a live octopus weighing 1, 500 pounds or 750 kilograms. 21:14 So think of it, a fish that had an octopus 21:19 still alive in its stomach weighing 1,500 pounds. 21:24 And there are people who have a hard time believing 21:27 that a fish could swallow a six foot Jew. 21:31 But friends, here's an experience, 21:34 in fact the fish turns out-- that to preserve it 21:39 they sent through out of the state of Florida 21:41 and it took 19, pardon me, 21:44 19 barrels of formaldehyde to preserve it 21:47 or 4,750 liters to preserve it. 21:52 The interesting, most interesting thing 21:54 about this fish is that it was a baby. 22:00 Scientists think that what happened was that 22:04 this particular fish dwells or inhabits at great depth. 22:09 And that there must have been some volcanic eruption 22:12 or something that affected his diving apparatus 22:15 and the fish could no longer go down and it was snagged. 22:20 It was a baby. 22:23 And if that was a baby, 22:26 I wonder what mama and papa must look like. 22:33 It's amazing. 22:35 There in the Mediterranean Sea 22:36 there's another situation that takes place, 22:39 Dr. Harry Rimer tells of white sharks 22:47 and in Egypt there are also-- in Alexandria, Egypt, 22:51 there are large fish 22:55 that are able to swallow large objects. 23:00 Recently, I was doing a little research in the internet 23:04 and discovered something very interesting 23:08 concerning some stories that are taking place. 23:14 Now there is a story about the Star of the East 23:17 that some people say is true, some people say it's not true. 23:20 But the story goes like this, that there were some whalers 23:24 that went out to hunt whales and they came across few whales 23:30 and they sent out the whale boats. 23:33 And one of the particular whales 23:35 was harpooned and it died. 23:36 The other whale was harpooned 23:38 but it did not die, it submerged. 23:40 And when it came up, it actually came up 23:42 just where the small boat was 23:45 and it smashed that boat to smithereens. 23:47 Well, some of the sailors were thrown out into the ocean 23:51 and they were able to retrieve one 23:57 and brought him back alive but the other one was missing 24:03 and they thought he was gone forever. 24:06 Well, what happened was 24:07 that as they brought the whale to the side of the ship 24:10 and finally began to cut it apart, 24:12 they finally got to the stomach and through the stomach 24:14 on the deck only to discover that the stomach was moving. 24:18 And so they cautiously came to the stomach 24:24 and cut it open only to discover 24:27 that inside there was the missing sailor. 24:32 His name was James Bartley, as it had been reported. 24:36 And this man apparently had been 24:40 swallowed by the whale and the story says 24:42 that when he flew up in the air and he was coming down 24:45 he saw below him a big black hole. 24:49 And then that he fell into this hole 24:51 and he felt like he was been squeezed down into-- 24:54 through a tunnel and finally he fell into a big, big room. 24:57 And he said that the heat was insufferable. 25:00 And finally he went out unconscious 25:03 and when he woke up there he was in the deck. 25:08 There are other experiences and other information 25:16 that you find in the internet concerning large fish 25:19 that can swallow large objects. 25:22 For example, I went in the internet 25:25 on the orthodoxphotos.com and here's what it says, 25:29 "There are whales which do not have teeth, 25:31 but are provided with ''whalebones.' 25:34 ' Among such a type of whale 25:36 there are whales which are called 'fin-backs." 25:39 And it says, "These whales can be up to 88 feet long. 25:43 The stomach of such a whale has from 25:45 four to six chambers or compartments. 25:49 Then it says, "Each of which 25:50 could easily contain a small group of people." 25:54 It continues to say, 25:56 "This type of whale breathes air 25:57 and has on its head a reserve air chamber 26:01 which appears with the dilation of the nasal cavities. 26:04 Before swallowing a very large object, 26:07 the finback whale pushes it through to this chamber. 26:10 If it happens that something too large is found 26:13 in the head of this whale, 26:15 then it will swim to the nearest land, 26:18 lie in the shallow water and disgorge its burden." 26:26 And there's another whale, this particular whale, 26:28 it's the largest among citations 26:32 and it is in fact the only gullet large 26:36 enough to swallow a human. 26:38 Then the Great White. 26:42 I am a scuba diver and one of the wonderful creatures 26:46 that you always are concerned about is the Great White. 26:50 Here's a picture of a Great White. 26:52 And I want you to notice that this Great White 26:54 has a shark inside of it, you see that? 26:57 "A photo of a Great White 26:59 swallowing a whole 2.10 meters dusky shark. 27:04 This is photographic proof 27:06 that a great white shark can swallow a man what? 27:10 "Whole." 27:12 Then there was one caught in Long Island, 27:14 where I am from, New Your City. 27:17 "One of the largest specimens was caught off Montauk point, 27:20 which is in Long Island." 27:22 I used to go out there and fish. 27:24 And it says then that-- 27:26 "In 1964, it was 5.34 meters or over 17 feet long. 27:34 White sharks swallow unchewed creatures 27:36 and objects half their -- " what? 27:38 "Their size." 27:39 So you can see then from just the reports 27:44 that have come in there are sea creatures 27:47 that are capable of swallowing large objects. 27:55 Now let's go to this actual story. 27:59 What was the story of Jonah and the whale? 28:01 And what messages does it have for you and for me? 28:05 It was written by a prophet and of course 28:07 it has prophetic meaning, significance. 28:12 And that's why Jesus used the past 28:15 to point to his present. 28:16 He said, as Jonah was in the whale 28:19 three days and three nights 28:20 so shall the Son of Man also likewise be. 28:25 What's interesting about this is that you need to understand 28:28 that God gives prophecies so that in the future 28:34 you can see the fulfillment of it 28:35 and have confidence that God is still in control. 28:39 Now listen, let's consider this story about Jonah. 28:46 First of all, Jonah was sent by God to preach. 28:51 And when Jonah was sent by God to preach, 28:54 God told him to go to 28:57 what he considered to be a hard place. 28:59 There's no question that sometimes preachers 29:01 are sent to difficult places to preach. 29:05 Sometimes I've gone to places 29:06 where the devil seems to be fighting against the meetings. 29:09 I remember one of my first 29:11 evangelistic meetings that I held, 29:12 it was a tent meeting, up in a little place called 29:15 Ruidoso in New Mexico, way up in the mountains. 29:18 And when I got there unfortunately 29:20 the church was split, the church only had 10 members 29:22 and they were fighting five against five. 29:25 And then of course it was my first evangelistic meeting 29:29 so I was pretty wet behind the ears 29:31 and wasn't used to the kind of things 29:34 that normally happen in evangelistic meetings. 29:37 So half hour before the meeting starts, 29:40 by the way this pitch across the street 29:43 from the horse track, the racing track. 29:45 So it was very hard to preach when the racing was going on 29:49 because of all the ruckus and all the riot going on. 29:52 But nonetheless, half hour before the meeting, 29:55 I tell the pastor to go and dust the chairs 29:57 so that when people come in 29:58 they would be able to sit on clean chairs. 30:00 Well, as he was inside cleaning, 30:02 all of a sudden, immediately there was a twister that came 30:08 and knocked down the tent, flattened the tent down. 30:11 It tore it from top to bottom 30:14 and it happened in the moment, no one noticed. 30:16 We were not prepared for it and there it was, 30:20 the whole thing was down. 30:23 We wondered about the pastor but then we saw hands 30:27 and a head underneath the tent pushing up, 30:30 so we know he was okay. 30:31 Well, the people who were coming 30:32 to the meeting through that the-- 30:34 we weren't ready so they began to leave. 30:36 So I said to my wife, honey, quickly, get your violin. 30:39 So she got her violin, we got some chairs up, 30:41 put them outside in open air. 30:42 I got my guitar out and she and I 30:44 began to play and the people said, 30:45 oh, they're having an open air meeting today. 30:48 And so the people stayed. 30:49 And that was my introduction to evangelism. 30:53 So there are times that you go to places 30:55 and it's tough, it's difficult, great challenges. 31:01 Jonah knew that God had asked him 31:06 to do something difficult. 31:09 And so rather than following 31:11 and going where God wanted him to go, 31:13 Jonah decided to do something different. 31:16 So the Bible says then that Jonah went 31:19 and bought a ticket to Tarshish. 31:22 What did he do? He bought a ticket to Tarshish. 31:26 Now, when you consider what Jonah was doing, 31:30 it maybe well for me to show you a map 31:32 so you can see, you can understand 31:33 what's happening. 31:36 Jonah was someplace around here 31:41 and if you notice on the map Nineveh is over here. 31:46 So which way does Jonah go? The opposite direction. 31:51 So he goes this way. 31:53 And by the way, he is taking a ticket to Tarshish 31:56 and in those days the name Tarshish 31:58 was another name for a place in Spain. 32:01 So Jonah has bought a ticket to go from Jerusalem 32:05 through the Mediterranean all the way to Spain. 32:08 In other words, as far away 32:10 as you can get from the job that God has given to him. 32:13 Jonah takes the ticket to Tarshish. 32:17 Now the Bible says then that when Jonah bought that ticket, 32:21 he actually went into the boat and if you notice 32:24 in Jonah Chapter 1 notice what it says 32:29 concerning which way he goes. 32:31 The Bible says that Jonah went down to Joppa. 32:35 Then it says he went down into the ship. 32:39 Let me ask you a question, friends, 32:40 when you turn your back on God 32:42 which way are you going, up or down? 32:45 You're going down. 32:46 The scripture says then, that Jonah was going down. 32:50 Notice then, he went down to Joppa, 32:53 down into the ship. 32:54 And finally it says that it he went 32:56 down into the midst of the ship and went to sleep. 33:00 So Jonah was going down, down and down. 33:08 The ship took his voyage 33:11 and while the ship was in route, 33:15 the scripture says that a storm broke out. 33:18 Well, this is the storm that God brought. 33:22 There are times in our lives 33:23 that the Lord will bring storms. 33:26 He permits the storms to happen to us 33:28 so that it helps us to understand 33:30 and recognize what we need to do. 33:33 I remember a certain young man who had grown up as a Christian 33:37 and turned his back on the Lord, 33:40 turned his back in Christianity and got into drugs. 33:43 And he was driving a truck one day 33:47 across the state of Wyoming. 33:49 Now any of you who have been through Wyoming 33:51 know that there are some passages in Wyoming 33:55 that have what's called wind socks. 33:57 Now wind socks are usually used in airports 33:59 to tell you how fast the wind is blowing. 34:02 Well, he was so high that he did not recognize 34:05 as he was going through this open area 34:08 that the wind sock was horizontal 34:10 which tells you that there was strong 34:12 gust of wind going through it. 34:13 When he entered into that open area 34:16 the truck got pushed over sideways. 34:20 And when he looked, when he finally realized 34:24 what had happened and was able to see, 34:27 get an idea as to where he was. 34:28 The only place he could look was down 34:31 and all he could see right from his window 34:34 was a great deep chasm way down deep over there. 34:38 And the truck was doing this... 34:42 And you know what he did? He began to pray. 34:46 Isn't that interesting? 34:48 People pray when they are in trouble. 34:50 Now let me ask you a question, 34:51 is there anything wrong with that? 34:53 No. 34:54 Because often times it is when we get in trouble 35:00 that we recognize our need 35:03 and God would rather have us come to Him 35:05 irrespective of our motive. 35:09 The reason for that is that God can always 35:12 change our motive if we come to Him. 35:14 What do you say? 35:16 So he began to pray and he said, God, 35:19 if you rescue me from this, I'll serve you. 35:22 And you know what happened? 35:23 The police came and were able to pull him out 35:26 and the policeman told him this, 35:28 we don't understand why this truck has not fallen over 35:33 because it appears like the weight 35:35 should have already pushed it down the chasm. 35:42 Jonah is asleep, the scripture says. 35:50 The boat is rocking. 35:51 The storm is pushing the boat back and forth. 35:58 The mariners begin to recognize that this is an unusual storm. 36:04 They've been in storms before but this is unusual. 36:08 And they begin to cast out of the boat their wares 36:12 to lighten the boat with the hope 36:15 that the boat will not sink. 36:17 But nothing seems to avail. 36:19 And the scripture says then, 36:22 that finally Jonah was awakened. 36:27 And when Jonah was awakened, 36:29 the captain asked him the question, he said, 36:31 "Wake up you sleeper, what are you doing asleep? 36:35 Pray to your God, and maybe that the Lord will hear us." 36:40 And then he said, "Who are you and where are you from?" 36:44 And Jonah did confess and said, "I am a Hebrew 36:48 and I am fleeting from the Lord. 36:51 Well, they became concerned. 36:53 They bought him up on the deck. 36:55 And finally Jonah said, look, there's no use. 37:00 You will not save your boat until you throw me over. 37:04 They didn't want to do it but finally they recognized 37:08 that what Jonah was saying was true. 37:10 And they said, "Lord, 37:13 don't charge his blood to our account." 37:16 And so they took the man up, 37:18 threw him over sea, over the side of the ship. 37:21 And the Bible says that when Jonah was thrown in there 37:24 that a fish came out and took him and swallowed him. 37:30 Now as we continue the story 37:36 notice then that the Bible says 37:41 that when Jonah was thrown over in verse 15:1, 37:47 "Then the man, the captain 37:50 and all who were there feared the Lord exceedingly, 37:54 and offered to sacrifice unto the Lord, 37:56 and made vows," verse 16. 38:01 Then verse 1 of Chapter 2 tells us what happens to Jonah, 38:06 "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord, his God, 38:09 out of the fish's belly." 38:11 Jonah was fleeing but Jonah knew quite well 38:14 that you can always pray to God no matter where you are. 38:18 Listen, if you ever doubted that God could hear prayers, 38:25 today, most of us have something called a cell phone. 38:29 A what? A cell phone. 38:31 I was in the Philippines about two years ago 38:35 and was down in Mindanao 38:38 and we were going to visit a primitive village 38:40 and in order to get there 38:41 we have to take a dugout canoe. 38:44 But I had a cell phone and when I took it out 38:47 because I needed to put it in something 38:49 to protect it against the water 38:50 I noticed it had a signal. 38:53 And I thought, I wonder if I could call my wife. 38:57 So I punched the buttons and the next thing I hear 39:00 is the ringing on the phone 39:01 and then the lovely voice of my wife, hello? 39:06 And she was amazed to discover 39:08 that out there in the boondocks 39:10 I could press a few buttons and talk to her. 39:13 Listen, if mankind can send a voice all across the world 39:19 and you can hear it by a piece of plastic 39:25 then what about the God of heaven? 39:28 Can He not hear your prayers? 39:29 What do you say? There's no question. 39:32 So, the Bible says that Jonah what? 39:35 Jonah prayed. And he prayed to God. 39:41 Now notice the scripture says that this fish went down, 39:47 down to the depth of the ocean. 39:51 Jonah, the Bible says cried by reason 39:53 of his affliction unto the Lord. 39:56 And he says, and He heard me 40:01 out of the belly of hell cried I, 40:04 and thou heard my voice." 40:07 verse 2, Jonah Chapter 2. 40:12 The scripture says in verse 6, 40:14 "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. 40:17 The earth with her bars was about me for ever." 40:23 I don't know how deep Jonah was 40:25 but he was down deep in trouble. 40:32 Some of us say, he got into a whale of a problem 40:36 as he decided to flee the opposite direction. 40:42 And so, "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. 40:49 The earth with her bars was about me for ever, 40:52 yet thou hast thou brought up my life from corruption, 40:56 O Lord, my God." 41:01 When you think of those words, it reminds you of Christ. 41:05 The scripture says that Christ was buried 41:08 but He did not suffer corruption. 41:12 This predicted the reality that the Messiah would die 41:19 but rise again. 41:25 Well, as Jonah prayed, as it says in the scriptures... 41:35 out of the belly of the fish God heard his prayer. 41:42 And the Bible says that the fish got stomach indigestion 41:48 and went and vomited Jonah back unto dry land. 41:55 Now in the midst of all of this, 41:58 there's a most wonderful verse of scripture 42:01 that I want to share with you. 42:04 And it is found in Jonah 3:1. 42:08 Notice what it says, "And the word of the Lord 42:12 came to Jonah the second time." 42:17 And the word of the Lord came to Jonah how many times? 42:21 The second time. Just think about it. 42:25 Jonah was disobedient. 42:27 He had decided to take a different course 42:29 and what God wanted him to follow. 42:32 And as he did, he found himself in a great problems 42:35 but when he recognized his need, 42:39 he turned to God and God heard his prayer. 42:42 Friends, listen, there's no question 42:46 that it doesn't matter where you go, 42:49 David said, "If I go into the sea you are there. 42:53 Wherever I go, behold, thou are there." 42:56 And for those who are escaping wished, 42:59 from God wished-- God wasn't able to find them. 43:02 But for those who believe in God, 43:04 it is a comfort to know that it doesn't matter 43:07 where they are, they may be in prison, 43:09 they may be in dungeons, they may be in the mountain, 43:12 they may be in the sea but wherever they may be 43:15 it's good to know that God can hear. 43:18 Listen, I was in Palawan Islands, 43:21 scuba diving with another friend 43:24 who swam like a fish. 43:26 He was a Palawan, one of the senators 43:28 and he decided to do spear fishing. 43:32 And so there was a school of barracudas 43:35 and he decided to spear a barracuda. 43:37 I was a little bit nervous about the whole thing. 43:39 Number one because the current was very strong 43:42 and I had to be holding on to the bottom of the ocean 43:44 to pull myself along the way and so did he. 43:47 But anyway he shot and speared the barracuda 43:50 and all of a sudden, 43:52 what do you suppose came around? 43:54 Twelve wonderful sharks. 43:58 And those sharks began to kind of do this, around us. 44:01 Do you understand? Circles around us. 44:03 And what do you suppose I began to do? 44:06 I began to pray. 44:08 I was thankful that it didn't matter where I was, 44:11 I could pray and God could hear my prayer. 44:14 So Jonah prayed and the word of the Lord 44:18 came to Jonah the second time. 44:20 There may be some of you out there, 44:23 some of you right here who have felt 44:27 that you've turned away from God 44:30 and that you can never come back to God 44:33 after you've turned from Him. 44:35 But friends, remember, the word of the Lord 44:38 came to Jonah the second time. 44:42 When Peter said, "Lord, how often 44:44 shall we forgive those who offend us? 44:47 Shall we do it seven times? 44:49 The Lord said, neigh, seven times seventy. 44:53 In other words, there is no amount of times 44:57 that a person whose transgresses cannot be forgiven 45:01 if you seek forgiveness with a true repented heart. 45:07 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. 45:10 Well, Jonah now goes on his mission. 45:13 Scripture says that Jonah goes to Nineveh. 45:16 Now if you remember the map, you have to travel 45:19 from the Mediterranean all cross 45:21 as Tony Moore was talking about, 45:23 that special land that surrounded the Holy Land 45:29 and all the way down to Arab, to Iraq. 45:32 Well, Jonah had to go over that crescent 45:35 and finally get to Nineveh. 45:37 And as Jonah got to Nineveh it says that the city 45:40 was a big city because it took about three days 45:43 to walk back and forth. 45:45 And Jonah decided this time he was going to be 45:48 faithful to what God had asked him to do. 45:50 And he began to preach his message, 45:52 "Ye, 40 days and this city shall be destroyed." 45:57 Now perhaps the first time he said it, 45:58 people didn't take much notice. 46:00 But Jonah kept repeating the same message 46:03 over and over and over again. 46:06 "Ye, 39 days, ye, 38 days." 46:09 Well, there are people who have 46:12 heard the message of the second coming of Christ 46:14 over and over and over again 46:16 and assumed that because it is repeated 46:18 over and over again and nothing happens, 46:20 that nothing will actually take place. 46:22 But my friends, listen, the reason 46:24 why it is repeated over and over and over again 46:28 is because of God's great mercy. 46:30 What do you say? God is not anxious. 46:33 The Bible says, He is not willing 46:34 that any should perish 46:36 but that all should come to repentance. 46:39 And so God wants to repeat it and repeat it 46:43 and repeat it so that somehow 46:45 we begin to understand that because of His great mercy 46:49 we are spared and we can turn to Him. 46:52 38 days, 37 days, 36 days. Well, what happened? 46:58 Well, the scripture says that all in Nineveh began to listen, 47:01 all the way up to the king, 47:03 from the tramp of the city way up 47:05 to the throne, people began to take notice 47:09 and the news began to be spread around. 47:11 And the king began to hear that God was going 47:14 to destroy that city. 47:16 And the Bible says that there was a great revival. 47:19 In fact my friends, of all human history 47:22 the Bible points to Nineveh as the place 47:25 where there was a greatest revival 47:27 that has ever been recorded in human history. 47:30 Think of it, Iraq, the greatest revival, 47:34 taking place in Iraq. 47:38 God in mercy spoke to those people 47:42 and fortunately they paid attention. 47:44 The word of God says that there was a great revival, 47:48 they put on sackcloth and ashes, 47:50 and they repented. 47:53 And the scripture says then that God turned away 47:58 from His purpose and spared the city. 48:04 Jonah, of course the scripture says, 48:06 got upset that God spared the city. 48:10 Because since God had mercy on Jonah, 48:13 he forgot that as God had mercy on him, 48:17 God could also have mercy on others. 48:20 And so, he got upset and God finally 48:25 rebuked him for getting upset, 48:28 that God is willing to turn from His wrath 48:32 and to give mercy to people who truly repent 48:37 and turn back in the right direction. 48:43 What is the Book of Jonah then? 48:46 The Book of Jonah has many spiritual lessons 48:48 but it also is an act in prophesy. 48:52 What Jonah went through as he went through 48:56 the belly of the whale. 49:00 It prefigured that Jesus Christ likewise 49:03 would go through that experience 49:06 but finally come back out again. 49:09 And because of this prophesy Jesus went through 49:14 what had been predicted, 49:16 resurrected on the first day of the week. 49:18 And because of that resurrection, my friends, 49:21 you and I no longer serve a dead savior, 49:24 we serve a living savior today. 49:27 One who can hear and answer your prayers, 49:30 one who could do for you and for me 49:32 that which we can never accomplish for ourselves. 49:42 The Bible says that as far as Jesus was concerned 49:47 that the bars of hell could not hold Him down. 49:51 Jesus broke through the portals of the tomb 49:55 and gave evidence that you and I, 49:59 because of Him can have hope. 50:02 Listen, where did Jonah go wrong? 50:07 The scripture says then that Jonah 50:09 bought a ticket to Tarshish. 50:12 He did what? He bought a ticket to Tarshish. 50:15 Now think about that. 50:19 The Bible is telling us that you and I 50:20 should avoid buying tickets to Tarshish. 50:24 But how is that you and I buy tickets to Tarshish? 50:29 The scripture says then 50:31 that when we turn away from the Lord, 50:34 we're buying tickets to Tarshish. 50:36 When you and I do things that are wrong, 50:40 we're buying a ticket to Tarshish. 50:43 When we violate our consciences, 50:46 we're buying a ticket to Tarshish. 50:49 Every evil act is a ticket to Tarshish. 50:53 Listen, I will go farther and say, 50:55 every cigarette is a ticket to Tarshish. 50:58 Every neglect of duty is a ticket to Tarshish. 51:01 Listen parents, God will hold you responsible 51:05 for not having that devotion with your children at home. 51:08 Every lack of duty is buying a ticket to Tarshish. 51:13 We need to understand my friends, that God, yes, 51:17 He has mercy but when we take the wrong course, 51:21 we pierce ourselves through with many sorrows. 51:26 And so the Bible says, don't go down that path. 51:30 Don't buy those tickets to Tarshish. 51:32 Don't soak those wild oats. 51:35 Every ticket, every sin leaves its scars. 51:41 God may forgive you but you don't need those scars. 51:45 Listen, friends, 51:47 it is very easy for you to take a hammer 51:50 and a nail and bang that nail into the wall. 51:54 It is just as easy for you to take that hammer 51:57 and pull that nail out of the wall. 52:00 Isn't that true? 52:02 But let me ask you the question. 52:04 How easy is it for you to pull the hole out of the wall? 52:10 When we take the wrong course in our lives, 52:13 young people, 52:15 when we are lead by the influences of others, 52:18 the peer pressure and begin to do things 52:21 that you know in your heart you ought not to do, 52:24 you are buying a ticket to Tarshish. 52:26 And you may be able to be forgiven 52:28 but you leave a hole in the wall 52:31 and the only thing you can do is patch it up. 52:35 It leaves those scars. 52:37 They regret then that you say to yourself, 52:41 "Oh, I wish I'd never done it. 52:44 Oh, why did I do it? 52:47 Why did I allow myself to go that direction? 52:50 Oh, if only, oh, if only, oh, if only..." 52:55 Don't go to that far country. 52:57 Don't buy those ticket to Tarshish. 53:00 Listen, I was in the country of Romania 53:05 and as I was preaching there in that country, 53:08 there was a lady who has been invited to hear my discourses. 53:13 And I am told that they invited the lady not one time, 53:17 not two times, not three times but 13 times. 53:22 And finally after being invited the 13th time 53:26 she said to herself, 53:28 "I better go and get these people off my back." 53:32 So she went to the meetings. 53:34 Well, in that particular night 53:35 I was preaching a particular subject that troubled her. 53:39 And that woman left home, 53:41 went from the meeting, going home, troubled. 53:45 Then she wished she hadn't come, 53:48 because the spirit of God spoke to her heart 53:51 concerning something in her life. 53:53 Well, she then was trying to evade having 54:00 to follow the light that God had given to her that night. 54:04 An in fact she went to her preacher 54:07 and asked her preacher, if it was right. 54:09 Well, the preacher gave her answers 54:10 that didn't make any sense to her, 54:12 she remained troubled. 54:13 And so she began to pray and she said, 54:16 "God, if it's true, 54:18 if what that American evangelist preach is true, 54:21 then I will believe it if he comes back to Romania, 54:24 otherwise I won't believe it. 54:25 Well, I had no intentions of going back to Romania 54:30 because that was my first time 54:31 and I had hoped it would be my last time. 54:34 I had some challenges 54:35 with some very dishonest people at the airport. 54:38 So I thought I don't want to be a victim any longer 54:41 so I am not going back to Romania. 54:42 I got back to New York City 54:44 and when I got back to New York City 54:46 what do you suppose? 54:47 Another invitation came for me to return back to Romania. 54:51 Well, I prayed about it and in spite of 54:54 what I did not want to do, 54:57 I was impressed and convicted I should go back. 55:00 I arrived back in Romania three months later 55:02 after I thought I'd never go back to that country. 55:05 Not because there wasn't some wonderful people there, 55:07 not because it was not a beautiful country 55:09 but because of the situation at the airport. 55:11 I didn't want to be a victim. 55:13 The first time for example, I lost a $100 to somebody 55:17 who wanted to charge me more than 55:19 I was supposed to pay. 55:21 Well, when I got there to Romania, 55:27 I was asked to speak at a small church 55:29 on Friday night in that particular city 55:31 where I had spoken before. 55:33 And that lady was told 55:35 that I had returned back to Romania, 55:37 she did not believe it. 55:39 And so with her heart beating, 55:42 she decided to see if it was true. 55:45 I didn't know she was in the audience, 55:47 I did not know the story but I was preaching that night. 55:50 And what do you suppose I was preaching about? 55:52 Jonah and the Whale. 55:55 And what do you suppose I said? 56:00 I shared with them that wonderful verse, 56:05 "And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time." 56:12 And that woman, when she heard 56:15 that the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, 56:19 she became so convicted and so happy 56:22 that she decided that she will follow the light 56:25 that God had given to her. 56:26 Friends, is there light that God has given to you 56:30 that you feel is hard to follow? 56:33 Are there things in your life that you know 56:35 you should do and you don't want to do 56:37 because it carries a cross with it? 56:40 Are there things in your life that you know 56:43 you are buying tickets to Tarshish and God says, 56:46 "Don't buy those tickets to Tarshish." 56:48 Friends, tonight why don't you decide 56:51 to turn back to God, turn back to prayer, 56:56 turn back to reading the Bible, turn back to faithfulness. 56:59 Are there those here tonight who would like to say 57:01 yes to the Lord to turn back to Him? 57:05 Let us pray. 57:06 Our Father, we thank You that Your word 57:09 comes to us the second time. 57:12 And I pray Lord, that You have seen the hands 57:14 that Your spirit will quicken them, 57:16 straighten them in Jesus name. 57:18 Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17