WORDS OF OUR SALVATION (PART 5): PASTOR MENSA OTABIL – COMMUNION SERVICE, SUNDAY 30TH MAY, 2021
SUNDAY SERVICE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)
TOPIC: WORDS OF OUR SALVATION – PART 5.
DATE: 30TH MAY, 2021
TEXT: GENESIS 2:3
Amen! Let’s rise up together, 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!
On Last Sundays I am Teaching on “THE WORDS OUR OF SALVATION.”
And I am tracking various words Prominent in our Salvation.
So far we have talked about: being Born Again, Redemption, the New Creation, Justification:
DMC NOTES: We can get to access the first 4 Parts on the Series on the Links below:
- BORN AGAIN – https://discoverymediacrew.com/The-Words-Of-Our-Salvation-Part-1-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil
- REDEMPTION – https://discoverymediacrew.com/Words-Of-Our-Salvation-Part-2-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil
- NEW CREATION – https://discoverymediacrew.com/Words-Of-Our-Salvation-Part-3-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil
- JUSTIFICATION – https://discoverymediacrew.com/Words-Of-Our-Salvation-Part-4-Justification-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil
And today is Part 5 of the Series of WORDS OF OUR SALVATION – And we are dealing with a Subtitle: SANCTIFICATION.
Sanctification is a word that most of us might have heard or might have used, in relation to our Christian walk.
And today we will explore what it means to be Sanctified and how to make it real in our lives.
I begin with Genesis 2:3 – This is the first time the word (Sanctification) is used in the Bible.
Genesis 2:3 (NKJV):
“Then God blessed the Seventh (7th) Day and Sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His works which God had created and made.”
… We see the word ‘SANCTIFIED’ used.
Sanctified is the Verb of SANCTIFICATION – which is a Noun.
So, it’s about the same word, but used in different forms.
Sanctified is the act of making something or someone Clean or Holy.
So, when we say that something is Sanctified, it is an act or something that is there to make someone Clean or Holy.
Sanctified means to be removed from Ordinary Use.
*So, when we say something is sanctified, it means we have removed it from Normal or Ordinary Usage.
Usually, when we have Holy Communion, and I am instituting and Blessing the Communion Table, we use words to show that we are setting apart the Elements from Normal Usage.
That is what we mean by Sanctified – Something is being removed from Normal Usage so that it will not be done as usual.
Sanctified also means to be given Holy to God.
We do the same with the Communion Elements – And that is what God did to the Seventh (7th) Day.
Although the Seventh (7th) Day, like every other days of all the Seven (7) Days, God set it apart. He Sanctified it and He dedicated it for a Purpose.
So, the Seventh (7th) Day became the Servant. And on that day, God rested!
To be Sanctified means to be removed from Ordinary Use and to be given totally to God.
Anytime we use that in relationship to our Salvation and in our Relationship with God, we are talking about being wholly dedicated to God.
1 Corinthians 1:1-2 reads: Paul, called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ through the Will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be Saints, with all who in every Place call on the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
This is how the Apostle Paul introduced his Letter to the Church in Corinth. He addressed both the Church and the Members of the Church.
… The Church as a Body, and the Members of the Church.
Now, I want you to Pay attention to Two (2) words that Paul used in these Verses:
The first is SANCTIFIED, and the other is SAINTS.
Both come from the same Greek word ‘Hagious’ – It’s the root word from where you get Saints and Sanctified.
So the words Saints and Sanctified are talking about really, the same thing.
To the Church who are at Corinth; those who are Sanctified in Christ and called to be Saints.
In the New Testament, the Believer is Sanctified in Christ – Paul said, we are Sanctified in Christ.
In this context, the word Sanctified means to be dedicated to God.
And the Sanctification of the Believer is in Christ; not in himself, but in Christ, we are Sanctified.
This is a very, very heavy statement – We are Sanctified in Christ.”
And I will explain it later!
And then, not only are we Sanctified, we are called to be Saints – “Sanctified in Christ, and called to be Saints.”
The word ‘SAINT’ means one who is Holy.
So called to be Saints, you can also say, call to be Holy.
Now, I am aware that in some Church Traditions, Sainthood is given to a few People who attain a certain level of Spirituality.
And so, in certain Christian Churches, some People, after a certain Processes, are canonized as Saints.
However, when you read the Bible, throughout – From both the Old Testament and the New Testament; you will realised that Sainthood was not for a Special Kind of People.
Psalms 30:4 says: Sing Praise to the Lord, you Saints of His, And give Thanks at the remembrance of His Holy Name.
… He is talking about all the Believers – “You Saints of His”.
Psalms 149:1 says: Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a New Song, And His Praise in the Assembly of Saints.
… The whole congegation of Israel were called the Saints.
In the New Testament – Acts 9:13-14 says: Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your Saints in Jerusalem. And here he has Authority from the Chief Priests to bind all who call on Your Name.”
He is talking about Paul Persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem – And the Christians are called Saints.
And then in 1 Corinthians 16:1 – Now concerning the collection for the Saints, as I have given orders to the Churches of Galatia, so you must do also:
You just find from the body of Scriptures, that the generality of Christians are called Saints.
That is not to say that those who Pronounce some People Saints, are wrong! That is their Process but the Scriptures shows that Sainthood is not limited to only a few People.
We are SANCTIFIED in Christ, and we are Called to be SAINTS.
When you read these two (2) thoughts – Sanctified in Christ, Called to be Saints – It gives you the idea that Sanctification manifest in two (2) ways:
- Sanctification is Positional.
That means we are Sanctified – When we say something is Positional, it means you are already in the Position. You are already in it!
When we say Sanctification is Positional, it means you are already Sanctified. You are in that Position. It is Positional.
When Christ comes to live in our hearts, we become Born Again Christians; God takes away all our sins – And when He does that, we are Positionally Sanctified.
… But that is not the end of our Sanctification, because;
- Sanctification is also Progressive.
We are being Sanctified – When we say something is Progressive, it means it is happening gradually.
Sanctification is Positional and it is Progressive.
You know you can use those words to talking to People: “Sanctification is Positional and it is Progressive.”
How can something be Positional and Progressive at the same time?
… How can you have it and still be growing into it?
It is like when we were born as babies – Every baby that is born; before they even come out of the Womb, they are Human Beings.
So, the child is born – That’s a Human Being. Probably about one and half (1½) Long; Weighing about seven (7) Pounds (you can do the conversion into kilos in your head).
… I was born in pounds and ounces era.
DMC NOTES:To convert (Pounds) lbs to Kilogram (kg), multiply the given lbs value by 0.45359237 kg. For example, to convert 5 lbs to kilogram, multiply the given 5 lbs by 0.45359237 kg.
In essence: 1 POUND = 0.454 KILOGRAMS
That’s a baby!
Is that baby a Human Being? – Yes!
Did they have to grow to become Human Beings? – No, they are already Human Being.
But that Human Being is not a mature Human Being! So, that child is going to grow in height, grow in understanding, grow in so many areas – Positionally, a Human Being; Progressively, a Human Being. A Human Being who is growing into full Maturity.
… That is how our Sanctified is!
Positionally, we are Sanctified, but it doesn’t mean we are Sanctified in Position. We have to Progressively grow in Sanctification.
The day we got Born Again, we became Sanctified People. But you and I know that our lives doesn’t always demonstrate Sanctification.
So, we have to GROW in Sanctification.
HOW DO WE THEN LIVE A SANCTIFIED LIFE? – A Life that is Holy; a Life that brings Glory to God; a life that helps us to live the life that God has given to us.
To do that, there are few things we have to learn.
And I will just take you to a Verse in the Old Testament and comment on it, and give you some thoughts.
Leviticus 10:8-11 – It is an instruction to the Priests. But I will take it beyond the Instruction to the Priests.
Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tabernacle of Meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your Generations, that you may distinguish between Holy and Unholy, and between Unclean and Clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”
God called Israel to become a Holy Nation. And the Process of becoming a Holy Nation was going to be through Priests teaching them.
And the Core of the Teachings of the Priests was that: They must be able to teach the People to know the difference between what is Holy and what is Unholy.
So, to live Sanctified Life, we must know what is Holy and what is Unholy.
In the Old Testament, God hammered this Principle to Israel very Strongly.
And so when you read the Old Testament Scriptures, especially the Book of Leviticus and some of the Book or Exodus; you find that the life of Israel was divided between Holy and Unholy.
In every areas of their lives, some things were considered Holy, and others were considered Unholy.
When it came to what they are, some things were Holy, others were Unholy.
In their communities, some areas were Holy and others were Unholy.
In what they said, some words were Holy, others were Unholy; some animals were Holy, others were not Holy.
So, why did God divide His own Creation between Holy and Unholy?
Did God create Unholy things? – No!
In Genesis 1:31, God saw all He had down and He said it was very Good! – He didn’t create anything Unholy.
So, why did God then divide between Holy and Unholy?
It was to give them a sense of awareness; a sense of consciousness that in this world, some things are Holy and some things are Unholy.
And for them to get that imprinted in their Mind, God determined that some animals would be called Holy, some would not be called Holy – Although, He Created all or them.
Why? – Because He wanted them to know the difference between what is Holy and what is not Holy.
For us to live Sanctified Life, we must know the difference between what is Holy and what is not Holy.
In the New Testament, we don’t have separation between Holy animals and Unholy animals; between Holy foods and Unholy foods.
But the Principle is the same – We must know the difference between what is Holy and what is not Holy.
We can’t just live our lives anyway and think that what we do is Holy – No! God wants us to live Sanctified Life.
Some things are Holy and some things are not Holy; some words are Holy, some words are not Holy; some thoughts are Holy, some thoughts are not Holy, some Actions are Holy, some Actions are not Holy.
… And we must know the difference so that we don’t mix it together.
To live Sanctified Life, we must know what is Holy and what is not Holy! Not only must we know, we must separate ourselves from what is Unholy.
Being aware is one thing, separation is another thing.
So, a Sanctified Life is a separated Life! – A Life that has been separated.
We live our lives with the awareness that God has separated us unto Himself. We belong to Him, we are separated to Him.
This sense that, we have been Set Apart; is what helps us to live a Sanctified Life.
And if you look at such Life, you will realised that those People who live life with the knowledge that they have been Set Apart.
They are able to make a lot of sacrifices easily because they have a sense that they are separated!
Even in the occult, or in the cult; somebody who believes he has been separated to the gods can walk barefoot for the rest of his Life. And walk on thorns and all of that (and never complains).
Why? – Because they believe they are separated!
… Because when you are separated, Sacrificial Living is easy.
And that is why for us to live a Sanctified Life, we must first of all lall know we have been separated from the world by Jesus Christ and we must live separated Life.
Until Christians become aware that they have been Set Apart – Separated; the Christian Life will not become easy.
That is why People would say: Should I do this? Should I not do that? Are you saying this is a sin? Are you saying that is a sin?
All of that argument comes to an end when we know that we are separated.
So, you can look at People who are separated in some Christian Denominations, and they never marry – Never had sex!
And you and I will say, it’s hard oooo! How can they?
But when you are separated, Sacrifice is easy!
I am not saying that: ‘Don’t marry!’ All I am saying is, when we know we are separated into the Lord, we Sanctified our lives – Our lives now is lived for a Purpose.
That is why a Person like the Prophetess Anna; from when she was a very Young woman lost her husband. And she decided to separate herself in the Temple Praying.
… And that’s all she did for Years, until Jesus was born.
How could she do it? – Because she accepted that she was separated.
The separation of the Christian is what makes it easy for him or her to live a Holy Life.
Sanctification is Separation! – We are in the world, but we are not of the world.
Sanctification requires our Involvement;
It is not just God Who sanctifies us but there is something that we do.
2 Corinthians 7:1 says: Therefore, having these Promises, Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting Holiness in the fear of God.
“… Perfecting Holiness in the fear of God.”
HOW DO WE DO IT?
We Cleanse ourselves.
I Thessalonians 4:3-4 says: For this is the Will of God, your Sanctification: that you should abstain from Sexual Immorality; that each of you should know how to Possess his own Vessel in Sanctification and Honour,
“Our Sanctification requires that we abstain from Sexual Immorality; that each of you should know how to Possess his own Vessel (this body) in Sanctification and Honour.”
Is it Possible for a Christian to live and flee sexual immorality? – Yes!
How does a Christian do that? – You have to know that you are separated unto God!
Young women, Young men, you are separated to God and once you become aware you are separated, believe you me, sin becomes easy to overcome.
Because until you know that you have been Set Apart by God, you would think you are Ordinary; you are Normal – Everybody has feelings, everybody has demands, everybody has desires!
Separated People abide to a certain Mindset and are committed to another Mindset.
The Lord separates us!
HOW DOES GOD SEPARATE US?
What Instruments does He uses to Sanctified us?
Now, when you look into the Old Testament, you will realised that Sanctification was done in many ways – Through Blood, through Water, through Oil.
… That’s basically how Sanctification was done!
*So, for Sanctification to take Place, Blood Sacrifice was made; Or sometimes Water.
In other words, People had to literally wash themselves or wash their clothes.
And then, for People to be Set Apart, they received the Anointing Oil.
These were the three (3) basic ways Sanctification was done – Do you get it?
WHAT ARE THE INSTRUMENTS OF SANCTIFICATION?
- The first (1st) Instrument is THE BLOOD OF JESUS – That cleanses us from sin.
1 John 1:6-7; If we say that we have Fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not Practice the Truth. But if we walk in the Light as He is in the Light, we have Fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The Blood of Jesus cleanses us!
The day you got Born Again, that’s what happened. The Blood of Jesus, Positionally cleansed you, Sanctified you.
- The Second (2nd) Instrument that God uses to Sanctify us is THE WORD OF GOD.
The Word of God cleanses our Minds.
John 17:17-19, Jesus say:
Sanctify them by Your Truth. Your Word is Truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I Sanctify Myself, that they also may be Sanctified by the Truth.
The Word of God sanctifies us, the Blood of Jesus sanctifies us! – One cleanses our hearts from sin, the other cleanses our thoughts (from sinful thoughts)!
- Third (3rd) Instrument of Sanctification – THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The Holy Spirit sets us Apart for God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says: Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
The Holy Spirit has been used to Seal US, Mark Us; so when we go out to the world, we are “Marked People”.
Marked by what? – Marked by the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament they would see Priests and the Holy People would be Marked.
How would you know they were Marked? – There would be Oil in their heads and you would know, this is a Marked Man!
But in the New Testament, the Oil is the Holy Spirit.
And as we go through the world, remember you are a Marked Woman, a Marked Man – In your Office you are Marked, at School you are Marked, in the Roadside you are Marked, in doing Business, you are Marked.
Marked by what? – The Holy Spirit.
Why does He Mark you? – To Set us Apart. So that in your going and coming, you would know that your life is Sanctified.
Set Apart from what is Unholy, so we can do what is Holy.
It is Possible for a Christian to abstain from sexual immorality.
… I will say it again;
It is possible for a Christian to ABSTAIN from Sexual Immorality.
How can they do it? – They must know that they have been Set Apart.
If an Occult set apart can walk barefoot on thorns and stones and hot coal tar (which is hard)!
Then we, born of the Spirit of God, Set Apart unto Holiness, can also Abstain from the sins of the flesh.
…. We can, because we have been Set a Apartpart unto the Lord!
And may the Lord help us as Christians, to live Sanctified Lives, Holy lives – Holy in Thoughts, Holy in Words, Holy in Actions (Amen).
The next time you are speaking some words, ask yourself: “Is it Sanctified?”
When a Thought gets into your head, ask yourself: “Is this a Sanctified Thought?” And if it is not, purge it out!
If you are speaking and the word is not Sanctified, stop talking.
If you are doing something that is not Sanctified – Stop!
Why? – Because you have been separated from all the People of this world.
God has separated us; and has called us His own; that we can live our lives to His Glory.
We are, the SET APART ONES for Jehovah God – Amen!
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