Jonah 2:9, “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
Salvation is of the Lord. In the belly of the whale the prophet Jonah was thinking about soulwinning! It was upon thinking of these things, that God told the whale to drop the prophet off at the nearest whale stop! Notice that Jonah offered up a sacrifice of thanksgiving. What does that mean? Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” It means this. Anybody can praise and thank God when things are going good. But who wants to thank God when you're trapped in the stomach of a whale? That is why Jonah said he would offer a “sacrifice” unto God, with the voice of thanksgiving.
Jonah must have thought he was about to die. Things appeared absolutely hopeless. Jonah didn't have a nightlight inside the whale, it was completely dark. Yet the wearied man of God decided that he would thank God anyway, and obey the Lord if God gave Him a second chance. Oh how wonderful is our God, Who DOES give second chances! Jonah 2:9-3:1-2, “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” Isn't that beautiful? God had told Jonah to go preach the Gospel to Nineveh, but he fled elsewhere. The Lord chastised Jonah, sending a raging storm and a hungry whale. In the whale's stomach Jonah cried out to God, as we all do in times of tragedy.
I remember when I was a young boy, yelling at my mother. I wasn't saved yet. I ran out the front door in the rain, and ran down the street into the alley. For some reason unknown to me, I saw some stacked 2" x 4" boards by a gate and got up to stand on them. The chain link fence in front of me had those twisted sharp “Y” shaped edges. The boards wobbled over, I lunged forward, and my head instinctively jerked to the side, as the side of my neck plunged down into the jagged Y-shaped metal. I was hanging by my neck on the gate. I lifted myself up, cutting my hands against other jagged pieces of metal. Blood was everywhere. Was God punishing me for sassing my mother? That sobering thought did occur to me, but no, it was just an accident. Things happen, both good and bad.
I ran back home. My mother called 911 and asked for a police Paddy Wagon, because it costs a lot of money for an ambulance. Today in Chicago the average ambulance ride is $1,200. I remember sitting with my Mom in back of the Paddy Wagon, being driven to a local hospital. Like Jonah, I was promising God I would be a good boy from now on, if he would let me live. I was terrified. I was thankful to God all of a sudden, honoring Him. I wasn't saved yet, but I knew who God was, because He created me (Romans 1:21b - “when they knew God”). Many men have come to Christ while in prison. Michael Franzese is one such man, a former mob boss in New York. Michael said if he hadn't been arrested and sent to prison, he never would have accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. Interestingly, it was a prison guard who handed Michael a copy of God's Word to read, and that is how he got saved. Amen!
Getting back to my neck accident, the doctor said I would have died if I hadn't jerked my head to the side as I instinctively did, because the fence would have stabbed my throat). Ouch! I was fortunate that day, and I healed up over time, with a scar in my neck where the stitches were sewn. I cannot remember my age, but I am guessing I was about 9 or 10 when that event happened. It wasn't until I got saved at age 13 that I stopped sassing my mother, because God's Holy Spirit began to convict me about it. I love my mother, but she shouldn't have allowed me and my sisters to sass her, because we got used to doing it. Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Children ought NEVER be allowed to scold their parents, sass their parents or rebel. God says to discipline them! If it weren't for my father being strict, I'd have been in a gang, on drugs, in prison and a statistic. Thank God if you have a strict Dad!
At any age I never sassed Mom when Dad was around, because I knew I'd get a hand-slap across the head, knocking me to the ground! Our country was much better off with tough Dad's like that. My father wasn't perfect, but he cared about me. We lived in a different world back then in America, and it was a better world. I'd like to slap some of these arrogant brats today across the head—who mouth off to their parents, mock the U.S. President, and curse the police. These are thug punks rioting across America! Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” An undisciplined child is an accident waiting to happen! You should always discipline a child in love, but in love you should always discipline your child! It is child abuse NOT to spank a misbehaving child. If you love your child you will spank them when they do wrong, to prepare them for life. If you don't discipline them, then the police will have to later on.
Back to our topic. Jonah offered up a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God, while in the darkness and slime of the whale's belly. We know it was a whale, and not just a great fish, because we read so in Matthew 12:40. All Scripture is given by inspiration. If the New Testament says it was a whale, then we know it was indeed a “whale.” That great fish was a big whale! Jonah could have complained, but he chose to thank God. Jonah knew that he was to blame for his own adverse situation. Pastor Jack Hyles preached a helpful sermon of the same titled: 'THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE' (MP3).
Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” The Bible commands every saint to praise God even when things are going wrong in life. This is the sacrifice of praise!
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