SHARING THE GOSPEL-PART 1: DR. MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 6TH MARCH, 2022.
SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE BY DR. MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
TOPIC: SHARING THE GOSPEL – PART 1
DATE: 6TH MARCH, 2022
TEXT: MARK 16:15-16
Let’s rise up together as we take our DECLARATION OF INCREASE in this Year of Increase:
Are you ready? Say with me:
I confess today that Jesus Christ is my LORD and Saviour. In Him I have life, His Abundant Life.
The Lord is my Light and Strength. As He is, so has He made me. By His Spirit I Increase in Word and in Wisdom. In Faith and in Favour.
The Lord has said: “In Blessing, I will bless you. In multiplying I will Multiply your Seed.”
So, I can boldly say: My God shall Increase me more and more. What I Place in God’s Hands grows into Overflow.
Though I begin small, my end shall Greatly Increase.
In this Year of Increase, I grow in Grace and in Strength. To be all that God wants me to be.
In Jesus’ Name – AMEN!
I am going to do a two-Part Message, beginning from this week and next week. And I have Titled it: SHARING THE GOSPEL.
So I begin with what has been called the Great Commission in Mark’s Gospel 16:15-16.
Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV):
15 And He said to them, Go into all the world and Preach the Gospel to every Creature.
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
This is Jesus speaking to His Disciples after He had resurrected and had been with them for a while. And He’s just about to ascend to Heaven.
And He leaves this Final Instructions to His Disciples. And by extension, to us. As to what we should be doing in the interim, between His First Coming and His Second Coming because Jesus is Coming again!
And that’s what the Scripture Promise us – He is Coming Again.
In between the time He left and the time He returns, He says, this is what we should do.
And there are Two (2) Main Commands there that I just want to draw your attention to:
- First is “GO INTO ALL THE WORLD.
I want you to take note of the two (2) words: ‘Go’ and ‘world’.
The word ‘go’ is the word Movement! You cannot hear ‘GO’ and stay.
It is a Command, it’s a Verb, it’s an active word.
And so Jesus Christ told His Disciples – “GO.” Move!
So “Going” implies that we are going to move from one Place to the other – “… Go into all the world!” Go into every Parts that is inhabited on this Planet.
And that’s what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to go into all the world. He wants us to go into every Countries, every Ethnic Groups, go into every Space.
- And the Second thing He told us to do is: “PREACH THE GOSPEL.
So we don’t go into all the world to advertise ourselves; we go into all the world to Preach the Gospel.
The word ‘Preach’ simply means to make an Announcement. Or make a Proclamation. To Proclaim something.
It is very similar to what happens in our Villages (I wonder whether it still happens). But in most Villages there is the Town Crier.
And the Town Crier, when the Chief has a Message, would take the gongon (Something like a Bell); and would go to the Village Square and Announce.
The Greek word that is interpreted as ‘Preach” is the same as one who heralds. It is very similar to Town Crier who goes to make an Announcement.
So Jesus says: Go into the world and Announce something.
What are we supposed to Announce? – We are supposed to Announce the Gospel; The Good News.
Each one of us is called by God to Partake in going to the world and Preaching the Gospel – Everyone of us.
This is not just for Pastors; it is for everyone of us.
In the days of Jesus – And you know that the days of Jesus were the days of the Roman Empire; this idea of announcing Good News was associated with War.
Because when they went to war – Remember those days there was no Facebook, no Internet, no CNN (Cable News Network) and there was no GBC (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) in Ghana. Something like NTA (Nigerian Television Authority) as well in Nigeria.
And so, if you have to get a Message Somebody has to Physically run from the battlefront to the City to make an Announcement.
And the Person who does that, they will say that he is announcing Good News or he is speaking to her Gospel.
So the term was in existence before Jesus used it. And it meant Somebody who brings Good News from afar! – He comes to tell us the battle is Victorious and we have won! And the whole City rejoices.
… And that Person is said to have brought Good News.
But Jesus said we should do the same thing. But the Good News we announce is the Good News of His Kingdom.
He also wants us to announce to the world – “The Battle is over!” (As Kwame Nkurumah said). And there is Freedom from sins and Freedom from Satan.
DMC NOTES: Kwame Nkrumah PC was a Ghanaian Politician, Political Theorist, and Revolutionary. He was the First Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast (Former name of Ghana as at then) to Independence from Britain in 1957. He was born on the 21st of September 1909, in Nkroful, Ghana and died on the 27th of April 1972. He was married to Fathia Nkrumah (1957–1972).
So when we go out, we are the ones who are announcing what God has already achieved for His People.
Romans 1:16 tells us what the Gospel contains – It says: For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the Power of God to Salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
… Remember he said the Gospel of Christ; not the Gospel of any Pastor, not even the Gospel of our Church – It is the Gospel of Christ!
So what does the Passage say? – The Passage is telling us that the Gospel is the Power of God to save.
Anytime we Preach the Gospel, God’s Power to save is on demonstration.
WHAT IS GOD SAVING US FROM?
… Two (2) Things I will want to focus on:
- He saves us from the Control of Satan.
When we announce the Gospel, we are telling People – God has freed us from the Power of Satan.
That is why the Preaching of the Gospel cannot be about how Powerful Satan is.
The Preaching of the Gospel must be about how Powerful God is – To deliver us from Satan.
You cannot talk about the Power of witches and wizards, and call that the Gospel because that is Bad News.
The Power of the Gospel says: God has delivered you. Just like the old time Person in Ancient Rome would run from the battlefront and say – We have won!
Anytime we Preach the Gospel, we are saying: “God won! Jesus won! The Power of Satan is broken! We went to the warfront, we saw what happened and we have come to announce to you that we have won the battle!”
The Gospel is a “Victorious Message”; it is not a “Defeatish Message”. It is a Message that tells us, Satan has been defeated and God won!
Not that; the Gospel also tells us that God saved us from the Power of sin. Sin has no dominion over us!
Adam’s sin (which condemned the whole world to Judgment) has been overcome!
The Gospel is the Power of God to free us, to save us from Satan’s Control and from the Power of sin.
Anytime you and I go somewhere and say we are going to Preach to Somebody; or we are going to tell Somebody about Christ; we are going to Witness the Gospel, or we are going on Soul Winning:
I. We have to be sure that the Message we carry is not a Message of defeat.
II. We have to be sure that the Message we carry does not exalt the devil,but it exalts Christ – Because that is the Good News!*
… Just taking the Microphone and Preaching does not mean you are Preaching the Gospel.
You know sometimes People think that Gospel is criticizing Human Behaviour. Many times you see by the roadside, very enthusiastic well-meaning sincere People Preaching.
And all they are talking about is – The skirts of the girls and what they are doing, what they shouldn’t be doing, what People are doing wrong. And sometimes we even go to the extent of criticizing: how People behave at home, at work and all of that!
… Well, it’s good to talk about Societal ills. But that is not exactly the Gospel.
The Gospel is not criticizing People’s skirts. The Gospel is about announcing that there was a Battle. And in that battle, it was between Jesus and the forces of Darkness. And we have come from the battlefront to announce to you that Jesus won the battle.
And because of that Satan has no Power, and his Control over you is broken.
… That is what we announce!
Even if you don’t like the Person; or Somebody is wearing a skirt you don’t like and you feel very compelled the criticize the skirt; you have to leave that criticism for another time.
But when you are Preaching the Gospel, it is to announce the Victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that is what He charged us to talk about. Alright!
WHO PREACHES THE GOSPEL? AND WHO MUST HEAR THE GOSPEL?
Romans 10:13-15, and it says: For “whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a Preacher? And how shall they Preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who Preach the Gospel of Peace, Who bring Glad Tidings of Good Things!”
That is quoting from Isaiah 52:7 – How beautiful upon the Mountains are the feet of him who brings Good News, Who Proclaims Peace, Who brings Glad Tidings of Good Things, Who Proclaims Salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
… That’s the Gospel – God Reigns! God is the Ruler. Satan is defeated
But there are questions that we have to answer. And that question is divided into Two (2) set of People:
- THE PROCLAIMER OF GOOD NEWS.
- Who qualifies to Proclaim the Good News?
- Who is supposed to go out and tell the Gospel?
- Who is supposed to go and make Christ known?
- And what puts us in a Place to do that?
I. The Proclaimer of the Good News is first and foremost, a Person who is saved and sent by Christ.
He has experienced Salvation, and he is going to tell others what he has experienced.
He saw something, and he must go and tell People what he saw. That is what it means to Witness.
When you are Witnessing something: you have had an experience of it. You have encountered it, you have seen it. And now you are testifying what you saw it, that you heard it.
So for us to Preach the Gospel, we should have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because if you haven’t encountered Him you cannot go and Witness that you know Him.
You know, there are times that People talk about People as if they know them. And then when they meet the People, you realised they don’t know them.
I will never forget when we were talking to Somebody, he said Oh Otabil, I know him. We grew up together.
You know normally when People say that, they are going to say something bad: Oh he thinks he’s Somebody now. We knew him when he was a small boy.
Finally I said, I don’t really know this Person. I can’t figure out. I can’t recollect the name. So I said, let’s go see this Person who knows me very well, better than myself.
Incidentally we met the Person at the Airport. And so the one who he has been telling me this guy says he knows me, said “this is him.” So I looked at him, he looked at me. I said “where do we know each other?” – Nowhere!
… That is called a “False Witness”.
So it’s like Somebody who says – Jesus Christ saves! Jesus is the Saviour. Has He saved you? Have you met Jesus? Have you experienced Him? What you are talking about, has He done it for you?
Because if you don’t have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot be telling People about Him.
So the Proclaimer of the Gospel; in order not to be a False Witness, must be Somebody who has experienced what he is talking about – I have been saved, Christ has touched my life, He has cleansed my life. And based on that, He has sent me to come and tell you something about Him.
… You need to experience Him first!
And there are People talking about Christ, who have not experienced Him. They are like that guy who said he knows me and has no clue.
He Probably knows me on Television. And when you encounter them, they fumble.
But when you really know Christ, you may not know everything about Him.
… Next week I am going to talk about different ways of witnessing Christ.
But I remember a blind man who was healed by Jesus. People said, well Jesus is this, Jesus is that way. He said well, I don’t know ooo. All I know is “once I was blind, now I can see.”
So take it or leave it; that is as far as my Witness can go! I can’t talk about leg, I can’t talk about ear. I can’t talk about Doctrine. But I can talk about what He has done for me.
A Proclaimer of the Gospel must have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is based on the fact that He has saved you, that He has sent us.
II. And the Proclaimer of the Gospel must go to where People are.
The Passage says to those whom God sends, their feet are beautiful – “How beautiful are the feet of those who Preach the Gospel of Peace, Who bring Glad Tidings of Good Things!”
What does it mean?
Does it mean they are wearing Good shoes? – No! It means their walk is well.
It means, you know – you are very thirsty in a wilderness, dying of thirst. And Somebody comes and says: “I have water!”
In our language we say: “He has walked well.” His feet are beautiful because he has come with Beautiful News.
So the Bible says, those who carry the Good News, their feet are beautiful. It doesn’t mean they are wearing nice shoes. It simply means their Message is so needed. That for those who need it, it is a relief to them.
They have come well; they have done at the right time; they have given their Message in a timely way, and their Message is a Good News.
“… How beautiful are the feet of those who Preach the Gospel of Peace, Who bring Glad Tidings of Good Things!”
III. And those who Preach the Good News (the Passage says) they go on Mountains.
… They do whatever it takes to get to where People are.
And those whom God sends they Proclaim the Good News. They announce God’s Peace and God’s Salvation.
God’s Peace! – They don’t announce God’s quarrel, but God’s Peace. Peace with God.
Even if we have to talk about the sins of People, we must talk about it and end by telling them – Jesus has died for all of those sins. And if you believe in Him your sins have been forgiven.
You can’t condemn People by Preaching the Gospel.
You must always show them to what Jesus Christ has done – That their sins can be forgiven, because Jesus has died for them.
And everytime we Preach the Gospel – That is the Message; we are Preaching, Announcing Peace, Proclaiming News of Happiness – “Our God reigns!”
… So that is for the Proclaimer of the Gospel.
- THE ONE WHO NEEDS THE GOOD NEWS.
What about the one who receives the Gospel? Or the one who needs Good News?
I. They must HEAR the Good News.
Now imagine a thirsty man (like I said earlier) who is dying of thirst. You are.coming to bring him Good News, and you tell him – “Oh I’m so sorry for you, I just Passed by a well when I was coming. And the well was full of water.”
… That’s not Good News to him! – You are telling him about something somewhere!
Because as for the thirsty man, the Good News is not just the News about the existence of water, but what he wants you to say is: “When I Passed by the well I fetched some of the water to bring to you.”
… That is Good News to him.
It is not just talking about the well, but that you carried some of the water of the well. Or that you can take him to where the well is to find the water.
So anytime we are Proclaiming Good News to Somebody, the Person expects us to lead them to what their Soul is hungry for; and what their Soul is thirsty for.
It is the Great Augustine – normally calls him Anthony, who said – “God has made us for Himself. Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him”.
What did he mean by that? – God has created a hole inside each one that only He can fill. And when we Proclaim the Gospel, we are filling that deep hole in People.
Some People try to fill it with alcohol; some People try to fill it with sex, some People try to fill it with food and Partying and sometimes even with Profanity some People try to fill it with Education.
… But that hole is a God-hole; and that God-hole can only be filled by God!
And when we Proclaim the Good News, we have to know: the Person may be Educated, they may have all the Money in the World; but there is a hole inside them that only Jesus Christ can fill. And if you know Jesus Christ, you have something they don’t have!
They may have all the riches of this world but that emptiness in them is a God-hole. And only God can fill it.
And that’s why we have the confidence to share the Gospel with People who are richer than us, more educated than us – People who naturally are better than us..
But we have something they don’t have: we have the Living Water – They are Thirsty People dying in the wilderness.
But Thanks be to God for the Saving Power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So that Person, what must happen to him?
He must hear the Good News – He hears Good News!
Everybody wants to hear Good News – Not Bad News, not Condemnation. Good News!
… But not only must they hear the Good News;
II. They must BELIEVE the Good News.
The People will hear it but never believe it. When you believe it you accept it as the Final Truth.
So you cannot believe (for example) that Jesus Christ is the Saviour and still believe that there are other Ways to God.
If you believe Jesus is the Saviour and you still believe there are other Ways to God; then you haven’t believed.
You have an “Intellectual Appreciation” of Jesus Christ.
But with the heart you have not believed because once you believe it settles all questions.
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no Man comes to the Father, except by Him. He is the “Only Way” to the Father.
… That’s what believing it.
Somebody says: “I like Religion! – Me too I Pray small, small. I do this a little, that a little. I know there are many Ways to go to God.”
No, that’s not true! – That’s human understanding.
… There is only one Way to God and He is JESUS CHRIST.
For the Person to believe, they have to come to that “Firm Assurance” that Jesus Christ is the “Only Saviour”.
That is when you say – “He has believed.”
And if you are in this Church or you are reading this Message now on the Label of DMC and you are having double Opinion; you haven’t believed yet. You are a nice Church Member but you are not yet in Christ. Alright!
… So, he Believes the Good News! And then what does he do next?
III. He CALLS ON THE LORD.
That is he Prays to God and say: God, I Thank You that Jesus Christ has died for me. And now I receive Him into my heart.
And the Bible says “Whoever CALLS on the Name of the Lord shall be saved”.
Now when the Bible says in Romans 10:13 that: “Whoever Calls on the Name of the Lord” – It is not Somebody who says JESUS! Theb he is saved. No!
You have to read that in context – The context says that the Person must hear the Gospel Preached.
If you read Romans 10:9, it says: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
You don’t just become saved because you said JESUS!
So when He says: “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord” – It doesn’t mean just mentioning His Name.
It means mentioning His Name based on the fact that you have heard the Gospel you Believe the Gospel, you believe He is the Only Way, and you Call on Him as the Only Way to save you – Then you will be saved.
… And whoever does that will be saved.
And that’s how we share the Gospel – It’s Simple and Straightforward:
I. You must experience Salvation.
II. Then you must tell People about what you have Witnessed.
III. And you must share what Christ had done for them on the Cross of Calvary.
… And next week I’m going to talk about Different Ways of Sharing the Gospel.
Because in the Bible you find People share the Gospel in different ways.
Because some People are going to say Pastor, I don’t even know Verses, I don’t know Quotations. So what if I go and they ask me Quotations what should I do? – “Once I was blind, now I see!”
These Questions about – Are Catholics right? What about Angelican? What about Muslins? I don’t know about that!
What I know: Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world. He saved me and He can save you too.
I am not Intellectually enough to answer all your Questions. But I have had an encounter with Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. And that is the only thing I can share with you today!
… Are you hearing me?
So don’t be intimidated about – Oh what if I go and they floor me with Questions?
No, you are sharing your Encounter with the Lord Jesus.
ALTAR CALL
Now I cannot end this Message without giving Somebody here and all those reading now on the Label of DMC, who has not had an Encounter with Jesus Christ the chance to have an Encounter – To believe in their heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. That Jesus died for them, God raised Him from the dead. And to Call upon the Lord and to be saved.
So if you are here this Morning or reading now on the Label of DMC you say: Pastor, this is the first time I have heard the Gospel explained this way:
I don’t really think I have believed. I don’t really think I have come to that Point of knowing Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour; as the Only Saviour of the world.
And you can be in Church for a long time and not get to that Point.
Sometimes you hear the Message Preached for a long time, before one day it really settles in your heart and then you make a Decision.
So with every head now, every eyes closed; I just want to give People who want to make that Decision the Chance to make that Decision.
So if you are here this Morning or reading now on the Label of DMC and you say:
Pastor, I want to open my heart to Christ. I believe that Jesus died for me, and I want to call upon Him and I want Him to save me from sin and from the control of Satan, I want to live my Life for Him.
If you want to be save, you want to be Born Again, you want to become a Child of God, you want to be assured of Heaven:
With every head now, every eyes closed, I’m just going to ask you to lift up your right hand wherever you are!
If you have your right hand up, I’m just going to ask you to Stand wherever you are.
God bless you!
Now those of you who are Standing, put your hand upon your heart. You say – Pastor why do I have to put my hand upon my heart? It is just that we are going to Pray now and I want you to mean everything from your heart. I want these words to be sincere from your heart.
Put your hand upon your heart and the whole Church is going to Pray with you this Prayer.
Say with me Heavenly Father; I come to you today just as I am. I am a sinner. I cannot save myself.
I ask You Father, save me, deliver me from sin, from the Power of Satan. I believe today that Jesus is the Son of God. He is the Only Saviour, He is the Only Way.
And today I confess Him as my Lord. I declare with my mouth that Jesus Christ is my Lord.
Come Lord Jesus, come and live inside of me. Make me a Child of God, wash away my sins. Deliver me from the Power of Darkness into the Kingdom of God.
I Thank You for accepting me.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name – AMEN.
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