Emanuel God is with us
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Emmanuel: God Is With Us
Matthew 1:18-23
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Let us Pray:
Oh Father we come before you in remembrance and celebration of your gift that you have give us your precious Son Jesus Christ, Oh Father we give you thanks for in Him is life in him is freedom in him is hope in his is love in him is healing in him is joy, oh father thank you for this gift for your Son Jesus whom we are not worthy Lord help us to live a life of thankfulness help us to live a life of gratitude lord help us to live for you, Oh father hear me this morning heal us of our selfishness heal-us of our self indulgence lord create a new fire within us not longer living for us but living for you and your kingdom, Lord draw those whom you need Lord be with us in Spirit this morning fill us with your presence in your sweet name Jesus i pray Amen
I look at the name of Christ and my mind goes begins to wonder about other names in the Bible, and what they mean. This name Emmanuel has a profound meaning not just to the saint, but unto the World. “God with Us” My friends, it doesn’t get any better then that.
Why is this name so profound? I’m glad that you asked…
Not only does this name tell us where Jesus is, but it also tells us who He is.
God didn’t have to come here to be with us, He didn’t have to be born in a manger, He didn’t have to be beaten, bruised, accused, and killed, but He did. He did all this and more just that He could be with us.
The verse that really speaks out here is
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
He had tried to be with His fellow man, His fellow nation, but they received Him not. He tried to have fellowship with you and I time and time again, and we received Him not.
I would have to say, I am glad they (Israel) rejected Jesus as the Messiah, for in there doing so it allowed salvation to given unto the Gentiles, and we now know that God is with us.
Today I would like to take a few minutes and look and see what the Word of the Lord has to say about this Emmanuel, God with us.
First, answer this question. aren’t you glad that He is with us?
I. EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US……Through the Storms
“For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.
I’m reminded of the story found in Acts 27 , with Paul out at sea and his presence in the mist of the storm, and his confidence that God will see him and them through.
Although the storm was ragging, the winds were blowing at there highest, the waters were crashing against the ship, the goods were tossed overboard, and fear had set in that they wouldn’t make it.
Remember, the storm was strong, but the ship was fine and sailed on.
Paul never tells us that the ship was destroyed, or that there were holes blown in its side, or that they took on water, but that they sailed on through it all, there only loss along the way were things that weighed down the ship.
Oh to God that we would lose those things that hold us down.
Paul stood firm, know that God was with him. He said…
1) I know whose I am….Vv.23
2) I know whom I serve….Vv.23
3) I know we will make it….Vv. 23 & 24
4) I know who I believe in …Vv.25
>>>>>>Paul knew that god was with him, and that he is with us !
If you and I can get our minds around who it truly is that is with us, we could stand firm like Paul no matter what the storms of life may come, and firmly say God Is With Us.
II. EMMANUEL: GOD IS WITH US…..Though the Enemy Rages against us
Here I’m reminded of our brother Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20
In this case we find many enemies gathered, not just one against Gods people.
2 Chronicles 20:5–15 (NASB95)
Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, and he said, “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens? And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You. “Did You not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? “They have lived in it, and have built You a sanctuary there for Your name, saying, ‘Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.’ “Now behold, the sons of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt (they turned aside from them and did not destroy them), see how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from Your possession which You have given us as an inheritance. “O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” All Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives and their children. Then in the midst of the assembly the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite of the sons of Asaph; and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
I’ll ask you some questions that relate to us today, for its clear (we) do not have nations gathered at our front door against us yet......, but we do have a different enemy gathered..
The Bill Collector
The Nay Sayers
The Doubters
The Liars
The Backbiters
The Adversary, the Devil
The Evil among us…Vv.9
2 chronicles 20:9
2 Chronicles 20:9 (NASB95)
‘Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.’
~Its important for us to know that EVERY TIME in the bible that someone fasted and
prayed, they received an answer from the Lord.
~It may not have been the answer they were looking for, but they did hear from the Lord.
~In this case Jehoshaphat and all Judah fasted before the Lord. Vv.3-4
~Look at his prayer in Vv.5-13 and how powerful it is.
~I love the sum verse 12.…
2 Chronicles 20:12 (NASB95)
“O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
~Jehoshaphat is saying the he and we His people know that God is With Us. and its only by God that they have power over their enemies
Emmanuel: God Is With Us
Matthew 1:18-23
Remember what I said about fasting?
Look at the answer from the Lord
2 Chronicles 20:15 (NASB95)
and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
2 Chronicles 20:17 (NASB95)
‘You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.”
Jehoshaphat and all of Judah knew that God was with Us.
This wasn't their battle it was Gods, it was too big for them it was intended so that they would have faith in God so that God would gain the Glory not them
IO remember when my grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, There’s no easy way to attach the word cancer to your world and not make all who love you cry. I kept thinking about that statement everyone loves to throw out in times like these: “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” But that’s not actually in the Bible.
God does say He won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and that He always provides a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). But that’s not the same as God not giving us more than we can handle.
He sometimes will allow more and more and more. I knew this. And now I was sitting in a pink chair living it. And, as I type these words, I know I’m not the only one who feels they’ve been given more than they can handle. I see the wide-eyed expressions on people all the time. Grief upon grief. Hurt upon hurt. Heartbreak upon heartbreak. Addiction upon addiction. Diagnosis upon diagnosis. Disappointment upon disappointment.
The world is filled with people who are dealt more than they can handle. And, surprisingly, the Bible is also filled with people who were given more than they could handle.
The apostle Paul wrote:
For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. — 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
God doesn’t expect us to handle this. He wants us to hand this over to Him.
He doesn’t want us to rally more of our own strength. He wants us to rely solely on His strength. If we keep walking around, thinking that God won’t give us more than we can handle, we set ourselves up to be suspicious of God. We know we are facing things that are too much for us. We are bombarded with burdens. We are weighed down with wondering. And we are all trying to make sense of things that don’t make sense. Before we can move forward in a healthy way, we must first acknowledge the truth about our insufficiency.
and trust in the sufficiency of Christ
III. EMMANUEL: GOD IS WITH US…. To carry us Home
Can I remind you of the text found in John 11 of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.
This story of a dead man, a dead friend has moved the hearts of many a lost loved ones.
This story gives hope to those that mourn, that there loved ones will rise again. Why?
Because, Christ tells Martha and Mary that He is the Resurrection and the Life. John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
>The comforting facts of this passage to us today is that we now know and have the answer, and the solution to death…… found in JESUS !
Revelation 1:18 says…
and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
>>Martha gives a great answer to the question, “Yes Lord, I Believe”
>>Not that she just believed that her brother would rise again, but that Jesus himself, is the Christ, the Son of God, and the resurrection and the Life which Isaiah spoke of.
I Thessalonians 4:18 says….
1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NASB95)
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
CLOSING
No matter if the enemy rages or the storms of life blow we are confident to know that God Is With Us.
Notice a few things here in 1 Thess. 4:16...
Notice who it is coming “for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven”
Who is coming? The Lord himself…not another…aren’t you glad it ‘s Him
Where is He coming from? Heaven…where are we going?….To heaven
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
GOD IS WITH US Praise God He is with us Praise God he is for us Praise God he has gone before us, Praise God he has redeemed us, praise God he has saved us Praise Him
Let us pray Oh Father hear me now Lord this isn't our battle this is your battle Lord I know not the battle in the men hearts i know not the battle in the woman's hearts i know not the battle of the children's heart but Lord you do, Lord they do Lord let them hear this is not their battle You are with us you shall never leave nor forsake us Help us to let go Help us to trust in you more help us to lean on you more help us to cry out to you more oh God draw them that you have called let them all come forth today let them come forth n thanksgiving let them come forth in praise let them come forth for healing let them come forth for salvation let them come draw them with your irresistible grace draw them to yourself that your name will be lifted high oh God draw them your word says Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Let them hear your word Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Draw them oh father Draw them today Thank you for coming thank you for all that you are thank you lord