Divine Perspective

September 15, 2005
Pastor Chris Abernathy
Columbus, Georgia




If you would, turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Jonah. Jonah chapter one. Jonah chapter one. When you reach the book of Jonah, please stand for the reading of God’s Word. Jonah chapter one. Hallelujah. When you have it, say amen victoriously. Amen? Look at chapter one. It says:

1. Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

3. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Look at verse seventeen.

17. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Go to chapter four for me. Look at verse four.

4. Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

Speaking to Jonah.

5. So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

6. And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

7. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

8. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

10. Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

11. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Let us pray.

Most holy and gracious heavenly Father, we thank You for this time together that we have in Your Name. Master, hide Your son behind the cross, that Your people would see and hear You only and not me. And dear Lord, I decrease right now, that You would increase. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

I thank You for the Anointing that is present to remove every burden and to destroy every yoke. I thank You that my head is Your head, Lord God, that You would revelate Your knowledge and Your wisdom and understanding through me. I thank You that my mouth is Your mouth, that You would speak through me. I thank You that my hands are Your hands, that You would use my hands for Your glory. I thank You that my feet belong to You, Lord God, that I would walk in the places that You would have me to walk. And most of all, I thank You that my heart is Your heart, God, that I would see Your people the way that You see them. In Jesus’ holy and blessed Name.

And the people of God said amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord.

The title of tonight’s message is “Divine Perspective.” Somebody say, “Divine perspective.”

God gives assignments based on our level of maturity. I’m going to say that again. God gives assignments based on our level of maturity. When something is mature it means that it has gone through certain processes (glory to God), and it has overcome adversity. Notice that I did not say that God gives us assignments based on our abilities. But He gives us assignments based on our levels of maturity.

So here we have this (glory to God) mature and experienced prophet getting ready to move (glory to God) in the things of God or not. Because what has happened is, God has anointed him with insight that he would know the beginning from the ending. When we look at Jonah, he understood and knew that God was going to have His mighty hand of mercy and spare the Assyrians and Ninevites. Glory to God.

But God is speaking to me in this hour that He has given the body of Christ insight. And just like Jonah we’re using that insight against God. Let me tell you what I’m talking about. Because God showed him that He was going to have mercy upon the Assyrians. So instead of going to do the purpose and the will of God, knowing what the end was going to be, he fled the place that God was taking him to. Do you hear me, what I’m saying tonight? You cannot afford to use that insight that God has given you for your own (my God) gratification. You cannot use the insight, the Anointing, the revelation of what’s going to happen in the earth for your own glory. Give God praise in this place.

His insight into the things of God came because of his level of maturity in God. And once he knew what God was going to do, he rejected the assignment. How many people in the body of Christ know what God is going to do and know where God is taking them, but they don’t want to go where God is taking them, so they reject the assignment? Just like Jonah, God has prepared a pitfall for those that are saying to themselves, “I don’t want to go there, God. I don’t want to do that, God. I don’t want to say that, God.” In the Name of Jesus, give God praise all over this place.

He rejected the assignment, because God was sending him to his enemies. Most of the time we reject the assignments that God is sending us to, and most of the time it’s a what? People that we don’t like or people that we don’t understand. We don’t want to go to these different places. Do you hear what I’m saying?

The Assyrians were a warfare people. They were causing great judgment to come into the land. And what Jonah was saying was, “God, how can You spare them when they’re trying to destroy Your chosen people?”

Isn’t that what we say about people we don’t like? “God, how can You use them? God, how can You bless them with that million-dollar house? God, how can You bless them with that three hundred and fifty thousand-dollar car?”

God said, “I’m God all by Myself.” And just how Jonah had to learn that God was sovereign, the body of Christ has got to learn the sovereignty of an Almighty God. Oh, I feel the Anointing of God.

He had insight into what was going to happen. The Bible said that He will do nothing except He first reveal it unto His servants, the prophets. In other words, He was going against God. He was transgressing the Word. Because God said He wouldn’t do anything except He reveal it to His servants. In other words, he was saying, “God, in this season I’m not going to serve.” Have you ever told God in a certain season, “I don’t feel like doing it, Lord. You need to choose somebody else, because I’m going through too much hell in my life.”? I wish somebody would catch on fire in this house with me.

He gave him supernatural insight. We come against God’s purpose when we know too much. Have you ever seen folk that just know too much? Oh, my God. When somebody know too much, you can’t tell them nothing. Oh, my God. I must be the only person in here that knows some folk that know too much, that have too much information, and not able to process it in their own intellect, and now they’re out of the will of God.

He had too much information. We lay hands on folks. We prophesy to people. We tell them words of wisdom and words of knowledge. Sometimes we know too much. Because what happens is, instead of trying to be a blessing to that person and let God use us, now we’re on the helephone talking about the thing that God is trying to deliver them from. Can I get a witness in the house of God?

Instead of discerning people by the anointing of God that you may pray for those that are overtaken in a fault, now we think that we’re the judges, and now we put . . . Oh, my God. I know I’m preaching up in here. I didn’t come to Atlanta to sit down on God. I came to lift up His holy Name.

He had insight. Somebody say, “Insight.” You see, when you have insight, that’s when you are supposed to look from a divine perspective. In other words, I got to start looking at things the way God looks at them. I got to come out of my own (oh, my God) flesh, and I got to walk into the Spirit. I need to hear what the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are saying up in the heavens. I need to hear the assignment that He’s giving to Gabriel, to come and give a message to somebody about what God is about to do.

I don’t know about you, but I’m living in a heavenly realm, because I’m seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Give God praise all over this place.

When we look at what insight is, it’s the ability to understand things as they really are. It’s the ability to understand things the way they really are. You see, when we look the natural, a lot of times it’s not the way things really are.

I don’t know about you, but my situations sometimes get all messed up. And I can’t look at it as though that’s the way things really are, because the Bible said that I can all those things that are not as though they were. You got to understand that I can speak stuff into existence and cause it to manifest. It may not manifest when I’m ready, but the word of the Lord shall not return unto Him void. It shall come to pass. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Jesus. Hallelujah.

God sent a prophet to Nineveh. And his name was Jonah. The name Jonah, it means “dove.” When we look at what a dove is, it’s supposed to be gentle. It’s supposed to (my God) feel free. But this was a dove that got contrary. Do you hear what I’m saying? Because it wasn’t a dove at all. It was the flesh. And any time you get in the flesh, you’re going to create a mess. Clap your hands, all ye people, and shout unto God with a voice of triumph, in the house of God.

God sent him to Nineveh. But God has made it easier for us. Because there’s a people that came running from a place called New Orleans. He didn’t send you there, but He brought them here. And just like Jonah, we’re running from our assignment. God is saying to you, “You know the wickedness that they were in, but I’m calling you for such a time as this. You need to start fasting, and you need to start praying.”

The Bible said that Jonah was more concerned about his personal covering (talking about that gourd being taken from him) than he was about those thousands of people that were about to perish. I don’t know about you, but when I got insight to what God is doing, I’m going to step out in the will of God. I’m not turning around. I’m not turning back. I’m going to keep on pressing in the Name of the Lord. Give God praise all over this place. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

The Bible said (oh, my God) in chapter one and verse seventeen that God had prepared a great fish for him to go into. Don’t you know if you don’t do what God calls you to do, He’ll put you in a restrictive situation. He’ll begin to cause you to be surrounded, and you can’t see no way out. Do you hear what I’m saying? There’s some folk in the body of Christ, they think the devil is messing with them, but it’s God messing with them, because they won’t do what God told them to do. Get going in the opposite direction, because they aren’t . . . Oh, my God. They have their own agenda, their own motives. Oh, my God. Give God praise all over this place. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

God took away that protective covering, until he felt like dying. I know God has taken some things away from me sometime where I felt like dying. I felt like giving up. I thought it was the devil messing with me, but it was God, because I got to do the first works first. Come on, somebody. I can’t go on to the next work until I get the first one right. Give God praise all over this place. Hallelujah.

He prepared that great fish, because it was going to be a reminder to Jonah the sovereignty of God in every circumstance. Isn’t it amazing (glory to God) that that fish went on a great rendevous? The fish knew exactly where he was going. But the man of God on the inside, God was humbling him.

In chapter two, finally Jonah got a revelation that God is God all by Himself. He began to cry out in the belly of the fish and say, “Lord, help me. Lord, take care of me. Lord, deliver me. Lord, set me free. I know that You are God all by Yourself. You don’t need no help being God. You sit up high and You look down low. You are the high and lofty One, and You inherit all of eternity. And Your Name, and Your Name, and Your Name, and Your Name, and Your Name is holy.” Give God praise all over this place. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Now he becomes a sign, according to Luke chapter eleven and verse thirty. He became a sign to Nineveh. And I began to research it. Because God, I said, “You can preach without being a sign.”

But while he was down in the belly of that great fish, the Bible, if you read a little bit deeper, and you do a little studying, his skin was bleached white as snow. So while he was walking through the streets of Nineveh, they’d never seen nobody like this. They’d never (oh, my God) seen a man white as snow. I’m not talking about a Caucasian man. I’m talking about a man that finally stepped out and did the will of the Father that sent him. I’m talking about a man that spent three days and three nights in a place like hell. I’m talking about a man that gave up his own will, that His will would be done.

I’m talking about some saints that are in here tonight. You’ve been in hell. But God is ready for you to come out of that hell that you’ve been in. Just do His will. Just call His Name. Just tell Him how great He is. In the Name of Jesus. Stand on your feet and give God praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

In the book of Matthew chapter twelve, verse thirty-nine through verse forty-one, it lets us know that Jonah’s experience is figurative of the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because He went to hell for three days. Do you hear what I’m saying? The Bible says that He died. He died. He died. He was buried. Come on, somebody. But how many of you know that grave can’t hold my Jesus? How many of you know . . . I feel the Anointing of God. How many of you know that grave can’t hold the Anointed One? Because He is anointed. He sits up high. Oh, my God. He’s second in command. Do you hear what I’m saying tonight? That grave can’t hold my Jesus. Give God praise.

A divine perspective. A divine perspective. Your insight into the things of God is not for you. It’s for the purpose and the plan of God. Your visions that you have are not for you. Your dreams that you have are not for you. Do you hear what I’m saying? The eyes of the prophets and the prophetess are not for you. It’s so the will of God can be done in the earth. You’ve said, “Lord, I’ll go.” Now God’s about to send you. Don’t sit down on God now. Get up! Get up! Get up! Praise the Name of the Lord right now. Hey! Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

A divine perspective. You can try to run. But guess what, you can’t hide. Because the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the earth. He’s looking for you. He’s looking for you. He’s looking for you. He’s looking for you. He’s looking for you. He’s looking for me. He’s looking for somebody that’s going to stand in the gap and make up the hedge. Oh, my God. Can He trust you? Give God praise. Hallelujah.

He will send you to your enemy, and expect you to speak in His Name. How dare He expect me to speak in His Name? Well, let me tell you why. I’m not my own any more. I been bought with a price. The Blood of Jesus that ran at Calvary is covering me. And because I’m blessed with the Blood, where He leads me, I’m going to follow. Give God praise all over this house.

A divine perspective. A divine perspective. He gave us eyes to see. Why? So that we can be so super spiritual and tell people what we see? No. He gave us eyes to see for His glory. And we will go through a time. We spend so much time prophesying to ourselves, ministering to ourselves, and we’re . . . Sometimes we get so full, it’s regurgitating, and not in a good way.

 . . . New Orleans. He said most of you that want to go, God sent them to you. That modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. He said now that they’re here . . . I preached the word on Tuesday night. God had told them He gave them provision. He gave them food and water and clothing. He gave to them. Even shelter and jobs are coming to them. But He said they need a word.

The Bible says in Proverbs, a good word in due season, how good it is. A word.

He had a one-sentence sermon. He said, “Repent, because the judgment of God is on the way.” And the greatest revival . . . Because you got to remember the Bible said it was a great city. The Bible said the whole place went on a fast, from the greatest to the least. They got down in sackcloth and ashes and repented before the Lord. And the greatest revival we could ever imagine took place. Revival.

How many of you love Him? Can God send you too?

We avoid them, don’t we? Even on our job we try to stay out of their way. We don’t even want to come in contact with them. But for some reason they always wind up in our face. Why? Because God’s got a word on the inside of you. Tonight if He’s given us, just like Jonah . . . In some cases we have been rejecting it.

When that great fish vomited up Jonah, he still had five hundred more miles to go to get there. So he had a long time to think about it. His situation. He had a long time to ponder how good God is all the time.

Some of you have received a sign from God, and He told you certain things, and you don’t want that assignment, so you waiting for somebody else to do it. But it’s going the other way. It may not be a great fish, but He’s going to put you in a restricted situation until you finally subside and bow your knee and say, “Lord, I hear You and I will obey.”

You’ve heard the word. So don’t take this word . . .

Father, we stand before You and we repent of every area in our lives . . . Lord, we’ve been concerned more about our personal comfort than fulfilling the calling and the will of God. Because if we take care of Your business, surely You’ll take care of ours. It may not be the way we want You to take care of it, but somehow, some way, I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken nor Your seed begging bread.

We’ve said it before, God, and we’ll say it again. And we’re daring to vow a vow . . . Show us the way. Show us the way, God. Show us the way, that Your will will be done. Amen. In Jesus Name.

And those that agree with this prayer, say amen. Give the Lord a real handclap of praise





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