IT’S A NEW SEASON – PART THREE (3): PASTOR MENSA OTABIL
ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)
TOPIC: IT’S A NEW SEASON – PART THREE (3)
DATE: 23RD AUGUST, 2020
TEXT: ECCLESIASTES 3:1-3
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!! We give God Praise and we honour Him for this morning.
Rise up wherever you are as we make this DECLARATIONS OF EXCELLENCE, in this 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!!!
Two (2) weeks ago I started a series that I Titled: IT’S A NEW SEASON.
I did Part One (1) Two weeks ago, and I did Part Two (2) last week. And today I am doing PART THREE (3) of: IT’S A NEW SEASON.
DMC NOTES: TO CATCH UP WITH THE FULL TEXT OF THE PREVIOUS SERIES, CLICK ON THESE LINKS:
FOR PART 1:
https://discoverymediacrew.com/Its-A-New-Season-Dr-Mensal-Otabil
FOR PART 2:
https://discoverymediacrew.com/Its-A-New-Season-Part-Two-2-Dr-Mensah-Otabil
I truly believed that: This is a New Season – God is opening a door of opportunity for us! It may not be familiar, it may not be comfortable, it may not be what we would have wished for or expect but God is going to use this to our advantage. And it is a New Season for us – Amen.
So, we are going to the Scriptures – Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 (NKJV);
Most of you must have heard this Passage read before, you must have read it yourself. But it is a familiar Passage in the Bible.
… And let’s hear the reading of God’s Word:
1 To everything there is a Season, A time for every Purpose under Heaven:
2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to Plant, And a time to Pluck what is Planted;
3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
It is a very interesting Passage of the Scriptures that talks about contrasting activities taking Place at different times.
And some of those contrasts are very, very DIFFERENT from each other.
Some of them, we wished there will be no time for.
For example, it says there is A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to break down and a time to build up;
It simply says that: Although some things may not seems appropriate and comfortable for us, there are times that when they occur, they seems right to us.
And that is just what it is saying!
… And the Passage says: To everything, there is a SEASON!
Everything in this world has a Season – And a SEASON is a Set Period during which things happen.
…Everything has a time when it happens.
And then it says: Every Purpose has s Time!
The word “PURPOSE” means that which we delight in or desire.
For everything we delight in or desire – THERE IS A TIME.
And the word TIME, as it is used in the context of that Scriptures means – The right moment for something to happen.
So, there is a right moment for everything we desire in and delight in – There is a right moment for it to happen!
When things happens at the wrong time, that is when we see abnormality. But when things happen at the right time, we see beauty in them.
Normally, for us in the English Language, time is time!
So, when somebody says: it is my time or it is time, let’s be on time.
We use the word “Time” although the meaning may be different.
So, when somebody says: Let’s be on time! – It means, let us go according to the clockwork. Appointment is supposed to be 12:30; let’s be there at 12:30.
When somebody says: ‘It is my time!’
He is not talking about a clock time. He is saying – A moment has come for me, for something Good to happen to me.
But we use the same word “TIME” – to refer to the clockwork and time to refer to opportunity.
But in the Greek Language, Time has different words.
And there are two (2) that I want to emphasis on:
- The first (1st) one is CHRONOS.
“Chronos” in the Greek Language is Time.
But it is Chronological Time – Time that can be measured in distance.
Whether it is long or short; you can literally say: “WATCH TIME”.
That is why the watch is called a CHRONOGRAPH.
… Time that can be measured – Chronos!
But there is another word for Time that the Greeks use:
- And it is KARUS.
And “Kairus” simply means – A Season when things HAPPEN.
So, when somebody says: IT IS MY TIME (for example); we are not talking about Chronos – we are not talking about watch time – We are talking about a Season for something (Good) to happen to me!
And when somebody says: I have to be “ON TIME” for the appointment; we are talking about Watch Time.
… These are the two (2) differences!
But in English, we use the same word – “TIME”.
Whereas in Greek, there are different words for them.
So, for our Study today, when we are talking about: “IT’S A NEW SEASON”; we are not talking about “Clock Time”; we are talking about an “Appointed Time” – A Season when things must happen to us.
And we will focus our Study today on how God brought a New Season in the life of a Beloved couple in the Bible – They had served God for years, yet they have not had the thing they DESIRED MOST happening to them.
The Purpose is not happening; the Desire, the Delight is not manifesting – And we know the couple because we have encountered them many times in the Bible;
… ABRAHAM AND SARAH!
And their greatest desire is for a child – Particularly a Boy child (A Son)!
And for years they have desired a child. And it got to a long time, when they are now very advanced in age – They have given up hope of having that child.
And just when it seemed like:
I. It will never happened; there will never be a time for this Purpose to be achieved.
II. It looked like a DESIRE which will never find time of expression!
III. Just when they thought, this desire of ours, this Purpose of ours will never have a time for it to happen.
… SOMETHING HAPPENS – They have a VISIT!
And that Visit changes everything – It changed their Season from Dryness to Fruitfulness.
There are moments in our lives when we think that something we desired will never have its Season; but then God Visits.
And when God Visits, what we thought will never happen, He CREATES a moment for it to happen.
And I Pray that: That Season will be YOURS – Amen!
*And so, I am going to focus my attention on Genesis chapter 18 – I am not going to read the entire Chapter; although it is Good for you later on to read the entire Chapter!
But for the brevity of time, I am going to Pick selected Verses from Genesis Chapter 18 to tell the Story and to teach the Lesson.
Genesis 18:1 – “And the LORD appeared unto him in the Plains of Mamre: and he sat in the Tent door in the heat of the day;”
Although no name is mentioned here, the ‘he’ is Abraham.
And the Picture that the Verse one (1) Paints for us is a normal day for Abraham and his wife Sarah.
They are at home, they are minding their own business – It’s a hot day because the Bible talks about ‘the heat of the day.’
And Abraham; Probably because the weather is hot, or Probably it is his habit is sitting outside the Tent, just whiling away the time. And his wife Sarah is in the Tent.
This is a normal day; it is a sunny day – The tent is there, Sarah is in the Tent, Abraham is sitting outside the door of the Tent.
Then he sees three (3) men coming. – Three (3) Guests!
Then they are on their way, by the Tent to go wherever they were going.
Somehow, Abraham knew that these are “Important People”.
He invited them to come to his Tent; he tells Sarah, go and get some Meal and Prepare some food for these Visitors.
So, they Prepared the food for his visitors!
But these visitors are not just “Human Visitors”, they are “Angelic Visitors” on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah – Passing by Abraham’s Tent.
And when they finished eating, they announced a New Season for Abraham and Sarah.
And may God bring YOU a New Season in your life – Amen!
And so in Genesis 18:9-10;
9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the Tent.”
10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the Time of Life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son”. (Sarah was listening in the Tent Door which was behind him.)
Out of nowhere, a New Announcement comes to Abraham and Sarah: “I will VISIT you according to the TIME OF LIFE, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
I want you to note the Phrase: “TIME OF LIFE.”
And there are two (2) ways to translate that Phrase – “TIME OF LIFE.”
And Chronologically there are two (2) meanings:
I. First (1st), it is understood as: ‘A year from now!’
So that Phrase means: ‘A year from now.’
… And that is one (1) way to interpret it.
Another way it is understood – “Time of Life” talks about the Gestation Period for life.
That is Nine (9) months.
When a woman becomes Pregnant, and delivers the Baby; it is a time of life! – It is a Nine (9) Months Period.
So, some People interpret this as One (1) Year, or as Nine (9) Months.
Whether it is a one (1) Year’s time or a Nine (9) Months’ time; it simply means – Within a Year!
So, Sarah hears a message that says: Within a Year, you will have a son!
The Statement is so BOLD! It is so Audacious that Sarah laughed!
It is almost like somebody hears something that is too Good to be true! – And when you hear it, you say, as for this one, I don’t think it will happen.
That is what she is saying – ‘it is too Good to be true!’ It is flabbergasting! It is out of this world! It is impossible!
… But it is from God!
God says to Sarah: What you are waiting for; that desire that you thought there will be no Time and there will be no Season for it; within a Year, I will create a Season for it, and it will happen.
And when Sarah heard it – she LAUGHED!
… I am sure if you hear something like that, you would LAUGH too!
God can give you a Message that is so BIG and out of this world, that your immediate response is to laugh at it -because it DEFILES LOGIC.
And today I Pray that: God will bring you into a Season that DEFILES LOGIC – Amen!
Now, when you hear it, your first (1st) response is to laugh and say: Ha, this one is TOO BIG!
So, Sarah hears, and she laughs!
Then the Angel of the Lord spoke again, in Verses 13 and 14;
Genesis 18:13-14
13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the Appointed Time I will return to you, according to the Time of Life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
When Sarah heard this, she said: ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’
So, she is referring to TIME! Because ‘OLD’ is the effect of Time.
When time has been against you, and time has fought you, and time has resisted you and time has been delayed; you will come to a Season or a Place in your life where you think: According to the Time’s Scheme of Life; it is impossible for me to have a child.
So, she says: CHRONOS is against me – The Clock is against me; the Calendar is against me.
I have lived for too long; I am on Retirement. Time is not on my side!
So, God is speaking about Time, she is also speaking about Time.
But her time is a “Clock Time”; God’s time is “Appointed Time”!
So, whereas God says – I am going to give you a Season. She says, I don’t have Clock time.
In other words, the Calendar doesn’t favour me.
It is almost like God saying: I am going to Bless you and make you RICH! And you say: but I am on Retirement!
Retirement is your AGE (which has now disqualified you); but what God is saying has nothing to do with “Clock Time”; it has to do with “Appointed Time”!
It is the NEW SEASON, it has nothing to do with Calendar!
So, she says, according to my reckoning: Time is against me – CHRONOS is against me.
*Listen to God’s response: “At the APPOINTED TIME I will return to you, according to the TIME OF LIFE, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Now, I am going to explain those two (2) Phrases because they are very Powerful Phrases: “At the APPOINTED TIME!”
Somebody say: God has and APPOINTED TIME for me!
Somebody say: I have an APPOINTMENT with Destiny!
So, God says to Sarah: You say you are OLD. And the reason you say you are old is because you checked your Calendar, you checked your Birthday!
And according to your Birthday markings, you are Probably getting to Ninety (90) years old.
And it is impossible by every human theory for a woman to give birth to a child at Ninety (90)!
Even in these days of Scientific Advancement, and all the things that the Scientists can do and the Doctors can do – I have never heard of that happening.
… Maybe we will get there – When Science will catch up with God!
But so far, that is an impossibility; in everything stretches of imagination.
So, Sarah is saying: According to Chronos – according to Time, the Clock says it can’t happen!
Gos says: I Am not working with Clock. I am working with “Appointed Time”; I am working with Season.
So, He uses the Phrase “At the Appointed Time!”
Somebody say: I have an Appointed Time!
The Hebrew word for “Appointed Time” is ‘MUOED’.
And it simply means – “A Place of Meeting.”
It is a word that is used in the Old Testament to refer to Periods that God sets apart to meet His People.
So, when God says the People should meet with Him in the Tabernacle, or He would visit them, or He would meet them on the mountain; that’s what He means!
So, when He says: An “Appointed Time”, He is not even referring to Dates and Months; He is referring to a Place in the Realm of the Spirits, when God intervenes in the story of Mankind!
So, what God is talking about is KAIROS; what Sarah is talking about is CHRONOS – I don’t have the Time!
God says: I have the Time, because I am not working according to your Clock; I am working according to your SEASON!
To EVERYTHING, there is a Season. To EVERYTHING there is a TIME!!!!!
So God says: I have an “Appointed Time” with you – A Prearranged Meeting and the Place of Meeting.
God says: I have set an appointment for you, Sarah. I have Prearranged a Schedule for you!
And then He says: At the “Appointed Time” I will return to you, according to the time of life,
So, there are two (2) Times here – God says: at the “Appointed Time”, I will return. within the Time of Life!
Remember, I said the TIME OF LIFE is within a Year! According to the normal Gestation Period for a woman to conceive and have a child.
Within that Chronological Period, I will create a Divine Appointment for you.
So sometimes, God is able to superimpose His TIME over your a time.
When your time says: I have only a Short Period; I have only one (1) Year, I have only six (6) Months, I have only seven (7) days, I have only one (1) day.
God says: Within that simple time, I will create my KAIROS!
So, God is able to intervene in our TIME, in a way that superimposes His Time over our time.
… And that is the Message I have for somebody.
Remember, during this Covid Period, I have been saying that:
- This moment is a moment Set Apart for PLANTING and for BUILDING.
- I have said over and over that: This is a moment for the Previously Disadvantaged to be Advantage.
- I have said over and over that: This is the Season for People who in the past have struggled for relevance and they have never had it; it seems as if their worst days are over!
- But I have said it again and again, that: In this TIME, God will Visit His People.
God will uses this “TIME OF LIFE”, to established His “Appointed Time”.
You know, most especially when we talk about African Development; we talk about the ‘Good Old Days!’
… And that is one Particular Phrase that I do not like.
What is ‘Good Old Days?’
If your “Good Old Days” are in the Past, you are saying that your life is Retrogressive.
Our “Better Days” are always ahead of us!
And I understand why People talk about the “Good Old Days” – They talk about the days of Kwame Nkrumah, and the days of so and so. And they mentioned the names of all these People who have gone ahead – even in those DAYS!
In the days of Patrick Lumumba, we never made it, we never had success!
Well, God is having a New Appointment with us. And this New Appointment is not according to the PAST.
… It is according to a New Time Schedule.
And God is telling us: What was impossible to achieve in the “BEST OF TIMES”, I will achieve for you in the “Worst of Times”.
Can you hear that?
The best time for Sarah to have had a child was Probably seventy (70) years earlier – when she was Probably in her twenties or her teens – Fertile, Ready, Able.
That is when to have a child!
Now, that is the Best of Time but it didn’t happen in Best of times.
Now, God waited for the Worst of Times! – In the Worst of Times He created an APPOINTMENT.
And in that Appointment, the time which is considered the worst time ever for something Good to happen became the BEST TIME for God!
So God says: At the Appointed Time, according to the Time of Life, I WILL RETURN. I will Visit you!
Did God return? Did He honour His word? – YES, HE DID!
… And just something for you to Note:
This whole encounter that Abraham and Sarah are having with the Angel of the Lord, it’s almost like a Parentheses.
It’s like God is doing something; there is an inbetween what He is doing. He finds time to do it.
Because the Purpose of this Angelic Mission is to go to Sodom and Gomorrah, who have been doing some bad things and about to get Judgement.
And in that Process, they visited Abraham and Sarah – So two (2) things are happening at the same time: There is destruction for Sodom and Gomorrah; but there is LIFE for Abraham and Sarah.
So sometimes, in the midst of what we call chaos and disorder, God is able to create a New Season – in Parentheses, for a People who are on His Plan.
And that is why I believed that: In this Global Chaos, God is creating a Parentheses for the African Continent.
And it is our time for PLANTING and for BUILDING.
And I announce to you; You may see destruction all around you. You may see failure all around you. But you are in God’s Parenthesis!
He has made space for you, He has made room for you, He had made an Appointment for you. And He will Visit you.
Did He honour His word?
Well, Genesis 21:1-2 says this – This is the record of Scriptures:
21 And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the SET TIME of which God had spoken to him.
Did God show up at the Appointed Time?
YES Sir! He did not miss the Appointment.
And that is one thing about God: When He makes the Appointment, He does not miss the Appointment.
… At the SET TIME, He visited Sarah.
The interesting thing is: The first (1st) time a visit took place a year ago – Three (3) Angelic visit took place; this visit, there is no Angel but a visit takes place!
So, whether you see an Angel, or you don’t see an Angel -God is able to visit you!
If you are waiting to see Angels showing up, to say: Oh, now God has visited me!
No, God visits, even when we don’t see any evidence of a Visitation.
He visited Sarah, and honoured His Words.
Last thing I want to touch on, before I close:
When you look at the story of Sarah, it looks as if all of these thing that is happening, she does not believed it and she is laughing at it!
So, when you only look at the account in Genesis, it would seems as if, this woman didn’t believed anything and it happened.
It is only in the New Testament that we are given a Commentary on Sarah that helps us to put her actions in Proper Perspective.
So, final Scriptures – Hebrews 11:11-12.
And I like that!
11 By Faith Sarah herself also received Strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him Faithful who had Promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude —innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”
“By Faith Sarah herself also received Strength …”
… So she did not end only laughing!
- When she heard the Promise, it seemed like laughter to her! But when it was confirmed, she BELIEVED it.
She moved from Unbelief to Faith.
… And the Bible says: She BELIEVED the Promise.
And I want you to believe the Promise of God.
- And when she believed the Promise, the Bible says: “She received STRENGTH for body.’
Her body was REJUVENATED – It became Youthful again!
She believed the Promise, she Received Strength. And;
- She CONCEIVED Seed.
Something her body was not made for at that age happened!
- She conceived seed, she bore a child.
And I like how Hebrews clarifies it: “She bore a child when she was PAST the age.”
When the Chronological Time was against her (Sarah); DIVINE APPOINTMENT ushered her into a New Season.
My job is to let you know that within a Chronological Arrangement of year 2020 – Which seems like the most wasted Year on the Planet Earth – I have heard People say: God should REPLAY 2020.
He will not replay 2020!
Because in the midst of Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction; there is a Parentheses for Abraham and Sarah.
I don’t know what is happening to the whole world but for you and your house; for me and my house: God is creating a Parentheses for a Divine Visitation.
There is a space, there is a cocooning of God’s Presence.
And in this moment, you would see the Visitation of God.
And within this Time of life; within this 2020 – When everybody says everything has been destroyed, everything has gone up; you would call 2020 as a Year of “The Beginning of your Lifting up – Amen!
You would say: In the Year when there was Coronavirus (Year 2020), when everything was in chaos; the Lord helped me to BUILD this – Amen.
In the Year when everybody said, things are down; God Lifted me up – Amen!
May the Lord create a Divine Appointment for you in this Season of your life – Amen!
And I have every confident, there is a BOLD, AUDACIOUS, RIDICULOUSLY Fantastic Promise of God for you – Amen!
It may seem like a laughable matter, but you have to be like Sarah;
You must BELIEVE the Promise, you must receive STRENGTH and you must CONCEIVE the Seed and Give BIRTH to that Miracle that God has Appointed for you.
I believe God has VISITED you.
I believe He will DO Great Things for you;
He will HONOUR His Name in your life.
So, this morning before I close, I just want you to talk to the Lord. For He is your God. He is your Father!
I want you to just lift up your hands to Him, as a sign of Faith. And I want you to believe to talk to God and say:
Lord I believe Your Promise for me; I believe Your Set Appointment for me; I believe that in this Chaos moment, in this Divine Appointment Time; You will overrule the Time of life; You will overrule what Time has done to me.
Time has made me old, Time has withered me, Time has destroyed my work, Time has destroyed the work of my hand.
But I trust You, that by your Divine Season, You will cause something New to come out of me.
… Just talk to the Lord, wherever you are reading now on the Label of DMC.
There is a Visitation of God coming on you. God has your Package; it has your name on it!
Your name is on that Package! God will visit you. God will show Himself Strong unto you. You will begin to count days and time from this year.
This is not a “Wasted Year”. This is not a “Destructive Year”! – It may destroy others; but you will have life – Amen.
Sodom and Gomorrah may be destroyed; but Abraham and Sarah would have life!
In the midst of chaos, there is Order! In the midst of destruction, there is Productivity!
When everybody is going down, you would RISE UP – Amen!
Let this be a beginning of Divine Visitation for you – Amen.
Just talk to the Lord – Talk to Him from your heart; talk to Him from your Spirit. Cry out to Him – He will hears you! He knows your Needs. He hears your cry.
Time has fought you, but Divine APPOINTMENT will favour you – Amen.
CLOSING PRAYER
Father, Thank You!
Thank You for Your Holy Words. Thank You for Your Promises, which are Yea and Amen!
When it seems like time is not on our side, you create APPOINTMENTS for us.
And for everyone listening to me Lord or reading now on the Label of DMC – who has believed:
May You create and APPOINTMENT for us!
May You create SPACE for them!
May You create a New Season for them!
A season of Your Visitation and a Season of Your Return.
May You TOUCH them, may You RESTORE them!
May You cause them to Overflow; may You do something that is Fantastically, Boldly, Audaciously out of this world!
May it happen to them, in the Name of JESUS – Amen and Amen!
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