THE OUTSTRETCHED ARM OF GOD

THF SUNDAY SERVICE
6TH FEBRUARY, 2022
HAPPY NEW MONTH

SERMON
TOPIC: THE OUTSTRETCHED ARM OF GOD
TEXT: Deuteronomy 26:8 – 9
8: So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with amazing power, overwhelming terror, and miraculous signs and wonders.
9: He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey!
PREACHER: Rev. Ebenezer Olawuyi

MESSAGE
The word of God for this month is the “Hand of God.” The Hand of God speaks about the totality of His finger, the hand and the arm. Biology teaches us that with the arm, you can pull and you can push. But when you talk about intricate and specific things, e.g. if you want to pick things, you use your fingers. The Hand of God is used interchangeably in the scripture to mean His finger, His hand and His arm. The bible says in Psalms 89:13 – You have a mighty arm; Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.
Moses asked God in Numbers 11 vs 21 – 22 that even if they slaughter the whole cattle in the land, will it be enough to feed the people? And even if the fishes were all killed, it still wouldn’t be enough to feed the people. The Lord answered him in verse 23: “…has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.” Remember, what God was telling Moses was that if He did it in the past, He can do it again. With the mighty hand, the bible says He brought out the Israelites out of Egypt. Even the magicians said it in Exodus 8:19 about the third plague of lice. The magicians tried to produce the same lice but couldn’t achieved so and had to say “…this is finger of the Lord”. The magicians acknowledged it that it was not ordinary.
Anytime you hear about the hand of God, we are talking about the supernatural move of God – the acts and the signs which cannot be explained by natural law. That is, when you talk about the hand of God, you are talking about the supernatural move and act of God which you can never explain with your common sense. You cannot explain it with the law of gravity neither can you explain it with that of sowing and reaping, aerodynamics, accounting, economics, medicine, etc. What law do we say make 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes feed 5,000 men with 12 basketful remaining? What law of oceanography will tell you that the sea stand as pillars on the left and right and the land becomes dry? What law of man can explain the workings of God? So, when we talk about the hand of God, we are talking about things we can never explain with our senses. The magicians said this must only be the finger of God. I pray for you, in the month of February, you will see the hand of God; God’s finger will show in your life, your health, your businesses, finances and marriage. Remember, Moses asked God how can this be, but the Lord said, “Has my hand waxed short? Is it no longer long? Is it no longer wide?” God told him that he will know whether His words will come to pass or not. Isaiah 40:28 – God never faints, he doesn’t get weary, he doesn’t reduce in strength. This God is the everlasting God; He never faints nor does he become weary. He gives power to the weak.
Lamentations 3:37 says “Who is it who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?” The story of your life is not complete yet, nobody can shut you out. God will raise you up again and put a new song on your lips in the name of Jesus. Amen.
When we talk about the hand of God, we mean the power of God, the move of God, the act of God. Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” How would you explain it medically, that someone who has not met with a man conceive? God says He will give a sign, in other words, His hands will show forth. His supernatural hand will show forth. This month, I am declaring it: In every family seated here who believe in this word, the hand of God will show forth.
The hand of God speaks of God’s provision and God’s protection. The hand of the Lord speaks of God’s direction and God’s discipline. It speaks of God’s authority and God’s power. It is the hand that gives, it is the hand that guides. In other words, the hand of the Lord means His provision and his protection; his direction and his discipline; his authority and his power and God’s ability to give and to guide. We will be looking at all these as we go in the month.
Let’s see the case of the Children of Israel in Deut. 26:8 – 9, the scripture says: “So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’”. Listen! No one can ever come out of bondage or out of darkness without the outstretched arm of God. For your situation to change, you need the hand of God to be stretched forth.
If you are not thankful for the fingers of God, you cannot see His outstretched arm. If you are not thankful for the little acts: his mercy that brought us this far to this month; if you are not thankful for the little things, you can never see His outstretched arm. If you are not thankful, if you live murmuring and complaining, you can never see the outstretched arm of God. An example from the scripture is that of the Israelites. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt… anytime I read about their life, I realise some of us are like that: complaining, grumbling, never satisfied. But do you know that in the midst of their unfaithfulness, God was still there, blessing them until He could no longer condone it. At the end of it all, God said the generation that claimed they would die in the land because God was not capable and had brought them into the land to kill them and as such, they would choose a leader that would take them back to where they came from – what an affront on God. God said only those who are 20 and below will enter; the generation that blasphemed will not enter. Listen! God is faithful, but you need to be faithful in your words also. A journey that was supposed to take the Israelites 11 days took 40 years. They wandered in the wilderness until they perished because of complains and murmurings. Only those that are 19 downwards – the children they claimed will die in the wilderness were the ones who later entered it.
Whenever you are not thankful to God for the little things, you will never see the great things. If you do not acknowledge God’s fingers, you won’t see His outstretched arm. Stop complaining! Do you know, not everyone who goes out in the morning saying they are going to work returns in the evening? Do you know that not everyone who slept yesterday woke up this morning? Do you know that not everyone who got sick got healed? The world is full of darkness and full of evil. We are in the world where Satan is moving. For you to get out and live the life that God wants you to live, you need the outstretched arm of God. Man and the resources of the earth are under the control of Satan, that was why Satan told Jesus that if only he could bow down and worship him, he would give all to him.
You need the outstretched arm of God to enjoy good health; get out of poverty; enjoy a blissful marriage etc. because there is darkness all over the earth. That is why the Scripture says in Isaiah 60 vs 1 – 2 that “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Darkness as black as night will cover all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine over you.” It means sickness, diseases, failure and all the likes are all in the world, but for you, He says that is not your portion.
You need an outstretched arm, that was what God used to take the Israelites out of Egypt with terror. You know the interesting thing is that God didn’t just bring them out dump them there in the wilderness, that was why Moses argued with God when God wanted to destroy them all. He said the gentiles will mock them that God brought them out to destroy them, and so God chose to make only the blaspheming generation perish. There is always a remnant of God’s faithfulness in every situation. Everybody can be unfaithful, but there will always be a remnant of God’s faithfulness. God didn’t bring you out of 2021 to dump you in 2022. He didn’t bring you out of that failure to leave you there; there is a promised land, a future, a bright hope that God has prepared for you.
In Deut. 26:9, the Bible says, he brought them out and he brought them into. Deut. 6:23 – God brought them out from there to bring them in.… Why did God bring you out from your former state? He has a goal. Friends, if you are not there yet, don’t give up on God, He is still with you. Say: God has brought me out to bring me in. He hasn’t brought me this far to dump me here. He has a plan for your life. He wants to take you to the place he has prepared for you – a colourful destiny; a glory he has prepared for you.
No man can ever fulfill a destiny without the outstretched arm of God. The Israelites would have died and perished without the outstretched arm of God. The enemy will not want to leave you. That sickness, that poverty which attaches to people like mistletoe will not want to leave, but you need the outstretched arm to get out. I am praying, Lord, “For someone who believes, the Lord will show you His outstretched arm.” When the outstretched arm is stretched, doors will be opened for you. Remember, it will bring you favour, it will bring you multiplication, it will bring you speed, increase, revelations and blessings.
God said to Moses that he would see whether his words would come to pass or not and in Numbers 11:31, the Bible says the wind came from the Lord and brought quail from the sea to the desert. That was contrary to geography. Nobody could explain how that happened. If God says it then it is settled. God’s hand will bring you favour and multiplication this month in Jesus Name.
When a man lives his life without that outstretched arm, he would live struggling. Without it, he would live and struggle everyday. Isaiah 32:15 – When we talk about the supernatural arm of God, it also means the move of the Spirit. When it comes, “the wilderness becomes a fruitful field.” Immediately it comes, change begins to happen. Psalms 105:7 – God brought them out to change poverty completely in their lives. None was even feeble or weak among them. He brought them out from poverty into wealth; from sickness and feebleness into strength and good health. This month, anyone battling with sickness will enjoy good health because the hand of the Lord is bringing you out.
This outstretched arm of God belongs to the children of God – those who have been redeemed. It is our redemption privilege – signs and wonders. The supernatural act of God, the outstretched arm of God belongs to the redeemed children of God. The bible says in Isaiah 8:18 – “I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders.” It belongs to the redeemed children of God. God said to the Israelites that he wanted to make them a wonder, He wanted to reveal his power through them so much that even when they were few in numbers, God rebuked kings for their sake. In other words, if you want to enjoy the outstretched arm of God, you need to be one of His children. Mark 16:17 – why is it so, because it is the privilege of those who have been redeemed from bondage.
You need to be a child of God, you need to be born again to enjoy the outstretched arm of God. God’s outstretched arm shows up in different ways. If you don’t see the outstretched arm of God, the enemy will rule over you. That is why you see princes walking on foot, and see slaves riding on horses because it is an evil of the world. You need the outstretched arm of God to live in this evil world. You need to be born again for your life to become supernatural.
Every child of God has been brought out of Satanic authorities. Col. 1:13 – He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness, sin, sickness, poverty, failure, etc. he has delivered us from the power of darkness. If you don’t know this, it won’t work for you. You have got to know, have a picture of who you are in Christ and that you have been delivered from the dominion of darkness. Anything that is not good is under the control of darkness. Psalms 107:14 – He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces.
What a child of God must therefore do to see the outstretched arm of God.
1. You must know your new position in Christ (Eph. 1:3): You have been blessed with everything you need in Christ Jesus. You need to know your new position in Christ.
2. You need to grow in the Word and in the Spirit: Jesus was filled with the Spirit but they saw him as the son of a carpenter who would grow up to be a carpenter. But when he returned from the wilderness, in the power of the Holy Ghost, everybody knew who he was. Friends, you need to grow in the Word. It takes the Word and the spirit to experience a supernatural life. In Gen. 1:2 – 3, darkness was upon the face of the earth and ‘God said’. It takes the two of them (the Spirit and the Word (God said)) to work. This year, desire to grow in the word, desire to know God more. Attend weekly meetings. Grow! The more you study the word and you are filled with the spirit, the more your life becomes supernatural life. Ordinary life is not the life we should live, we should live the extraordinary. Not the natural, but the supernatural.
In Acts 28:3 – 5, the people were looking at the normal thing that should happen when a viper comes upon somebody’s hand. The normal thing that should happen when a person has an accident, when a person takes poisonous things; when enchantments, jinx are thrown at a person – the normal thing that the person should fall down. They were expecting that when this happened to Paul. They were expecting him to fall down, but in verse 5 and verse 6, he threw the creature into the fire and suffer no harm. The same people had to change their minds and say that “he was a god.” This is not normal, it is not ordinary, it is extraordinary.
How do you provoke this outstretched arm of God? You need to be a child of God. You need the Word and the Spirit. It is not enough to just hear the word of God on Sunday and go home without reading the Bible. Friends, you need to study, meditate and be in a place where you will hear and your life will be changed. Acts 19:20 – the Word of God will always prevail and cause you to prosper and be a wonder. The Word of God needs to grow for you to conquer. The word of God grew mightily and prevailed. You have got to grow, you need to grow in the Word and then, you will prevail. You can’t conquer a man with the Word. The World cannot conquer a man with the Word.
3. You must practise Faith: It is not enough for you to hear, you must believe it and you must act it. There are so many people who hear it and won’t act on it. You have to act on the word you have heard. Believe it and Act it; practise the Word. If it says it, then act it – that is the way to walk in the supernatural. If Moses did not stretch out his hand because the instruction looked foolish, the seas will not part. You want to live in abundance, practice tithe and first fruits, when you do this, God will not only bring money to you, He will even block devourers that consume money. That is why the little that the righteous have is better than the riches of the wicked. Practice the word.
Isaiah 53:1 – For the hand of God to show forth, you need to believe. You have got to believe the Word and act upon it for the hand of God to be revealed. I tell you, God wants to show His hands, but believe Him. Don’t doubt what God says, His hand is not shortened. What he did before, he wants to do it again. Habakkuk 2:4; Heb. 10:38 – the just shall live by faith. Do you want to live the supernatural life and see the hand of God? Live by faith. Believe it and act upon it. Don’t be like that King’s assistant who says even if God would open the windows of heaven, can it ever be like that? Believe it, don’t doubt it.
I pray for somebody here, before the end of this year, your story will change. People who have not known you will begin to find out about you. Amen.
4. Believe His Prophets: The prophet is not your brother, he is not your kinsman. He is not your colleague, he is not your master and not your sister. Until you see him as your prophet, you cannot receive the reward of your prophet. Until you see your prophet as your father, the blessing cannot flow. When you begin to see your prophet as your colleague, as your brother, friend, boss and you are not seeing him as your father, then the blessings will not flow.
Hosea 12:13 – God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and preserved them by a prophet. It was by a prophet that the outstretched arm of God was demonstrated in the hand of Egypt and they were preserved. Until you see your prophet as your prophet, blessings cannot flow. Every man needs a prophet. By a prophet, they were brought out of Egypt. By a prophet, they were preserved. Even if your prophet is younger than you, until you recognize him as your prophet, the blessings cannot move. You can be older than him in age, but you must see him as your prophet. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive the reward of a prophet. The prophet carries a reward and that reward is confirmed by He who gave him, that is what is called delegated authority and despising a delegated authority despises the person who gave him the authority. The blessing you never appreciate, you can never receive. That was what happen in Samaria with the issue of the King’s assistant who did not later partake in the blessing. This year, believe his prophet and you will prosper.
Let us pray:
Father, show me your outstretched arm this month in all my affairs (academics, health, etc.).