THEME: EMMANUEL
MINISTERING: PASTOR E.A ADEBOYE
BIBLE TEXT: ISAIAH 41: 10-20
DATE: 13TH JUNE 2023
Isaiah 41: 10-20
10. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will Strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as Nothing; and they that strive with thee shall Perish.
12. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as Nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15. Behold, I will make thee a New sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the Mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17. When the Poor and Needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18. I will open Rivers in High Places, and Fountains in the midst of the Valleys: I will make the Wilderness a Pool of water, and the dry Land Springs of water.
19. I will Plant in the Wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the Desert the fir tree, and the Pine, and the box tree together:
20. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it
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I think this is one of the most frightening Passages in the Bible that I have ever read!
There are three (3) English words that means almost the same thing:
1. “May” – I may go.
2. “Shall” – I shall go.
And that “Shall” is far, far more Powerful than “May” because “May” means that you are not sure while “Shall” is more or less a Promise.
3. “Will” – I will go.
And it is the most Powerful of them all – “Will” means that the Possibility of Change is almost Zero!
That is why when a Man dies, what he writes as to what he want to happen after his Death is called a Will.
And if you don’t want trouble, you don’t mess with the Will of a Dead Man.
1. The Language that God uses here in the Passage (Isaiah 40: 10-20) is “Will” – That is one.
2. The Second Thing that you noticed here is that God is not a Talkative and so He rarely speaks twice on any issue:
– God has spoken once, twice have I heard that Power belongs to God.
– Let there be Light and there was Light.
But if you go through our Bible Text, He said “I will” twelve (12) times.
If the Almighty God repeats Himself twelve (12) times, you should be afraid.
If the One who is not a Talkative kept on saying: “I will”, “I will”, “I will” twelve (12) times; the thirteenth (13th) time He said “I will not” but “I will do this”, “I will do that” twelve (12) times.
– I will Strengthen
– I will Help
– I will Uphold
– I will Hold your hand
– I will Help (2nd Time)
– I will Help (3rd Time)
– I will make you a New Sharp Threshing
– I will hear the Cry of the Poor and the Needy.
– I will Open Rivers in High Places
– I will make Wilderness a Pool of Water
– I will Plant in the Wilderness of Cedar
– I will set Fir Tree in the Desert
Anybody who knows God, now hearing Him saying the same thing twelve (12) times then you should be Shaking!
Because when He spoke to Joshua: “Be Strong and be of Good Courage”: (DMC NOTES: Joshua 1: 6, 7 & 9)
– The first time was very Gentle (DMC NOTES: Joshua 1:6)
– The Second time, it was a bit louder: Only be Strong and of Good Courage (DMC NOTES: Joshua 1:7)
– When He said it the third time; you will feel a hint of Anger in His Voice: I said be Strong and of Good Courage, have I not Commanded thee? (DMC NOTES: Joshua 1:9)
Now, that God who doesn’t just talk casually, says something twelve (12) times – “I will do something”.
Because when He said “I will”; He is saying that there is no Possibility of a Change!
Like He said in Genesis 22: 1-18 – After Abraham had willingly offered Isaac unto Him. He said that “By Myself have I sworn that in Blessings, I will bless you”.
… That is the kind of Statement that He is making here!
And He said by Myself have I sworn because the Bible says that He has Nobody else Greater than Himself to swear,
He is saying to Abraham – It doesn’t matter what happened, I will bless you!
That is different from 1 Samuel 2:30 – Tell Eli I said indeed that you and your father’s house “Should” walk before me forever but now I say I Change my Mind.
The word “Should” used here is lower than “Will”.
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That is where my fear lies!
Let Us take a look at what He said in this Passage – Just a little bit of it:
1. The first thing that He said is: “FEAR NOT”.
What does that mean?
You only say: “Fear Not” when there is something to Fear!
If Nothing is shaking the world, you won’t say: “Fear Not” now.
And believe me honestly: The Christian has Nothing to Fear – Your enemy like a Lion Roaring, looking for whom he will devour.
Everyday that you wake up, Death is looking for you and everyday that you go to bed; the devil does not want you to wake up.
That is why the Bible says that it is of the Mercy of the Lord that we are not Consumed – They are renewed every Morning.
When you wake up every Morning, you better thank God for His Mercy.
The Bible talks about the arrows that flies by the Day, it talks about Pestilence that goes about in the Night.
And if you don’t know what we are talking about; all you need to do is to remember those days of Coronavirus – That you will go to work Healthy and Strong and you will return on your way to the Grave because you shake hands with Somebody or Somebody sneezed near you and not that you have done anything.
But there are arrows flying by the Day and Pestilence by Night – And it is still around us but it is just that during the 2 years of Coronavirus, it was Specific.
If you think that you go to work and you returned safe and sound because you are careful, then you must be a Fool.
I have seen in Nigeria – A family sleeping on their bed and a Trailer lost Control and ran into the house and kill all of them on their bed.
… So, that you Sleep and wake up; you better give God the Glory!
Oh, my doors were “Well Locked”; maybe you don’t know “Too Much” about the devil – Because from the area where I came from (DMC NOTES: In Nigeria); they can come into your house without touching the door. All they have to do because of their connection to the devil is to put their back to your door, fold one of their legs, chant certain Incarntations and then they will be standing by your bed.
But when they entered, they found you surrendered by the Light of Jesus Christ and they found you covered by the Blood of the Lamb.
“Fear Not” – But the Lord Himself said that in this world, you will have Tribulations.
Tribulation is not something that you enjoy!
“Fear Not” means that there is something to Fear but He says “Don’t Worry”.
And Bible Scholars will tell you that they have counted the “Fear Not” in the Bible and they said that there are 365 “Fear Not’s” in the Bible – That is one for each Day!
2. Then He went on to say: “Be Not Dismayed”
Don’t lose Hope because Great Men and Women can get into situations in their Life where they lose Hope
I mean when you read 1 Kings 19: 1-4; you find it a bit difficult to believed that a Man like Elijah:
I. A Man who can shut the Heavens and say “No More Rain” until I asked for it. And the Windows of Heavens were all shut and there was no Rain.
II. A Man who can call down Fire from Heaven anytime that he wanted.
He got to a situation where he said: “God, I want to die”.
So, who are you that you think that you can never get to a situation where you lose Hope?
Because a Man can only ask for Death only when he thinks that there is no Hope anymore!
But God said: Be Warned! A situation like that may come but don’t let it weigh you down. He said that I don’t bury my “Wounded Soldier”.
You found yourself in a situation that God seems to be very far away; He will send His Angel to bring you out- Amen!
Colossians 1:27 says: “Christ in you, the Hope of Glory” – Not of Shame.
3. And then He said: “I am thy God”.
Several People has different gods and you yourself is supposed to know who is your God.
Some People god is their belly – The Bible said so.
But the God who is talking now says: “I am thy God”.
Who is He?
Genesis 17:1 says: He is the All Sufficient One – The God who is More Than Enough.
So, it doesn’t matter what situation that you might be going through; He has an Answer!
One of my children was Preaching at the Last Holy Ghost Service in Nigeria (DMC NOTES: During the Zonal Youth Presentatiions of The RCCG June 2023 HGS) – He said that: God has the Solution to your Problem before the Problem started.
… I like that very much and it got stucked in my Brain.
So, when the Problem comes; the Question that you should be asking God is: “Hey, where is the Solution that you Prepared before this Problem?
I have come to know that why the Problem comes is because you have a New Testimony!
4. Then He said: “I will Strengthen you”.
Philippians 4:13 says: You can keep on succeeding as long as Christ is Strengthening you.
Everybody gets tired – It doesn’t matter who you are.
Some of us here maybe have a little bit more Grace than the others, but we still get tired!
I remembered one time, we are going around the world and my children are eager to go with me – We are going to be visiting Australia, New Zealand, Figi Island, Papua New Guinea etc. And they were excited to go with me.
But then, we just kept on going, going and we got to a Stage – As we know that we hold Crusade everywhere maybe till 11pm, got home to break our Fast around 12 Midnight and go to bed around 1am.
And because Traffic will be serious in some of these Nations, in order to get to the Airport early as they were waiting for us in the Next Nation; we have to wake up early.
So, we Sleep by 1am and by 5am, I expect them to be in my room for us to Pray and be on our way.
It got to a Stage that my children conspired against me – Everyone of them took their Phones off because when I wake up, I will call to wake them up. Every Hotel Rooms that my children were was just saying “Engaged”.
After some time, one of them asked me and said: Daddy what do you call it when your eyes refused to open?
I said that is what is called Weariness.
But God is never tired – That is why the Bible says in: Isaiah 40: 28-31; that He doesn’t Weary, never Tired. And so they that wait upon Him shall renew their Strength.
5. Then He said: “I will Help you”.
And according to Psalms 46:1; the Help He gives is always on Time – He is the Ever Present Help in times of Trouble.
I can tell you Stories upon Stories about my Life that I know that Help will come on Time.
I can remember this – The Convention was on in Nigeria where we feed everybody. We were still few then; maybe about ten thousand (10,000). Mummy came to me and said that we need #5,000 for today.
I asked her: When did you need the Money? She said what do you mean? Is it now or today?
She said what is the difference? I said a lot of difference. Then she said we need the Money today. I said no Problem, you can go as I will send for you. Because there wasn’t a kobo in my Pocket.
People are already here and waiting for their food at the appropriate time but I know that God will show up because He is not too late. And He did.
The first Fellow that came was a Man who was just driving across the Expressway and he saw something going on and he stopped by.
And he said: What are you People trying to do here? Oh, we are about to have a Convention. And he said this is a Good Idea.
And he said next year, I will be Part of it – Ha, you are saying next year when we are talking of today!
Then He said but for now, take this – And he gave me #1,000. I Pray for him and he left.
I said God Thank You – One down, four to go!
And then Pastor David Kuo – Who was the Leader of the Youth then; brought some Youths along with him to see me.
And I saw an envelope in his hand and he began to Preach to me – Daddy, we appreciate you for feeding us.
… Don’t worry, just give me the envelope.
So, we Youths have gathered and brought this for you – I took the envelope and inside it was #2,000.
Thank You very much – Three down, two to go.
It wasn’t long after that, that I sent for my wife and said: By the way, when do you say you need the Money?
Whether you believed it or not; Help will come on Time!
And as He went on and on; He used a word twice – “Yea, Yea”. That is another word for Yes. And that is to tell you that I’m not joking – It is as if to say: “Surely or Be Assured”.
2 Corinthians 1:20 says: All the Promises of God are “Yea and Amen” – They won’t fail.
Another “I will” that He said is: “I will Uphold You”.
What does that mean?
Proverbs 24:16 tells us that a “Just Man” may fall seven (7) times; but he will rise again.
… “Just Man” and not an “Unjust Man”.
So, “Just Man” falling means that he fell by Accident and not Intentionally.
I quote that Bible Text (Proverbs 24:16) for those that tells you that you can keep on sinning and you will keep getting up because His Grace will be Sufficient.
No, you go to sin willingly, you may never get up!
I have heard People saying that they will tell Jesus Christ before they sin.
They say that all you need to do is to be honest with God – God you know that my Girlfriend is coming to visit me and when she comes; we are going to fornicate. And so, I’m telling you in Advance so that you can Overlook.
The Prodigal Son left home only once. He came back and his father received Him.
If he has gone away the Second time he will never have returned – The devil will have seen to that.
Micah 7:8 says: My Enemies don’t rejoice o. Because if I fall, I will rise again.
… That is a “Just Man” speaking.
WHY IS GOD DOING ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL PROMISES?
He said in the Last Verse of our Bible Text – Isaiah 41:20:
1. He said that the People around you will see.
Psalms 40: 1-3 says that when God put a New Song in my mouth, then the Enemy will see it and fear – When they see all His Wills come to Past in my Life.
2. He said that they may also Know – Including yourself.
That according to Ecclesiastes 3:14; that whatever God does shall be forever.
3. And He said that they may Consider.
The People who will “Consider” will not just be your Enemies; it will be yourself too according to Psalms 8: 3-4.
It says that when I consider the Heavens,, when I consider the works of thy Hands; what is Man.
Occasionally I have asked myself – God, who am I? What have I done to deserve so much from You?
I don’t know of you but I know a lot of People who are far, far better than I – They Pray more, they Studied the Word of God more, they Fast more and some of them has even gone to the best Bible Colleges in the world.
And here I am – I have never been to any Bible College (I wanted to go but God was in an hurry with me).
When I got Ordained after only 2 years in The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG); the Man who was Ordained before me that same Day had been in The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) for 15 years.
So God, what is it that you see in me that you have been so Good to me?
Is there anybody like that here?
The road that I Pass everyday – That I go and come back safe and sound; and I began to hear all manners of things.
On one occasion, there waa Traffic Jam – My son, his wife and his children were in a car. There were 5 cars ahead and there was a Big Truck. It was on a Hill and there was Traffic and everything stopped.
And all of a sudden, an accident happened and the Truck was coming back – Crushing car after car. It got to the car infront of the car containing my son and all his family and stopped.
Why me Lord? The People in the first car who it had crushed; they may even be querying God if alive that why are we at that Point at that time?
I mean not too long ago, Somebody was doing an Analysis of the number of People infected with Coronavirus in Nigeria; on a State by State basis.
And they found out that:
I. The State that has the least Infection was Ogun State – That is the State I lived.
II. The State that has next Least Number is Osun State – That is where I was born.
III. The Next Least State is Ondo State – That is where my Grandfather came from.
IV. They moved to the North, the State that has the Least Infection is where the Headquarters of our Church is in the North.
V. The State with the Least in the South is where we have our Headquarters in the South.
Somebody said that there is a Link between this Man and this happenings.
Somebody said that it is Ordinary Coincidence – Well, I want that kind of Good Coincidence!
When People see God helping us – He is coming to our Aid at “Critical Moments”, Upholding you, Prospering you; they are bound to take Note that this is God at work. That is what He said!
So they said they understand together that the Hand of God has done this!
Job 32:8 says: There is a Spirit in Man and it is the Inspiration of the Almighty that gives Understanding.
In Exodus 8: 16-19; the Bible says that when the Egyptian Magicians has been trying all the Tricks that Moses has been Performing, they got to a Stage when they say that this one is beyond us as this is the Hand of God.
So when you looked at all these things – You considered the Faithfulness of God, all these “Beautiful Promises”; I had this feeling within me that there must be quite Fine Prints somewhere.
There must be something that can make the Almighty God says: It doesn’t matter what is going to happen; I will be there for you!
He says: I will Hold your Right Hand! We will be connected.
That is almost like saying: “EMMANUEL”.
And I said that I understand now – Because there has to be something from my own Side.
I have always said it: Every Faith that puts all the Burden on God alone, is an “Irresponsible Faith”.
That leads to the Big Question: What kind of Hand will God hold?
Because when you read Psalms 24: 3-4 – Talkimg about who will Stand in His Holy Place? Who will ascend to the Hill of the Lord?
The Priority among the Qualifications is: He who has a Clean Hand!
… That’s the first thing that He mentioned.
It is the Person whose hand God can hold that can enjoy all these things.
If your hands are Clean, and He is holding your hands; then you don’t even need to worry whether He will help you or not.
You don’t need to worry about Him Upholding you – He is holding your hand!
I mean when we go for a Stroll in those days with my children and they were very Young. And we get to a Place that is Slippery; all I need to do is just to hold their hands. That way, if they struggle, I make sure that they don’t touch the Ground.
In 2 Corinthians 6:17 – Again He says: Touch not the Unclean Things and I will receive you.
Isaiah 52:11 – He said: You want to bear the Vessel of the Lord; touch not the Unclean Thing.
I don’t know about others – And this is what I have always told the “Big Boys” when they are arguing about “Unlimited Grace” of God.
I said maybe you are right o but one thing that I seems to know about God and I is that He is very Particular about what I do with my hands.
I can never Sign a Report that is not Correct; I won’t send to the Chairman a “Falsified Record” of my Church.
Do you know why?
Because Experience is the Best Teacher – I don’t know Theology. My Theology may not be very, very Strong but I know the way He deals with me from when I was very Young in Him.
Let me just tell you a Story:
I was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Lagos (Unilag). And as a result of that, there were certain things that were Provided by the University on my Table – Envelopes, Stationeries etc.
Then one day, I wrote a Personal Letter and I stretched forth my hand to take one of the Official Envelopes so that I can use it to Post my Letter.
And God said: You can’t take that Envelope as it is for Official Letters.
And my hand Froozed.
And I said to God: How much is an Envelope?
He said: Son, if you know that it is too cheap, go and buy yours.
If He won’t allow me to take an Envelope; do you think He will allow me to Cheat?
You want Him to hold your hands? Then all these “I will” will become yours.
But if your hands are dirty, He will say to you like He said to Eli – I said indeed. I am the One who said so (I didn’t send the Prophet) that you and your father’s house will Stand before me forever but now, I am not saying so anymore.
You don’t like it? Sue me!
And then He gave the reason – If you Honour me; I will Honour you; you despise me and I will treat you Lightly.
He Promised Joshua several things in Joshua 1: 1-9 – No Man will be able to Stand before you all the days of your Life.
Joshua came against Ai, Ai chased him and killed 36 of his boys. And God said that I know but Check – I have not Changed but you have Changed!
DMC NOTES: You can read: Joshua 7: 1-12 for this Story!
Shall we bow our Heads Please!
1. You should talk to God now: Help me so that my hands will remain forever Clean. And everywhere that I have transgressed, help me to put my ways right.
Oh Lord, have Mercy on me – You are the Ever Present Help in Trouble, how come that Help is not coming when I call for it. Have Mercy on me.
Oh, I thought that I was Clever, I thought that I could maneuver, I thought that I know more than You do and so I have been doing things on my own way – Have Mercy on me Lord.
I want to come back Home fully – Just to do Your Will, have Clean Hands in everything for the rest of my Life.
I can deceive Men but I can’t deceived You – You are the All-knowing God; I want my hands to be one hundred Percent Clean in all my Dealings with You because You are more than Sufficient for me.
My tomorrow is in Your Hands Lord and not in my own hands. I can’t even take care of my tomorrow. How do I even know if I will see tomorrow?
All the Shortcuts that I have been taking all my Life; I will Return, I will Restitute to come right back to You Lord in everything.
Restore me to one hundred Percent Fellowship with You Lord for the rest of my Life.
Thank You Father. In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen.
2. Let’s Pray for this Week’s Convention – The Americas Continental Convention 2023.
That the Almighty God – Emmanuel Himself will visit us in a Mighty Way like never before.
That His Presence on this Campground will be Mighty – So Mighty that everybody will know that Emmanuel is here.
That He will overshadow all that will Minister – That the Power of God will move like Mighty Waves of the Ocean.
That this Convention will be one that we will never forget for the rest of our lives.
That after this Convention, this Campground will be so soaked with Anointing and People will come from far and near; knowing fully well that if only they can just get to the Campground, our Miracles will be Delivered.
Oh Emmanuel, come and dwell with us, dwell with our Church and leave your Fingerprints here on this Campground.
Thank You Lord. In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
CLOSING PRAYER
Emmanuel, I want to say Thank You.
Once again, we Your Children are saying Good Morning to You – Thank You for Your Words, Thank You for Revelational Knowledge, Thank You Loving us so much, Thank You because Blessed are the ears that has heard or read on the Label of DMC what we have said this Morning.
Accept our Thanks in Jesus Name.
In all areas Lord God Almighty that we have soiled our hands; Please forgive us, Cleanse us Lord and revive us Lord.
The Grace to Restitute our ways Completely, give to us.
From this moment onwards, let our hands remain Clean.
And all the Promises, all the “I Will” that we have read out this Morning; make them available unto us.
Thank You Daddy.
We Pray that this will be a Unique Convention.
Emmanuel, Please visit us, even right now; let us feel Your Presence.
Thank You Daddy.
In Jesus Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!
Let Somebody shout Hallelujah – Hallelujah!!!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.