Jonah 1:1-3

God’s Mercy and Grace Extends to All

Introduction

Welcome to GCCC.

We are now in the month of November, we are nearing the end of 2021.

We have been through a lot this year - trials after trials, people come and go, beloved people whom we will not see anymore...

then we have victories after victories as well, by the grace of God - we just celebrated our 5th anniversary. We had our prayer and fasting, and election of Deacons...

More importantly, God had sustained us so we can continue to worship Him individually and as a church!

So today, we start a new series on the Book Of Jonah - A book in the OT.

The Theme of this book is

God’s Mercy and Grace Extends to All

From the OT to NT, the Bible is clear in presenting the Character of God - that He is gracious - we see the COMMON GRACE of God even today. He gives food, water, and air to all (believers and unbelievers) - He did not withhold blessings even to undeserving individuals.

We see the SAVING GRACE of God demonstrated on the CROSS - in which Jesus Christ shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins.

We see the MERCY of God in withholding His wrath to be poured on us sinners!

In our study of the book of Jonah, may it stir us towards the right response to the grace and mercy of God!

and I have entitled this morning’s sermon -

Running Away from Responsibilities

When God created the world, He give our first parents - Adam and Eve responsibilities to take care of the creation....

and then they fall - and sin entered into the world…Now the human race is running away from responsibilities - rejecting God’s commands.

When God planned for the redemption of the human race, he chose to give man the honor and responsibility to partner with God in proclaiming the good news of salvation.

In this book we find a person who we can related so much - he ran away from his God-given responsibilities - His name is Jonah.

Outline:

I. God’s Command to Jonah (1:1-2)

Jonah 1:1–2 NASB95

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

Who is Jonah?

His name means “dove”.

- A dove sent to declare the goodness and mercy of God to all.

New International Bible Dictionary (Jonah)

Jonah - A prophet of Israel. He was the son of Amittai and came from the town of Gath Hepher in the tribe of Zebulun. He prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II (793 - 753 BC)

2 Kings 14:25 NASB95

25 He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.

What is the command?

Jonah 1:2 NASB95

2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

Go to Nineveh and preach repentance

What is the city of Nineveh?

- It is a great city, with 600,000 inhabitants.

They are wicked people

it is known as a city of bloodshed.

New International Bible Dictionary (Nineveh, Nineve)

NINEVEH - One of the most ancient cities of the world, founded by Nimrod (Gen 10:11–12), it is the capital of the great Assyrian Empire.

What is the reason for the command?

To display the Grace and Mercy of God to everyone (sinners and undeserving)

We see God’s desire for the unbelieving nation to repent of their sins and so avoid God’s judgment - we see the mercy of God to unbelievers.

God’s mercy and grace to sinful Nineveh, giving them chance to repent and avoid destruction (Illustrations of God’s grace and mercy to undeserving sinners)

God has shown mercy and grace to us everyday - even when we were sinners - offending Him everyday with our evil desires, selfish motives, etc…Yet our sins did not stopped God from sending people to preach to us the Gospel and of repentance…so we can be saved.

For Christians, it is a character that we should emulate from God - to show mercy to the unmerciful. to show love to the unloving. To show forgiveness to those who are not deserving.

Yes, it is easy to say but difficult to do - but not impossible because we have the Holy Spirit in us.

This book contains a wonderful lesson about evangelism and missions

- our duty is to evangelize to people regardless of their nationality, religion and beliefs, nor standing in life (poor or rich, friend or enemy, acquaintance or stranger)

II. Jonah’s Rebellion to God (1:3)

Jonah 1:3 NASB95

3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Here we find

a. Jonah’s narrow view of God’s love

Jonah thought that God should just directly punish Nineveh and its inhabitants.

Is Jonah’s theology of God wrong? probably not, its just because God’s command is not pleasing to Jonah. God’s will is opposite to Jonah’s will. He wants them to deserve harm, not help.

b. The Rebellion of man against God (Nineveh and Jonah)

c. Man’s unwillingness and selfishness

Nineveh is enemy and it is not easy to love the enemy. They are brutal people, they have perfected the art of exile.

However, Jonah’s will is not above God’s will.

Jonah did not notice that He is putting himself in the same situation with the Ninevites - rebels against God.

Divine Solution

Jonah was unwilling whereas Jesus is willing and is able to save us.

Jonah was selfish whereas Jesus was selfless

Jonah ran away from his calling but Jesus ran towards his calling

Jonah did not care for his enemies but Jesus died for his enemies

Proper Response

Are you thankful to Christ for His willingness and selflessness to give His life for you?

Christians are called to imitate the Christ - to be selfless and to suffer for the glory of God

Be a willing witness for God - Partial obedience is disobedience, wholehearted obedience is what God requires to those whom He called and saved.