Introduction:

1. The Grace of God is one of the greatest theme we find in Holy Scripture.
2. God's Grace causes many things to happen in this world.
3. Charles H. Spurgeon said "Praise is the honey of life which a devout heart extracts from every bloom of providence and grace."
4. Jesus and Paul both taught, the greater the sin, the greater the grace of God.
5. I believe the grace of God is very powerful.
6. God's grace has made many big powerful bullies into teddy bears.
7. God's grace is awesome.

Proposition: The grace of God can overcome the foolishness of man.
How?
In Jonah 4 we find three stages of how the grace of God overcomes the foolishness of man.

I. THE GRACE OF GOD PIERCES LAME RESENTMENT: verses 1-4

A. Jonah's Displeasure - verse 1-2

1. Jonah was angry with God for His mercy and grace towards the Ninevites.
2. Jonah resented the grace of God rescuing the Ninevites.
3. This was one of the reasons why Jonah did not want to obey God in the beginning. The Ninevites were persecutors of Israel. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire.
4. In verse 3, Jonah asks God to take his life, because he feels to die is better than to live and see the Ninevites survive.
5. Jonah felt the same way that Elijah felt. 1 Ki 19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."
6. Some commentators feel Jonah may have been angry with God, because his prophecy would not come to pass, therefore he would be regarded as a false prophet.
7. Deut 18:21-22 "And you may say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
8. However, when you preach judgment and the people repent, Scripture teaches that God will always show compassion and withhold the judgment. So the prophet is not a false prophet when people repent.
9. Jonah's resentment is misplaced and unfounded. It is foolishness. He needs to rejoice in the goodness of God and His mercy and grace.
10. What is interesting here, is that at least now Jonah is talking with God about his emotions, instead of running away. I think it is a good thing to be honest with God about how you feel, because He knows anyhow.

B. God's Pleasure - verse 2-4

1. It is always God's pleasure to see people repent and change their ways.
2. Jonah knew the Character of God. In verse 2b he states: for I knew that Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. This was one of the reasons why Jonah did not want to obey God in the beginning.
3. This verse comes from the Pentateuch - Exodus 34:6.7 Then the LORD passed by in front of him (Moses) and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."
4. Jonah resented the grace of God rescuing the Ninevites, because the Ninevites where such evil people in relation to the nation Israel.
5. Have you ever been angry with God for saving an evil man. Some are so evil we may think they deserve to go to hell. Like Jeffery Dalmer, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the monster who killed about 12 men, and ate them, as well as pickling their body parts, back in the early 90's (I think 1991). I heard he got saved in prison, before someone killed him.
6. The first stage of how the grace of God overcomes the foolishness of man is to pierce lame resentment and secondly:

II. THE GRACE OF GOD PRODUCES LEARNING REALITY: verse 5-8

A. God's Object Lesson - verse 5-8

1. When we resist the will of God or get angry with what God does, it is amazing how God and His grace will work with us and whip us into shape.
2. In God's object lesson He shows Jonah that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
3. Jonah experiences a living learning reality. As he goes out to sit and watch to see if God is going to change His mind about destroying Nineveh (v. 5), God starts to create a situation in Jonah's life that becomes a tool of instruction.
4. The Prophet of God is extremely happy about the plant that God appointed. But when it disappears, he becomes very depressed and discouraged to the point of saying he wanted to die. (v. 8)
5. Notice, God was the One who appointed the worm to kill the plant. (v. 7)Also God was the One Who appointed the scorching east wind (Sirocco winds) to bring discomfort to the prophet. (v. 8)
6. Not all hardships and trials that come our way are from the devil. God may use the devil to bring about His purposes, as He did with Job.
7. However, here we see our Sovereign God in charge of the situation in which Jonah finds himself.
8. It is amazing to notice the hand of God involved in the life of His servant.
9. God appointed a great fish (1:17) to rescue Jonah and now God appoints a little worm (v. 7) to teach Jonah. I believe the fish and the worm were instruments of His purpose to perform His will in the life of the prophet of God.

B. The Circumstances in Our Lives

1. I know there are circumstances in our lives that come from the hand of the Lord to teach us His will.
2. Instead of murmuring and complaining when things don't go the way we want them to go, I believe we need to stop and praise God for His hand in our lives. Ask the Lord, "What are you trying to teach me, Lord?" Be teachable and of gentle spirit. He will answer you in His time.
3. Many of the trials in our lives will be God working out His will. Trials, we think are terrible, turn out to be blessings.
4. I heard of a missionary who did not receive her monthly check. She was seriously ill and because of no money had to live on oatmeal and canned milk. She received her check thirty days later. After mentioning this incident while on furlough a doctor asked the nature of her illness. She described the intestinal digestive trouble she had been having and the doctor said, "If your check had arrived on time and you had been eating your current diet you would now be dead, because the best treatment for your illness was a thirty-day oatmeal diet." God knows what He is doing in our lives. I don't believe in chance, I believe in providence.
5. The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of man; and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, surely He sees and knows every trial and test that happens to His children.
6. Not only does He see and know, but I believe He is working His will in our lives on a daily basis.
7. Prov 3:5, 6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
8. I believe the Providence of God guides our steps each day.
9. When you find yourself crying in despair because of your situation, rest in the Lord, trust in the Lord, lean on the Lord, for He is still on the throne, and He is watching over you.
10. God isn't lost, God isn't dead, God isn't on holidays, but God is with His children.
11. The first stage of how the grace of God overcomes the foolishness of man is to pierce lame resentment and the second stage is to produce learning reality, and thirdly

III. THE GRACE OF GOD PRESENTS LOGICAL REBUKE: verse 9 - 11

A. God's Question - verse 9

1. "Do you have good reason to be angry?"
2. Jonah, who disobeyed God, now feels justified in his anger.
3. He says to God, "I have good reason to be angry, even to death."
4. I think in this conversation with God and Jonah, we see the loving heart of a Father - The Grace of our God.
5. Our Father is working with His son, trying to help him see that He knows what He is doing in the life of His children.

B. God's Logic - verse 10 - 11

1. God's logic is impeccable and infallible.
2. As the Father reasons with the pouting child, He shows the foolishness of the prophet through simple reasoning.
3. He says, "Jonah you are concerned about the plant,

a) For which you did not work,
b) For which you did not cause to grow,
c) Which came up overnight and perished overnight.
d) Should I not have compassion on Nineveh?

4. The compassion of God is so much greater than the compassion of man.
5. God is rebuking Jonah for his foolishness - having more compassion over a temporal plant than over eternal souls.
6. God is saying, change your perspective. Don't be selfish, and self-centered, but look at the eternal picture.
7. God is also saying, "I am the One who created man, as I have created the plant. I have the right to do what I, in My righteousness, want to do with both plant and man. When man repents, I will have compassion upon him and will exercise grace to forgive his sins.
8. The Gospel of Jesus Christ presents the same message. Come and repent of your sins and receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour and you will find forgiveness for your sins.

C. Our Situations

1. I believe many of us in some of our life situations, respond just like Jonah.
2. We are too

a) materially oriented, or
b) time oriented, or
c) self oriented
d) instead of being eternally oriented.

3. We complain for the lot God has dealt us in this life.
4. It isn't fair that my house burned down.
5. It isn't fair that my car is totaled.
6. It isn't fair my dad shot himself when I was nine years old.
7. It isn't fair my mom and dad got divorced when I was young.
8. It isn't fair my son or my daughter died at a young age.
9. It isn't fair my child was born with a handicap.
10. It isn't fair I lost my job.
11. It isn't fair I am going through this hardship.
12. And God would say to us "Do you have good reason to be angry."
13. You came into this world naked, and you will leave this world naked, therefore bless the Lord your God, for all the blessings you have.

Conclusion:

1. The grace of God overcomes the foolishness of man in three stages:

a) The Grace of God pierces Lame Resentment
b) The Grace of God produces Learning Reality
c) The Grace of God presents Logical Rebuke

2. God, our Father, loves us more than anyone. He is working in your life to bring you into His presence.
3. I believe we need to repent of our foolishness and ask for His forgiveness and direction in this life.
4. God wants sweet fellowship with you.
5. Are you pouting like Jonah, or do you want to repent and have fellowship with the Lord and praise Him like the great prophet Daniel, who was highly esteemed in the eyes of the Lord.
6. The arms of God are open for all who will come to Him and repent. He loves you more than anyone else.
7. Several years ago a submarine was being tested and had to remain submerged for many hours. When it returned to the harbor, the captain was asked, "How did the terrible storm last night affect you?" The officer looked at him in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn't even know there was one!" The sub had been so far beneath the surface that it had reached the area known to sailors as "the cushion of the sea." Although the ocean may be whipped into huge waves by high winds, the waters below are never stirred.
8. The Christian's mind will be protected against the distracting waves of worry if it is resting completely in the good providence of God. There, sheltered by His grace and encouraged by His Holy Spirit, the believer can find the perfect tranquility that only Christ can provide.