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Sermon Notes

HOW TO KNOW IT’S GOD
“How to Know That God is Trying to Warn You”

1 Pet 5:8 (Amp) “Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.”

As Christians we are targets of spiritual attack.

The Bible warns us that our adversary, the devil, is always searching for ways to bring us down, to destroy our testimony and lives.

Since we are targets of his attacks, God will often warn us of approaching danger.

So, it is very important that we recognize the ways God warns us so that we can immediately heed the warning and escape the danger.

Jesus spoke of how Noah’s generation ignored God’s warnings:

Matt. 24:39 “And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Conversely, the people of Nineveh heeded God’s warning of coming judgment and were spared:

Jonah 3:4,10 “4 But the very first day when Jonah entered the city and began to preach, the people repented…10 And when God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he abandoned his plan to destroy them and didn’t carry it through.”

The Apostle Paul’s ministry was filled with warnings to God’s people:

Acts 20:31 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.”
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God warns us about many different things:

He will warn us about a bad relationship choice.
Or choosing a costly compromise.

Or, He will send warnings should we begin drifting away from Him.

God will warn us about a false teaching or a false teacher.

He can also warn us about the approach of an evil spirit in the form of a person, or of a demonic belief system disguised as something good.

These are just a few examples of the things God will warn us of.

And thank God for His warnings, for they protect us from disaster…IF we heed them!
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So how can we know God is trying to warn us?

Let me give you five ways God will send warnings:

I. The Bible

God’s number one way to warn us is through His Word.

Ps. 19:7-8;11 “7-8 God’s laws are perfect. They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light…11 For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them.”

The Bible is filled with the loving warnings of God!

It warns us about:

sin,
deception,
compromise,
coming judgment,
the devil,
drifting away from God,
taking the wrong road,
the trap of materialism,
not loving the world,
the danger of temptation,
and much, much more.

So when you find a warning in the Bible, you don’t have to wonder whether you should listen to it!
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A second way God warns us is by:

II. His Spirit

God warns us through the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit.

He will bring an inner check that something isn’t right, you experience an uneasiness, an unsettledness that you can’t shake.

Everything may look fine to your natural eyes, but God sees what you don’t see!——So He removes His peace when we’re going the wrong way, or in some kind of danger.
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Example: When Paul was preaching the gospel in Philippi, a young girl began to follow him around saying,
“These men are servants of God, and they have come to tell you how to have your sins forgiven.”—Acts 16:17

On its face this doesn’t sound so bad——But the Bible says she was a fortune teller with an evil spirit operating in her life, and was in no way speaking by the Spirit of God.

Acts 16:18 “And this she did many days. But Paul being grieved, turned, and said to the demon: ‘I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to go out from her. And he went out the same hour.’”

The Holy Spirit within Paul was grieved and began warning him that this girl had a demon spirit that was exalting Paul and his companions instead of Jesus!

So—The removal of God’s peace is a way God warns us that something’s not right!
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Another way God will warn us is by:

III. Circumstances

God speaks to us through circumstances and events.

He orchestrates circumstances in our life in such a way that we clearly see His hand at work—and it’s usually by how He OPENS A DOOR of favor and blessing!

But He can also warn us by SHUTTING DOORS.

In Rev. 3:7, an angel tells John this about Jesus:

“What he (Jesus) opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

So Jesus is in charge of the DOORS of our life!

He will OPEN them, and He will also SHUT them.

If He shuts them it can be a warning that we’re not to go that way!
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One great example of this is the soothsayer Balaam.
Balaam had been repeatedly enticed by Balak the king of Moab to curse the children of Israel who Balak felt threatened by.

Balak offered Balaam a big paycheck if he would do it!

Balaam asked God about the offer and God said:

“You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”— Numbers 22:12

So Balaam initially turned them away, but they came a second time and this time Balaam went with them!

Now look what happened:

“…and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.”—Numbers 22:22

23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
24 Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.
26 Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.”—vs 23-27

God was literally using frustrating circumstances to block Balaam’s path!

—First the donkey went into a field
—Then the Angel stood in a narrow path with walls closing in on either side.
—Then the Angel went where it was so constricted there was no way to turn to the right or left.
—Then the donkey just laid down and there was no forward movement at all.

God steadily constricted and restricted Balaam’s circumstances to warn him of a wrong direction!

And he responded foolishly by pushing against God’s warnings!

The bottom line is that God will use blocked circumstances to warn us.
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And a fourth way God will warn us is:

IV. Prayer

When we take the time to pray and seek His guidance, He answers our prayers and directs our steps, and sometimes with a warning!

Using Balaam’s example again, it was in the place of prayer that God warned him:
“You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”—Numbers 22:12

Prayer is to the Christian what a control tower is to a pilot.

The control tower with its radar sees what the pilot can’t see and warns him of approaching storms, turbulence, other aircraft in his path, and other dangers.

Are you in touch with the control tower of heaven thru prayer?
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And finally, God often warns us through:

V. People

God speaks to us through other people.

Proverbs 11:14 reminds us “there is safety in a multitude of counselors.”

God places other believers in your life who can speak words of wisdom, encouragement, and guidance.

And he also uses them to WARN us of things we may be blind to.
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So God warns us:

Through His word
Removing our peace
Blocked Circumstances
Prayer, and
Caring people