Where Displeasure Meets Grace—part Iii

WHERE DISPLEASURE MEETS GRACE-III—Jonah 4:1-11

Need:

God’s people can become disappointed/displeased with the direction God takes or the way God does things.

Jonah’s displeasure with God’s actions was met by God’s grace.

Displeasure is met by God’s grace.

What is present where displeasure meets grace?

NEGATIVELY—Where displeasure meets grace there is Inappropriate...

1. Anger(:1)

2. Glory(:2a)

3. Intervention(:2b)

4. Grief(:2c-3)

5. Reasoning(:4)

6. Expectation(:5)

POSITIVELY...

Where displeasure meets grace there are

7—ENLIGHTENING APPOINTMENTS(:6-8)

—Explanation:(6-8)

:6—“So the LORD God appointed a plant & it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.

PLANT

:7—“But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, & it attacked the plant & it withered.

WORM

:8—“And it came about when the sun came up that God appointed a scorching east wind, & the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint & begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.””

WIND—Scorching east wind—Shirocco

“Scorching/Vehement”—yvyrx—Harsh, hot.

SUN— “Beat down”—Hot, Sweltering

—Argumentation:

Heb. 12:10-11—“For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

—Illustration:

Barry Jimmerson/Prayer time on the ball field/Painfully aware of my selfishness regarding finances

My first Revival Meeting in Garden City, GA/Got serious about God/ENLIGHTENING APPOINTMENT

—Application:

?You Enlightened thru God’s Divine APPOINTMENTS?

?You enlightened/transformed when Displeasure meets God’s grace?

8—Where displeasure meets grace there is

ENLIGHTENING GRIEF(:8)

—Explanation:(:8)

:8—“And it came about when the sun came up that God appointed a scorching east wind, & the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint & begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.””

—Argumentation:

2Cor. 7:8-11—“For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it--for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while-- I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.”

—Illustration:

Child to beach in winter/Warning...’You’ll go to the car if you get wet!’/Get wet/Go to car=Grief/ENLIGHTENING GRIEF

—Application:

?You Enlightened thru God’s disciplinary GRIEF?

?You enlightened/transformed when Displeasure meets God’s grace?

9—Where displeasure meets grace there is

ENLIGHTENING REASONING(:9)

—Explanation/Argumentation:(:9)

:9—“Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.””

“Do you have good reason”—‘Is it commendable to be “angry” about the plant?’...

...YES!—Angry about its loss/absence!

Compare to :4—Jonah’s anger toward Nineveh’s presence.

The plant’s presence gave joy/happiness/pleasure to Jonah....

Provided something of great value to Jonah...

Plant placed there by God.

...Likewise, People & other aspects of His creation, provide great value & thus great pleasure to God because God placed us here!

“Angry, even to death”—Grieved the depth of God’s being—Loss goes against everything that is in God—Cuts against the grain of His character.

—Illustration:

Follow your argument out to its logical conclusion.

Evolution/All things from one-celled creatures/No soul/No image of God/No God.../ENLIGHTENING REASONING

—Application:

?You Enlightened thru God’s REASONING?

?You enlightened/transformed when Displeasure meets God’s grace?

10—Where displeasure meets grace there are

ENLIGHTENING ANALOGIES(:10-11)

—Explanation:(:10-11) Comparisons/Microcosm

:10—“Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work, & which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight & perished overnight.”

“Compassion/Pity”—Spare.

:11—“And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right & left hand, as well as many animals?”

“Who do not know the difference”—Ignorance

“Animals”—Part of God’s creation as well.

Extinguishing spiritual ignorance—This is the beauty in the fellowship of sharing our personal experiences in Christ with one another.

Analogies—Handles by which to grasp a teaching concept.

Microcosm applicable to a larger & more personal situation

—Argumentation:

Ezekiel 4:1-13, 16-17—READ—

Ezekiel 5:1-6, 12—READ—