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Last week we saw that Jonah held the most successful one-day crusade in history. 120,000 repent and turn to God, 100% of the city.

2 underlying issues that form part of the Jonah Complex:

1. Jonah wanted a Human sized God.

- Jonah is Angry. He is angry that God Isn’t Like him.

- Inspite of what the Scriptures reveal about God,

Jonah could still only picture a god Like Himself.

- God shows Jonah, He is Not like Jonah Thinks He is.

There is a God, your not Him, so Get Over It.

2. Jonah had a Callused Heart.

- Jonah had a spiritual Heart Condition.

- Jonah tries to Ignore God.

- Jonah was Happy when he Received an undeserved benefit.

- He was Unhappy that Others also Received grace.

- Jonah cared more about Himself, than he did about an Entire City.

He forgot that the people of Nineveh were Created in the Image of God Too.

God dealt Patiently and Gracefully with Jonah:

- Because He Loved Jonah.

- God’s Chastening of Jonah was not just to make him feel bad.

- God’s Desire was for him to Change.

God deals Patiently and Gracefully with us too:

- God wants to Change us today.

- God wants to Revive us.

- Thank God he sends His Spirit to Indwell us and Enable us to be Overcomers, to be Transformed, to be enabled to Serve.

What are the necessary things for a Spiritual Awakening?

1. The Supremacy of God’s Word.

There can only be Personal, Cultural and Spiritual renewal, when God’s Word is Supreme in 2 principle ways:

a. In Our Lifestyles.

God’s word Remained the same, Jonah’s Attitude Changed.

That will effect our Choices, Attitudes, and Actions.

b. In Our Message.

Our generation desperately needs to Hear the word of God even if it makes them feel Uncomfortable.

2. Simple Obedience.

The dangers of Legalism are Rules, Rituals, Regulations.

Those can be very Dangerous in our Lives and in the Church.

We need to Distinguish between Legalism and Simple Obedience.

3. Genuine Repentance.

Repentance means that we were going in one Direction doing our Own thing, Ignoring truth, getting by on Feelings and Ignoring God, and we Decide to Turn from that and go in God’s Direction and Follow Him.

Where did the Repentance Start in the account of Jonah? With Jonah.

Revival starts with You and I­­ Repenting.

The world goes on as it does because that is its Nature,

most people are made By the Times.

We must become Salt and Light again

because God’s people are made For the Times.

Jonah Ran Away from God and tried to Escape God’s will.

God sends a Storm into his life to get his Attention.

But God is Not Finished with him yet.

The Great Fish teaches us 2 Great Truths:

1. How Serious God is about Sin.

This was a Miracle. The story of Jonah, is a Type of Jesus Christ.

a. Sin has Consequences.

God cannot be Mocked. What we Sow, we Reap.

b. God wants to Fumigate our Sin.

The storm helped Jonah to stop Running from God

The great fish helped Jonah to start Thinking about God

2. How Great God’s Grace is.

God’s chastening does Not mean that God is Trying to get Even.

Rather it shows us that God Loves us.

After we have worked all our lives, when we come to the end of life all that is left is God.

Jonah exercised a Decision to change Direction, to Consciously and Willing follow the Lord.

When God calls us to do something we have 2 simple choices:

1. We can either Believe Him, and Obey Him.

2. Or we can Rebel and Run.

1. Running away from God does Not mean Escaping God’s Presence.

· God is Omnipresent. Wherever we go, God is There.

· Running away from God is not trying to get Out of his Presence, that’s impossible, it is trying to place ourselves Outside His Will.

2. We need to Know about the Consequences of Running away from God.

When we run away from God:

a. We Invite Satanic Influence.

b. We invite God’s Intervention.

The Christian life is No Guarantee that we will have No Problems.

We need to know there is a big difference between Self-inflicted suffering and suffering that comes due to our Commitments.

c. We are Deceived by Sin.

Running away from God is Exhausting and we can be Oblivious to the danger those around us are in, due to our Actions.

d. Our Sin will be Revealed.

e. We are brought to a Decision.

God’s discipline comes in the context of His Mercy & Grace.

God had him in place where he could no longer run or hide.

He could no longer Ignore God. He had to Make a Choice.

Jonah’s Experience is very Contemporary.

In Jonah’s experience we see the Concern of God for the World.

1. The Situation from Jonah’s Perspective?

· Jonah has been a Successful prophet. He was able to Hear the Voice of God.

· Jonah’s problem was Not that he did Not Hear God’s voice,

Jonah’s problem was What he Heard he did Not Like.

Jonah’s Perspective:

a. Those people were Not his Kind of People.

b. This was Inconvenient.

c. This was Risky.

2. The Situation from God’s Perspective?

· God had a Totally Different perspective.

· Instead God looks at Nineveh and sees their Real Need.

· What we need to do is See God’s Perspective and

· Have Our perspectives Subservient to God’s perspectives.

Men have been looking so hard at the great fish,

that they have failed to see the great God.

(G.Campbell Morgan)

Primary Sources God uses to impart to us a knowledge of His will:

1. The Bible.

2. The Burden.

3. The Bearings.

What are the Circumstances of our lives, Through which God imparts Direction to us, and Helps us find our Bearings?

God may direct us through Circumstances:

i). Not every Circumstance is something God is Orchestrating.

ii). But some things Don’t Just happen.

God can work Circumstances to do a couple of things:

a. God may use Circumstances to Confirm our Path.

i) Something may be Consistent with God’s Word.

ii) We are Sensing His leading through the burden.

iii) Then God does Something to Confirm those things through our circumstances.

b. God may use Circumstances to Change our Path.

Our Disappointments may be God’s Appointments.

c. Circumstances by Themselves are Not Reliable indicators

of God’s leading.

i) An Open door does Not Necessarily indicate God’s Will.

ii) A Closed door, a disappointment, a delay, does Not Necessarily indicate God’s Prohibition.

You need to Line Up All Three of these primary sources God uses to impart to us a knowledge of His will.

Primary Sources God uses to impart to us a knowledge of His will:

1. The Bible.

2. The Burden.

A burden is a Divinely initiated and Sustained Impression on my

spirit that a particular matter is God’s will for me.

How can we seek to describe the Spirit’s work in our hearts in this:

a. Seeding.

The Spirit initiates a burden by Planting an Idea.

b. Stirring.

The Idea comes and God Stirs us to Think about it.

The Spirit initiates Thinking about that Seeded idea.

c. Strengthening.

God uses a variety of means to Affirm our Thinking and

move it towards a Conviction.

God can use many things to start to form a Conviction:

a. He can use the things People Say to us.

b. He can use the opening of Coinciding Opportunities.

c. He can use the Counsel of Mature Christians.

d. Sustaining.

What God intends, He Sustains.

He will Sustain that in you so that you can’t get away from it.

He also Sustains it in the face of Opposition.

Some Precautions:

i). An Inner Voice is Not always from God.

ii). If something is of God it will Agree with Scripture.

iii). If something is of God it will be Confirmed by Reality.

The Bible must be Read to be Helpful. It must be read Personally.

As you read the Word you will Increase your Discernment.

1. The Bible.

Read the Bible to:

a. Take Advantage of Pre-ploughed Ground.

b. Find Revelation, Not an Echo.

c. Develop a Biblical Mindset.

2. The Burden.

This comes by the Inward Leading of the Holy Spirit of God.

We are all called to Kingdom Work, Not Surveillance.

A burden is a Divinely initiated and Sustained Impression on my spirit that a particular matter is God’s will for me.

Discerning is an ability given by the Holy Spirit.

Working Definition:

Discernment is a Spirit given ability working in and through human Intelligence that Enables us to Identify God’s Word and God’s Will.

Some foundational spiritual disciplines that will allow us to grow in our Spirit given ability to have discernment.

1. Pray for Discernment.

We should ask for God’s Direction and ask for God’s Assistance.

2. Seek to Know God.

The Apostle Paul’s Primarily goal was Not seeking the Lord’s Directions and Will, but Knowing the Lord.

He knew Discernment due to his Relationship with Christ.

3. Surrender Your Will.

Submit your Plans and Desires to God for His Approval.

4. Walking in the Fullness of the Holy Spirit.

5. Trust God – Even when we don’t Understand.

Unbelief Hinders discernment.

We live by God’s Promises, Not by his Explanations.

6. Don’t Fret over Mixed Feelings.

Beware the Paralysis of Analysis.

Roughness on a road does Not necessarily mean you’re on the Wrong road.

7. Develop a Ministry Mindset.

Our Affections Drive our discernments.

They will Drive your Ability to accept a Ministry.

8. Learn on the Go.

9. Know your Bible.