OPENING SCRIPTURE:

So the people of Nineveh BELIEVED GOD, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. (Jonah 3:5 NKJ)
Then God SAW THEIR WORKS, that they turned from their evil way; and God RELENTED… (Jonah 3:10 NKJ)

• The grace of God prevails throughout this entire story
• No happy ending- Jonah is angry!

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. (Jonah 4:1 NKJ)

• Jonah is offended by the grace of God.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT)

• Jonah was conflicted by God’s grace.

#1 GRACE CAN BE MISUNDERSTOOD

• Jesus is the very embodiment of grace.
• He preached grace. He showed grace.
• Yet he was misunderstood and judged because of grace.
• Grace misunderstood leads to jealously and judgment.
• Jonah misunderstood God’s grace. He wanted God’s judgment for Nineveh.

Grace is not an excuse for sin, but grace is God’s empowerment to move away from sin.

• Grace is not ignorance. Grace is empowerment to sin no more.
• Jesus said: “Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more” That’s grace!

GRACE and TRUTH came through JESUS CHRIST. (John 1:17 NKJ)

• Grace and Truth always go hand and hand. They both represent Christ!
• Truth says God hates sin.
• Grace says God loves the sinner.
• Grace without truth is compromise. Truth without grace is condemnation.
• Speak the truth but package it with God’s love. That’s the Grace!

#2 GRACE IS REVEALING

So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. (Jonah 4:2 NKJ)

• Grace reveals the true nature of God: Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness.
• Grace can also reveal the darkness in your heart.

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”

• The darkness that is now being revealed is more than anger. It’s hatred. It’s prejudice.

#3 GRACE IS REASONING

Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4 NKJ)

• God is reasoning with Jonah. Why is it that you are not excited seeing people turn their lives around? Why aren’t you glad that I am gracious and merciful.
• God reasoned with Jonah and makes room for him to make even more mistakes.

So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. (Jonah 4:5-6 NKJ)

So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:7-8 NKJ)

Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” (Jonah 4:9 NKJ)

But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”

The moral: God’s grace is available to everyone. The abused and the abuser alike. The oppressed and the oppressor alike. The victim and the assailant alike.

The greatest message of grace that was ever preached is found in John.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17 NKJ)

CONCLUSION
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?