My Bible study notes for Wednesday night, March 27^th. Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

Some helpful background information as we begin our new Wednesday Night study through Jonah

The Book of Jonah

Nineveh is northeast; Tarshish is west. When God calls Jonah to preach repentance to the wicked Ninevites, the prophet knows that God’s mercy may follow. He turns down the assignment and heads for Tarshish instead. But once God has dampened his spirits (by tossing him out of the boat and into the water) and has demonstrated His protection (by moving him out of the water and into the fish), Jonah realizes God is serious about His command. Nineveh must hear the word of the Lord; therefore Jonah goes. Although the preaching is a success, the preacher comes away angry and discouraged. He must learn firsthand of God’s compassion for sinful men. Yonah is the Hebrew word for “dove.” The Septuagint hellenized this word into Ionas, and the Latin Vulgate used the title Jonas.

The Time of Jonah

Jonah was a contemporary of Jeroboam II of Israel (782–753 B.C.) who ministered after the time of Elisha and just before the time of Amos and Hosea. Israel under Jeroboam II was enjoying a period of resurgence and prosperity (see “The Time of Amos”). Conditions looked promising after many bleak years, and nationalistic fervor was probably high. During these years, Assyria was in a period of mild decline. Weak rulers had ascended the throne, but Assyria remained a threat. By the time of Jonah, Assyrian cruelty had become legendary. Graphic accounts of their cruel treatment of captives have been found in ancient Assyrian records, especially from the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. The repentance of Nineveh probably occurred in the reign of Ashurdan III (773–755 B.C.). Two plagues (765 and 759 B.C.) and a solar eclipse (763 B.C.) may have prepared the people for Jonah’s message of judgment.

The Open Bible: New King James Version, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998).

Key Themes

The primary theme in Jonah is that God’s compassion is boundless, not limited just to “us” but also available for “them.” This is clear from the flow of the story and its conclusion: (1) Jonah is the object of God’s compassion throughout the book, and the pagan sailors and pagan Ninevites are also the benefactors of this compassion. (2) The story ends with the question, “Should I not pity Nineveh …?” (4:11). Tied to this theological teaching is the anthropological question, Do readers of the story have hearts that are like the heart of God? While Jonah was concerned about a plant that “perished” (4:10), he showed no such concern for the Ninevites. Conversely, the pagan sailors (1:14), their captain (1:6), and the king of Nineveh (3:9) all showed concern that human beings, including Jonah, not “perish.”
Several other major themes in the book include:

1. God’s sovereign control over events on the earth
2. God’s determination to get his message to the nations
3. The need for repentance from sin in general
4. The need for repentance from self-centeredness and hypocrisy in particular
5. The full assurance that God will relent when people repent

History of Salvation Summary

Jonah’s rescue from death provides an analogy for the resurrection of Christ (Matt. 12:39–40). The repentance of the Ninevites anticipates the wide-scale repentance of Gentiles in the messianic era (Matt. 28:18–20; Luke 24:47). (For an explanation of the “History of Salvation,” see the Overview of the Bible. See also History of Salvation in the Old Testament: Preparing the Way for Christ.)

Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1684.

Outline
I. Running from God’s Will (1:1–17)
A. The Commission of Jonah (1:1, 2)
B. The Flight of Jonah (1:3)
C. The Pursuit of Jonah (1:4–16)
D. The Preservation of Jonah (1:17)
II. Submitting to God’s Will (2:1–10)
A. The Helplessness of Jonah (2:1–3)
B. The Prayer of Jonah (2:4–7)
C. The Repentance of Jonah (2:8, 9)
D. The Deliverance of Jonah (2:10)
III. Fulfilling God’s Will (3:1–10)
A. The Commission Renewed (3:1, 2)
B. The Prophet Obeys (3:3, 4)
C. The City Repents (3:5–9)
D. The Lord Relents (3:10)
IV. Questioning God’s Will (4:1–11)
A. The Prophet Displeased (4:1–5)
B. The Prophet Rebuked (4:6–11)

John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005)

My Bible study notes for Wednesday night, March 20^th. Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

Why “Bad Things” Happen to God’s People

To test the validity of our faith. – 1 Peter 1:6-7

Teaches us not to depend on our strength, but on God and His strength. – 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Reminds us of our heavenly hope. – Romans 5:3-5

Reveals to us our heart and what we love. – Romans 5:3-5

Teach us the importance of obedience (discipline). – Psalm 119:67;71

Shows us the Lord’s compassion for His children – Psalm 103:13

Prepares us for better usefulness. (We grow through trials) – James 1:2-4

Better equips us to comfort others. – 2 Corinthians 1:4

What Now

• I must change the way I think about trials/circumstances. (Luke 13:1-9 – Sermon)
• My response reveals my heart and what my true view of who God is.
• My goals is to strive toward a more biblical mindset. All circumstances in my life give me an opportunity to bring glory to God and grow in my walk and faith. (applying above points)

Flow of study from John MacArthur, Luke 11–17, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, pg. 181-183

This is the article that I mentioned Wednesday night as we concluded our study on the Spiritual Gifts.

How Can I Find My Spiritual Gift?

Gathered from a study written by Fred Zaspel on the Gifts of the Spirit.

The Bible plainly tells us that every Christian is given a spiritual gift, some ability to serve the church. But it is just that teaching that leaves many in a quandary: What is my spiritual gift? This very practical question is a good one to consider. But sometimes it seems that the answers given only further complicate and confuse the issue.

Some will say to look down the lists in Scripture in order to discover your gift. The problem with that answer is that the lists are not necessarily exhaustive; they are not complete, except in general categories.

Some say to pray for a gift, but that cannot be right, for the gifts are sovereignly given, “as it pleased Him” (I Corinthians 12:18; see also verse 11).

The Process

If you are wondering what is your spiritual gift, the following three steps may be helpful. The first two are very practical and seem reasonable; the third is the expressed answer of Scripture and so will be examined more fully.

Examine Your DESIRES

First of all, examine your desires. Simply ask yourself, “What do I want?” If God gifts you a certain way, it is reasonable to assume that he will with that gift also give you the desire to exercise it. For example, I struggled a while with the decision to preach, but it was not because I didn’t want to preach. Quite the contrary. I did want to exercise that gift, otherwise there would have been no struggle! But because I felt unable and inadequate on the one hand and unwilling to endure its attending problems on the other, I had a struggle. But God gave the desire as well as the gift. You should find the same.

Now be careful! You must examine your motives as well — they can be deceiving. Your “call to service” may in reality merely be a desire to excell or to be noticed. This was one part of the Corinthians’ problem — they wanted the gifts which made them noticed and prominent. James alludes to this very problem in James 3:1 where he commands his readers that they should not all try to be teachers. Many, it seems, have wanted to teach and lead because of the honor associated with such activity. But desire for prominence is not a proper motive; desire to serve others in the best way possible is.

Examine the EVIDENCE

Next, examine the evidence. Don’t be naive like the man who was sure that he had the gift of teaching but was puzzled why no one else seemed to have the gift of listening! Now certain gifts must be developed, sharpened; but if the evidence says there is no giftedness, then find another area of service. If you have been successful in encouraging, comforting, or even patiently rebuking people in the Lord, your gift may be exhortation. And so on it goes — simply examine the evidence in light of your desires.

Examine the OPPORTUNITIES

Finally, examine the opportunities God has given you. This is the stress of the New Testament in this regard. Simply ask what is available. Look to see what is needed. Endeavor to find how you can serve and best benefit the body. Simply look for a need which you are able to fill.

An Observation

These guidelines just mentioned seem to be in keeping with related Biblical principles. But it is enlightening at this juncture to observe that the apostle Paul, in all of his discussion of spiritual gifts, nowhere gives any instruction on how to recognize your gift. He goes to great lengths to let you know that you have one and that you should use it to the good of the body, but he neither asks nor answers the question of how to discover your specific gift. This is fascinating in comparison to all the worry over the question today. The contrast is staggering! Evidently, to the New Testament writers, recognition of your spiritual gift is relatively unimportant. I say evidently — it is evident by virtue of the fact that the question is just never discussed.

An Explanation

There is a reason for this. It may be that the very asking of the question could lead to a wrong answer. Let me explain. The focus of spiritual gifts is service, service for the edifying of others. Since that is the case, it would be much more in keeping with the apostle’s instruction not to ask, “What is my spiritual specialty?” but to ask simply, “Where can I best serve?” Within the range of opportunities God has placed before you, where can you be most effective? What are the needs that face you? And how are you best able to meet those needs?

To answer these questions is to find your spiritual gift, and it also is a check on your motives.

We have fallen into the error, today, of finding nice, tidy answers to questions which the New Testament writers neither asked nor answered. The burden of their teaching in this regard was,

1) You have a spiritual gift, and

2) You need to serve and edify the body of Christ with it.

Any and all other considerations are at best secondary and at worst confusing — in which case they hinder more than help.

Application

Do you wonder what is your gift? Have you been asking that question in frustration with some of the answers given you? Then it is time to begin searching for a place of service — teaching, giving, helping, or whatever. Having found a place of service which you are able to fill effectively, you will have discovered your gift. The gift will become evident by your very exercise of it.

The emphasis of Scripture is body function and mutual help and edification. Our emphasis must be the same.