I Will Be With You, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

Text: – Isaiah 43:1-7 – But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Isaiah chapter 43 happens to be a continuation of Isaiah chapter 42. So that the promises of God in chapter 43 was based upon what has transpired in the previous chapter. In chapter 42, God announced to the children of Israel that they would be taken into captivity because of their sins. Their land was to be ravaged, their belongings taken away and their people to be scattered. The people became terrified, afraid, fearful and disturbed.

The merciful God then had to send prophet Isaiah to them again to reassure them that this was not to be their doom or waterloo. But a season that would fade away. The words in chapter 43 were promises of God for them to eliminate fear away from them, as He would still be with them.

God’s promises were based on the premise that He created them, formed them (more attention) and redeemed them. That they were His, having called them out from the world. That though they would pass through waters, floods and fire, none of these would have negative effect on them, again because He would be with them.

God did not hide from them the kind of stuffs they would go through while in exile. Situations that could be classified as deep waters, floods and even fires. The good news is that He would be with them in any of these circumstances.

It is possible that you are in a deep waters, flood or fires right now. God will be with you.
Dec 26 2015, a day I can’t forget. Sister Christine came to clean up and called….. The reassurance was that there was a revelation about it before, and God just promised the day before that we were not alone.
Reinstatement was £205,000. Content £30,000. Did we raise appeal funds? No. God did it. He will be with you.

I will be with you is a very powerful statement that should bring comfort, particularly if the person that says it is stronger than you.

– Many years ago, while I was in Secondary school, at dry season, the brook that we fetch our water from in my village usually dries up, so that we had to trek to a bigger village to fetch water from wells.

The tough guys from that village usually took advantage of us so that we were always afraid to go and fetch water. However there was a guy in my village that black belt in judo and karate. Whenever he said he would follow us, how joyous we would be. We knew that water will follow us home definitely.

May God back your efforts with His power in Jesus name.

Looking at the credential of the Person that gave the promise. We ought to be encouraged. He is the Creator of all, including ourselves. Therefore He has the knowledge and power to fix everything and anything.

You are not an accidental object. You were created by God. He has a plan for your life. Nothing will happen to you until that plan is achieved.

Not only is God our Creator, He redeemed us as well. He sent His only Son to redeem our lives. The Price that God paid for our lives is very costly. The blood of Jesus. He cannot and will not let it go to waste.

Consider what it took God to get some of us saved. God would not want to throw that away. So He makes sure His eyes are on us. He can be trusted with our lives.

God went further to say that we are His. God does not joke with anything He owns. He won’t let any negative thing overwhelm us. Rather, He will help us to fight.

Exodus 3:7-8 – And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

God told the Israelites that they were previous to Him, that He loved them and for that reason, they should not be afraid.

We are very precious to God. He loves us and He won’t let something bad to overpower us.

God also told them that they should not entertain fear because they were His sons and daughters. It means that they were not just His creations, His redeemed, His beloved, but His children.

There is an unbelievable instinct that make parent protect their children. Animals do it. Humans do it. God does it better.

God will protect you in Jesus name.

The world we live in is a fearful place. There are many things that can generate fear, anxiety, panic, stress and crisis, even to a believer. As Christians we at times go through sickness, accidents, pain, loss, disappointments, hardships, persecutions, attacks, etc. Any of these can make one become anxious or even fearful.

Jesus did not hide this from His apostles when He was with them. He however promised them that they won’t be alone, they must not be afraid because He would be with them.

Mt 28:20

There is someone here; you are always put off by your obvious limitations. Whenever you remember that/those limitations, you become discouraged and helpless, so that it has hindered your progress. God wants you to put those limitations aside as He will be with you.

To another person, you always consider the enormous size of the task/assignment/responsibility that is ahead of you so that it renders you inactive. God wants you to focus on Him and not the task.

Moses was someone that made a mistake about this at the inception of his ministry when he was called by God. King Pharaoh was indeed powerful, which was understandable. The children of Israel had suffered in the hands of the Egyptians to the extent that they believed that God had forsaken them. Moses was someone who could not speak fluently and he was also a fugitive running away from punishment from Pharaoh, and he didn’t not know if his family would follow him to Canaan.

It was because of all these that Moses kept refusing his mandate from God.

Exodus 3:10-12

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

This was a very assuring statement from God to Moses, not only did He promised, He gave a sign as well that they would worship Him at Sinai.

One would think that would be sufficient for Moses to move, but he argued a greater deal the more.

Who shall I say send me… I am that I am, the God of
They will not believe me… Do three signs
I am not eloquent before and even now… It is not how eloquent, but the power of the what you say, put words in your mouth.
I beseech you, send another…

May be you are still questioning the presence of God in your life. I bring a confirmation to you again today that God says “I will be with you”.

Guess what, God began to cancel his fears:

Father in law agreed for Moses to depart
Wife and children agreed to go with him
Those that have sought his life were already dead (Ex 4:19)
He had the rod of God with him to do signs

There is someone here; God is cancelling your fears right now.

A very important question one might want to ask then is, was God truly with Moses as He promised?

The answer is yes.

– God did many mighty things through Moses…

– The Israelites were truly freed from bondage….

– They came to Sinai truly and worshipped God.

– God followed them with pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night as a physical proof of His presence.

There is someone here; God will prove His presence with you physically.

In the course of the journey of the children of Israel to the Promised Land, God later took Moses away and Joshua became their leader. But Joshua used to be Moses servant, so he inherited enormous responsibility that was too much for him to handle. Over two million people to lead into a land where the original inhabitants were still there and were prepare for war. It would make any man to be afraid.

God had to give Joshua words of encouragement and the promise of His presence.

Joshua 1:1-9 – Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses ‘minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

God wants me to tell someone here today that you are not alone. That you only need to be strong and of a good courage.

If you are going through stress, worries and anxiety. God presence will grant you peace.

Exodus 33:14 – And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Moses was asking for a named person from God that would assist him, but God said He Himself would go with him. May be you are looking out for that man/woman that will help you. God says He will.

If you are fighting any kind of war in life, God will grant you victory.

Deuteronomy 20:1 – When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

If you are passing through any trial and tribulation, God will see you through.

Isaiah 43:1-2 – But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

This is a bible passage that means a lot to me. God has used it as a personal promise to me before. It was at the end of 1993 having passed through what was a fire in my life. I felt the heat, but thank God I wasn’t burnt.

You are here, you are terribly confused about tomorrow, God says He will be with you till the end.

Matthew 28:20

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Altar call

He will either leave you alone. Or worst still be against you. For Him to be with you, you have to give your life to Him…

Prayers

Father, Let your presence grant me peace

Father, Let your presence grant me victory

Father, Let your presence take me through any trial and tribulation of life

Father, Let your presence be with me till the very end.

The sermon I Will Be With You, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye was delivered on July 10, 2016