2014 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE: THE GRACE OF GOD HAS APPEARED I. INTRO  Read Titus 2:11. II. JACOB AND THE GRACE OF GOD III. JONAH AND THE GRACE OF GOD  Grace was always the basis of God’s dealings with Israel (as it was for His dealings with the Gentiles). ~ When rightly understood, the Law was a gift of divine grace.

~ Deut 30:1-14; Isa 30:18-19; Jer 3:12; Joel 2:12-14; Amos 5:15). ~ Therefore, as a prophet of God, one would expect Jonah to delight in the grace of God. ~ But that was simply not the case.  In Jonah 1, the heathen sailors are gracious to Jonah as they try desperately to save his life at the risk of their own lives.

 In Jonah 2, God spares Jonah’s life through something that looked like to be his destruction – a giant fish. ~ While inside the fish, Jonah composed a prayer (more precisely, a psalmrecorded in this second chapter of Jonah. ~ While inside the fish, Jonah composed a prayer (more precisely, a psalm) recorded in this second chapter of Jonah.  But there is a problem with this psalm. ~ What is missing is any reference to his own sin or any hint of repentance. (Cf. vv.8-9)

 Consider, however, a passage like 2Chron 6:36-39 which very precisely outlines how a sinful Israelite is to repent.  When we look down the corridor of Israel’s history, those who truly repented for their sins and the sins of their nation followed this pattern set down by Solomon: ~ Neh 1:6-7 ~ Neh 9:33-34

~ Dan 9:5  Could we then say Jonah’s “psalm” is an expression of repentance? ~ From Jonah 1, this is hard to defend. ~ Jonah, the prophet, is acting like a pagan, while the pagan sailors are worshipping the God of Israel (v. 14). ~ In Jon 2:8-9, it seems that Jonah wanted God to save His people Israel and to condemn the Gentiles to hell (as chapter 4 makes very evident).

~ Jonah did not want these unworthy Gentiles saved, only the worthy Jews!  That is what the Book of Jonah is all about. ~ Jonah the rebellious, unrepentant prophet, is a picture of the nation Israel. ~ He is a picture of the refusal of the Jews to be a “light to the Gentiles,” to take the good news of God’s grace to the heathen.

 If Jonah were repentant, he would have turned around; he would have changed his heart and his actions, as the word repentance implies. ~ Chapter 3 begins with God repeating His command because Jonah is not going to Nineveh until God demands it, again.  For a picture of true repentance, don’t look at Jonah; look at the Ninevites in Ch. 3.

~ The king called the fast, and he led the nation in repentance with a certain sense of confidence that God was gracious and that He might relent concerning their destruction if they did repent (vv. 7-9).  This has good biblical basis: ~ Jer 18:5-8 ~ Joel 2:12-14

 So God did relent of the evil He had threatened through Jonah, and the city was spared (3:10). ~ And this is what gets Jonah really angry with God (4:1). ~ God’s grace to the Ninevites pales in comparison to His grace to Jonah! ~ And God speaks to him so gently in vv. 4, 10.

 Jonah’s prayer in chapter 4 is unbelievable. ~ He protests against God on the basis of His grace, compassion, lovingkindness, and turning from calamity (v. 2). ~ And to think that these attributes are the essence of God’s glory according to Ex 34:6!

 They are the basis: ~ for men’s intercession, requesting divine forgiveness for sinners (Num 14:18). ~ for men’s repentance (Deut 4:30-31; Joel 2:12-14) and the reason God perseveres with this stiff-necked people (Neh 9:17, 31). ~ for God’s acts of salvation (Ps 116:5-6) and forgiveness (Ps 103:8-10).

~ for men’s praise of God (Ps 111:4; 145:7-10).  As the story unfolds in Ch. 4, we finally find Jonah happy – but not for long.  Many think Jonah’s sin was that of selfishness and preoccupation with his own comfort. ~ But this is not the underlying message of this book. ~ Rather, Jonah was angry about God’s grace.

 Jonah wanted God’s blessings; he expected God’s blessings. ~ And he was angry when God took these blessings away or gave them to others. ~ Jonah wanted God’s grace, but not as grace. ~ He wanted the benefits and blessings of God, but as one who deserved them rather than as an unworthy and undeserving sinner.

~ GRACE HUMBLES THE RECIPIENT OF GOD’S BLESSINGS BECAUSE IT SHOWS THE UNWORTHINESS OF THE RECIPIENT. ~ Jonah wanted to be blessed, but not on the grounds of grace.  A.W. Pink, Attributes of God: “But nothing more riles the natural man and brings to the surface his innate and inveterate enmity against God than to press upon him the eternality, the

the freeness, and the absolute sovereignty of Divine grace. That God should have formed His purpose from everlasting, without in anywise consulting the creature, is too abasing for the unbroken heart. That grace cannot be earned or won by any efforts of man is too self-emptying for self- righteousness. And that grace singles out whom it pleases to be its favoured objects, arouses hot protests from haughty rebels.”

 Jonah’s problem is precisely that of the Jews, both then and now, and of many other people, including Christians. ~ JONAH WAS SELF-RIGHTEOUS. ~ Self-righteous people do not want to confess their sins and beg God for grace.  Jonah, like many then and now, is a picture of the self-righteous who loathe the grace of God for those they believe do not deserve it.