WHAT TO SAY, WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY: PASTOR MENSA OTABIL – SUNDAY 7TH FEBRUARY, 2021

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

TOPIC: WHAT TO SAY, WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.

DATE: 7TH FEBRUARY, 2021

TEXT: HEBREWS 13:5-6

Amen! – Let’s keep Standing where we are as we make our DECLARATION OF FRUITFULNESS – in this Year of Fruitfulness:

Are you ready? Say with me:

The Eternal God is our refuge. He opens rivers in desolate Heights.The Lord makes the wilderness a Pool of water.

The LORD God is my Sun and Shield; The LORD gives Grace and Glory.

Therefore, I delight myself in Him. Those who are Planted in the House of the LORD
shall be fresh and flourishing.

Though the Earth be shaken; the Name of the Lord is my Strong Tower. By Faith I affirm that: In Christ alone is my Salvation. In Him I live and move and have my being.

It is written: The Righteous are like trees Planted by the waters; bearing fruits in its Season.

So I boldly declare: As for me, my God has made me EXCEEDINGLY FRUITFUL;

In this Season, my Spirit bears fruits of Righteousness, my Talents make way for me. With my hands, I will Plant, I will Build, I will Harvest – Day by day, Step by step.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen!

Well, this morning I want to Prepare us and bring us a Word of Encouragement, in the Season that we are living in.

Many are afraid, and in times like this, we have to WATCH what we say and what kind words we use.

So that whilst stating the facts, we must be MINDFUL not to use our own words as WEAPONS against ourselves.

Because the Bible says in Proverbs 18: 21 that: “Death and Life are in the Power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

… DEATH and LIFE are in the Power of the TONGUE.

And you have to be mindful of what you SAY: “Words contain Spiritual Powers, words create Atmosphere, words Construct Destiny.”

God created ALL THINGS with His WORD,and God’s Word HOLDS all things.

We WIN with our words, and we LOSE with our words!

So today, I want to address our words in a situation like this.

My Message is Titled: “WHAT TO SAY, WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.”

Actually, I was going to Title the Message: “What to say when you have nothing (Sensible) to Say.” But I thought you would be OFFENDED.

… Although I have spoken it in, anyway!

Because these days, many People have become ‘FUNERAL ANNOUNCERS’ and there is so much going out there – That if you are not careful, you will be PARALYZED by Fear – before a Virus ever gets to you!

So, what do you say, what do you do in circumstances like this?

Because as Believers, we OVERCOME by our words!

Our words are not just Vocabulary; but they are WEAPONS in our mouth!

… And we must be careful of what we SAY.

Hebrews 13:5-6 (NKJV). And it reads:

5 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?”

… I will REPEAT from Part B of Verse 5.

For He Himself has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

There are TWO (2) CONCEPTS that I want to Point to you and bring to your attention.

1. The First Concept is that GOD SAYS SOMETHING.

If you look at the verse, it says: “For He Himself has SAID.”

… That’s the First Concept – GOD SAYS SOMETHING.

It is a “Declared Word” of God!

In the Scripture, we hear God speaking.

And when God speaks, He SPEAKS to REVEAL His Will – God’s WORD reveals God’s WILL.

“He Himself has said.” When God says something, He reveals His WILL, He reveals His INTENTIONS, He reveals His DESIRES.

… GOD SAYS SOMETHING!

2. Then the second Concept I want you to Pay attention to is: WE ALSO SAY SOMETHING.

… I say what GOD SAYS.

So the Scripture says: He Himself has Said; “So we may BOLDLY SAY.”

God says something, we ALSO SAY SOMETHING;

For He Himself has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may BOLDLY say: “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

When God SPEAKS, He is literally putting words in your mouth; He is giving you something to SAY.

So God’s Word IN MY MOUTH, must agree with HIS WILL; or God’s Word in my mouth AGREES with His Will.

Jesus taught us a Very, very Vital Principle – VERY VITAL!

In the Lord’s Prayer, He said when you Pray, you say:

“THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, as it is IN HEAVEN.”

Two (2) Things are happening there:

I. THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH – That’s one aspect!

II. AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

God’s Will is done in Heaven; but that WILL should be done on Earth!

So what makes God’s Will DONE ON EARTH is when we PRAY – and say the same things that He is saying.

… God’s Word in my MOUTH, AGREES with His WILL.

Now, I want to take you just on a little journey because this Passage in Hebrews says: GOD HAS SAID: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

… It is quoting what God has said!

So the question you should as yourself is: “WHERE DID GOD SAY THAT?”

Because the Passage says, God has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Where did He say it? And to whom did He say it?

We are going to find out where God said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you”; and to whom He said it?

There are Two (2) Instances I will bring to your Notice:

1. The first (1st) one is GENESIS 28:15. – This is God speaking to Jacob.

And He says: “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

So when the Writer in Hebrews says God Himself has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

This is what He is addressing; when God said to Jacob: “I WILL BE WITH YOU.”

At this Point, Jacob was alone in his life. And he is fleeing from danger.

And if you know your Bible a little bit, you will realise that Jacob’s brother (Esau) had sworn to kill him. His brother said: “I’m going to kill you!”

So Jacob is running, because somebody wanted to KILL him!

… It is not a Virus; it is a brother.

Sometimes a brother can be a Virus!

… No, your brother is not a Virus!

So, Jacob is fleeing for His Life!

God speaks to Jacob when he is fleeing and says: “Jacob, I AM WITH YOU.”

And what does that tell us?

It tells us that God is with us when our lives are threatened.

“I AM WITH YOU” – No matter what is threatening your Life. It could be a brother, it could be a health challenge, it could be a Virus.

But God says: “I AM WITH YOU” – I will Protect you!

… He is with us when our lives are threatened.

2. The Second (2nd) Instance when God Promised “I Will not leave you, He said it to Joshua, after Joshua had taken over the Leadership of Israel.

In Joshua 1:5, this is what God said to Joshua:

“No man shall be able to Stand before you all the days of your Life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.”

“… I will not leave you nor forsake you.”

At this time, Joshua is not like Jacob! – Jacob is running away from a threat; Joshua is running into Battle.

And so God is saying, He is with you when you are going into a Battle.

*When you are running from danger He is with you; when you are running into danger, He is with you!

I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU – When you are trying to avoid trouble;

I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU – When you are getting into trouble.

… God never leaves us, at any Point in time!

And what is so important about this is that when God said this to Joshua, Moses had died.

Moses had died!

The great Moses, the one who saw God in the Burning Bush, who came and liberated them!

… The one Joshua had followed, had died.

And Joshua had to now go and face danger without Moses! – And God said to Joshua: “I AM WITH YOU.”

… Mose is not here, but I AM HERE.

And I just want to Pause, and make a little comment on this:

It is Valuable and Useful and Beneficial to learn from People’s experiences; and it is WISE to take Precautions, because of credible information that helps us to be safe.

So when somebody tells you his experiences, and how he has suffered, and what went wrong. Or when you hear something has gone wrong with somebody; It is Good to learn from it; it is Good to take Precaution.

However, it’s fearful and self defeating, when we allow other People’s situation to make us feel Vulnerable and Weak.

It’s like years ago, I was having a conversation with somebody; and the Person we talked about had Passed away.

And the fellow said: “if People like that have Passed away, then what happens to People like us?”

So, it is almost like Joshua would be saying: “if Moses is gone, then I Joshua, what can I do?”

That’s why God says: “Moses is gone, but I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.

DON’T see somebody’s experience as your experience – Learn from it, take Precaution from it: but don’t be bound in the fear.

Because somebody has gone through something does not mean you will go through it also!

Your Faith in God must be yours, and not based on somebody’s experience!

Because you don’t know everything about everybody!

… So God says to Joshua, I hear!

And I want to tell you this morning – GOD IS WITH: He is with you when you are running from danger, He is with you when you are facing danger!

He is with you.

He has said: I will not LEAVE you nor FORSAKE you.

So these are the two (2) instances where God says: “I will not leave you nor forsake you.

• He says it to Jacob, when he was running away from danger;
• He says it to Joshua,when he was running into danger.

Both instances, God says: I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.

So, when the Writer of Hebrews comes and say, For He Himself has said: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

These are the two (2) Instances he is referring to: To Jacob – I will not leave you nor forsake you; to Joshua – I will not leave you nor forsake you.

One is running AWAY from threat; the other is running INTO threats!

These Promises, were not made to the Writer of Hebrews.

NOTE: The reason why I said: “The Writer of Hebrews” is because there is a doubt as to who wrote the Book of Hebrews.

I think it was Apostle Paul who wrote it because the Language is very ‘Pauline.’

But in the New Testament, Apostle Paul starts his writing with Name ‘Paul.’

But in the Book of Hebrews, it doesn’t start with ‘Paul’ – So there is a doubt whether it is Paul or not.

Whether it is Apostle Paul or Peter (or anybody who wrote it): somebody wrote it – Inspired by God.

And that Person, God did not tell that Person: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God said it to Jacob and said it to Joshua.

But this Person speaks the Word of God, which was spoken to somebody for Himself!

Because, what God has said in His Word is for you, also.

Then he says, God said: “I will never leave you nor forsake.”

Then I may boldly say.

… Somebody say: “I have something to say!”

Now, anytime somebody Post you something on WhatsApp, or you see something on Facebook; WATCH WHAT YOU SAY!

Don’t say: “We are dead ooo!” “We are finish oooo!”

Hey, what can we do? You can do something!

Because God says: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.

So we may boldly say.”

WHAT CAN WE “BOLDLY SAY?

In Hebrews 13:6, it says: So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Now this Phrase – “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

That is quoted in Hebrews 13:6. It didn’t start from Hebrews, it starts from the Psalms! – Psalm 27:1 (that is what Hebrews is quoting).

And Psalms 27:1 says: “The LORD is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the Strength of my Life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

… This was a Psalms of David.

And there is a suggestion that David wrote this Psalms during the rebellion against Him by his son Absalom.

And if you read through the whole Psalms, he says other things.

And I will quickly quote some of the things he says in Psalms 27.

In Psalms 27:8, David says: When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Now, how can David seek the face of the Lord? – Because God Said it!

… What we say is based on what God says!

Psalms 27:10 says: “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.”

Psalms 27:13 – “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the Goodness of the Lord in the land of the Living.”

I don’t know about you, but you will see the Goodness of the Lord In the land of the Living

Psalms 27:14 – Wait on the Lord; Be of Good courage,And He shall Strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

God’s Word is times Past, gives me something to say, in this Present Time!

He has said: “I will not leave you nor forsake you.” So we can BOLDY SAY: the Lord is my Strength and my Helper, whom shall I fear?”

I. So, when you DON’T KNOW what to say; what you say must be SCRIPTURAL.

So when you don’t know what to say; say what the Bible says.

… What we say must be SCRIPTURAL.

II. Not only must it be Scriptural, it must HONOUR GOD.

III. And what we say must be what we DESIRE.

IV. Don’t say what you don’t want to happen; SAY what you want to HAPPEN!

“The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; I will see the Goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living.”

So, I’m just giving you some Guidelines as to how to comport your Faith in these Times.

Definitely wash and sanitise your hands; wear Double or Triple Mask. And if anybody tells you it’s not a Sign of Faith; that is up to them!

Socially distant (if need be)! Don’t go and throw a Birthday Party – This is not a time for it.

You will have a time to Party; you will have another Birthday next Year – By which time this Virus will be out. And by then you can have the biggest Party from North to South!

… But this is not the time for it; it’s just common sensical.

But in addition to all of that: WATCH WHAT YOU SAY!

Don’t kill yourself, before the Virus gets to you!

And don’t open the door for attack to yourself!

That is why you must say what God says:

“The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; the Lord is my Shield, the Lord is my Deliverer, the Lord is my Protector, the Lord will keep me Safe. I will see the Goodness of the Lord in the land of the Living.”

That is your Language!

So in Conclusion, I’m going to give you three (3) Patterns of Speech.

And they come from the Scriptures – Everything is from the Scriptures.

And by the way, all the Declarations we do before I start Preaching; they are ALL in the Scripture.

.. It is not Mensa Otabil’s words, it is the Scriptures.

Every Part of our Declaration is referenced – There is over fourteen (14) Scriptures I put together to create that Declaration.

Because our words are Nice, but they are not Powerful.

It is the Word of God in your mouth that has the Power.

That is why when Satan tempts Jesus, Jesus doesn’t say: “Hey, get away from there, I don’t want you!” He would say: “IT IS WRITTEN.

Even the SON OF GOD quoted the WORD of God.

Your word may be nice; you may have nice Poetry but not Powerful – The Power is: “God has said it, so I can BODLY SAY IT.”

So let me give you three (3) and then we close: What GOD SAYS and what WE SAY

1. HE HAS SAID: “When you Pass through the waters, I will be with you;
   And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
   When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
   Nor shall the flame scorch you” – Isaiah 43:2

So I BODLY SAY: “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler
And from the Perilous Pestilence” – Psalms 91:3

The Lord will deliver me from every traps, and from every Pestilence.

2. HE HAS SAID: “If My People who are called by My Name will humble themselves, and Pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” – 2 Chronicles 7:14

So I BOLDLY SAY: “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my Praise” – Jeremiah 17:14

… So if you are sick, this is your Prayer!

For everyone who has been afflicted by this Virus, I say to you: THE LORD IS YOUR HEALER – Amen!

And over this Land of Ghana (and Nigeria by extension): I SAY HEALING TO THE LAND – Amen!

I SAY HEALING TO THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD – Amen!

I SAY HEALING TO THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD – Amen!

I SAY HEALING TO YOUR FAMILY – Amen

3. HE HAS SAID: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall Glorify Me” – Psalms 50:15

So I BOLDLY SAY: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears” – Psalms 34:4

… So these are what God says, and what WE SAY.

And you can pick these and make them your Declaration throughout the week!

When somebody gives you information and your head is spinning and your heart is racing and you feel like saying something very, very nonesensible – SAY WHAT GOD SAYS!

Instead of saying: “We are all going oooo!’

You and who are going (laughing)? – Don’t include anybody!

But You will NOT DIE! You will live to declare the Glory of God.

The Lord is your Helper, the Lord is your Strength, the Lord is your Shield, the Lord is your Deliverer, the Lord is your Salvation. And He will deliver you!

We will go through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and we will fear no evil; because THOU ART WITH ME!*

Yes, we are going through it. It will be scary; when you look around, you will hear things that will make your heart beat.

But He has said: “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”

Whether you are running away from threat, or you are running into danger: “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”

*This morning I just came, to Wake up your heart that your GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE.

He is still a Saviour, He is still a Redeemer, He is still a Healer, He is still a Protector, He is still a Provider.

And HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU!

Rise up with me! And lift up your hands to Heaven and say:

LORD GOD JEHOVAH, YOU ARE MY DWELLING PLACE, YOU ARE MY SHIELD, YOU ARE MY PROTECTOR.

TODAY, I BRING MYSELF UNDER YOUR COVERING. COVER ME, DELIVER ME, KEEP ME SAFE.

BY YOUR WORD, I DWELL IN SAFETY, MY FAMILY DWELLS IN SAFETY. AND I WILL GO THROUGH THIS VALLEY.

BUT NO EVIL SHALL BEFALL ME, BECAUSE YOU HAVE SAID: “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”

SO I BOLDLY SAY: “THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH, THE LORD IS MY LIGHT, WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO ME?”

IF GOD BE FOR ME, NOTHING CAN COME AGAINST ME LORD. SO I DECLARE VICTORY TODAY LORD.

IN JESUS’ NAME – AMEN!

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