FAITH TO BECOME – PART 1: DR. MENSAH OTABIL, 4TH OCTOBER, 2020

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

TOPIC: FAITH TO BECOME – PART 1

DATE: 4TH OCTOBER, 2020

TEXT: ROMANS 4:16-21

Well, let’s keep standing, as we make our 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 Hand 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 Blosom.

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 the Presence of God wherever you are joining us or reading on the Label of DMC.

Well, this morning, I am going to do a two (2) Part Message – I’ll start this week, I will continue next week.

And I have Titled it: FAITH TO BECOME.

Many times we associate Faith with Praying to RECEIVE answers from God.

So, when we talk about Faith – we are always thinking of RECEIVING something from God.

And it is true; Faith can be used in PRAYER to RECEIVE something from God.

But, Faith can also be used in another way: Not to receive something from God, but to BECOME SOMETHING.

And that is what I am going to focus on between this week and next week.

And my Primary Text is from the Book of Romans 4:16-21

This Passage is making a reference to the life of Abraham. And it gives us some indications as to Abraham’s Faith, and how it worked.

… And I want you to pay attention to the reading of God’s Word.

Romans 4:16-21 (NKJV).

6 Therefore it is of Faith that it might be according to Grace, so that the Promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the Faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the Presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

18 Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he BECAME the father of many Nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

19 And not being weak in Faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

20 He did not waver at the Promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in Faith, giving Glory to God,

21 And being fully convinced that what He had Promised He was also able to Perform.

Abraham did not simply Pray to RECEIVE something from God; he Prayed to BECOME SOMETHING for God.

So, the verse 18 said: He BELIEVED, so that he BECAME.’

… He didn’t just believe to RECEIVE; he BELIEVED to BECOME!

And that is a very interesting observation:

That we can have FAITH to RECEIVE something from God. But we can also have FAITH to BECOME SOMETHING for God.

The word ‘BECOME’ is from a root word that means “BE MADE.” – To BE MADE or to turn INTO SOMETHING.

… To BE MADE or to turn INTO!

So, when we say that somebody has FAITH to BECOME; it means they have FAITH to be TURNED INTO something else.

Or FAITH to BE MADE into something else.

Abraham used His FAITH to be MADE into another Person – He was TURNED from one (1) state to the other.

And there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between using your Faith to RECEIVE something from; and using your Faith to BECOME SOMETHING.

There is a difference between using your Faith to receive Forgiveness of sins; and using your Faith to BECOME the Righteousness of God.

… Two (2) different things!

There is a difference between using your Faith to receive HEALING from sickness; and using your Faith to BECOME Healthy.

Many times when People are using their Faith, they are using their Faith for God to HEAL them from a sickness.

… That is RECEIVING something!

… Two (2) different things!

There is a difference between using your Faith to PROSPER; and using your Faith to BECOME PROSPEROUS.

A Person who uses his Faith to Proper, will Prosper ON and OFF; but the Person who BECOMES Prosperous, doesn’t prosper ON and OFF – He is CONSTANTLY in a state of Prosperity.

Faith is not just about RECEIVING; but Faith is also about BECOMING!

… Somebody say: I WILL BECOME!

So, when we use our Faith to receive, we receive something; but what I am talking about is, BECOMING SOMETHING.

So, when you look at ABRAHAM and his FAITH; your mind tells you – Abraham was believing God for a CHILD (Isaac).

But the Passage says: Abraham was not believing God for a CHILD; he was believing God to BECOME a FATHER OF MANY NATIONS.

… They are two (2) different things!

If you are believing God for ISAAC; you only get Isaac! If you are believing God to BECOME A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS; you’ll get more than Isaac!

And today I want you to know: God just doesn’t want to GIVE YOU something; He wants you to BECOME somebody.

… Somebody say – I WILL BECOME!

So, Abraham’s eyes were not only on RECEIVING a son; he wanted to BECOME a father!

No wonder, if you read the story of Abraham – after Sarah died (in Genesis 25); Abraham married again!

At this time he would be about one hundred and twenty five (125) years; and he had SIX (6) SONS extra!

Why? – Because his eyes were not on receiving one (1) son, his eyes were on BECOMING a father of many Nations.

In all, he believed God; and his FAITH MADE him BECOME!

… Somebody say: I WILL BECOME!

So, each one of us has a Prayer Point. And I don’t know what your Prayer is.

Maybe you are Praying that God will Heal you, because you are sick!

Maybe you are believing that God would Prosper you, because you are Broke!

Maybe you are believing that God would give you a husband or a wife, because you are Single!

But for a moment I want you to think about this:

That the God who can GIVE you, can also make you BECOME!

• He doesn’t just want to give you Health, He wants to make you HEALTHY.
• He doesn’t just want to just give you Money, He wants you to be PROSPEROUS.
• He doesn’t just want to give you a Breakthrough, He wants you to be MIGHTY.

… He wants you to BECOME!

Somebody say: I WILL BECOME!

So let’s look at THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM (a bit close):

1. First (1st), look at who Abraham was at the time that God appeared to him and spoke to him.

This is who Abraham was, this is what life had made him. This is what his experiences had made him.

And each one (1) of us has something that life has made us because life can be very brutal, you know!

Life can be very, very, very Brutal and it can make you become something that you don’t want to be!

In Abraham’s case: Life had made him Old!

… That’s the first (1st) thing – he was OLD.

Time was against him! It seemed as if the window of opportunity for life had been shut on him.

It’s a scary thing, to wake up one (1) day and just realize that time is against you.

Just to realize that time has Passed you by, and you don’t have time!

Especially when you think: Oh, I can do something. And you say, when I am forty (40) years! – By Forty (40) I would have done this.

And then you look back – you are seventy (70)!

… Forty (40) has gone – thirty (30) years ago.

And what you wanted to do at Forty (40) you haven’t done at Seventy (70)!

At that time, you say time is against you!

That was Abraham’s case – he was OLD; Time was against him!

2. The Second (2nd) Thing the Passage says is that: Abraham’s BODY was “DEAD”.

… His body was “DEAD!”

That means although he was Physically alive; he was not Energetic.

He didn’t have the same Strength, he didn’t have the same Vigour, he didn’t have the same Energy.

Not the same body he had when he was Younger and he had NO CHILD – He had not fathered a child!

… And so this is what life had made him.

And I don’t know what life had also made you – If you are listening to me or reading now on the Label of DMC – Maybe you also feel your own time has run out for you.

Probably when you were twenty three (23) years old you were so very hopeful of life! And now you are looking at yourself and you are sixty seven (67) years!

You can listen to the audio here: The Faith To Become (Part 1) – Pastor Mensa Otabil

And you are wondering: TIME has Passed me by and I didn’t even noticed it.

I was talking to somebody who was eighty (80) years old and I said: How do you feel at eighty (80)?

He said: Pastor you know, one day you are Young, and then the next you are eighty (80)! – It is almost as if you didn’t notice it, and Time catches up.

So, Abraham is in this situation where all of sudden he realizes – I AM OLD!

… Maybe you feel that way!

Maybe for some of you, life has made you BITTER – You are angry with yourself, you are angry with People you feel have maltreated you.

You feel WEAK like Abraham; you feel DEAD, you feel not ENERGETIC, UNINSPIRED. And nothing is coming out of you – Life is almost becoming a regret.

Or, you feel insecure – You are so scared about the future; Or you feel sick or sad; or a failure or poor.

Life has a way of DAMAGING all of us – It hits us, time goes against us, things don’t work out well.

… This was where Abraham was!

In the midst of what life has made Abraham, God comes to Abraham, and God gives him a PROMISE!

And the Promise that God gave him was: I have made YOU a FATHER of many Nations.

God didn’t say: ABRAHAM, I am going to give you a son.

… That is not what He said!

We think that is what He said. We think God said ‘I WILL GIVE YOU A SON.’

God didn’t say that!

God said: I have MADE YOU a Father of many Nations.

God said ‘MADE’.

In the Original Language, the word ‘MADE’ means: To SET IN PLACE; or to ARRANGE for something to happen.

So, you are OLD, Time is AGAINST you, NOTHING is working for you; but I have SET THINGS in motion for you to BECOME a FATHER of many Nations.

I don’t know about you: But I believed that God has MADE YOU; He has set things in MOTION; He has put PLANS IN PLACE for you to BECOME SOMEBODY.

Somebody say: I WILL BECOME!

So in essence, what God is saying to Abraham is: I have put in Place all that is REQUIRED for you to BECOME a FATHER of many Nations.

He didn’t say, I will DO IT simply for you; but, I have MADE YOU! I have SET IT in Place; I have put EVERYTHING required in Place, for you.

So Abraham is going to PLAY A ROLE;

Now, if you read the original Promise that Romans Chapter 4 is quoting; read it in Genesis 17:4-6.

I want you to listen carefully to what God said in the three (3) verses.

And God said something DIFFERENT in each Verse;

4 “As for Me, behold, My Covenant is with you, and YOU SHALL BE a father of many Nations.

5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I HAVE MADE YOU a father of many Nations.

6 I will MAKE YOU exceedingly fruitful; and I will MAKE NATIONS of you, and Kings shall come from you.

I want you to note the sequence of the Message he (Abraham) is receiving:

Verse 4: ‘YOU SHALL BE, – is Future Tense.

“YOU SHALL BE a father of many Nations.”

… This is God’s Plans!

He said: Abraham, this is what you will be – “YOU SHALL BE a Father of many Nations.”

God wants you to BECOME!

God wanted Abraham to be SOMEBODY, to be SOMETHING.

Somebody say: I WILL BE!

Verse 5 says: I HAVE MADE YOU – Past Tense!

I HAVE MADE YOU – is Past!

In other words: You WILL BE because I have MADE YOU.

Your Destiny is in the Future, but my Assignment has already occurred in the PAST.

I HAVE MADE YOU the Father of many Nations; and you SHALL BE in the future.

Verse 6: ‘I WILL MAKE YOU’ – It’s a Continuous Tense.

So, the three (3) Tenses that Abraham is believing him:

First (1st) – God said: I have MADE YOU – Past. So you WILL BE in your future.

And from now till your future, I WILL MAKE YOU.

• So, there is a PROCESS God is going to take you through:
• There is something He has ESTABLISHED in the PAST;
• And there is something you are going to BE in the FUTURE.

There is a FUTURE for you; it is SETTLED in the PAST; and God is taking you in the PROCESS.

… YOU SHALL BE!

Somebody say: I SHALL BE!

I don’t know whether that is good English or not; but that is GOOD FAITH.

Say: I SHALL BE; because I HAVE BEEN MADE.

That is what God says; “I have MADE YOU, so you SHALL BE, and I will MAKE you EXCEEDINGLY FRUITFUL.

How are you you going to be a Father of many Nations?

I will make you Exceedingly Fruitful.

So there is a PROCESS of Exceedingly Fruitful that is going to end up in Abraham BECOMING the Father of many Nations but it is all based on the fact that ‘GOD HAD ALREADY MADE HIM.’

… I have MADE YOU the Father of many Nations!

God doesn’t just want to give you trickles of Blessing; He wants to MAKE YOU a BLESSING.

He doesn’t just want you to receive a Blessing; He wants to MAKE YOU BLESSED.

He doesn’t just want to Promote you; He wants to MAKE YOU the HEAD.

He doesn’t just want to give you Healing; He wants to MAKE YOU HEALTHY.

I have MADE YOU! And because of that, YOU SHALL BE – Amen!

Now, Abraham has two (2) things he has to deal with:

SCENARIO NO. 1: What LIFE has MADE HIM – he is OLD.

TIME is against him, his body is ‘DEAD’; He has no NO CHILD.

… That is scenario No. 1.

SCENARIO NO. 2: I have MADE YOU, and you SHALL BE. And I will continuously MAKE YOU Fruitful.

Abraham had two (2) Options:

Either to say: Hmmm! I like what you are saying oooo; but look at me – I still have no child, I am already OLD, I am going nowhere!

… But that is not what he did!

Between the two (2) options, he chose one (1).

So let us look at whom Abraham believed – Either he believed himself or he believed God.

At every point, you have to choose whom to believe – You either believe what Life has MADE YOU, or what GOD has MADE you.

And the Passage says: And Abraham BELIEVED God! He fixed his Faith on God: As the One Who REVIVES the Dead (He gives life to the dead);

And He calls the things which do not exist as though they exists; He brings nonexistent things into Existence.

… He (Abraham) BELIEVED GOD.

There is something God has MADE in you, that you must BECOME.

May be your mind is fixed – Oh God give me this, Oh God give me that!

And you are looking at the items; When God is looking at PERSON HOOD – your Personality. He wants to MAKE YOU something!

When God MAKES YOU the HEAD, nobody can bring you down.

When God MAKES YOU the PROSPEROUS, Poverty will be afraid of you.

When God MAKES YOU the HEALTHY, sickness runs away from you!

But if all you are doing is believing God for one (1) ITEM at a time; one (1) Child at a time; it is going to take you a long time in your journey.

But when you believe God to be a FATHER; then you having children becomes normal.

That is what God is saying to Abraham: ‘I don’t want you to just believe for one (1) ITEM at time; I want you to Believe to BECOME SOMETHING.

So that out of what you have BECOME, you will Produce EVERYTHING that is needed at every Phase.

So Abraham believed God!

Let us look at what Abraham did?

The Bible says that “Contrary to Hope”.

“Contrary to Hope” simply means, when there was no hope, he had HOPE.

When it was hopeless, he had HOPE. When it was hopeless, she had HOPE.

Can you say: ‘When it was hopeless I has hope?’

In other words, when the case was Bad, Bad, Bad! Abraham decided – I still trust God! I will be a Father of many Nations.

I will BE! I don’t have a child now, I WILL HAVE!

So, by some Method, he had the first (1st) one – Ishmael. Then he said: well, maybe I am the father of many nations now.

God said, No! That’s not it – Sarah is going to Produce one (1).

He (Abraham) said: I taught Hagar is Young. It’s an easy Miracle to believe.

God said: No, Sarah the Old Lady!

When you are Old, a Miracle includes an Old Person.

… Contrary to hope, you must have HOPE.

So, Sarah has a child – But God didn’t say ‘I will give you two (2) children; He said: I will MAKE YOU a Father of MANY NATIONS.

Two (2) children are not going to make NATIONS!

So Sarah dies; then Abraham said, well, I am still a Father of many Nations. He went to marry again (Keturah).

… I am sure she was a Younger Person.

Six (6) sons! Abraham what happened? You couldn’t even believe for one (1); now you are Producing six (6)!

WHY? Because he has BECOME!

When you BECOME, what you couldn’t receive as an Individual, you are able to Produce in SEQUENCE.

May God cause you to BECOME – Not just to receive Prosperity, not just to receive Abundance, not just to receive Healing but to BECOME Healthy.

And Abraham BECAME the Father of many Nations; according to the Word of the Lord.

I don’t know about you; I just feel to encourage somebody that God wants you to BECOME.

You must BECOME GREAT, you must BECOME MIGHTY, you must BECOME STRONG, you must BECOME BLESSED – Amen!

You should BECOME Ala Blessed Person so that BLESSING could follow you.

You must be the HEAD, you must be HIGHLY FAVOURED. You must be ABUNDANT; so that you can receive ABUNDANCE.

There is Faith, to receive one (1) thing from God and there is also Faith, to BECOME something for God.

And if you Trust God to make you BECOME, then it is very easy for you to RECEIVE.

So today I ask you: “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BECOME?

… NOT what you want God to do for you, but what you want to BECOME.

1. Do you want to be a BLESSING to your Generation?
2. Do you want to be Influential?

For Abraham, he BECAME the FATHER of many Nations – A Nation that came out of his children and his Children’s children.

Ishmael’s Descendants – Many Nations!

Isaac’s Descendants – We know them (ISRAEL)!

And the Six (6) other Boys – they also became Nations – And for your information, most of them became African Nations!

For all know – You are one (1) of them because Keturah was a Black Woman and she produced those children – six (6) of them!

So for Abraham, you have a Nation from Ishmael, from Isaac and from Keturah. And in their children and their children’s children.

If you look at the sequence truly, he BECAME the FATHER of MANY NATIONS.

And not only Physical Nations, but Spiritual Nations as well.

Because the Bible says: “Those who are of Faith in Christ, they are the children of Abraham.”

So, if you look at it; in every Nation of this world, there is a CHILD of Abraham in that Nation – In every Continent, on every Island, in every Place; there is a Descendant of Abraham.

… Either a Physical Descendant or a Spiritual Descendant.

And all because he moved from believing God for a THING; to believing God to BECOME.

And when he BECAME, then things started FLOWING out of him – Blessing flowed out of him, Abundance flowed out of him, Children flowed out of him. It touches children, it touches children’s children, it touches generations after him because he has BECOME.

When you BECOME, nobody can change your status any longer. You BECOME that for the Glory of God!

So, I don’t know what you want to BECOME. Maybe you want to BECOME:

• A Mother of many Nations;
• A Father of many Nations.

… Think about it as we go on.

ALTAR CALL

But as we are getting ready to Pray, there is something else you must BECOME.

A man came to Jesus Christ at Night (he is called Nicodemus). He started talking to Jesus. And said Jesus: You are a Great Man, you are a Great Teacher; Nobody can do the things that you do.

And Jesus said: Except a man BECOMES Born Again!

… Not just have your sins forgiven – It is Possible to have your sins forgiven, and NOT become Born Again.

“Except a man BECOMES Born Again; he cannot see the Kingdom of God.

So, this morning, some of you need to BECOME children of God. You need to BECOME Born Again!

Not just have your sins forgiven; not just go to Church; not just love God; not just for God to love you but you must BE in actuality – A CHILD OF GOD.

So whilst we are Praying and talking to God, if you want to give your life to God and be Born Again; just talk to God and say: I want to BE Your Child. Not just forgiving my sins – I want to BE Your CHILD.

And we trust God that this morning, you will BECOME Born Again!

And if you are believing God for anything else, may the Lord cause you to BECOME, in Jesus’ Name – Amen!

Let’s say this PRAYER TOGETHER wherever you are you – Watching me, listening to me or reading now on the Label of DMC. Just say with me:

HEAVENLY FATHER, I THANK YOU THAT JESUS DIED FOR ME. HE IS THE SON OF GOD. AND I BELIEVE IN HIM, AS MY SAVIOUR, AS MY REDEEMER; TO BECOME A CHILD OF GOD.

AND I BELIEVE IN CHRIST FOR SALVATION – TOTAL SALVATION. I BELIEVE IN CHRIST FOR HEALING AND FOR HEALTH. LET ME BE HEALTHY! LET ME PROSPER; LET ME BE PROSPEROUS! LET ME GO AHEAD AND LET ME BE THE HEAD!

I DECLARE TODAY: I AM BLESSED OF GOD. I AM FAVOURED OF GOD. I AM THE HEAD AND NOT THE TAIL. I AM THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE.

AND I RECEIVE TODAY – TO BE WHOM GOD SAYS I AM!

IN JESUS’ NAME -AMEN!!!

If you truly believe that, why don’t you give God some PRAISE wherever you are (reading on the Label of DMC).

And THANK God that you are Who He says you ARE. You haven’t just received Salvation – YOU HAVE BECOME.

I am BLESSED, and Nobody can change it!

I am FAVOURED, and nobody can change it.

… They may hate you, they may fight you, they may criticize you; but when you are BLESSED, it is Irrevocable, it is Immutable, because it is your NATURE for BLESSING to flow out of you.

And you are one (1) of those People – You are BLESSED, and you can’t help it but BLESSING will flow out of you!

In Jesus’ Name -AMEN and AMEN and AMEN!!!!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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