Everywhere Paul went he went through many trials. He faced threats against his life. For his preaching he was beaten times without number, stoned and left for dead, and imprisoned. He was followed by Judaizing teachers that would contradict him and harass him everywhere he went. He suffered hunger and thirst, many sleepless nights, and so many other things that 1 Corinthians 11 speaks about. Paul’s life was not easy as a Christian.
When Paul entered the city of Corinth, he had quite a task before him. We see in the chapters before this chapter that Paul went to many cities to preach the gospel where for the most part, the gospel was rejected. But Paul preached anyway. Paul boldly preached Christ no matter what he faced. But when Paul reaches Corinth, we see something kind of strange. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:3 that Paul was afraid. Paul said that when he was among the Corinthians, that he was with them in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. Those are 3 words I would never use when describing Paul. But why was Paul afraid? It could be because Corinth was such a godless society, it could be that all of his previous persecution just wore him out, or it could be that we just don't have the other times he was afraid recorded. But the fact is that at this point, He was afraid. He needed some encouragement.
In Acts 18:9-10, we see the Lord speak to Paul in a vision… "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city." Paul received this encouragement from the Lord to continue his preaching. I would like to take note of what I believe is the greatest statement of encouragement that Paul received from the Lord. That statement is “FOR I AM WITH YOU” This statement should be a great encouragement to anyone who is a child of God.
I’d like to look at some instances in the scriptures where the Lord told his people that He would be with them or we are told that He was with His people and make some applications to ourselves as the Lord’s people. For sake of time, I will not look at them all in detail. A few of these examples all I will do is quote the scripture and give a brief explanation of the context.
Isaac
When a famine came to the land, The Lord appeared to Isaac and said in Genesis 26:2-3:
"Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 "Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands
And Isaac remained in the land of Gerar where the Lord wanted him to dwell.
Jacob
In Genesis 31:3, when Jacob was going to return home to face his brother Esau, the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."
Joseph
With all that happened to Joseph in his life, it may be hard to say the Lord was with him. He was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites, and was later thrown into prison because of his being unwilling to compromise his purity. But in Genesis 39:2 we see that the Lord was with Joseph after his brothers sold him into Egypt through the Ishmaelites. He became successful in the house of Potipher. He was made the overseer of his house and was in charge of everything he owned.
When Joseph was thrown into prison because of the lies of Potipher’s wife, we see that the Lord was with Joseph then also. In Genesis 39:21 we are told that the Lord was with him and he was put in charge of the prisoners in the prison. This would later lead to Joseph’s exaltation to 2nd in command of all of Egypt, because the Lord was with Him.
Moses
Exodus 3
We see God appear to Moses in the burning bush.
READ Exodus 3:7-10
Moses, when the Lord told him that he was going to be sent to Egypt to be a deliverer for His people, how did Moses respond? He gave the “You chose the wrong guy response?” ME? WHY ME? But God answered Moses saying in verse 12, “Certainly I will be with you.” But as we know, Moses still gives more excuses to the Lord, telling Him why he was the wrong guy for the job; doubts that the people would listen to him, doubts because he was not a great speaker, and even in 4:13 saying to the Lord to send someone else.
The Lord told Moses, I will be with you; I will be with your mouth and give you the words to say. Moses needed to realize that all he needed was the Lord.
Moses tried making excuses to tell the Lord why he was not the right man for the job, but when he returned to Egypt, he saw that God was with him as he saw the Lord send all of those plagues against the Egyptians, dividing the waters of the Red Sea, delivering His people from bondage and leading the people through the wilderness for 40 years. Moses saw how the Lord was with him as He had promised.
Israel
In Exodus 29:44-46, the Lord, in giving His instructions for His priests, said:
"I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. 45 "I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 "They shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God.
The people of Israel had the great privilege of having the Lord dwell among them in the tabernacle and in the temple.
In one of Moses’ last speeches to the Israelites before his death, He said to the people about the enemies that they would face as they went into the Promised Land to conquer it:
Deuteronomy 31:5-6 And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."
Then we see in this text that Moses summons Joshua in the sight of all the people and tells Him:
"Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."
Joshua
Joshua 1
Joshua had a great task before him after the death of Moses. He was to take command of the people, take them across the Jordan River, and to obtain the land that the Lord had promised. He would need to lead Israel into battle after battle. I’m sure taking the reins of leadership was a frightening thing for Joshua to do. But in the first chapter of the book of Joshua, the Lord gives Joshua a reason to be confident…
READ Joshua 1:5-9
3:7
Joshua responded to God’s promise of being with Him by trusting in the Lord and obeying Him, taking the people into the promised land, conquering the nations with the Lord fighting for them, and giving the Promised Land to the people.
Gideon
In the book of judges; chapter 6, we see once again that the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and this time the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian for seven years. Then the people once again called on the Lord for deliverance.
READ JUDGES 6:12-16
We see at first that Gideon doubted the words of the angel because of the situation that Israel was in, then he doubted that he was able to deliver Israel because his clan was the weakest clan in Manassah, and out of his father’s house, he is the weakest child.
Can God use those who are weak? Of course he can. If the Lord promises that He will be with you, that is all you need to gain the victory.
In verse 17 Gideon asks the Lord for a sign to show that he was with him, and the Lord does in verses 20-21. The angel of the Lord tells Gideon to take meat and unleavened cakes and put them on a rock, and then to pour broth over them. In verse 21 we see the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes and a fire sprung up from the rock and consumed the meat and the cakes. (Reminds me of what we see in 1 Kings 18 with Elijah).
After this Gideon believed that the Lord was with him and sent His angel to him. But in verse 36, we see again doubt from Gideon.
READ JUDGES 6:36-40
After this, we see in chapter 7 that the Lord cuts down Gideon’s forces from 22,000 to 300 men to defeat the Midianites, and in verses 19-25 we see that Gideon defeats the MIdianites because God was with him.
Jereboam
1 Kings 11:38 “if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
What was Jereboam’s reaction? (1 Kings 12:25-33) In fear of the hearts of the people returning to serve Rehoboam, the king of Judah when they went to Jerusalem to worship, he set up idols (2 golden calves); one in Dan, and one in Bethel. Israel would be taken into captivity later on because they followed the lead of their kings beginning with Jereboam.
2 Kings 17:22-23 22 The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them 23 until the LORD removed Israel from His sight, as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.
Zerubbabel & Joshua the High Priest
The Jews began to return to Jerusalem because of the proclamation of Cyrus the king of Persia to rebuild the temple of the Lord. They began the work, but in Ezra 4, we see that discouragement comes in the building of the temple and the building stops. But we see
Ezra 5:1-3 1 When the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them, then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them supporting them.
The message that Haggai preached to Zerubbabel and Joshua is given in Haggai 2:
Haggai 2:4-5 4 'But now take courage, Zerubbabel,' declares the LORD, 'take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,' declares the LORD, 'and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts. 5 'As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!'
They trusted that the Lord was with them and they got back to work.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah was called as a youth to prophesy. He said “I cannot speak, for I am a youth." But the Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,"
Jeremiah’s response by faithfully preaching the word of God to the people.
The Apostles
And…When Jesus was just about to leave the Apostles to ascend to the right hand of God, He told them… Matthew 28:18-20 "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
And did they respond! They preached the gospel to every person in the known world at the time, and made an impact in this world that is still making a difference today through the scriptures.
How can we be assured that the Lord will be with us?
We are promised that the Lord is with us under certain conditions.
We need to draw near to God!
Our God wants us to seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
WE NEED TO DRAW NEAR TO GOD; NOT JUST WITH OUR WORDS, BUT WITH OUR ACTIONS ALSO. Do our actions show that we are trying to draw near to God?
Our God desires Obedience!
We cannot presume He is with us if we are living any way we want. One thing that keeps coming up in all of the scriptures where God says He will be with His people: obedience! James says that we need to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. The only way that we can be near to God is to be holy as He is Holy. We need to obey!
Remember what God said to Jereboam?
1 Kings 11:38 (NASB95)
38 ' if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, then I will be with you
Joshua?
Joshua 1:7-8 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
God will be with us if we are willing to listen to His word and follow it. We need our desire to be to do what is pleasing in the sight of God. Paul said in Philippians 4:9 that the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in him practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Is that what we want? Do we want the God of peace to be with us? We need to diligently seek God and follow His word.
A good sign that we want God to be near to us is how we react to our sin: We mourn over it
Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn”
We need to realize how spiritually destitute and lost we are without the Lord. When we sin against the Lord, we need to see what that sin does to our relationship with Him. Knowing that should lead to our mourning over our sins.
Psalms 34:17-18 17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
When you read David’s psalms of mourning over his sins, and his plea for forgiveness, we see that David knew very well what his sin did to his relationship with the Lord. You can see his attitude of mourning and desperation in his words.
Do we believe the Lord is with us when He tells us that He is? How do we respond to His promise to be with us?
Do we respond to His promise like Moses and Gideon did at first; with doubts, saying that we aren’t the right one for the job? Do we disobey as Jeraboam and Israel did, rebelling against what our God has commanded us in His word., or do we allow our faith in God’s promise to make us strong and courageous like Joshua and Paul, being willing to do what the Lord commands, no matter what may come our way?
We need to see what Jonathan knew about the Lord, that He can use many or just a few to bring glory to himself. Whether you are alone, or have 5 people, or even 300 people, when the Lord is with you, you have all that you need to get the job done! If we are willing to do His will, He promises to be with us. NO MATTER HOW SMALL OUR NUMBER, and also as we see in Jeremiah, even those who are of a young age can be used by the Lord because the Lord is with them.
Those who the Lord called to serve Him who had fears and doubts needed a reminder that GOD IS WITH HIS PEOPLE. All of these men after their reminder, made a difference in service to the Lord. Let us be reminded today what the Lord promises us:
Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
No matter what comes our way, whether it be that we are ridiculed, mocked, humiliated, or anything else, we need to do as Nehemiah said, to “Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and get back to work serving the Lord.
Through all of Paul’s situations that He was put into for his preaching of the gospel, he saw that it was only the Lord that he needed. He saw that he only needed the Lord for sustenance.
In the situations when he was supported and in the situations when he did not have any aid he learned to be content. His focus was not on his circumstances here. He saw that no matter what kind of situation that he would face, the Lord could strengthen him and help him through it. We need to have the same attitude.
What if the Lord is not with you?
The ending of a life without the Lord is not one to hope for. If you have never entered a relationship with the Lord, or if you have rebelled against the Lord, we can tell from the many examples that we have looked at in this lesson, the Lord is not near to you.
We need to realize as Asaph did in Psalm 73. He saw the end of those who were wicked. Those who are far from the Lord will perish, but for you and for me, “the nearness of God is our good!”
“Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
