HOW TO KNOW ITS GOD
Part 2
“How to Know God is Guiding You”
Isaiah 30:21 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Here the Lord promises to guide us, but how can we know that it is really God saying, “This is the way…?”
—When you’re making an important business decision,
—or considering making entering into a committed relationship,
—or deciding whether or not to move,
—or whether or not to go in some new direction…
How can you know that it is the God of the Bible saying, “This is the way…?”
How can we be sure it’s not our own imagination, or our flesh, or even the enemy?
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The fact is that we live in a time of unprecedented widespread deception where many voices vie for our attention.
It requires that we check, recheck, and check again to avoid being led astray because there are so many false voices out there.
Why does this matter?
Because spiritual deception can ruin your life.
Deception is Satan’s favorite weapon against God’s people.
He’s successfully used deception since the Garden!
The Apostle Paul often warned the church about not being lured off the narrow path:
2 Cor. 11:3 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”
So I want to share with you today three ways to know that it is the Lord guiding you, and that you aren’t being led astray.
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ILLUS: I once read of a certain Italian harbor that can be reached only by sailing up a very narrow channel between dangerous rocks and obstacles.
Over the years, many ships have wrecked, and navigation is hazardous.
To guide the ships safely into port, THREE LIGHTS have been mounted in the harbor on three huge poles.
—When the three lights are perfectly lined up and merge as one, the ship can safely proceed up the narrow channel.
If the pilot sees two or three lights separate from each other, he knows he’s off course and in danger.
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Likewise, God has given the Christian 3 harbor lights of Guidance that must agree as one in order for us to know that God is indeed guiding us!
The three harbor lights of guidance are:
1.) The Word of God (objective standard)
2.) The Holy Spirit (subjective witness)
3.) Circumstances (divine providence).
So the FIRST harbor light is…
I. The Word of God
The Word of God is the unfailing, infallible, objective standard given to guide us through life…and it is FIRST in all guidance!
God will never ever lead us in a direction that is contrary to His Word.
There are no exceptions, no new ‘truths’ or new revelations that can overrule the written Word of God.
The Bible says about itself, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven” (Ps 119:89).
It says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105)—It guides my next step, and leads me down the right road!
Isaiah wrote, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Is. 40:8).
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Now watch this—Deception enters when we take that first step outside the boundaries of God’s word.
—Being one inch off on a map will lead you 1,000 miles off course!
And taking one reckless step out of God’s Word can lead you miles and miles out of His will!
It was Jesus’s insistence on staying within the boundaries of God’s Word that kept Him safe under Satan’s attacks in the wilderness.
Satan tried 3 times to coax Jesus into taking a fatal step out of God’s Word, and 3 times Jesus simply quoted the Word back to the devil.
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I have noticed that many believers today place more credence in a subjective experience than they do God’s objective Word.
We’ll often hear someone say, “I feel led” to go here or there, to do this or that.
But they don’t run it through the sifter of God’s Word to see if the harbor light of His Word and the Harbor light of the inner leading are lining up!
And this tends to happen most often in churches that claim to be ‘Spirit-filled’ and believe in the gifts of the Spirit (which we do).
We assume that—since we walk in the gifts and have had deep experiences with God—we can trust inner impressions without testing them by Scripture.
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LISTEN: Deception gets an opening when we place inner leading over the authority of Scripture.
So even if you see pink pigs flying backwards across the sky, if its against God’s word its not Him guiding you!
—The Word of God holds us safely within God’s loving boundaries.
God’s word works the way a shepherd keeps his sheep in an enclosure, not just to keep them safely in, but to keep the enemy out!
—So the number one HARBOR LIGHT of all guidance is the Word of God!
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The second HARBOR LIGHT of God’s guidance is…
II. The Holy Spirit…
While God’s word is the OBJECTIVE witness of guidance, The Holy Spirit is the SUBJECTIVE witness God has given to guide us…
Now, God’s Spirit guides us from within primarily by giving us His peace about something, or by taking His peace away…
Paul the Apostle writes in Phil. 4:7 “…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Notice, the “GUARD” over our heart protecting us is God’s peace…
If we have a deep, settled, abiding peace about a path we’re about to take, that is one of the signals God is in it.
Jesus promised, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit is the SUBJECTIVE WITNESS that guides us by His peace and inner promptings…
—For instance, when Paul and Silas were on their 2nd missionary journey, they tried preaching in Asia but “..they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.”
Then they tried to go into a province of Rome called Bithynia “…but the Spirit did not permit them.”—Acts 16:6-7
Now, how were they warned twice from preaching in a certain place?
While it doesn’t tell us, it was at least in part by God removing His peace.
The Bible instructs the believer, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
When we experience the grieving of the Spirit within, then by that very grieving He may be trying to tell us we may be heading down a wrong path.
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*But here’s the thing: The inner witness is not infallible.
There are times we can truly feel within ourselves that something is right, that we are on the right path, but when you run it through the sifter of God’s word, it doesn’t agree.
—Remember, those harbor lights have to line up!
The truth is that sometimes our own emotions can masquerade as God’s leading!
And when torn about a decision, sometimes only the Word of God can expose what is from our own soul, and what is from His Spirit!
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And the THIRD harbor light is…
III. Circumstances
The Bible teaches that the circumstances of life are in the hands of our Providential God.
And when God is leading, He will providentially bring circumstances into agreement with where He is taking us.
—The FINANCES will come in,
—That once impossible DOOR will open,
—The things needed in order to PURSUE THAT PATH will fall into place.
Paul wrote, “for there is a wide open door for me to preach and teach here. So much is happening, but there are many enemies.”—1 Cor. 16:9
It really is true that where God guides, God provides!
God will make a way where there is no way.
He will remove obstacles that stand in your way, and make the impossible possible.
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But again, we need to use wisdom.
There can be times when circumstances seem to point to God’s guidance, but they won’t pass the smell test when you run it through the sifter of God’s word.
ILLUS: David and Saul in cave
“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him “Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish.’”
But David said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn’t attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him.”—1 Sam 24:4-6
CLOSE: So if God is truly leading you, the 3 harbor lights of—
God’s word,
God’s Spirit, and
divinely ordered circumstances will all line up…
When all 3 line up and agree, you are safe to navigate your ship into the harbor!
LET’S PRAY