SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
TOPIC: EXERCISING DOMINION
DATE: 23RD JULY 2023
BIBLE TEXT: MARK 26:14-18
Let us rise up together as we make our “DECLARATION OF GATHERING” in this “YEAR OF GATHERING”.
Are you ready? Say with me:
I Proclaim Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. The Lord is the Shepherd of my Soul, my Shelter by Day, my Light by Night.
In His Name, we Plough our fields, by His Spirit we gather the Harvest, in His Light we seek and find.
In this Year of Gathering, the Lord of the Harvest has commanded: Launch Out into the Deep. At His Words, we cast our Nets, we gather in Souls and Substance for God’s Kingdom.
The Lord is our Reward; in this Season I received God’s Portion set aside for me: Full Measure, Pressed down, Shaking together and running over.
Nothing is Lost and Nothing is wasted in Jesus Name – Amen!
Today I am sharing on: “EXERCISING DOMINION”.
Mark 16:14-18 (NKJV);
- Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
- And He said to them, “Go into all the world and Preach the Gospel to every Creature.
- He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
- And these Signs will follow those who believe: In My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
This forms part of a large Instructions that Jesus gave to His Disciples – And the Passage says He rebuked them for their unbelief. Because many People had come to tell the Disciples that Jesus was alive but they didn’t believe. And so He comes to rebuke them for their Unbelief.
WHAT DID THEY NOT BELIEVE?
Of course they knew Jesus was the Son of God, but they didn’t believe something – They didn’t believe He has resurrected from the dead. And so Jesus rebuked them for not believing.
And then He talks about the Signs that would follow those who believe – Believe what? Believe the Resurrection!
If People would believe His Resurrection, then He says, these Signs shall follow them.
So the reason Jesus did all of these is to highlight the Value of Believing over seeing.
You know, many times People say “Seeing is believing.” That is a Natural Truth – “You give me the Physical evidence before I believe.”
And of course if you are doing a business transaction that’s what you’ll do – “Show me the Physical evidence before I believe.”
But when you come to Church, the concept reverses – It’s not about “Show me before I believe or let me see before I believe”; it is “I believe before I see.”
The Challenge of most of us is, because in our Natural world “seeing is believing”, sometimes we are tempted to bring the same concept into the Church – And we want to see before we believe.
But Jesus says that’s the Opposite! You believe and then you see – You don’t see before you believe; you believe and then you see.
There are Three (3) words there that I want to quickly explain what they mean. And then talk about what the Name of Jesus means.
- The first word is the word “SIGN”.
It says, “these Signs shall follow them that believe.”
What is a Sign?
A Sign is a mark by which a thing or a Person is Set apart.
A Sign sets People apart – It marks them out so that they can be identified.
So Jesus says those who believe in His Resurrection, there will be something that marks them out; something that applies to them – A Sign that would be known by them.
If you believe Jesus is resurrected from dead, then He has marked you out for something.
- The second word that I want to look at is the word “FOLLOW”.
“… These signs will follow…”
To follow means to be Present and to go after a Person. To be Present with a Person or go after a Person or a thing.
It says that these Signs shall follow – Everybody say: Follow!
He didn’t say His People would follow Signs; He says the Signs will follow them.
Don’t you think we are doing the opposite of that now? Because what we are doing now is, we are following the Signs.
But Jesus says the Signs would follow you!
Once in a while you hear People say, “Hey, have you heard? There is something happening there; the Power of God is there.” Then we follow! And the next time somebody else says something is happening elsewhere, we follow!
We have a bunch of Christians who are following what should be following them.
Because Jesus says, these Signs will follow you.
And we will talk about Signs pretty soon.
He says “these Signs will follow you!” – In other words, if you believe, He’ll mark you out, and this would be the attendant evidence that you’ve been marked out by the Lord.
- And the third word I want you to take note of is the word, “BELIEVE”.
Believe means to be Persuaded that something is as it is.
He is Alive! Yes, it is as it is:
- Jesus is resurrected.
- Jesus is alive.
- Jesus is the Son of God.
It is as it is and we are Persuaded it is so.
That is what it means to believe – To accept that something is as it is.
When God says, I will bless you: it is as it is, “I am blessed. I believe it.”
When He says you are healed, it is as it is, I am healed – Coming into conformity with God’s Word.
So these Signs, these marks would follow us – Not we following them. And they follow us because we believe.
And then He talks about, “They will cast out demons” – Not demons running after them; they will cast demons out!
So when you sleep at Night, and you have a Dream where you saw an Owl. I don’t know why we think Owls are evil. They are Night birds.
I am sure if you came to my office and you saw the Painting of an Owl (a nice bird on the wall); you will say, these Pastors, we have to watch them ooo; you don’t know what they are dealing with. “Did you see what happened? There is an Owl on his wall” (Laughter)!
An Owl was created by God – It is a Creation of God and it is not evil.
But anyway, if you had a Dream or a Vision and you woke up; and in the Dream or a Vision; there was an Owl with bright Piercing eyes, with its sound; you are going to wake up and run!
And you are going to spend the whole day looking for somebody to Pray for you; somebody to help you.
Why? “Because I saw an Owl and it looked at me with bright Piercing eyes!”
These Signs will follow those who believe – In My name they will not run from Owls; they will cast out Demons.
You are to cast out the Demons. He didn’t say you will kill the demon – Inject, bomb the demon. He says you will cast them out.
Which means, drive them out – Move them away from where they are.
You can’t kill Demons and you can’t inject them with the Blood of Jesus (or whatever blood it is). But the instruction is, drive them away!
You know, many times we do things either for fun, for drama or for Theatre. And we think it is Spiritually Powerful.
But Jesus did not say so! He didn’t say you would kill Demons; He didn’t say you would inject Demons – He said you will drive them out!
And that is what Jesus did – He didn’t kill them, He didn’t inject them with His Blood. He just drove them out – He moved them.
If they are harassing somebody, you just say okay, you’ve done enough, move away somewhere.
That is what it means to cast them out – Evict them from where they are. They will still be around, but not here harassing this Person.
You remember the ones that Jesus sent away from the madman of Gadara? They went somewhere to pigs. And then the pigs went to the water and drown.
So now they have to look for somewhere else to go – You don’t kill them; they keep moving but not where you are.
Somebody say: Not here! Not in my Life, not in my house, not in the Life of my spouse, not the Life of my children – You can move, but not here!
That’s what Jesus is saying – The Demons have their Democratic Right to move, but not here. Not in my Life and family.
And when we see them where we don’t like them, we say move away! – Get out! Go! We drive them out.
… That’s what it means to cast them out!
And then He says “they will speak with New Tongues; they will take up Serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:28)
But all of these things that Jesus says is based on something very important – He said, “In My Name!”
Everybody say: In the Name of Jesus!
Now He didn’t say that “these Signs will follow those who believe – They will cast out demons;” That’s not what He said.
He didn’t say, these Signs will follow those who believe – They will speak with New Tongues;” That’s not what He said.
He interjected it with His facilitating Power: “In My Name.”
If you take “In My Name” out, everything else does not happen.
In the Name of Jesus – Not your Pastor’s name.
You know, I have seen a Practice these days – Maybe People think some things are Spiritually Powerful.
And they say, “I come under the Mantle of my Pastor, my General Overseer; by the Authority of the Apostle is this house.”
You know, I understand our desire to be Spiritual. But that is not spirituality – it is foolishness.
Jesus said, “In My Name!” Now you are saying in the name of my Man of God; in the name of my General Overseer.
The name of your Pastor has no Power. And no Preacher’s name has Power. And nobody has a Mantle anybody can operate under.
We all operate under one Mantle – “The Name of Jesus!”
That’s why He is the Banner of the Christian – That’s our Banner!
We go to battle in the Name of Jesus, not in the name of a Bishop, a Prophet, a Pastor, a General Overseer – You can respect them, but don’t put them in a Place equal to Jesus.
I hope you are following?
So everybody day: In the Name of Jesus!
- When He says “you will cast out Demons;” how do you do it? – In the Name of Jesus
- When He says “you will Speak with New Tongues;” how do you do it? – In the Name of Jesus!
- When He says “they will take up Serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them;” how do you do it? – In the Name of Jesus
- When He says “you will lay hands on the Sick, and they will recover.” How do you do it? – In the Name of Jesus!
… Everything is in the Name of Jesus!
What does the Phrase: “IN THE NAME OF JESUS” mean?
- It means, by His Permission – He is the One Who allows the Signs to Manifest.
So when I say Father, “I do this in Your Name:” – I am doing it with the Permission of Jesus, not by myself.
- Secondly, it means Through His Power.
… By His Permission and through His Power.
The Power to do comes from Jesus.
- And thirdly, it means to Represent Him: to Stand in for Him.
Whenever we say “we are doing this in the Name of Jesus,” we say we are doing it to represent Jesus. We are doing it in His Power, and through His Permission.
“These Signs shall follow them that believe.”
Believe What? – Believe in His Resurrection and not just for believing sake.
Some of you say just say, “I believe!” It is not by hard work my friends.
What do you believe? You can’t just believe, you believe in something or believe something.
And what He rebuked them for is that they didn’t believe that He had resurrected – Even when eye Witnesses had told them, they didn’t believe.
Can you imagine the Disciples of Jesus in their Lifetime could not believe when People told them that He had resurrected? How much more us who came two thousand (2,000) years after the event.
The difficulty for us is that we are so far removed – They were close and they struggled.
… He says if you will believe, then these Signs will follow you.
Beloved, accepting the Resurrection and its impact is what Produces the Signs.
If Jesus had not resurrected then these Signs will not be available. But because He resurrected and we believe in His Resurrection He says these Signs shall follow us.
Somebody say: I believe Jesus Christ died, was buried and He rose again from the dead – I believe He is alive for ever more.
That’s it! If you believe what you just said (that you didn’t just say it but you believe it): then He says “these Signs shall follow you.”
So let’s rise up together and we are going to Pray!
PRAYER POINTS:
- The first thing He said is that, if you believe.
As you have said you believe; we will drive out Demons.
So if you are in a Place: at home, office, school or reading now on the Label of DMC and you sense the Presence of any Demon you command – “Not here, Move!”
You are not fighting the Demon, you just say: my friend move! You can go somewhere else, but not where I am. Because in this Place where I am, I represent Christ and I establish His Dominion here. Over my Life, Office, School, home, Properties – Move out! You can go somewhere else.
… So now you are going to exercise that Dominion.
Let’s Pray together – Say with me: In the Name of Jesus, I drive out Demons, Powers, Principalities; every Demonic Presence operating around me. And I establish the Dominion of Christ wherever I am and wherever I go.
Now continue to Pray!
Please don’t let this Prayer stop in Church – As you go out, or read on the Label of DMC; wherever you suspect a Demonic Activity wherever you are.
You enter a Place and you feel a certain Presence or hardness. Don’t Panic – Just say: I’ve come here move away from this room!
You can go to the Corridor; but not here!
Somebody brought you to this room. But now I am here now, so get out!
He says, “In My Name you would drive them out.”
And no Demonic Entity would operate in a room where you are Present, because you have Power to drive them out – Amen.
- Second thing He said is that “they will Speak with New Tongues.
He said “in My Name” – Not by your Power, not by imitating somebody, not because you heard People saying that.
But He says, in my Name – With my Permission, with my Power, through my Representation, you would Speak with New Tongues.
So let’s Pray together – Say with me, In the Name of Jesus I speak with New Tongues as the Holy Spirit gives me utterance. I declare the Wonderful works of God in a New Language.
Now begin to declare His Wonderful works in the Language of the Spirit.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we Pray – Amen.
- And Jesus said, “if you drink any deadly thing…”
But He did not say, go and take Poison and say “look at me now, I am anointed” and drink it – No, that’s not what He is saying.
But if somebody Poisons you, if somebody come against you; somebody put something in your food and wants to destroy you. He says it cannot harm you.
Let’s Pray together; Say, In the Name of Jesus I receive Divine Immunity against all Deadly Assaults; no Poisonous attack shall by any means harm me.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we Pray – Amen.
- And the last thing He said is: In my Name, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
I have always thought about that! – He did not say in my Name they will “Pray” for the sick. He said they would “lay hands” on them.
In other words, just a touch from you – You don’t need to say much, just put your hands on them: In the Name of Jesus, they would recover.
Isn’t that amazing? – Yes, it is!
And the reason God makes these things Simple is because:
- He doesn’t want you to take Credit for it.
- He doesn’t want you to say, “I Fasted and the Power came after I Fasted.”
He wants the Power of God to be so Simple that none can take the Credit.
Then you can only say: It is in His Name, through His Permission, through His Power that these things happen;
And He can use Simple People to transmit His Power – Amen.
So let’s Pray together – In the Name of Jesus, I lay hands on the Sick and they recover. I am an extension of the Healing Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Sometimes in your Office somebody says he or she is sick. You don’t even need to Pray; just put your hand on them and leave. Just touch them, because sometimes People say, “I don’t want you to Pray for me.” Just put your hands on them because Jesus says, “In my Name, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Lift your hands and receive that Blessing. Receive it! – It is a Sign that must follow all of us. It must follow each one of us!
In the Name of Jesus Christ, this Week we receive Unusual Miracles, with Signs and Wonders following us wherever we are – Amen.
CLOSING PRAYER
Father we Thank You!
The Power belongs to You; the Glory belongs to You; the Honour belongs to You.
Thank You for Resurrecting Jesus – He is our Lord and He is our Saviour. We Confess and Proclaim Him to be so and we believe in His Resurrection.
And so Lord, we embrace and receive these Signs following us throughout this week and for the days ahead of us; and for all our lives let these Signs follow us.
Let People know You have marked us out because we are Believers in the Resurrection of Jesus.
Let Your Power be real, let Your Glory be real. Let us go into Places and Transform those Places for Your Kingdom and for Your Glory.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name we Pray!
… And everybody say – AMEN!!!
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