Sin of
Restricting the Grace of God
Jonah 4:1-4
Do
we have a passion for lost souls? Or, Are we only concerned about our
salvation, and our family’s wellbeing?
The
grace of God has no restriction. It transcends or surpasses color, creed,
culture, or country.
Prophet
Jonah was guilty of restricting the grace of God as he felt angry and
questioned God for the salvation of the people of Nineveh.
We
need to understand as we study this portion from the book of Jonah that our God
is a God of missions, and He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this
world to save people from their condemnation, not to send any body to hell.
People go to hell when they willfully reject the gospel of Christ.
·
God considers everyone equal before
Him, whether Jew or Gentile, all are condemned sinners, and all are in need of
God’s grace, and He is ready to extend to them His pardoning grace, if they
repent and turn to Him with genuine heart.
·
You may be the hardest of all sinners,
but if you turn to God in genuine repentance, you would receive God’s pardoning
grace.
That
was the reality of the Ninevites which we saw in chapter 3.
Character
of True Repentance:
1.
True repentance is the work of the
Spirit of God, by His grace, through His Word.
2.
True repentance is genuine, not
mechanical, and it was evidenced through the Ninevites’ changed heart as they
forsook their sinful ways and turned to God.
3.
True repentance causes God to show
His mercy and forgiveness, and revive the hearts of men (v 10).
The
prophet Jonah was not able to understand this glorious truth of God’s salvific
grace. He thought even after his preaching to the Ninevites, God would destroy
them as they were very wicked people. He was so saddened and discouraged and
very angry toward God and wanted to die when he realized that God forgave them.
·
In verse 1, Jonah, instead of being
pleased with God and praising God for His grace to Nineveh and for the success
of his ministry, became very mad. He lost control of himself and gave way to
violent expression.
·
In verse 2, Jonah was putting things
in a sarcastic or mocking manner, saying, he knew in the beginning itself that
this would be the outcome, and hence he wanted to run away to Tarshish. He knew
that God is universal in salvation, and it makes no difference to God if the
person He is showing mercy to is a Jew or an Assyrian.
·
In verse 3, Jonah’s despair reaches
its height where he requests God to take his life. This shows the extent and
intensity of his hatred toward the Assyrians. For him it would be better to die
rather than seeing a repentant people of Nineveh.
·
As a result, in verse 4, God gently
rebuked Jonah by asking the rhetorical question, “Is it right to be angry?”
Jonah had no reason whatsoever to be angry, but should have been grateful to
God for what the Lord had done to Ninevites.
1.
Jonah Restricted the Grace of God
What is the grace of God? It is
God’s unmerited favor to a sinner, no matter who he is.
·
A deadly criminal stands in front of
the Judge, waiting to hear that he will be sentenced to death, but suddenly the
judge announces that he will be freed because someone else has come forward in
his position to take the punishment.
·
What the criminal receives is the
unmerited favor.
·
God can show this favor to anybody.
Jonah’s life was spared by the graciousness of God. What was wrong when God
shows the same favor to the Ninevites?
·
God’s grace in its sufficiency is
not something to be restricted to certain group or class of people. It is
available to anybody who comes to God in repentance.
·
This is the reason we have been
saved today.
·
This is the reason that we
evangelize today.
2.
Jonah Questioned the Sovereignty of God
What is the sovereignty of God? It
is God’s supremacy. God is supreme to do anything within His nature. It is
within His supreme authority to save anyone or to condemn anyone.
·
Romans 9:15-16, For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him
that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
3.
Jonah Prejudiced the Assyrians
The word “prejudice” means biased,
discriminatory, or narrow-minded. Jonah had personal hatred toward Nineveh. As
much as Jonah loved God, he hated the Assyrians more. The Ninevites were known for their extreme cruelty toward
their enemies. But that never justified Jonah’s anger because our God’s saving
grace and mercy reaches out to even the worst sinner.
Conclusion/Applications
1. Salvation is the will and the work of God.
2. God’s pardoning grace goes
beyond our borders.
·
The book of Jonah challenges God’s people to rise above their
hatred of others and see the world through the eyes of their Creator God.
3. All who turn to God will
receive the pardoning grace of God.
·
When God is at work, according to His most
holy will, the hardest sinners can experience the greatest revival.
4. Nothing or no one will be
allowed to stand in between a gracious and merciful God and a repentant sinner.
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