100:00:00,040 –> 00:00:13,560One reason why many people struggle here is that it seems as if God’s freedom — Jacob200:00:13,560 –> 00:00:17,760have I loved, and Esau have I hated — it would seem that that would make God’s love300:00:17,760 –> 00:00:19,959less.400:00:19,959 –> 00:00:26,799If God is really loving, shouldn’t that mean that he treats everybody the same?500:00:26,860 –> 00:00:29,020Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.600:00:29,020 –> 00:00:30,160I am Davies Picke.700:00:30,160 –> 00:00:32,299I’m glad you could join us today.800:00:32,299 –> 00:00:36,480And Colin, if God is loving, doesn’t he love us all the same?900:00:36,480 –> 00:00:41,459He is love and there is a very profound sense in which he does love us all the same.1000:00:41,459 –> 00:00:46,980God loves the world, and he sent his Son into the world.1100:00:46,980 –> 00:00:51,480But the Bible speaks about the love of God in different ways, and there is a very profound1200:00:51,619 –> 00:00:57,299sense in which the deepest love is not the same to everyone.1300:00:57,299 –> 00:01:03,180When I say I love my wife, I mean that I love her in a way that is different.1400:01:03,180 –> 00:01:06,459I don’t love everyone the same, when I say that, right.1500:01:06,459 –> 00:01:07,459Right.1600:01:07,459 –> 00:01:11,120And she would not be pleased if she thought that that was what I meant.1700:01:11,120 –> 00:01:17,379Now we’re going to get to how the Bible speaks about God’s love laying hold of a1800:01:17,379 –> 00:01:21,019person in a very special way.1900:01:21,139 –> 00:01:24,699That is wonderful and it’s a love that’s not less.2000:01:24,699 –> 00:01:29,760It’s a love that is more and that’s the love that Paul speaks about when he says,2100:01:29,760 –> 00:01:34,260the Son of God loved me and he gave himself for me.2200:01:34,260 –> 00:01:35,839That’s particular.2300:01:35,839 –> 00:01:36,839That’s personal.2400:01:36,839 –> 00:01:38,220Very wonderful.2500:01:38,220 –> 00:01:43,879So join us today, if you can, in Jonah chapter 4, as we continue the message2600:01:43,879 –> 00:01:46,620Resent God’s Providence in ruling the world.2700:01:46,620 –> 00:01:48,459Here is Colin.2800:01:48,459 –> 00:01:52,800God’s grace makes some people angry.2900:01:52,800 –> 00:01:58,559In fact, I want to suggest to you today that God’s grace will do one of two things in your3000:01:58,559 –> 00:02:04,160life and that all people in who are thinking about God’s grace are moving in one of these3100:02:04,160 –> 00:02:05,160two directions.3200:02:05,160 –> 00:02:10,940Either God’s grace will make you angry or God’s grace will make you3300:02:10,940 –> 00:02:11,940worship.3400:02:11,940 –> 00:02:13,979You will go one of these two ways.3500:02:14,300 –> 00:02:20,020Now let’s think for a few moments then about how God’s grace makes some people angry.3600:02:20,020 –> 00:02:26,059If you want to know whether God’s grace could possibly make you angry, turn with me to Romans3700:02:26,059 –> 00:02:27,059and chapter nine.3800:02:27,059 –> 00:02:31,500Would you do that with me today, Romans and chapter nine.3900:02:31,500 –> 00:02:39,220For of all the chapters in the Bible, Romans chapter nine is probably the starkest of all4000:02:39,220 –> 00:02:46,860statements of what God’s grace actually means.4100:02:46,860 –> 00:02:50,940The whole chapter really is devoted to an explanation of what God’s grace is really4200:02:50,940 –> 00:02:52,399all about.4300:02:52,399 –> 00:02:59,460Let me quote to you some examples of why God’s grace makes some people angry.4400:02:59,460 –> 00:03:01,339Here’s what God’s grace looks like.4500:03:01,339 –> 00:03:03,119Chapter nine and verse thirteen.4600:03:03,119 –> 00:03:07,919One of the most difficult statements in the whole Bible.4700:03:08,360 –> 00:03:16,160Jacob, I loved, but Esau, I hated.4800:03:16,160 –> 00:03:19,580How many people feel uncomfortable about that already?4900:03:19,580 –> 00:03:21,679OK.5000:03:21,679 –> 00:03:25,860See there’s an instinct in us we want to say to God, it’s fine for you to love Jacob but5100:03:25,860 –> 00:03:28,880you must do the same for Esau.5200:03:28,880 –> 00:03:34,440Paul continues verse fourteen, what shall we say then is God unjust?5300:03:34,600 –> 00:03:43,360Not at all, for he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, I will have compassion5400:03:43,360 –> 00:03:46,240on whom I have compassion.5500:03:46,240 –> 00:03:51,399It’s up to me to decide where I exercise mercy and where I exercise compassion.5600:03:51,399 –> 00:03:53,619That’s what God says.5700:03:53,619 –> 00:04:00,220Read Romans chapter nine and you will begin to see why God’s grace makes some people angry.5800:04:00,220 –> 00:04:03,160Because grace means that God is free.5900:04:03,160 –> 00:04:12,160That’s the word, God is free to do whatever He wants in any situation.6000:04:12,160 –> 00:04:19,480Beautifully stated in Psalm 115 and verse 3, our God is in heaven, and He does whatever6100:04:19,480 –> 00:04:23,220pleases Him.6200:04:23,220 –> 00:04:28,260And you know, it is an expression, think about this, is it not an expression of our own utter6300:04:28,540 –> 00:04:39,480pride and arrogance, that we make so much of our need to be free to accept or reject6400:04:39,480 –> 00:04:46,739Him but we do not feel that He should be free to accept or reject us.6500:04:46,739 –> 00:04:51,760Some folks are so locked into the idea that God must treat everybody the same that they6600:04:51,760 –> 00:04:56,640think of God simply as opening the door to make salvation possible.6700:04:56,679 –> 00:05:00,640And then standing back to just wait and see who will come in.6800:05:00,640 –> 00:05:04,959But I’m suggesting to you that the Bible speaks of a greater love than that in which God takes6900:05:04,959 –> 00:05:09,200the initiative in sending His Son into the world.7000:05:09,200 –> 00:05:14,239But more than that, God takes the initiative in breaking into the lives of particular people7100:05:14,239 –> 00:05:19,459so that you should be saved, I should be saved.7200:05:19,459 –> 00:05:23,779Let me point you to one more scripture that, that just kind of from the Old Testament I7300:05:23,779 –> 00:05:25,399think speaks powerfully to this.7400:05:25,660 –> 00:05:29,540Turn back to Deuteronomy in chapter 7 if you would.7500:05:29,540 –> 00:05:37,540Deuteronomy and chapter 7, this is really one of the great statements in the Old Testament7600:05:37,540 –> 00:05:43,420Scriptures about God’s particular love for His own covenant people.7700:05:43,420 –> 00:05:46,420And notice what God says here.7800:05:46,420 –> 00:05:51,640He says to Israel, you are a people holy to the Lord your God.7900:05:51,720 –> 00:05:57,640Holy, separate, different, special, unique, because of the relationship that God has forged.8000:05:57,640 –> 00:06:03,519And he says, the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of8100:06:03,519 –> 00:06:06,760the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.8200:06:06,760 –> 00:06:11,619You say, OK, God has chosen this people out of all the peoples on the face of the earth8300:06:11,619 –> 00:06:14,160to be His special and treasured possession.8400:06:14,160 –> 00:06:16,640Why did God love them in this special way?8500:06:17,279 –> 00:06:18,279Well verse 7.8600:06:18,299 –> 00:06:22,160The Lord did not set His affection on you, and choose you because you were more numerous8700:06:22,160 –> 00:06:24,760than other people, because you were the fewest of all people.8800:06:24,760 –> 00:06:25,760OK.8900:06:25,760 –> 00:06:28,839We’re now being told that God didn’t set His love on Israel because there was anything9000:06:28,839 –> 00:06:32,279special about them, numerical strength or whatever else.9100:06:32,279 –> 00:06:33,279So why now?9200:06:33,279 –> 00:06:34,440We’re holding our breath.9300:06:34,440 –> 00:06:37,100Why is it that God then set His affection on them?9400:06:37,100 –> 00:06:38,720We’re going to get the answer in verse 8.9500:06:38,720 –> 00:06:45,299It was because the Lord loved you, and kept the oath that He swore to your forefathers9600:06:45,820 –> 00:06:54,519You see what it’s saying?9700:06:54,519 –> 00:06:57,579Why does God love you?9800:06:57,579 –> 00:07:00,279Because He loves you.9900:07:00,279 –> 00:07:01,880No other reason.10000:07:01,880 –> 00:07:07,260Not your prayers, not your ministry, not your service, not your commitment, not your faith,10100:07:07,260 –> 00:07:10,260not your good life.10200:07:10,260 –> 00:07:16,239God set His love on you, brother and sister in Christ for this one and only reason, because10300:07:16,239 –> 00:07:20,380He loved you.10400:07:20,380 –> 00:07:23,899That’s why He chose you out of the people on all the faces of the earth to be among10500:07:23,899 –> 00:07:25,980His treasured possession.10600:07:25,980 –> 00:07:32,760And now God extends His love to Nineveh of all places, the capital of terror and torture.10700:07:32,760 –> 00:07:34,220Jonah’s saying why Nineveh?10800:07:34,220 –> 00:07:37,660And it’s making him mad!10900:07:37,779 –> 00:07:41,140Of all the cities God could have chosen to send a prophet, why this one?11000:07:41,140 –> 00:07:46,720Of all the cities God could’ve raised a revival, why this one?11100:07:46,720 –> 00:07:48,179You can’t get beyond this answer.11200:07:48,179 –> 00:07:52,299Our God is in heaven and He does whatever pleases Him.11300:07:52,299 –> 00:07:56,140Nobody tells Him what to do.11400:07:56,140 –> 00:08:02,839And that made Jonah mad!11500:08:02,839 –> 00:08:07,600You’re more comfortable with a God who’s more controlled.11600:08:07,600 –> 00:08:11,579Who operates within a framework.11700:08:11,579 –> 00:08:13,760That’s not the God of the Bible.11800:08:13,760 –> 00:08:16,980You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith.11900:08:16,980 –> 00:08:21,140We have to pause the message briefly there, but we’ll be back very shortly.12000:08:21,140 –> 00:08:25,420Don’t forget if you joined us late or if you have to go early that you can easily catch12100:08:25,420 –> 00:08:30,459up or go back and listen again to any of Pastor Colin’s messages that have already been broadcast12200:08:30,459 –> 00:08:32,179by coming to our website.12300:08:32,200 –> 00:08:35,140Openthebible.org.uk12400:08:35,599 –> 00:08:39,080Open the Bible is supported financially by our listeners.12500:08:39,080 –> 00:08:44,719It’s donations from people just like you which keeps Open the Bible on the air and on the12600:08:44,719 –> 00:08:45,679internet.12700:08:45,679 –> 00:08:49,039So if you’re ready to give to support the work, thank you so much.12800:08:49,039 –> 00:08:54,479If that’s something you’ve been thinking of doing either with a one-off gift or as a regular12900:08:54,479 –> 00:08:59,080donation, we’d love to say thank you by offering you a free gift.13000:08:59,099 –> 00:09:02,479Here’s Open the Bible’s Amanda Cunningham to tell us about it.13100:09:02,479 –> 00:09:06,760I don’t know about you David but I cannot walk into a shop at the moment without13200:09:06,760 –> 00:09:10,239being reminded that it is Valentine’s Season.13300:09:10,239 –> 00:09:13,239Cards, chocolates, and love.13400:09:13,239 –> 00:09:19,359However, I’ve been really struck this month by a deeper better love, the kind we see in13500:09:19,359 –> 00:09:20,559the Gospels.13600:09:20,559 –> 00:09:26,000Here at Open the Bible UK, we’re reading Gospels Stories by Andrew Wilson13700:09:26,000 –> 00:09:28,700and I found it’s such a helpful book.13800:09:28,859 –> 00:09:34,440In the Gospels, Jesus often teaches through stories and real encounters and so, Andrew13900:09:34,440 –> 00:09:40,419Wilson helps you slow down and really see what those moments reveal about who Jesus14000:09:40,419 –> 00:09:41,320is,14100:09:41,320 –> 00:09:45,099why he came and the kind of love that he offers.14200:09:45,099 –> 00:09:50,380A love that pursues us, forgives us, restores us, and never lets go.14300:09:50,380 –> 00:09:55,299I think it’s a wonderful book to use in your own quiet time or to share with a friend14400:09:55,299 –> 00:09:57,799or even to read in a small group.14500:09:57,960 –> 00:10:03,340And especially this February, it’s been a reminder to me that the truest love isn’t14600:10:03,340 –> 00:10:08,799something we achieve or buy, it’s something we receive in Christ.14700:10:08,799 –> 00:10:13,859Gospel Stories is our free thank you gift when you give a one-off donation of at least14800:10:13,859 –> 00:10:19,780£50 or when you set up a new direct debit of just £5 a month.14900:10:19,780 –> 00:10:25,919But please do remember to include your name and address when you donate so we can send15000:10:25,919 –> 00:10:27,419your copy out to you.15100:10:27,559 –> 00:10:33,219So that offer is available all this month and you can find full terms and conditions15200:10:33,219 –> 00:10:39,119and you can give online at our website OpenTheBible.org.uk.15300:10:39,119 –> 00:10:43,380And again if you give through the website, please remember to give your full name and15400:10:43,380 –> 00:10:46,140address so we can send you your gift.15500:10:46,140 –> 00:10:47,659Back to the message now.15600:10:47,659 –> 00:10:49,719Here again is Colin.15700:10:49,719 –> 00:10:51,419God’s grace makes some people angry.15800:10:51,539 –> 00:10:54,659Here’s the second thing more briefly, more wonderfully.15900:10:59,179 –> 00:11:00,859Now let me just say this.16000:11:00,880 –> 00:11:04,940Some Christians disagree on how we should understand these things that I’ve been speaking16100:11:04,940 –> 00:11:10,500about and trying to point you to in the bible, as best I understand it.16200:11:10,500 –> 00:11:15,059And if you find yourself saying, you know, I really don’t see what Pastor Colin sees16300:11:15,059 –> 00:11:18,900in the bible, then we can agree to differ.16400:11:18,900 –> 00:11:21,219That’s okay.16500:11:21,219 –> 00:11:24,200Your eternal future doesn’t hang on this.16600:11:24,200 –> 00:11:27,000You’ll be glad to know that.16700:11:27,000 –> 00:11:28,179So why am I speaking about it?16800:11:28,179 –> 00:11:34,539For this reason I’m utterly convinced that a great deal of your joy in worship does hang16900:11:34,539 –> 00:11:37,479on this.17000:11:37,479 –> 00:11:43,099Because if all that you think is that God is generally munificent to you in a way that17100:11:43,099 –> 00:11:48,739he is to everybody else, then it’s difficult to see how your whole heart, soul, mind and17200:11:48,799 –> 00:11:54,479strength is really going to be galvanized in the worship of God.17300:11:54,479 –> 00:11:59,520Let God’s grace lead you not into anger, my friend, but into worship.17400:11:59,520 –> 00:12:05,200Let me try and point you as to how that might happen for you, how it has happened for me17500:12:05,200 –> 00:12:09,619and for thousands of thousands of other Christians.17600:12:09,619 –> 00:12:15,219If you are a Christian, ask this question honestly and with wonder and amazement in17700:12:15,219 –> 00:12:17,520your heart.17800:12:17,900 –> 00:12:26,080Why is it that you believe and someone else in your family, your work, in your group of17900:12:26,080 –> 00:12:28,599friends, does not?18000:12:28,599 –> 00:12:36,000I’m thinking of folks who have exactly the same background as I do and polar opposite18100:12:36,000 –> 00:12:37,760lights.18200:12:37,760 –> 00:12:39,359Why?18300:12:40,799 –> 00:12:44,539Do you think it is because you are wiser than them?18400:12:44,539 –> 00:12:46,700Would you say, well, I made a better choice.18500:12:46,739 –> 00:12:52,140Well, why did you make a better choice, is that because you are a better person?18600:12:52,140 –> 00:12:55,859See, that is what you think in your heart of hearts you just turned God’s grace into18700:12:55,859 –> 00:12:57,979works.18800:12:57,979 –> 00:13:03,539Here is why you believe if you are a Christian.18900:13:03,539 –> 00:13:07,219God set His love on you.19000:13:07,219 –> 00:13:10,640God’s Holy Spirit awakened you.19100:13:10,640 –> 00:13:16,580God drew you to Himself, God redeemed you, God gave you life from above and you did19200:13:16,679 –> 00:13:20,679nothing to deserve it, neither did I.19300:13:20,679 –> 00:13:23,659That’s grace.19400:13:23,659 –> 00:13:24,960Isaac Watts wrote a hymn.19500:13:24,960 –> 00:13:28,239It is one of my favorite hymns.19600:13:28,239 –> 00:13:34,640Because it describes the thing I cannot get over in my own life.19700:13:34,640 –> 00:13:36,880It’s called, How Sweet and Awesome is the Place.19800:13:36,880 –> 00:13:41,299I hope you will come to love it, We’ve sung it in our worship services at different times19900:13:41,979 –> 00:13:47,539And it just takes up the picture that our Lord Jesus uses of salvation being like a20000:13:47,539 –> 00:13:55,539great banquet and what pictures us as believers coming into this great banquet and can you20100:13:55,539 –> 00:14:00,900imagine this vast, vast banqueting hall bigger than you have ever seen or ever can imagine20200:14:00,900 –> 00:14:06,440and it is spread out with tables as far as the eye can see and they are laden, prepared20300:14:06,440 –> 00:14:08,580for the feast.20400:14:08,599 –> 00:14:14,799Now you have come in and all of your brothers and sisters in Christ are coming in and we20500:14:14,799 –> 00:14:17,419are seeing the feast.20600:14:18,520 –> 00:14:21,299And what writes these words?20700:14:21,299 –> 00:14:33,880While all our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast, each of us cry with thankful20800:14:34,359 –> 00:14:38,419Lord, why was I a guest?20900:14:40,119 –> 00:14:43,140Why was I made to hear your voice?21000:14:44,239 –> 00:14:50,280And enter while there’s room when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than21100:14:50,280 –> 00:14:51,000come.21200:14:52,479 –> 00:14:54,380And here’s what he says about that.21300:14:54,400 –> 00:14:56,080He says, here’s how I came.21400:14:56,440 –> 00:15:02,840It was the same love that spread the feast, that sweetly drew us in.21500:15:02,880 –> 00:15:08,880You see, the Lord who sent his Son into the world is the Lord who sent his Spirit to work21600:15:08,880 –> 00:15:13,659in your mind and your heart and to change you from the rebel you would have been apart21700:15:13,659 –> 00:15:15,159from his grace.21800:15:16,219 –> 00:15:22,599It was the same love that spread the feast that sweetly drew us in, or else we had still21900:15:22,599 –> 00:15:27,119refused to taste and rather starve than come.22000:15:28,119 –> 00:15:33,460My friend, apart from God’s grace, you would never have come to Jesus Christ, apart from22100:15:33,460 –> 00:15:36,960the work of the Spirit, opening your mind to the truth, changing your heart towards22200:15:36,960 –> 00:15:44,200the truth, recreating you as a new person you would have spent the rest of your life22300:15:44,200 –> 00:15:49,679with your own sinful heart taking you away from Christ, so would I!22400:15:49,679 –> 00:15:54,479We would be outside for the rest of our lives still refusing to come!22500:15:55,440 –> 00:16:00,479That’s what Isaac Watts is convinced of, I’m convinced of it too.22600:16:01,840 –> 00:16:07,760I cannot think of any other reason why I love Christ and someone else I know and love who22700:16:07,760 –> 00:16:18,559had the same background does not, so let God’s grace lead you to worship, because once you22800:16:18,559 –> 00:16:24,419get a taste of God’s grace, you will spend the rest of your life keeping coming back22900:16:24,419 –> 00:16:32,719to this question, Lord why me and you will never get a better answer than this, that23000:16:32,719 –> 00:16:39,440He has set His love on you and that will make you say again, but why me?23100:16:39,440 –> 00:16:47,200You start to feel with John Newton, another great hymnwriter that God’s grace is what,23200:16:48,000 –> 00:16:53,679Newton said amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost23300:16:53,679 –> 00:17:01,119but now I’m found, was blind but now I see, if you said to John Newton, tell me John what23400:17:01,119 –> 00:17:05,479is so amazing about grace? John Newton would say this to you, look I was lost and God found23500:17:05,479 –> 00:17:15,400me, I was blind and God gave me sight, He healed me, and why God would do this for me23600:17:15,400 –> 00:17:21,739where millions and thousands live their lives and die their deaths, still lost and still23700:17:21,739 –> 00:17:31,459blind is amazing beyond anything I can imagine or begin to explain and when you see God’s23800:17:31,459 –> 00:17:43,959amazing grace you will find yourself increasingly lost in wonder, love and praise. I wish that23900:17:43,979 –> 00:17:50,000more of us believed not only that God made it possible for us to be saved, but that God24000:17:50,000 –> 00:18:02,839saved us. Because that’s what the Bible says, saved us. So let this amazing doctrine of24100:18:02,839 –> 00:18:09,060God’s grace that raises so many questions, let it not take you with the company of those24200:18:09,180 –> 00:18:17,140who become angry. You join the company of those who, beholding God’s inexplicable24300:18:17,140 –> 00:18:23,180grace in our lives, find that it leads us to worship.24400:18:23,180 –> 00:18:27,380And then there is just one more thing that I want to say in the very last moment here,24500:18:27,380 –> 00:18:33,239and it’s this, that God’s grace that makes some people angry and God’s grace that24600:18:33,260 –> 00:18:38,459makes some people worship is also the same grace that makes some people pray.24700:18:38,459 –> 00:18:43,060And the reason that I mentioned this, we’ll come back to this another time, but I want24800:18:43,060 –> 00:18:47,739just to mention it today for this reason, that the obvious question that comes up when24900:18:47,739 –> 00:18:51,660we think about God’s grace in our lives as believers, is someone will say, well, that’s25000:18:51,660 –> 00:18:57,380all very well for you, but what about the folks who are lost?25100:18:57,380 –> 00:19:02,540And that leads me just to this very last observation and it’s interesting how it comes in Isaac25200:19:02,699 –> 00:19:08,500watts great hymn that I’ve introduced here, because he marvels at God’s grace in his own25300:19:08,500 –> 00:19:09,500life.25400:19:09,500 –> 00:19:13,300It was the same love that spread the feast that sweetly drew us in, he says, or else25500:19:13,300 –> 00:19:17,319we had still refused to taste and we would rather have starved than come.25600:19:17,319 –> 00:19:19,280We would never have come if it wasn’t for your grace, Lord.25700:19:19,280 –> 00:19:20,939I know that’s true of my life.25800:19:20,939 –> 00:19:22,339And then he says this.25900:19:23,599 –> 00:19:25,699Pity the nations.26000:19:25,699 –> 00:19:28,319Oh God.26100:19:28,319 –> 00:19:32,339Constrain the earth to come.26200:19:32,339 –> 00:19:38,680Send thy victorious word abroad and bring the strangers home.26300:19:39,959 –> 00:19:44,699Now you see, the reason that Watts can pray like that, and the reason you can pray like26400:19:44,699 –> 00:19:51,520that, is because Watts believes and understands that God does constrain people to come, and26500:19:51,540 –> 00:19:53,859God does bring strangers home.26600:19:53,859 –> 00:19:56,680He doesn’t just stand by in an open door and watch.26700:19:56,680 –> 00:19:59,000He actually, by his Spirit, is at work in the world.26800:19:59,439 –> 00:20:03,199He saves people, not just make it possible for them to save.26900:20:03,199 –> 00:20:09,400That is why I want to end on this note, that God’s grace is the greatest incentive I know27000:20:09,400 –> 00:20:13,520to pray for the salvation of lost people.27100:20:13,520 –> 00:20:18,380If all God did was simply open the door and stand back and watch to see who would come,27200:20:18,380 –> 00:20:21,599there would be little point in praying for that lost.27300:20:21,599 –> 00:20:26,719But when you see in the Bible that God wonderfully, graciously takes the initiative, think of27400:20:27,459 –> 00:20:35,359If God can swoop into my life, uninvited, to change my mind and my heart so I begin27500:20:35,359 –> 00:20:42,640to seek after Him, He can do that in the lives of other people as well, including the lives27600:20:42,640 –> 00:20:52,479of those who, right now, are filled with resentment towards Him, like someone you’re praying for.27700:20:52,479 –> 00:20:53,800Let that sustain your prayers.27800:20:53,800 –> 00:20:54,800God’s grace.27900:20:54,959 –> 00:20:59,760He’s free to swoop into that person’s life, you’re bringing that person before Him.28000:20:59,760 –> 00:21:07,359He can do it in a moment because He’s free, because He’s God.28100:21:08,359 –> 00:21:10,839God’s grace is amazing.28200:21:10,839 –> 00:21:14,239No one is so good as to deserve it.28300:21:14,239 –> 00:21:18,640No one is so bad as to be beyond it.28400:21:18,640 –> 00:21:26,040And either God’s grace will make you angry, or it will make you worship and it will lead28500:21:26,040 –> 00:21:28,540you to prayer.28600:21:28,540 –> 00:21:33,400And we’ll come back to the rest of Jonah chapter 4, but it’s all about this story of how God28700:21:33,400 –> 00:21:41,699led very gently a man who was angry about grace to the place of worship and prayer that’s28800:21:41,699 –> 00:21:50,579expressed in his marvelous song in chapter 2 that he ends with these words saying triumphantly,28900:21:50,579 –> 00:21:56,020Salvation comes from the Lord.29000:21:56,020 –> 00:22:00,880Pastor Colin Smith there telling us from God’s word that His grace will make some people29100:22:00,880 –> 00:22:04,780angry and it will lead others to worship and pray.29200:22:04,780 –> 00:22:11,140Colin, this message has been helpful in helping us to understand the idea of God’s grace.29300:22:11,859 –> 00:22:14,500It’s so much bigger than we initially think.29400:22:14,500 –> 00:22:18,420To many people God’s grace is that He is kind and loving and for all of us who come29500:22:18,420 –> 00:22:21,760to Him, He will forgive us and so forth and so on.29600:22:21,760 –> 00:22:24,920Yet, the reality is that by nature none of us are going to come to Him.29700:22:24,920 –> 00:22:28,479If He just sits and waits for us, we will never get there.29800:22:28,479 –> 00:22:34,300The only way that Jonah is redeemed, the way in which any of us are redeemed, is God laying29900:22:34,300 –> 00:22:38,839hold of us by the scruff of the neck and dragging us in.30000:22:38,839 –> 00:22:39,839Thank God that He does that.30100:22:39,839 –> 00:22:40,839Absolutely.30200:22:40,839 –> 00:22:43,420And as you often say, it does several things.30300:22:43,420 –> 00:22:49,339It gives us hope for those that we care about who on their own would likely never begin30400:22:49,339 –> 00:22:50,959a relationship with Christ.30500:22:50,959 –> 00:22:52,060Yeah, that’s wonderful.30600:22:52,060 –> 00:22:57,500If God is limited to standing passively by and only accepting those who come, then the30700:22:57,500 –> 00:23:01,839people you are praying for right now, you know that they don’t have it in themselves30800:23:01,839 –> 00:23:02,839to come.30900:23:02,839 –> 00:23:06,500So thank God that He is free to lay hold of people.31000:23:06,500 –> 00:23:09,239He can swoop into a person’s life uninvited.31100:23:09,560 –> 00:23:11,060That’s a reason for me to pray.31200:23:11,060 –> 00:23:13,579Oh Lord, you don’t need her permission.31300:23:13,579 –> 00:23:17,180You don’t need his permission to lay hold of his life.31400:23:17,180 –> 00:23:18,300Go redeem him.31500:23:18,300 –> 00:23:19,300Grab him.31600:23:19,300 –> 00:23:20,300Get him.31700:23:20,300 –> 00:23:21,300Thank God he has the freedom to do that.31800:23:21,300 –> 00:23:22,300That’s great!31900:23:22,300 –> 00:23:23,300He has free will.32000:23:23,300 –> 00:23:27,420The other thing it does is that it gives us an assurance that salvation is never what32100:23:27,420 –> 00:23:28,619we do.32200:23:28,619 –> 00:23:29,640We don’t earn it.32300:23:29,640 –> 00:23:35,380It’s a free gift from God and we’re dependent on him and he won’t let us go.32400:23:35,380 –> 00:23:37,260And what are you of God’s love?32500:23:37,280 –> 00:23:42,819Well, it’s not only that he accepted me because I came, it’s his love reached out32600:23:42,819 –> 00:23:44,579to me and he grabbed hold of me.32700:23:44,579 –> 00:23:46,459What kind of love is that?32800:23:46,459 –> 00:23:52,459That God started a work of grace in my life when I had no interest in him and he redeemed32900:23:52,459 –> 00:23:56,140me because his love came to me before I ever even thought about loving him.33000:23:56,140 –> 00:24:01,140So next time, we’ll hear part of the story of Jonah which is perhaps not as well known.33100:24:01,140 –> 00:24:05,900We know about him running away and about the storm and the fish, but then there’s the33200:24:05,900 –> 00:24:09,660part about the vine and the worm and the wind.33300:24:09,660 –> 00:24:14,619It’s one of my favourite parts of the whole story and it’s full of lessons for us about33400:24:14,619 –> 00:24:22,660God’s grace and his kindness and how we are to respond to the difficulties of life in33500:24:22,660 –> 00:24:24,020a way that glorifies Christ.33600:24:24,020 –> 00:24:26,099So, I hope you’ll join us for that.33700:24:26,099 –> 00:24:30,780You’ve been listening to the Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called33800:24:30,780 –> 00:24:34,160Resent God’s Providence in Ruling the World.33900:24:34,800 –> 00:24:38,140Don’t forget if you have missed part of the message or if you want to go back and listen34000:24:38,140 –> 00:24:45,400again you can do that by coming online to our website openthebible.org.uk or by finding34100:24:45,400 –> 00:24:50,199it as a podcast and those are on all the main podcast sites and you can find them by searching34200:24:50,199 –> 00:24:54,880for Open the Bible UK or follow the link from our website.34300:24:54,880 –> 00:24:59,880For Pastor Colin Smith and for Open the Bible, I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll join us again34400:24:59,880 –> 00:25:01,599next time on Open the Bible.34500:25:04,160 –> 00:25:18,260openthebible.org34600:25:20,680 –> 00:25:25,979Why does God often bring sorrow and pain into our lives?34700:25:26,000 –> 00:25:28,040Find out next time on Open the Bible.