EMMANUEL: God be with us by O.O ABEL

 

SERMON TOPIC

EMMANUEL: God be with us

Record in Matthew 1:18-23

 Isaiah 7:1-14; 9:6;

 

 

At one of the darkest moments of Judah's life as a kingdom God proclaimed one of the brightest promises ... provided they walk in obedience with His plans and His Word.  There may well be times in your life when you will find yourself closed in on all fronts by the enemy ... what do you do when this happens?  For some people FEAR causes them to do nothing … which leaves them frozen in inaction and ripe for the enemy?

Mostly in Africa and west Africa precisely Ember months seems to have been characterized with so many dooms unfortunately we see it happening life and direct, I could remember vividly during my family monthly cross over prayers, in October 31 to Nov. 1^st , I told my wife we need to prayer against building collapse , Diseases, then I went further to tell her we should intercede for Nollywood that with what I saw one popular Yoruba Actor may not survive it because he was gone already but people still see him alive. Unfortunately, in order not to create unnecessary fear or panic I only posted some pregnant words on Facebook that says “HMMM NOV. A MONTH OF UPWARD AND DOWNWARD STROKES, MAY WE NOT BE INVOLVED IN THE DOWNWARD STROKE IN JESUS NAME” that was my post.

Unfortunately, all these things happened one after the other just because there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Many times we are surrounded by darkness, either as the result of our disobedient to God’s word or not. The usual reactions of most are: frustration, doubt, fear, anxiety ...

One of the greatest prophecies about Jesus' coming into the world as a babe was the name He would have: "IMMANUEL" which translated means: "God with us!"

 

At one of the darkest moments of Judah's life as a kingdom God proclaimed one of the brightest promises ... provided they walk in obedience with His plans and His Word.

 

The name "IMMANUEL" which translated means: "God with us!"

Things were so terrible for Ahaz and Judah according to Isaiah 7: 2-9 so also God is saying He will be with us today regardless of what is happening in our country as well as around the world , building collapse , kidnapping , Covid – 19 , Delta variant that is 60 percent more infectious than Covid -19 and now Omicron that is 500 percent more infectious than Delta according to Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS),

In the mist of all these happenings God promised to be with us.

Having said this giving all these assurances it’s not without a condition

The condition God placed here is if thou will obey

Deuteronomy 28 :1 “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:”

Obedient is one of the conditions to meet for Emmanuel: God be with us to be activated in our life.

What is the instruction from God?

Luke 9:35“And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.”

Are you ready to hear him? Does His voice not irritating to your earing ?

Before baby Jesus was born

Jesus did not just appear without some unnoticeable events.

for example, in Matthew 1 vs 19 “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a Public example, was minded to put her away privily.”

This shows that disappointment, shame, hopelessness, and public disgrace where the first thing that appeared before the birth of Jesus was announced.

Finally, the presence of Jesus put an end to all these bad things in a believer’s, life.

 

Three common things that were not noticed

Ø Ahaz and Judah according to Isaiah 7: 2-9 were in trouble before God promise them Emmanuel s

Ø In Matthew 1:19 Joseph and Mary were clouded with insult, shame, and public disgrace.

Ø Emmanuel was born not in the best hospital.   Luke 2:7 “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Action point

For Emmanuel to really be in action we must, recognize Him as our Lord and savior and we must obey him.

If you have not given your life to Emmanuel this is the right time to do so, once you have done so you can call him in time of trouble He will be with you.

Hallelujah