Sunday English Service – 09 MAY 21

Transcript

God is with you. God is with you. That’s what I want to remind you today.

My message today is simply to remind you that God is with you. It is a very simple truth. It is something you already know. It’s very basic. But I think we need to remind ourselves that God is with us today. Especially since we are living in challenging times, facing various difficulties. You may be facing all kinds of difficulties today. I want to remind you, my friend, that God is with you. So important to remind ourselves about the basic truths about our God. As a Christian, that’s one of the things that will help us to face our troubles, live in difficult circumstances and overcome them. That’s what we’ve been talking about for the last, you know, long for the last eight weeks, I think, right?

We’ve been talking about how to approach adversity as a Christian; what is the Christian approach to adversity, and for the last three weeks, I’ve been saying that one of the approaches is we remind ourselves about the basic truths about our God. We remember the basic truths about our God. Because we have a tendency to forget, and particularly when times get tough, circumstances turn sour, we tend to just lose sight of these basic truths. And for the last three weeks, I’ve already spoken on six basic truths. Let me just quickly remind you of the last three weeks, six truths; very basic truths about our God, what are they?

God knows; God knows everything. He knows what you’re going through, He knows the solution to your problem. He knows everything.

God cares. Not only does he know everything, but He also cares for you.

God can; God can do all things. There’s nothing impossible for Him. God will do it for you because you’re His child and so on.

Then last week, we saw God reigns; He rules and reigns overall. This is something we know, we sing, we celebrate. And yet, we need to remind ourselves of the reality of this. He rules and reigns, always, over everything, even over evil. Everything is in His control, which means I have hope. I don’t have to fear because He reigns.

The One who reigns, is a good God; God is good. That was our sixth truth.

Six truths, in the last three weeks, we’ve seen already. Let me just say quickly: God knows, God cares, God can, God will, God reigns, and God is good.

Today, I want to look at this seventh truth, which is God is with us.

God is with us; God is with us. Just open your mouth and say that: “God is with us; God is with me”. Say that, wherever you are. Whether you’re at your home, or wherever you are, just open your mouth, at least say it softly to yourself, “God is with me”. God is with us. I believe that as we look at this truth today and meditate upon this, I believe it will make a huge difference for you. A huge difference. Let’s begin to look at this. God is with us.

What do we mean when we say God is with us? What’s, you know, that’s such a simple phrase, God is with us? But there’s a lot underneath that. There are very deep truths that are part of that, that come along with that and I want to lay the start here, so that we lay the foundation. Before I begin to encourage you, using this truth that God is with you, I want to lay the foundation. I want to begin here, by looking at some of the deep truths that lie beneath this simple statement: God is with us. What is underneath this statement, what all is involved here? Let me bring it under two headings or two words.

When we say God is with us, there’s a lot that comes with it. But I want to emphasize two things. We mean to say that God is with us in a real way. He is really with us. And He is with us in a very special way – special. Two words. What do we mean when we say God is with us? What’s behind this simple statement? Well, He is really with us. And He’s with us in a very special way. Why do I put it like that? Why do I say He’s really with us? Because I want to say at the outset, that the reason you should not think – see, some people think when we say, God is with you, you know, don’t be afraid. We’re just trying to encourage people. And, you know, we’re just trying to make people feel better. I want to say to you at the outset, I am not preaching, saying God is with you, just to make you feel better. I believe you will feel better, if you hear this, if you give ear to it, if you meditate on this; I believe you will feel better. But that’s not the only reason to preach it, you see. It’s not like it’s not really true but we’re simply saying it, to make you feel better. I don’t want you to get the impression that, you know, it doesn’t matter what the truth is, just believe and just think and just, you know, be conscious, that God is with you, and adjust in your thoughts. And in your mind, just think that God is with you. And that will make you feel better. And that will do this and that. Yeah, yeah, all that is true. If you think that God is with you, if you remind yourself, if you’re conscious of that, it can make a huge difference. But guess what? We’re not just saying this to make a difference. We are saying this because it’s true. That’s the foundation, God is really with you. We’re not just saying this to make you feel better. We’re not just saying this to help you out a little bit. We are. But the foundation of it is, God is really with you. God is really with us. He’s really with us, as real as your family is with you in this lockdown time. Your family is with you all the time, right? Your parents, your children, all the time, with them in the house, right? As real as they are with you, so real, is God with you. God is as real as your family members. Yeah, He’s a real person; you may not be able to see Him because He’s a spirit, but He’s real. He exists.

And not only that, but He is also with you, really. As real as the air is around you, so real is the presence of God, with you. You know, there is air all around us, isn’t there? It’s there where I am; it’s there where you are. You can see it, you can see the air, but you breathe the air. You can’t live without the air, see? I think that’s an illustration of, just like that, you can’t see God. Sometimes you don’t even think about Him, but He’s with you. His presence is real. He’s really with you.

Perhaps, in your mind, the question may come up, you know, how can He be with me and with you and with everyone at the same time? How is this really, you know, is this really true? How can it be so? Well, the thing is, you see, there is no one like God. God is unique, in that, He alone has the capability to be anywhere and everywhere, that He chooses. Because He’s the Creator God, He is the One who created the heavens and the earth, He is the One who created space and therefore, He is Lord of space. And therefore, He can be present anywhere and everywhere, in space, He is not under any limitation, you know. We – you and me – we are limited to where we can be. You are in your home today, maybe; you’re not here in the church building. Because you’re there, you’re not here; if you’re here, you won’t be there. You can only be in one place. So, we have these limitations of where we can be because we are in a body and we are not God. But He is God. We are not. He has no limitation; He can be wherever He wants to be, however He chooses to manifest Himself. There are no limitations on where He can be and how He can manifest His presence. He is the Lord of space; He transcends it all. So, put all those things to rest. This is really true, my friend; God is really with you.

The other word I said is ‘special’. Special. What do I mean by that? ‘Special’. I say special because when we say, God is with you, we don’t mean to say, we’re not referring to God’s general omnipresence. You see, the Bible teaches that when you talk about the presence of God, you’ve got to realize this. The Bible teaches that God is omnipresent. What does that mean? He’s everywhere. There is no place where He is not. He’s present everywhere. You know, “Heaven is His throne”, the Bible says, “And earth is His footstool”. Just think about that. The images from there to here, He’s there; from heaven to earth.

Or take Psalm 139, which talks about his omnipresence. Psalmist says, in verse 7, “Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” Think, where can I go to flee from You? If I go to heaven, you’re there, obviously. But even if I make my bed in Sheol, you are also there. There is no place where He is not. Because He’s the One who created the heavens and the earth; He fills it all.

Jeremiah 23:24, I think, says it like that. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” God says. So, in a sense, He is everywhere. He’s omnipresent, there is no place where He is not. But when we say, “God is with you”, when I’m saying, “God is with us”, today, I’m not referring to His general omnipresence. I’m not saying, God is everywhere and so, He is with you. No. God is everywhere, yes. But He is with you, in a very special way. Say: “Special”. Special, right. He is with you, in a very special way. What we mean by special? You see, yeah, He is everywhere but when believers gather together, for example, when we gather together in a place, and when we worship God, He is present in our midst in a very special way, isn’t He? What do we mean by “special way”?

You know, when we gather together, then sing and worship God, we can experience God’s presence in a very special way. For example, we can experience the joy of God’s presence in a special way. The power of God’s presence in a special way, right? Yeah, He’s everywhere but when we worship Him, it’s very special. It’s a special experience of His presence, isn’t it? That’s because God is present among His people in a very special way. Yeah, He’s everywhere but with His people, He is present in a very special way. He manifests His presence in a very special way. This is true in Old Testament and New Testament. In the Old Testament, God’s people were the people of Israel. Yeah, God was everywhere but God was with His people, the nation of Israel in a very special way. In the New Testament, God is with us, you and me, believers of Jesus Christ. We are God’s people, and God is with us in a very special way. In fact, in the Old Testament, there is even a very special place where God’s presence resides — the Temple. In the Old Testament, the most special place where God’s presence is manifested in a very special way is what? The Temple; the Temple, right? So even though, you know, God is especially present with all His people – the nation of Israel – there is this one building in Israel, the Temple, where He is even more specially present. His presence is manifested in an even more special way. Right? You understand that? The Temple of God.

God chose to manifest His presence there. 2^nd Chronicles 7:15. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. The place referring there, to God’s Temple; that’s the context. He’s saying, “I’m everywhere, but My eyes will be open, My ears very attentive to prayer, in this place”. What’s special about that place? Yeah, God is everywhere. But here, He really, He pays more attention to people praying. In the Old Testament, the Temple was that very special place, where God manifested His presence, heard prayers and so on. Verse 16, why, you may think why, you know, how come; that’s the case? Verse 16, “For now, I have chosen and consecrated this house”. God says, “I have chosen it to be this way. I choose to be present here in a special way and therefore I am”. I told you already, He is free to choose wherever He wants to be and however He wants to be. And in the Old Testament, He chose the Temple as a very special place to manifest His presence. “I have chosen and consecrated this house”, – means Temple – “That My name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time”. We come to the New Testament; the Temple is that most special place in the Old Testament. You come to the New Testament, and there’s no Temple. There’s no Temple; there’s no building. You know, there’s no physical building like the Temple, where God is manifesting a very special. Nothing like that is there. It’s very interesting, you know. Some religions have one very special Holy place, one very special Holy city, and one very special, you know, Holy building, and they believe that God is present there in a very special way. And that’s very special in Christianity. There’s nothing like that; there is no one very special place, or one very special building, where God’s presence is.

You go to the New Testament, and the New Testament says, “Do you not know that you are God’s Temple?” In the New Testament, who is the Temple? Believers! Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you” – “you”; everybody say, “me” – “you are God’s Temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” Paul is looking at the Corinthian believers and he’s reminding them; he said, “Don’t you know? You forgot? Don’t you realize that you are the Temple? And that God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, dwells in you? The third person of the Trinity dwells in you, and that makes you the Temple”. For every believer, my friend, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Do you believe that? Do you know that? Do you realize that? If you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, if He is really your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, my friend. He is God. If He is in you, that means, God’s in you. Not only that, but the New Testament also teaches that Christ Himself is in you. You know what I mean? How many verses? I don’t have time to read, but how many verses teach us that Christ Himself is inside of us and we are in Christ and all this, right? How is that so? That’s because the Holy Spirit makes that possible. The Holy Spirit in us, manifests the presence of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, let me read just one verse – there’s so many verses – but I want to read this one verse because it combines all of this. It combines the teaching that the Holy Spirit is in us, and then we are in Christ, and Christ is in us and all this comes in a combined way in this one verse. And so, let me read this alone. 1 John 4:13; 1 John 4:13, By this, we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. How do we know that we abide in Christ, and Christ abides in us? Because He has given us of His Spirit. This is how we know because the Holy Spirit is in us, we know that we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us. What am I trying to say, my friend? I’m trying to say, we are so close to Christ; Christ is so close to us. We are in Him; He is in us. We are one with Him. The Bible says, “One spirit with Him”, in 1 Corinthians 6:17. One spirit with Christ; the Holy Spirit is in us. He’s always inside of us, permanently dwelling inside of us. He doesn’t come and go; He’s right there in us. I say all this to say, God is not far from you. He is right there with you, in fact, is in you. He’s in you! I say all this to say, so much is there behind a simple statement like, “God is with you”. That’s not a statement, just to pep you up, just to make you feel better, just to give you some hope. No, no, it’s more than that. It’s truth; it’s reality; it’s real. And it’s extremely special. God, the One true living God, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, is inside of you. It’s real. And it’s extremely special. God is in you because He has chosen to be in you. He wants to be with you. He has chosen to be with you. You know, He has not only chosen, but He has done so much to make it work, to make it happen. He saved you so that He can come and be inside of you and with you forever. You know that? See, we take the presence of God lightly. But for God it came at a very heavy, high price. God cannot just be with us. You know, One with us. No, no, no, no. We were sinners. We were enemies of God. We were far away from God. God had to reconcile us to Himself through the death of His Son. That’s what it took God. He had to pay the price of His Son, His blood, His life, was shed for us, was given for us, so that we can come close to God, we can be with him. See? The blood of Jesus washes us, cleanses us from all our sin, purifies us, makes us righteous and Holy on the inside, so that the Holy Spirit can permanently dwell inside of us. So that Christ can always be inside of us and with us. So much is there behind a simple statement like, “God is with you”. It’s extremely real, and it’s extremely special.

Secondly, so God is with us, right? Secondly, I want you to realize how important it is to remember this, to remember, say, “remember”. It’s extremely important to remind yourself of this. Only when you remind yourself of this, only when you get a reminder of this, it becomes powerful, it makes a difference. You see, God is always with you. In that sense, God with you, is better than your family with you; in many senses, it’s better. But one of the ways, is your family’s with you but then, your parents may go out to the store and buy something. And that time, they are not with you really, right. They may leave you and go here and there, the husband may leave the wife and go here or go there. You cannot leave God and go anywhere because He’s inside of you. No matter where you go, He is right there with you because He’s inside of you. You can’t leave Him, and He won’t leave you, right. So, He’s always with you. But the thing is, His presence only makes a difference when you remember that He is with you. Just by Him being with you, many times that doesn’t make a difference. You have to get reminded of that, you have to become conscious of that, that’s when you’ll see a big difference. I’ll give you an example. Sometimes we take our kids – people with kids will understand this – we take our children to these, you know, exhibitions or theme parks, where they have these scary rides. We go onto one of these scary rides. You know, you go there and you’re holding your little child and you walk in and they take you through a maze and they all kinds of scary, you know, pictures come or scary, you know, things appear before, right? They really try to scare you. And the little child is walking in with you. You’re right there with him. You’re holding his hand. But then, the scary thing comes and all of a sudden, your child screams. What do you do? Tap him on the shoulder and say, “Don’t worry, I’m right here; I’m right here”. Actually, you were there before itself. You were in fact holding his hand. He also knows you’re there. But the moment he saw that big scary thing in front of him, he, for a moment forgot that you’re there with him. And what do you do you remind me, “No, no, I’m right here, man. I’m here with you”. You make him to know that you are there. And when he hears that you are there and when he feels the tug of your hand, he immediately realizes, “Oh, if my father is here, no, nothing to worry”.

God is always with us but sometimes, when things come and scare us, when circumstances really get bad, we lose sight of the reality that He’s with us. He’s really with us, but we lose sight. We know it but we just lose sight of it. We’re just not conscious of it. Our mind is filled with this big scary thing, this big, scary challenge. What we need, my friend, is just a tap on the shoulder and a voice saying, “Don’t worry. God is there”. I’m preaching to you simply to give you the tap on the shoulder and say, “Don’t worry, God is there. God is with you. Don’t worry, He’s right there holding your hand”. And my hope is not just to tell you myself, but my hope is, as I speak these words to you, I pray that you will hear the voice of God Himself in your spirit, speaking to you saying,

“Fear not, I am with you”. If you can hear that one word today, my friend, if you can just get a reminder that God is with you, that alone is enough. That alone is enough. That one word, if you can hear it deep down in your spirit, if the Holy Spirit speaks to you, I can’t do that. I can only speak these words. But if the Holy Spirit takes and uses these words and speaks into your spirit saying, “Fear not, I’m with you”. If you can hear that one word, my friend, the fear will vanish. There will be a peace in your heart, no matter what you are going through. You see, you need a reminder. The reminder makes a huge difference; that’s what I’m trying to say. The reminder is very powerful. Yeah, God is always with you but when you lose sight of Him being with you, when you forget about it, it’s like He’s not even there. You’re scared; you’re scared, and you lose your peace, and you’re afraid and you’re worried, like that child. But when you realize, when you get reminded, no, no, He’s there. He is right here. When you hear God’s voice telling you, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God”. I pray you will hear that voice, my friend. I’m here to speak, so that the Holy Spirit can speak into your spirit. Isaiah 43:13, the Lord Himself says, “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not. I’m the one who helps you”. May you hear that voice. See, a reminder of God’s presence with you can be very powerful. A simple reminder that God is with you can be very, very powerful.

I was reading a true story about this doctor in the 1990’s. He went and joined the Army Reserves. He is an American doctor, he joined the army, US Army Reserves. And he enlisted, you know, he gave his name. And so, when the war came against Iraq, in the 2000’s, in 2005, he was called to serve because he had enlisted. They called him and they sent him over to Iraq to serve there as a doctor. He’s not an army guy. He’s a doctor, but he’s serving there, taking care. He was used to take care of soldiers, not only American soldiers, but also the prisoners of war. So, Americans are fighting against Iraq, and all that. So, you know, the opposite side, also, there are soldiers and, in the fight, sometimes the opposite camp soldiers are captured, right. And they are sometimes wounded, taken prisoner. And so, this doctor has to serve not only the American soldiers, treat them, but also treat the prisoners of war. And so, he talks about how difficult and how scary those days were. He writes about it. And he talks about one particular incident.

One day, he says he was supposed to, he was given the responsibility to escort a prisoner of war with a severe wound, or “a severe infection”, he says, to another military hospital, a little distance away. There were different military bases, and he was in one place. And so, this prisoner of war was wounded, had this infection that had to be attended to immediately, but they didn’t have the facilities right there. So, they did take him from here to there, to a bigger facility in Baghdad. And he was given the order to take him from here to there. It’s a prisoner of war, but he’s wounded, and you’ve got to attend to him. That’s the way it works. And so, he talks about how scary it was to take this prisoner from here to there. He says, you know, there was a big convoy, because when you are in war zone, you don’t travel as just a lone vehicle, you have a big convoy, many vehicles, many Humvees, military jeeps or, you know, vehicles going together at the highest speed. Because he says that particular period, the last five days, the five days before, when he was supposed to go there, that American convoy going in that route, was hit three times by a bomb. Three times in the last five days, they hit that convoy with a bomb. People were injured or you know, things like that. So, it was a very dangerous time. Last five days, three times the convoy got hit by bombs, and the sixth day, this guy is supposed to take this wounded prisoner of war to this other military hospital, to get this, to save his life basically.

So, they go on the convoy – he talks about how scary it was – they go at a very high speed, he talks about, you know, how all these are soldiers and people view them as very powerful and very brave. And yes, they were brave and powerful and strong and all that, but he says underneath, everybody was scared. Because the last five days, three bombs hit. Nobody knows when the next bomb is coming, you know, so they’re all very on high alert and very scared and looking here and there with the guns, you know. They’re searching for snipers and it’s going at a high speed, close to each other, the convoy is going. And he, this doctor, in the main vehicle there, with this prisoner of war. He says he was thinking at that time, and he was just regretting coming there. He says, you know, he thought to himself, why on earth did I enlist? I was a doctor and a medic, I could have just been like that, you know. I’ve enlisted and now they’ve brought me here, not only to risk my life for American soldiers, but risk my life for enemy soldiers. The whole thing is meaningless. The whole thing is useless. Why did I do this? He was just getting angry with himself and just getting so scared. He says he thought bomb was about to drop any time, you know. Everybody’s shouting, screaming and all kinds of noise and commotion. And he’s a Christian, you know, he happens to be a Christian, a believer. And so, you know, he had this mp3 player. Those days, his family had put 1000 songs there, it seems, for him to listen. And so, he said, “Okay, this fear is not good”. He knows, as a Christian, that fear is not good, and he should not just allow it. And so, he tells himself, “Okay, let me just play these songs”.

And so, while this convoy is speeding at high speed, he gets his mp3 player, and he plays it and the music sounds in his ears. And the song that plays has these words: ‘surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place’. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. There’s an English song like that and he’s listening to that. And he says something amazing happened. He says he has never before experienced the presence of God to that level, to that extreme. He says he was overwhelmed with a sense of God’s presence, sitting in that Humvee, with a wounded prisoner of war, while everyone is shouting, screaming, going at high speed, everyone is scared. Here, this guy listening to the song, is overwhelmed by a sense of the presence of God. And he says, “At that moment, suddenly, I lost my fear. I was filled with a sense of peace. It was like God was in the vehicle with me. I could sense in a very real way, the presence. It’s like, I’m enveloped – God above me, below me, around me, all with me; He is surrounding me”. It’s like, everybody’s scared but I’m at peace. We were not out of danger. He says, “We were not out of danger; we still had a long way to go. But it’s like, that didn’t matter to me. Because I knew that God is with me. That gave me a great peace”. He says, I thought, you know, generally, you can experience God’s presence in a very high way, in a very amazing way, only in worship and only when you’re reading the Bible and just immersed in prayer and things like that. I didn’t know you can experience God’s presence in such a powerful way, in the middle of a warzone. I say this, because sometimes God does that; He manifests His presence in a powerful way, in places and times, where you think it’s not possible. And He can do it right now.

Now, also why I told you the story is, I want you to notice what happened in that story. Something very interesting to me. Only when that song played, he got that powerful experience. Did you notice that? Only when the song played. Before the song played, he was all afraid. Only when the song played, that experience hit. You can’t control an experience like that. The Holy Spirit gives you that experience. But what I’m saying is, generally, the Holy Spirit works through the Word. He works through the truth. He does not work in a vacuum, usually. He works through the truth. And even for that doctor, you will see, that that song played and the words of that song, there is truth in that song. ‘Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place’. There’s the word, there’s the truth, that plays. He hears it, the Holy Spirit takes that word and gives him a powerful experience of God’s presence. That’s my hope today. I just want to sound a word of truth today to you; God is with you. But my hope is that the Holy Spirit will take those ordinary words and give you a powerful sense of God’s presence, right where you are. Right where you are, right now; wherever you are. Whatever you’re in the midst of, my friend, God is with you. Let the Holy Spirit impress that reality deep in your heart. That guy, even though his outward circumstances did not change, he was still in danger. He felt completely at peace. He was overwhelmed by the peace of God. See, that’s what can happen when you get a sense of His presence. You may still be in danger, but you will be at peace. You’ll lose the fear. But not only peace, I believe that when you realize God is with you, even your outward circumstances will change. Listen, my friend, when you realize, when you remind yourself that God is with you, and when you focus on that, I believe your outward circumstances can change; it will change, it cannot but change. Because if the God of heaven and earth is with you, if the God who can do all things is with you, if the God who’s all wise and all loving is with you, if the God who rules and reigns and yet is all good is with you, surely it can and will change. Let me talk about that.

When God is with you, everything changes. Everything changes; it has to. Let me talk about it, generally and then I’ll give you some specific examples. You see, generally, when God is with you – here’s a general truth, my friend. If God is with you, He will help you. If God is with you, He will help you or let me put it like this. If God is with you, He won’t be, without helping you. You’ve got to get this. If God is with you, there is no chance that He’ll leave you without helping you. He will help you. He will help you.

You know, sometimes people are with us, but they don’t help us. We’ve seen people like that, they’re always with us but sometimes, they don’t help us. Sometimes they’re with us, but they’re only a burden to us. Sometimes they’re with us and you don’t know whether they’re there or not. It’s like they don’t make any difference. But God is not like that, my friend. If He’s with you, He will make a difference. He will make a world of difference. He will help you. Psalm 46, verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46 is one of those places you’ve got to run to, when you’re in trouble, my friend. Look at that opening verse, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”. I love the way it says it: “a very present help in trouble”. He’s present. He’s not only present, He’s very present. Some people say, you know, in school attendance in India, they will say, you know, they’ll call out the name of the person and say, “Present?” Present, right? Some people say, “Present”; their bodies are there but really, their minds are not there. They’re thinking about something else. And they’re just saying present you know, they’re not fully present. They’re hardly present. But God, He’s with us and He’s very present. That means, He is all eyes on us, all ears to our prayer. He is looking at us, focusing on us; He is very present, He’s right there with us and He is all-present. Not only that, He is a very present help; everybody say, “very present help”. “In trouble”; see, that verse is talking about, “in trouble, God is a very present help”, it seems. He’s present, He’s very present, to help. He helps. He will not be, without helping. In trouble, He’s a very present help. You need to memorize that. A very present help in trouble. God is a very present help in trouble. That means, when you’re in trouble, not only is God present, very present, He will help you. He will help you; that’s the kind of God He is. He will help you. He won’t be without helping you. He won’t be without helping you; He’s a very present help in trouble.

Psalm 145, verse 18; Psalm 145, verse 18, The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. “The Lord is near”, notice the language of nearness? If somebody calls on Him, truly, God is near them. Now, what is the result of God being near to this person? Next verse, He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him, but He also hears their cry and saves them. When God is near to us, what does He do? He hears our cry and saves us. When God is near you, when I say, “God is with you”, the result of that is He hears your prayer, and He answers it. Because God is with you, He hears your cry and saves you. That’s the kind of God He is, my friend. If He’s with you, He will help you. He won’t be without helping you. The best proof that this is our God, is Jesus. What I’m saying today is, God is with you and if He’s with you, He won’t be without helping you. Right? The best proof for this truth is, you look at Jesus. Who is Jesus? Jesus is God with us. One of his names is Immanuel, right? Which means, “God with us”. Jesus is God, made flesh, the Word made flesh. The second person of the Trinity made flesh and dwelt among us. He is God with us. So, if you want to see what “God with us” can do, if you want to see what kind of a difference “God with us” can make, if you want to see what God will do if He’s with us, if you want to see that, look at Jesus. Jesus was God with us. In His earthly life and ministry, He was with people. He went to the people. Acts 10:38 says, “He went about doing good and healing all those who are oppressed of the devil”. He went, He got up, He went to where the people where, the oppressed people were, and He healed them. And also, a lot of sick people came to Him. So, Jesus was right there with the people, who were, you know, who needed help. Right? How did Jesus function? When Jesus was with someone who needed His help, He always helped them. You will see that when Jesus was with sick people, He always helped them. He didn’t just leave them as they were. Think about how many times Jesus goes to the sick people, they come to Him. And when He’s with them, He always helps them. How does He help them? He heals them. That’s Jesus, my friend. God is with us. If God is with you, He will help you. The same Jesus, who walked on this earth, and helped all those who came to Him for help. The same Jesus is inside of you. The risen Lord Jesus Christ is inside of you, by His Spirit is inside of you.

My friend if you are sick today. Many people are sick today and they’re suffering from sickness. Let me say to you, let me suggest to you, just take a step of faith. Open your mouth and say, “Jesus is with me”. Open your mouth and say, “Jesus, I believe You are with me; I believe You are with me and I believe You will help me. If You’re with me, You will help me; You won’t be without helping me. That’s who You are”. Just open your mouth and say that, my friend, and then, open your mouth and say, “Jesus heal me; Jesus heal me completely. Jesus heal me fully, like you healed those people back then. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. Heal me, Jesus”. Open your mouth and say it, my friend. You can receive the healing power of Jesus today. If He’s with you, He won’t be without helping you. The main way He helps, those with illnesses, is by healing them. That’s Jesus; He’s with you. He’s with you. He’s with you, even if you’re in a hospital bed, all alone, without your family, without your loved ones. I say to you, you are not alone; He’s with you. Jesus is with you and He wouldn’t be without helping you. See, if God is with us, He won’t be without helping us. Jesus is the best proof.

Another proof is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is interesting, that one of the main titles, given for the Holy Spirit in the Bible is what? Helper. Have you noticed that? Have you seen that? Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit and John 14, 15, 16. Again and again, He refers to the Holy Spirit as, many translations put it as, ‘Helper’. “I will pray the Father and He will send you another Helper”. Some translations say ‘Comforter’, but a lot of translations say, ‘Helper’ because when they look at that Greek word ‘Paraclete’, it is clear that that word refers to all kinds of help, not just comfort. The word means, one who comes along and helps you, the one who is with you and helps you. That’s what Paraclete means, that word, which is translated as a helper or comforter. In the Greek, when they study it, they see that it has a very broad meaning, usage, implications and so many translations say, “Helper”, to convey the truth that the Holy Spirit is a helper in the broad sense. That’s what the word means. Again, this is truth.

The Holy Spirit is who? He’s a helper. Who’s inside of you? The chief Helper, the greatest Helper, the wisest Helper, the most powerful Helper is inside of you. He’s the One with you, He’s right there in you, with you, to help you. If He’s with you, He will help you, my friend. That’s His name, that His title, that’s how He functions, that’s who He is. This is the Holy Spirit. This is how Jesus is. If God is with you, He will help you. I say all this to impress on you, that one truth. So that when you tell yourself that God is with me, the next thing you tell yourself is, He will help me. Open your mouth and say, “God is with me, and therefore, He will help me”. He can’t be, He will not be without helping you; that’s His nature, that’s how He functions. Open your mouth and say, “God is with me; He won’t be without helping me”.

Specifically, let me suggest to you, how God helps us, when we are in specific problems. I already said, you know, for those who are sick, the main way God helps us, by healing them. At least that’s how, if you look at Jesus’s ministry, that’s what is revealed there. Let me suggest some other specific situations or how to apply this. How do you take this truth that God is with you? And how do you apply it to specific challenges? Say you are going through a period where you don’t have enough, and don’t have enough finances, maybe. You are seriously lacking in finances. Maybe that’s your situation today. The needs of your family, the expenses and all that are very great. And yet, the income is not there, due to various reasons, due to the times we’re living in, due to all the challenges we face today. There’s a big problem there and you’re thinking how can it be solved and how is it ever going to improve, with the way the world is today? My friend, take your eyes off that big scary thing. Remind yourself, God is with me. Just open your mouth, say, “God is with me”. You need to remind yourself. Sometimes, like I said, when you remind yourself, when a reminder comes only, sometimes the Holy Spirit will also give that extra feeling inside. But you open your mouth, whether you have the feeling that God is with you or not. Open your mouth and say, “God is with me”. Just do it. And then say, “If He’s with me, He will help me; if He’s with me, He will help me, He won’t be without helping me. God is with me. He won’t be without helping me.”

How does He help people who are, you know, who don’t have enough, who don’t have anything? How does God help people like that? You read the Bible, and it’s very clear how God helps people like that. People who don’t have anything, how does God help them? People who don’t have enough, how does God help them? He helps them by giving more than enough. The way God functions is this: to a person who does not have enough, when God helps them, the way He usually works is, He gives them more than enough. This is His pattern; you can see it in Scripture, again and again and again and again. People of Israel, in the Old Testament, they don’t have water three days. Then they come to a place where there’s bitter water. What does God do? He turns the bitter water into sweet water. And then, He leads them to a place called Elim, where there’s plenty of water, more than enough. Come to the New Testament, you see Jesus again. Jesus is one of the clearest, best places, to really understand God. You want to understand who God is, how He functions? Look at Jesus.

Not enough wine; what does He do? He turns water into wine, but, you know, He has them fill these jars for washing feet – huge jars. Hundreds of gallons of water, He has them filled and turns all of that into wine. For what? It’s not needed. He feeds the 5000 and leaves 12 baskets full are leftover; so much leftover food. For what? He goes and helps Peter, who couldn’t catch one fish, all night. Takes him in, gives him a catch so being, that his net is breaking, and his boat is sinking. For what? They come to the shore; Peter leaves all the fish there, the net, the boats, everything and goes and follows Jesus. That’s it. Again, and again. You see, God, the way He deals with people who don’t have enough is, He gives them too much. The people who don’t have enough will be more than happy to just get a little bit, but God says, “No, the way I deal is, the way I function is, I give you more than enough”. To Abraham, who did not have one child, He says, He promises him saying, “I’ll make you a great nation”. To Abraham, who did not have one descendant, He says, “Look at the stars of the sky; your descendants will be like that. Like the sand on the seashore”. He promises too much, and then He gives it. If you don’t have enough today, let me tell you, my friend. This is the way God works. He promises you too much and He gives it. Believe it. You take a step of faith and you believe it. To Abraham, who had nothing, God called him out and He told him, “Look at the sky, that’s how your descendants will be”. If you have nothing, I say to you, “Look beyond the nothingness”. If you don’t have enough, I say to you, “Look beyond the ‘not enough’ state, to this God, who gives more than enough. This is the way He functions, because He will get glory, then only He will get glory”. You see, if God only gave us enough, He won’t get glory. Our needs will be met, but He won’t get glory. We are not the centre of the universe; God is. So, He helps us, not just to help us but so that in helping us and through helping us, He might get the glory. And the way He gets the glory is by giving us too much, so that people will see that this is something extraordinary. This is the hand of God.

Let me give you another specific case: How to apply this truth that ‘God is with you’. How to apply, ‘God is with us’ to specific situations. Let me say to people who are in the midst of, people are going through problems and you’re praying and you’re waiting, and nothing is changing, and you feel like you just don’t have the strength to bear more – there are people like that today. I know. Where the situation is not changing fast enough, great enough. It appears to be just like that, you know. Nothing great is happening, nothing is changing. They’re praying, they’re waiting, and they’re saying, “I don’t think I can bear anymore. I don’t think I can bear anymore. I don’t have the strength to bear”. To you, my friend, how do you take this truth and apply it to your situation? Open your mouth and say, “God is with me”. It begins there, “God is with me”. And then, say, “If God is with me, He will help me. If God is with me. He won’t be without helping me out”. Does He help a person like that? You see, I’m talking about cases where the complete deliverance or the victory is delayed, you know what I mean? God will ultimately deliver us and give us the full victory. Right. All that is true, but thing is, sometimes we’re caught in a period of waiting. It’s like we’re on that waiting period. Nothing seems to be changing. Well, does He help you then or is He just simply with you? No, He helps you then also, even while you are waiting for things to change. God helps you. How does He help you? He helps you by giving you extraordinary strength, a divine strength to bear what you yourself cannot bear. He helps you by giving you extraordinary, divine strength to bear, what you yourself can never bear. You think you can’t bear it, my friend, when God fills you with His strength, you can bear it, and you will bear it.

Look at 2^nd Corinthians, chapter 12. The apostle Paul was in this kind of situation. Here, he is facing a problem; he had this thorn in the flesh. People get diverted as to what that is – forget about what that is. The proud point is it’s a problem that Paul wants to be, you know, he wants to be delivered of it; he wants it to go away. He had a thorn in the flesh. He prays to God saying, “God, take away this thorn in the flesh”, and God’s reply is what? 2^nd Corinthians 12: 9, God’s replies, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness”. If you look at this and say, “See, Paul prayed, he didn’t get an answer”. No, he got an answer; that’s the answer. “My grace is sufficient for you; My power is made perfect in weakness”. That was God’s help to him. What was His help? God’s help was to fill Paul’s area of weakness with divine power. He says, “My power is made perfect in weakness”. You know what that means? It means, where Paul is weak, divine power fills him perfectly, in a perfect way, right. Where Paul is strong, divine power does not fill perfectly. You have a fully empty glass; you can fill it fully with water. You have a half empty glass; you can fill it only half with water. Or think of it like this: only the emptiness can be filled. Only the weakness can be filled with strength. God is saying, “Paul, you think you’re weak, you think you can’t handle it, you think that’s it, you think you’ve come to the end of your ability to withstand and bear. No, no, no, where you are weak, that’s where My power fills you. If you are zero in this area, I will fill you 100%”. Paul hears that and he completely changes his attitude. Look at Paul’s response to God’s answer in 2^nd Corinthians 12:9. After God speaks, Paul says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses”. Paul is saying, “If this is true, if it is true that where I am weak, only His strength, fills me perfectly. Then, wherever I am weak, I will boast gladly in that. I will boast gladly in my weaknesses, not in my strength. Where I’m strong, God can’t fill me with His strength but where I’m weak, He fills me”. This is the way God functions, my friend. Unexpectedly, upside down. We like to boast in our strength. Gods say, “No, no, no, where you are weak, I’ll fill you with my strength”. So, Paul says, “If that’s true, then I’m not going to boast in my strength; I’ll boast in my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me”.

That’s how God helps, by filling your weakness with His strength, by compensating for your weakness with His strength. Therefore, Paul says, next verse 10, “For the sake of Christ, then I’m content”. “I’m content”, look at that language. I’m boasting in weaknesses; now he says, “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships persecutions and calamities”. Is he crazy? Content with all this trouble, content with all this suffering. Is he crazy? No. He’s applying logic. This is the way God helps. If I’m weak, He makes me strong. He says, “Therefore I’m content with weaknesses. For when I am weak, then I am strong”. You think you can’t bear it – you can bear it, because God is about to fill you with His divine, supernatural strength, so that even in the waiting, it makes all the difference for you. So that even before the answer comes, you have enough strength to bear it. It’s not going to feel like too much. God will do it. God will help you in that way, my friend.

Let me give you another specific scenario, how to apply this truth. In the times that we are living in, some people are alone; they are lonely. Perhaps there are some who are alone in a room, isolating themselves, you know, in quarantine or something, or away from their family. Some may be alone in the hospital. If you’re all alone, remind yourself that you’re not alone. Open your mouth and say, “No, no, God is with me; I’m not alone. God is with me. The One who fills the heaven, and the earth is with me in this room. God is with me”. Remind yourself, my friend and then say to yourself, “If God is with me, He will help me. If God is with me, He will help me”. How does He help people who are lonely? I’ll tell you. He will remove that feeling of loneliness. Yes, it’s possible. God can do it. And I believe that’s the way He wants to function. He doesn’t want you to feel alone. He wants you to feel His presence. He wants you to enjoy His presence. He wants you to have the peace of His presence. You think you’re all alone, but God is with you, and God is about to manifest His presence to you in a very special way, so that you don’t feel alone, but rather, you’re overwhelmed by God’s presence. It all begins with opening your mouth and remind yourself, no God is with me. He will help me, and He will do something in my case, to help me.

Another group of people I’m thinking about is those who are experiencing the pain of loneliness. What I mean by that is, those who are, specifically, I’m thinking of people who have lost a loved one. They’re not alone, in the sense, they may not be alone in a room, they may have others around them, family and all that but they’ve lost a loved one. Somebody they love might have died. In this period that we’re living in, people have died. People have died. Some, even in our church. So, I have, even those people in mind. I want to say to you, if you’ve lost a loved one, who’s been with you, who’s been a support for you, a rock for you; nobody can replace that person. But my friend, God is with you. God is with you. If you’re thinking, how can I live without this person. You can live because God is with you. Open your mouth and say, “God is with me; He will help me”. How does He help a person who’s feeling that sting of being separated from their loved one, through death? How does God help a person like that? I say to you, God will lessen that pain. He will lessen that sting of loneliness, that separation. How? Again, by giving you an amazing sense of His presence. God will do that, my friend. It begins with you, reminding yourself, God is with me. God will help me.

Finally, I want to say, see, what I’ve been trying to say is, God with you, makes all the difference, all the difference. Not just makes you feel better on the inside but actually changes things around you. It applies to every situation. But finally, I want to say that God has promised to be with you, always and forever. God has promised to be with us always and forever. Not only is God with us now, inside of us now, but He has promised to be with us, always and forever! How many promises? I don’t have the time only to read it but there are several promises. Well, let me just read a few. John 14:16 is talking about the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself, promising the Holy Spirit to us. John 14:16, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever”. Forever, “another Helper, to be with you forever”. Look at those words; that’s a promise. Jesus is saying, “I’ll pray and ask that you will receive a Helper, to be with you forever”. Who’s that? “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor know Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus is saying, “I won’t just leave you alone. I won’t leave you like you have nobody. I won’t leave you like orphans. I will come to you”. He has already come to us through His Spirit, by His Spirit. This is His promise to us.

Matthew, chapter 28, verse 18 onwards; if you read that great ending to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “All authority has been given unto Me. Therefore, go into all the world, preach the Gospel, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe that I have commanded you to obey”. And then, He ends with these glorious words: “And behold” – that means, look, remember – “I am with you always, to the end of the age”. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, making a promise to every believer. Look, look here, don’t look anywhere else, don’t look at what scary things you’re facing. Look here, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”. There are other promises, where God promises to be with us even when we are in suffering, even when we are in great troubles. Right then, He says, “In the middle of that, I’ll be with you. Don’t worry”.

Isaiah 43, verse 2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you”. He’s not talking about literal waters and rivers, that’s not the main point. He’s talking about problems, troubles, adversity, suffering. “When you pass through very challenging times, I will be with you; and through rivers, they shall not to overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned”. Yeah, sometimes, we need to walk through fire, but you won’t be burned, because God is with you. It cannot destroy you; “The flame, shall not consume you”, because God is with you. So many promises. Point is, God has promised to be with His people, in a special way, always will forever. Hold onto that promise, my friend; that’s your hope. That’s your hope. God has promised, He will fulfil it. You can count on it. No matter what, you can count on it. Whether you have the feeling that God is with you or not, you can hold on to His promise. Sometimes, you don’t have the feeling; you can’t control the feeling sometimes. See, what I mean is, you can’t give yourself the feeling that God is with you; that, only the Holy Spirit can give. Right. You can do your part. What’s your part? Look at the promise. You may not have the feeling that God is with you, but you have the promise that God is with you, and will be with you, always and forever. Hold on to that promise, even when you don’t have the feeling, even when circumstances look the opposite. Hold on to the promise because heaven and earth may pass away, but His Word will not pass away. His Word is truth, and His Word is sure.

When you don’t have the feeling, when it doesn’t seem like God is with you, what do you do? Let me suggest some practical steps for what you do. What do you do? How do you cultivate a sense of His presence, when you are in a very low place, when you are in a very, you don’t feel it, doesn’t look like it? Let me just give you some very practical things to do — you reason with yourself. Use your mind and reason with yourself and speak your mind, in a certain way. You say to your mind, you know, “Yeah, it doesn’t feel like it, it doesn’t look like God is with me, but He has promised, and I believe His promise. I’m going to believe His promise because His promise is true”. You tell yourself that, in your mind, you think that way. And then, you open your mouth and say it. It’s a way of thinking, it’s a way of speaking. Open your mouth and say, “Yeah, it doesn’t matter what it looks like, what it feels like, God is with me; that’s the truth”.

Thirdly, you thank Him for being with you. Just open your mouth and say, “God, thank you for being with me. Thank you, for you’ll never leave me. Thank you, for you’re always with me. Thank you, for your promise to be with me”. Just thank Him for it.

Fourthly, meditate on it. Meditate means, just dwell on it, instead of dwelling on the problem, the circumstances, the big scary thing in front of you; dwell on God being with you. His greatness, His power, His goodness, His love, His wisdom, all these things, dwell on it.

Fifthly, speak in line with it. Think, do it, act in line with it. Speak and behave in line with it. What does that mean? Earlier I said, speak it, means say, “God is with you”. But now, I’m saying, “speak in line with it”, means, speak other things, in line with this truth that God is with you. This is what happens in Hebrews 13; let me show you an example of this. People are studying verse 5. Here, we find the promise that God is with us, and also how this writer takes that and meditates on it and then, speaks other things, in line with this truth. Here’s an example: Hebrews 13, verse 5, the second half. For He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. One of the greatest promises in the Scriptures. God has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. That’s God’s promise. And then, look what he says – the writer. He takes what God has said, meditates on it, and then, he says some other things in line with it. Verse 6, So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” See what’s happening here? God has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. But that’s not enough, you’ve got to take that, think it, speak it, meditate on it, to the point where you begin to say other things in line with this. He says, “God will never leave me, means, I can confidently say; we can confidently say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear; what can man do?” I think you can speak something like that today, my friend. We have meditated on this truth, to the point where now, I think we can open our mouth and say, confidently, “God is with me; He will help. What can this circumstance do to me? What can this sickness do to me? What can this problem do to me? What can this lack and want and insufficiency do to me? What can these things put together, do to me? What can the economy of the world do to me? God is with me”. You open your mouth and say that, whether you feel it, or whether it looks like it. When you do that, when you choose to honor God and His promise and His Word, above all feeling and circumstance, many times, the Holy Spirit will flood your heart, with a sense that God is with you.

Finally, let me end with this: God has promised to be with us forever. Forever. Forever. Nobody else can promise this. Jesus said, “always, to the end of the age”. “I’m with you always, to the end of the age”. And in this passage, we just read, He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. In the Greek, Charles Spurgeon talks about how, in the Greek, the statement is much more powerful. He says, it comes out something like this. “No, I will never, not ever leave you”. That kind of statement — never, no, never. I will never, no matter what, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Nobody can say “never”. No human being can look at us and say, “I’ll never leave you”. Your parents can’t say that; parents can’t say it to their children, although they want to. Children can’t say it to their parents, even. A friend cannot tell you, “I’ll never leave you; I’ll always be with you”. A husband cannot look at his wife and say, I’ll never leave; I’ll always be with you”. No. Because there is something called death, which separates, even the closest ones. Even in a marriage, we say, “Till death do us part”. Because death separates. We want to always be with the person we love but death, kind of, breaks that. God is the only One. God is the only One in the entire universe, who can say to you, “I will never, no, never leave you nor forsake you”. And He has said it, time and again. He said it to Jacob; He said it to Moses; He said it to Joshua, and then in Hebrews, this writer says, “God has said to us, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” Nobody else can give this kind of promise because even death cannot separate you from God. Do you know that?

What happens in death? I want you to think about that, for a moment. What happens in death? When a Christian dies, what happens? The spirit, our spirit, is separated from our body. What happens in death? Our inner man spirit is separated from our outer man, the body, and so that our body becomes lifeless. And then, we bury the body only. But where is the spirit? Where is that inner man? The New Testament, the Bible teaches very clearly. 2^nd Corinthians, 5:8, We are confident. Yes, we are pleased, rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Paul is saying, “We are confident.” About what? “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”. He’s saying, he’s talking about death; context is death. In death, what happens is, the person is separated from their body – the inner man, the spirit man – is separated from their body, but they are present with the Lord. They are absent from the body, present with the Lord.

Philippians 1:23 as well; Philippians 1:23, “I’m hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ”. He’s talking about death; depart from the body and be with Christ. What I’m trying to say is, in death, something that has never before happened in your life, happens, which is, your inner man is separated from your outer man. Your spirit is separated from your body, but your spirit is never separated from Christ. Listen to me. Your spirit is separate from your body. When a person dies, their spirit is separated from their body, but their spirit is never separated from Christ. Even death cannot separate us from Christ, because to be absent from the body, is to then, in the next moment, to be present with the Lord. Just in a second, it happens. You close your eyes here, separated from your body, you’re present with the Lord. At no moment are you ever separated from God; death separates us from our loved ones; death even separates our inner man from our body, but death, even death cannot separate us from God. God has designed it this way.

The way a Christian dies is a miracle; is something extraordinary. The depth of a Christian happens in this way, where God has made sure that He is not for a moment separated from him. “Even in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”. Even in death, He is with us, and He makes us to be present with Him, where we can be with Him forever and ever. One day, even our bodies will be raised from the grave, the Bible teaches. And we will be with glorious bodies, immortal bodies in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, forever and ever and ever. We will be with God forever. He will be with us forever. God will be with us always and forever. That’s the promise; you hold on to that. There’s nothing you can’t face when God is with you, and He’s with you always and forever.

Let’s pray. Let’s pray. Let’s give thanks for this amazing truth.