THANKSGIVING COMPLETES OUR FAITH – Dr. Mensah Otabil, 2nd August, 2020

ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)

TOPIC: THANKSGIVING COMPLETES OUR FAITH.

DATE: 2ND AUGUST, 2020

TEXT: LUKE 17:11-19

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!! Hallelujah!!!

We give God the Praise, the Glory, Honour and Adoration.

Shall we make our DECLARATIONS OF EXCELLENCE in this very Special Year of Excellence.

… Are you READY? SAY WITH ME:

Out of Zion, the Perfection of Beauty, God shines forth. The Lord my God causes the Righteous to shine forth as the Sun.

His Awesome Hands has formed me; His Creative Spirit inspires my mind. He Skillfully guides my hands.

Therefore, I boldly declare: I am Set Apart for Excellence. The Ruler of the Universe has exalted my horn among the Nations. He sets my feet on high! In His Strength, I rise!

By Faith, I Press forward towards the Prize of my Highest Calling.

I believe in my heart, and confess with my mouth: that Jesus is Lord! He is the Vine, I am the Branch; in Him I abide, in Him I Blossom.

As it is written: God, who commanded Light out of darkness, has Shone His Light in our hearts.

We have His Treasure in Earthen Vessels. That the Excellence of the Power may be of God, and not of us!

In this Year, I commit to EXCELLENCE, I commit to EXCEPTIONALISM, I commit to do the EXTRAORDINARY.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen and Amen and Amen and Amen.

And you may be seated in His Presence wherever you are or reading now on the Label of DMC.

It’s a Joy to have this time of Fellowship with you, and to sit in the Presence of God together.

Our God is a Good God.

So today, my Massage is Titled: “THANKSGIVING COMPLETES OUR FAITH.”

My TEXT is from the Gospel according to Luke 17:11-19 (NKJV)

… And let’s hear the reading of God’s Word;

11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He Passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.

13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

The Passage starts with the location of Jesus.

And it says that Jesus, on His way to Jerusalem, He goes through different Towns in Samaria and Galilee.

And the scene is very intentional, because of what happens later on.

Samaria is made up of Mixed Multitudes who are not full Jews; and then Galilee is made up of Jews.

So, Jesus is going between Villages of Samaria (who are not Jews); and Galilee (who are Jews).

And as He entered one (1) of the Villages – we are not told which one it was: Whether it was a Samaritan Village or a Galilean Village.

He was met with ten (10) lepers. And these lepers are standing outside of the gate of the village. And shouted with a loud voice “JESUS, Master have Mercy on us!”

In the days of Jesus; lepers were not allowed to enter a City. They were considered unclean, and their disease very, very contagious.

And so they were kept outside of the Population; similar to what we see now – When somebody gets infected with the coronavirus, they are quarantined!

… Lepers were quarantined at that time!

So, these lepers shouted to Jesus; they cannot go to Him and they cannot go into the Village – If they had tried to go to the Village, they would be stoned.

And so they shouted “JESUS, Master, have Mercy on us!”

And Jesus shouted back to them and said: “GO SHOW YOURSELF TO THE PRIEST.

And they BELIEVED the Word of Jesus Christ, and decided to go show themselves to the Priest.

And as they were going, they realised that: THEY WERE HEALED!

The reason why they had to go show themselves to the Priests was because the Priests then were Health Inspectors of Israel.

They had to certify whether a disease had been healed or not.

And so they go and get a Certificate of Health.

So, they go and it is Certified that they are Clean.

And they all go their various ways – They are so happy about their healing; but they forget the HEALER except ONE (1)!

And he went back to Jesus Christ and he WORSHIPPED before the Lord; and he cried with a LOUD VOICE and THANKED Jesus Christ!

You can listen to the audio here: Thanksgiving Completes Our Faith – Dr. Mensah Otabil

And Jesus asked a very interesting question: “Where they not ten (10) People cleansed? How come none of the ten (10) came back except this Foreigner?”

And that is very important, because the man was a Samaritan – He wasn’t from Galilee, he wasn’t a Jew!

The Jews are the People of JESUS – Jesus is a Jew!

His People got Healed, and NEVER THANKED HIM. And the People who are not His People, THANKED HIM!

It was like saying: God moved and worked Powerfully; the Believers didn’t Thank Him but the unbelievers were Thanking Him.

That is what happened!

And Jesus said: Where are the Nine (9)?

That simply tells you Jesus was expecting the People who had been touched by Him, to come back and SHOW APPRECIATION to God.

So the question is: After God has moved Powerfully in your life, does He expect THANKSGIVING from you?

… Yes, HE DOES!

When God VISITS you, does He expects you to show Appreciation?

Yes, He does!

When God HEALS you, does He expects you to show Appreciation?

Yes, He does!

When God PROSPERS you, does He expects you to show Appreciation?

Yes, He does!

When God BLESSES the work of your hands, does He expects you to show Appreciation?

Yes, He does!

When God allows you to wake up in the morning, and live your life INCIDENT FREE, does He expects you to show Appreciation?

Yes, He does!

… HOW DO WE KNOW?

Because Jesus said: “Where are the rest?

And this leper from Samaria came to JESUS.

And I like how the Bible puts it in Luke 17:13 – When they were offering their request; the Bibles says;

And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have Mercy on us!”

Note how the Bible puts it: They lifted up their voices.

That means they shouted and they screamed – JESUS, help us!

Now, when the gratitude is been shown, listen to how the Passage also puts it – Concerning this one in Luke 17:15:

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a LOUD VOICE Glorified God,”

Do you note that?

He used a LOUD VOICE to get Jesus to heal him; and a Loud Voice to THANK HIM!

That shows that by the same INTENSITY by which he sought God’s Help, was same INTENSITY by which he brought his Thanksgiving to God.

Many times there is a lot of INTENSITY when we we are seeking God; but when we are Thanking Him, the intensity goes down.

We come to God with A Lot of Intensity, but after He Ministers, we Lower the Intensity in our Thanksgiving.

“And he was a Foreigner, he came back to Thank God; he bowed down, he was on his face – and Thanked God!”

Now in this Thanksgiving, this man – The only thing he had to Thank God was his Praise, was his words, was his Posture of his body.

… Because that is all he has!

He was a leper, he doesn’t work, he doesn’t earn any salary – He has nothing to Thank God with but his BODY, to Thank God.

And so he THROWS his whole BODY at the feet of JESUS!

If he had something more than his body – he would have thrown that also at he feet of JESUS.

But he is a leper with nothing!

So, all he has is the BODY that has been Healed, that has been Cleansed. And he cast his body, at the feet of JESUS.

So, if we believed that God has touched us, and if we believed that God has visited us – He wants you to return to Him and GIVE THANKS.

AND HOW SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS?

… Well, the Leper shows us how to do that;

1. He came with a LOUD VOICE to make his request.
2. He came with the same INTENSITY to Thank God.
3. And because ALL he had was his Body – He THREW HIS BODY at the feet of Jesus.

Let us hear what Jesus Christ taught about: THANKSGIVING AND HONOURING GOD.

Matthew 15:7-9; Jesus Christ was denouncing some People and he calls them: “HYPOCRITES!

What did Isaiah Prophesy about you, saying: ‘These People draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

But Jesus is talking about: two (2) ways in which People Honour God.

1. He calls one: Honouring with the LIPS.

… These People honour Me with their lips.

When we Honour God with the lips, it is good!

But in this instance, Jesus is not Praising – ‘Honouring God with the lips;’ because there is a Second (2nd) Honour that Jesus talked about – that is Preferred:

2. Honour with the HEART

Honour with the LIPS, Honour with the HEART.

Honour with the Lips – Jesus says, that is not what I’m looking for.

I’m not looking for “LIP SERVICE”; Saying something that you don’t mean.

I’m looking for “HEART Service”, “HEART Worship”, “HEART Thanksgiving” – Coming from the DEPTHS OF YOUR BEING.

And that is what the leper did – He came with his Heart (though his LIPS were speaking)

It wasn’t just LIPS speaking, it was HEART speaking.

When we want to Thank God and Honour God, we have to do it FROM OUR HEART.

You will know whether you are doing it from your heart; because you are doing it with THE SAME INTENSITY with which, you went to seek Help from God.

… With THE SAME INTENSITY with which, you went to God for Help!

Proverbs 3:9-10; says: “Honor the Lord with your POSSESSIONS, And with the firstfruits of ALL your Increase; So your barns will be filled with Plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.”

HONOUR the Lord – If it is from our heart; it must Honour the Lord.

The word simply means to offer something that is Weighty or Glorious. Doing something that is Significant or Glorious – it is HONOUR!

Honour is sometimes difficult to define but there are ways in which we can Honour:

For example, if a Young Man is going to ask the hand of a young woman. And they have decided to marry. The Young Man and the woman wants to marry.

And as our Traditions in Africa is: you go into the Knocking, and then you do the Traditional Marriage, and then you go to the Church and do the Church Wedding.

So, Part of the Ceremony in the Traditional Marriage is that the Young Man (through his Intermediary) must make a Presentation to the father of the Bride, the mother, and some times other relatives.

… It used to be Items, now everything is deduced to money.

Like the Groom going to the Bank and ask for a Fresh Notes, put the fresh Notes in a nice pack and Present it to his future Father Inlaw.

Why does he do That?

Items worth that amount is the same as Fresh Bank Notes – The value is the same!

… One is Honourable, but the other is NOT Honourable.

So, when we say that we are going to Honour God, it is not just the ACT, but it is also the HEART behind it, and the VALUE you PLACE on the PERSON you are going to Honour.

So, there are things we do for God – they look okay!

For example, somebody says: Oh Lord, I Love You (repeated)!

And another Person says: OH LORD, I LOVE YOU!

… Two (2) different ‘I Love You!’

Words are the same, but the gesture is different!

One comes from the HEART – it shows VALUE for the One who is been Honoured. And the other is just going through emotions!

When we come to Honour God, we don’t go through Emotions.

We don’t just do something because we have been asked to do it; in Christianity we don’t do something because our Church says it.

We do things because we are convinced that it is the Will of God.

If your Church says it and you don’t feel it is the Will of God, go ahead and live your life!

But our Faith is not in the Church, it is not in the Pastor; our Faith is in God and His Word.

And if we are doing something, until we come to the “Full Conviction” – ‘This is for God, this is from God: then whatever we do, will be LIPS Service, It will NOT Honour God!

So, we are told: HONOUR THE LORD

That means you are going to be very Particular about what to do.

Ad then it tells us: WHAT TO HONOUR GOD WITH.

… Honour the Lord with your POSSESSIONS.

If all you Possess is your Body (like the leper); then you Honour God with your BODY, and Worship and Bow before Him.

If in addition to your body, you have the Work of your hands – Then you Honour God with the Works of your hands!

If God has Blessed you with MUCH, You Honour Him with MUCH!

If God has Blessed you with little, You Honour Him according to your Strength!

But you don’t just say: Well, everybody is Honouring God with this; that is what I’m going to Honour God with.

No, it depends on the WEIGHT of His Blessings that He has placed on you!

“… To whom MUCH is given, MUCH is required.”

Honour the Lord, do it for God: THANKSGIVING is what COMPLETES the Circle!

For the Nine (9) lepers, they didn’t Complete the Circle because Jesus said something to the One (1) which He didn’t say to the Nine (9).

1. He told the Ten (10) of them: “Go and show yourself to the Priest.”
2. To the one (1) who returned to give Thanks; He said: Your FAITH has made you WHOLE. Or your FAITH has made you WELL.

… That, He never said to the Nine (9) – who were ungrateful!

WHAT IS THE IMPLICATION OF THAT?

I don’t Know! – But it must be Significant if it was spoken.

It means that something happens to that ONE (1) that DID NOT happen to the Nine (9)!

This is my inclination; the Bible doesn’t say so.

But my inclination, that when Jesus said to the TEN (10): “God and show yourself to the Priest; Go and be cleansed” – Their leprosy was cleansed.

But if you know anything about leprosy;

There is a difference between been Cleansed from leprosy and being HEALED from leprosy – Or being made WHOLE from leprosy.

When you are CLEANSED from leprosy – the Infection goes.

But if it has eaten your fingers, or it has eaten any Part of your body, and there is Distortions and disabilities in any Part of your limbs – They will still remain; although you are CLEANSED!

If you go to any Lepers’ Colony and see, or a Place where lepers have been cleansed and healed; you may still find out that what it took away was not restored to them – Although they are now well.

So my inclination is: When this Person came with THANKSGIVING – A process of Healing has started but it was COMPLETED when he came with THANKSGIVING.

The others left with Part One (1) of God’s Process; they NEVER got the Part Two (2) of the Process.

The Part Two (2) came when this man came and said: Lord, I WORSHIP You, I THANK You for what You have done.

And Jesus spoke a Second (2nd) Word to him. He said: ‘Your FAITH has made you WHOLE.’

I believed when Jesus said that; the Limbs that have been eaten, where RESTORED – Everything came back WHOLE!

Not just a CLEANSING, but a RESTORATION.

There is something about THANKSGIVING, that Competes your Faith in GOD – What God STARTS in your life, is COMPLETED through THANKSGIVING.

And for many of us this Month, God has started a Process – from July to August.

And we believed that this August is going to be a TURNAROUND Month for many of you.

Your Story will be different, your Focus will be different; God is going to open doors that have been shut for so long – Amen!

But when He starts the Process, don’t think that it’s the end of it.

Just because you got CLEANSED doesn’t mean He has finished working with you – He wants to also RESTORE what He has Cleansed you from.

And it happens, when we THANK the Lord – when we RETURN to Thank the Lord.

And when we Thank the Lord; our Thanksgiving is an HONOUR.

So it says: Honour the Lord with your Possessions

Possessions simply means your Belongings, your Properties, your Wealth!

… You Honour God with them.

Because believe me: He is the One who gave them to you – You must Honour God with them!

And then it says: Honour God with your INCREASE – Your Earnings, your Profits. Honour God with THEM.

It includes Salaries, Dividends, Bonuses, Royalties – You Honour God with your INCREASE.

And as I said earlier: if you are doing something and you say: ‘I’m doing it for my Church, I’m doing it because my Church teaches it – You are LOST!

We don’t do things because Church teaches it or the Pastor teaches it.

We do things because we are CONVINCED that is what God expects from us.

Until you come to that Place of CONVICTION – Your Christian Life would be LIP SERVICE.

You need to come to the Place of knowing for yourself what God expects from you and Honouring God out of CONVICTION, not out of FEAR.

Out of Faith, not out of Fear; not out of Intimidation, not out of Manipulation – It is out of Conviction!

Christianity is based on FAITH!

Without FAITH it is impossible to Please God.

You can give a Million Dollars ($1,000,000), but if it is not based on Faith, it’s USELESS!

What makes our Worship WORTHY is because IT IS BASED ON FAITH.

We KNOW this is the Word of God; and we do it as unto THE LORD.

“Honour the Lord with your POSSESSION, Honour the Lord with your INCREASE, Honour the Lord with your FIRST FRUITS.

Now, in most Churches, People take the Tithe – which is One Tenth of what People earn. God also requires the First Fruit.

The First Fruit is important; and if you look through the Pattern of the New Testament (from the Beginning to the End); every Giving in the New Testament was more than One Tenth.

That means when we are Bonouring God, we don’t put Tape Measure on it. We don’t put Calculator on it.

When we are Honouring God, we are saying: Lord, everything belongs to You anyway!

… Now, I’m going to Give you something that shows my weight of Appreciation for You.

And until we are able to operate that way; our Giving will be Mechanical – And it attracts no Blessings.

It will be Denominational, it will be based on False Doctrine and there is no Conviction.

Can you imagine a man says: I love my wife, and I will never give her above this amount? Because you have calculated it!

No, that’s not how you show your Love; although it goes both ways – Wives should love their husband too.

Get to a Point where you can say; Yes, this is what is required, but I want to do MORE. This is what is asked of me, but I want to MORE.

All I’m saying is: When it comes to Giving THANKS to God; don’t be Mechanical about it and don’t try to just FULFILL an Obligation.

It is a Covenant Relationship and you do it: AS UNTO THE LORD!

When that leper came to Worship Jesus – he is a SAMARITAN!

People were not sure whether Jesus is the Son of God or not.

That act of bowing to Jesus and Worshipping Him was a very Dangerous Act.

Because the Jews could stone you for doing that – For Bowing to a Human Being but he BOWED to Jesus.

At that time, he threw everything he had, unto Jesus.

And he didn’t really bothered whether People will be offended, will be angry or somebody would criticize me after this, or somebody will stone me after this:

“This is a man who saw me AFAR OFF, and TOUCHED my life.”

So, let me ask you a question: Has JESUS really TOUCHED your life?

Has Jesus Spoken to you? Has Jesus Cleansed you? Has Jesus lifted you Up? Has Jesus given you Ideas?

Is He important to you? Is your Salvation Precious? Is your Faith in God Precious? Do you consider going to Heaven Precious? Do you consider the Promises of God as Precious?

Then if ALL of those things are Previous, and you REALLY LOVE the Lord: Then in your own HEART determine the WEIGHT you will use to HONOUR Him.

… And that is how we give unto the Lord!

You don’t give out of Preferential or Compulsion; we give out of CONVICTION because we Honour the Lord with our THANKSGIVING!

And for the rest of your life; constantly remember that: THANKSGIVING COMPLETES YOUR FAITH – It completes the Process that God has started in your life.

We overcome through our Testimony, we overcome through our Thanksgiving; we overcome by Lifting up the Name of the Lord.

So, this morning we just go ahead and Pray.

How far has He brought you into the Month of August?

We want to Pray that God will guide us through the Month of August.

CLOSING PRAYER:

Father we Thank You for so much that You have done for us.

Thank You Lord, that when we were down You lifted us.

When we were in the Valley, you gave us Fountains of water; in our Desolate Heights, Lord You gave us Rivers; in the Wilderness, You opened Pools for us; in our Dry Places, You opened Springs.

You are the One who Helped us to Break our Fallow Grounds.

You have given us life, You have given Patience, You have not Cut Short our Expectations.

For ALL that You have done, we HONOUR You. We Thank You, and we Love You. And we Appreciate You.

And we declare Lord, You are Number One (1) in our lives, You are Number One (1)!

You are the Top of the Line in our hearts; and we bow to You, as this leper did.

May it not be asked of us: Where is he? Where is she? Where are the other Nine (9)?

May we be the one (1) that comes and returns with Thanksgiving to Honour You for ALL that You have done.

We give You Praise Lord, we give You Honour Lord.

In Jesus, Mighty Name we have Prayed – Amen!

And I want you to just Propose in your hearts that you will Honour God every time and show Him Appreciation for what He has done for you!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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