LIVING IN EXPECTANCY – PART 4(FIGHT FOR IT): PASTOR(DR) MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 11TH JUNE, 2023.
SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
TOPIC: LIVING IN EXPECTANCY – PART 4 (FIGHT FOR IT)
DATE: 11TH JUNE 2023
BIBLE TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 16:8-9
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!
I am doing Part 4 of the Series I have Titled: “Living in Expectancy”.
We have talked about Living in Expectancy – That each one of us have something we want in our lives, something we are expecting to happen.
Most of the time it’s Good – We want Good things for ourselves; we want Good lives, we want to be Blessed Financially, we want to be Healthy, we want to have Good Careers, we want to achieve Great things.
Just as Ephesians 3:20 says; Now to Him who is able to do Exceedingly Abundantly above all that we ask or think,
That is Scripture, that is talking of Expectation.
But Expectations don’t always happen; there are things we have to do so that our Expectation become a Reality.
Today I am talking about “Living in Expectancy – Part 4 (Fight for it)”.
Fighting for your Expectation – If you have an Expectation; you want God to do things for you. If you are looking for something Great in your Life, it’s not going to land on your lap by accident; but you have to learn to fight for it.
And we are going to look at a couple of Scriptures that will Position our Minds as we fight for our Expectations.
Let’s begin with 1 Corinthians 16:8-9.
At the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, he was in Ephesus.
And so, from Ephesus he is writing to the Corinthians Church. And he tells them in the Process about something that is happening to him in Ephesus.
Although at this Point the Letter is talking to the Corinthians, he is referencing something that is happening in Ephesus.
It is always important to understand the Context which the Bible is written, so that you can Properly Understand and Position it well.
Here Paul is writing to the Corinthians, but he is writing about something happening to him in Ephesus.
And he says he will stay there in Ephesus and wait until the Feast of Pentecost, before he will make other Plans.
1 Corinthians 16:8-9;
8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost.
9 For a Great and Effective door has opened to me, and there are many Adversaries.
… And so Paul describes the situation in Ephesus – What does he say?
- “For a Great and Effective door has opened to me;”
He is saying, we have access, we have opportunities: something Powerful has been opened unto me.
Can you imagine when you are living your Life, you come to a Point in your Life, and you just feel (like we say these days) something Mega has happened to me – “A Great, Powerful and Effective door has been opened to me.”
And may the Lord open Effective doors unto you – Amen!
You know there are moments in our lives when we just feel “a door has opened.” You just feel, something Great is working out for me; God is opening a door.
And that is what Paul is saying. He says, “a Great and Effective door has opened to me;”
You need to understand what is happening to Paul in Ephesus, in order to understand why he is talking this way.
Because if you look at Acts 19, which records Paul’s stay in Ephesus.
Acts 19:11-12 says: Now God worked Unusual Miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even Handkerchiefs or Aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil Spirits went out of them.
This is happening in Ephesus; that is what Paul is saying – Miracles are happening, Powerful doors of Ministry are opening.
There are moments in our lives, you just feel that you are in a Good Place – “I am in a Good Place, and things are happening right”.
And so Paul is saying: Corinthians, Ephesus is Good for me because these Mighty things are happening.
- “And there are many Adversaries” – Opposers Conflicts.
In the midst of this Great time of Ministry, Paul speaks of Oppositions.
Who are these Adversaries? What is Paul talking about?
Now, for you to get the context of what he is talking about, Acts 19:24-28 says; For a certain man named Demetrius, a Silversmith, who made Silver Shrines of Diana, brought no small Profit to the Craftsmen. He called them together with the Workers of similar Occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our Prosperity by this Trade. Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has Persuaded and turned away many People, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the Temple of the Great goddess Diana may be despised and her Magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.” Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”
Paul says, a Great and Effective door has opened to me – Mighty Miracles. And then he says, there are many Adversaries.
Who are the Adversaries? He described one of them as Demetrius.
Who is Mr. Demetrius?
He is a Coppersmith – He made images of the Chief diety of Ephesus. And the Chief goddess of Ephesus is diana – People who go to Ephesus buy images of diana.
Demetrius is the main Producer of these dieties; so he calls all the Craftsmen who made the deity and said, “Business is under threat; this Paul is spoiling our business. And not only here in Ephesus, but everywhere he goes he is telling People that gods made with man’s hands are useless.” So, nobody is buying our gods again. Let us go out and get rid of Paul.
Paul says, a door has opened, I see Miracles; but there is Demetrius – There are many Adversaries.
Demetrius is not the only Adversary, there are others, like the seven (7) sons of Sceva, trying to imitate Paul’s Ministry and putting confusion in the minds of the People.
So Paul recognises: in the midst of my Expectation being met, there are Adversaries.
Because believe you me, your Breakthrough is Somebody’s Breakdown; your Joy is Somebody’s Sadness: and the Person is not going to fold his or her hands and say, “Hallelujah, he is doing well let me encourage him”.
He will come after you!
And don’t be surprised that sometimes your Greatest Adversary is showing up when your Greatest door is opening – A door has opened, there are many Adversaries.
What are you going to do when in the midst of your Breakthrough, you have harsh repsonses?
Now this is where a lot of People abandon their Expectations because there is too much trouble.
They expect Life to be Smooth sailing, Problem-Free; that when good things are going on around them everybody would rejoice with them.
In the midst of your Breakthrough, your Joy, God’s favour; in the midst of all the Good things happening, expect Demetrius – He is going to show up!
Sometimes Demetrius shows up in the Office, in your Marriage – Your Marriage is getting on well, Oh this is the best time of our Marriage. And then Demetrius shows up! Lady Demetrius, Madam Demetrius, Mr. Demetrius shows up!
So, our Expectations are always surrounded by battle (warfare). And you have to be ready to fight for it.
Somebody say: I am going to fight for it!
Now, many of us know how to fight “Against” things, but we don’t know how to fight “For” things – We know how to fight against Enemies.
And in Africa our Enemies are very Simple – Witches and Wizards.
We know how to fight “Against” them.
But most of us don’t know how to fight “For” the things that we want – For our Expectations, for the Good things that God has given to us.
So I will take you through another Scripture to show you how to fight for the things that God has given to you.
We go to 2 Samuel 23:11-12 – The Passage is talking about a Group of People called “David’s Mighty Men.”
These are Warriors who stood with David – Before he became King they gathered around him and fought with him. Also, when he became King they fought to Protect him.
And the Bible enumerates them.
And in 2 Samuel 23:11-12, it talks about a Particular Person among “David’s Mighty Men” and what he did.
I want you to listen carefully – “And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a Piece of Ground full of lentils. So the People fled from the Philistines. But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a Great Victory.”
Shammah is a Great warrior – Incidentally his name (Shammah) means “Desert or Dry Place.
But his Life is not dry; his Life is exciting and he was very Fruitful.
Shammah is attacked, the event took Place most likely during the time of Harvest in Israel.
Shammah and his friends are expecting a Great Harvest, and then the enemy shows up.
At the time when they feel, I have worked so hard – I have Planted, I have waited, it is my Harvest Season and I am going to reap my Harvest.
The Philistines show up and they say, you are not going to take what you have worked for – We are going to take t from you.
So the Philistines came to attack – And we see Shammah’s response.
Many times when we go through difficulty we ask, why am I going through this? Why the attack?
Why was Shammah attacked? Why did the Philistines come against him?
- We are attacked because we are Different.
There are People who are Philistines; and the Philippines are against the Israelites, because the Israelites are a “Different People.
The word ‘Philisitine’ literarily means a People of another Tribe.
In Social Commentary, a Philistine is one who is hostile and ignorant – Especially in the Heart.
In the Bible, it is used for People who are not on God’s Side.
One thing you are going to be rest assured is – If you are a Born Again Christian People will hate you for Nothing. It comes with the terrain.
The day you say, Lord Jesus come into my Life, be my Lord and Saviour, you are enlisted into God’s Army. Instantly, you have enemies.
Years ago, I wasn’t even a Pastor then – I was in a Christian Fellowship, and one of the Young Ladies in the Fellowship came to me and said Bro Mensa, I don’t want to be in the devil’s bad books. And I said, what do you mean by that?
She said, I don’t want the devil to hate me. I said, then don’t get Born Again, because he hates you for giving your Life to Jesus Christ.
For your information my friends – You are in the devil’s bad books!
You don’t want to be in the devil’s bad books? But you don’t also consider that you are in God’s Good books.
You see, once you are in God’s Good books, you are in the devil’s bad books. It is a Ledger – If you are on the asset, you will also be on the other side.
You see, you are in God’s Good books; you are in the devil’s bad books. That’s why Shammah was attacked, because there are Philistines who hate God’s People. And the devil is going to inspire somebody to come against you.
And sometimes they are going to come at your best moments in Life – When everything is working, when the Harvest is ready and you are about to reap! they show up.
They are like Demetrius, they show up when your door has opened.
Somebody say: I am Different!
… We are attacked because we are Different.
- We are attacked because we have Potential.
Shammah had a Piece of Land – He had managed to acquire a Piece of Land.
In the enemy’s Territory, the Land is a Potential.
Land is Nothing, but it shows you can do something – If you have Land you can build, farm, do something!
The Land itself is Nothing, but it shows what you can do.
He had a Piece of Land. It’s not even a massive Land; it’s just a Piece of Land.
- We are attacked because we are Productive, we are Fruitful and we are Producing Results.
The Land is full of lentils.
So can you imagine – He is a Foreigner, he has acquired Land and the Land is Producing Results. That is why he is attacked!
If he sat down doing Nothing, just hiding and Praying, Nobody would attack him.
If he sat down with no Potential, Nobody would attack him.
The thing about Life is that sometimes your Enemy sees more Potentials in you than you see in yourself.
Herod saw Potential in Jesus -The People of Bethlehem saw another baby that has been born in a Manger with no Potential. Poor father, Poor mother, born in a Manger – He is going nowhere. But Herod in Jerusalem saw Potential in this Baby born in Bethlehem; and so decided, we have to get rid of him.
Woe on you when your Enemy sees more in you than you see in yourself.
Shammah thought that he just had a Piece of Land – “Oh, this is my Harvest of lentils.” But for the Philistines it is a big deal. And so they came against him.
Your Potential attracts attack!
Who you are going to be, is the reason why you are fighting your battles today.
Every attack you are facing today is because of what God wants you to be – Your Potential is attracting attacks!
And that is what Shammah is going through. And interestingly, when the Philistines showed up, everybody ran.
Have you considered that Probably you are running away from your Potential, from your Assigned Place, from your Purpose because you feel, “Life is too hard, everywhere I go People hate me”.
That is Good Life – It means everywhere you go, People see Potential; everywhere you go they see what you are going to be.
You don’t run from your Potential; you fight for your Potential.
Somebody say: I am going to fight for it!
So, let’s see how Shammah responded and how we must fight.
2 Samuel 23:12 says, But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines.
- First thing, if you are going to fight – Position yourself in your Inheritance.
That is exactly what Shammah did – He did not abandon the Land that the Lord has given to him. He acknowledged his Inheritance, he stayed in it, he didn’t leave it.
As Christians, God has given us Great and Precious Promises – That is our Inheritance.
When you go through difficulties, don’t abandon your Land – Stay in your Inheritance, stay in the Promises of God, stay in the Word of God.
The battle is going to be severe, but you are going to stay and fight; because the Expectation of the Righteous shall be fulfilled – Amen.
But if the Righteous runs away from their Expectations, it will not be fulfilled – They have to stay!
Shammah Positioned himself, everybody left him because the Philistines are a Troop. A gang of Military men from the Philistines came against him, his friends abandoned him.
Sometimes that is how Life is – When you are in the Greatest battle, People abandon you.
It doesn’t mean you should abandon yourself – Everybody abandons you, but you are going to stay!
Somebody say: I am saying to fight!
God has a Plan for your Life – It will attract attacks; but you don’t run but you station yourself in the field and you fight.
- The Bible says, he Defended the Land.
We Protect what God has given to us (our Destiny).
We Protect His Calling on our lives; we Protect the Purpose God has for us.
If God wants me to be Great, I am not going to mess up my Life; I am not going to destroy my own Potential.
No, you protect it!
Shammah defended the Land, he defended his lentils.
Somebody would say – Why should you stand there and fight for lentils? After all your Life is more important than lentils?
But you see, in Life, if you run away from this battle, you will run away from the next one too.
Sometimes in Life, you must stay and fight! Because if you allow them to run you out on this, you go there somebody is going to run you out on that.
At some Point you have to say, I make my Stand and I take my Stand in this field; and I fight and defend what God has Promised me and what God has given to me.
You have to fight for it!
It’s like buying Land in Accra – it’s something else. If you run you will keep running. At one point you have to decide, I am staying: I am Shammah, this is my Land, this is my Inheritance, this is God’s Promise.
For every Promises that God has given you, there will be Adversaries – Some are Demetrius, some are Philistines. They would show up in your open door, in your lentil farm, in the Place of Promise. And when they show up, you have to fight.
And the Bible says, he killed the Philistines. He pushed them back, he override them and he took that Land.
And I like how the Bible ends with that Story – It says, “So the Lord brought about a Great Victory.”
Isn’t it amazing? That the one who was Standing, fighting was Shammah; but the Bible says, “the Lord brought about a Great Victory.”
In other words, God was with Shammah all along – God was with him, God was directing him.
But I am sure when he was fighting he didn’t feel God – He Probably thought, “I am alone, God has abandoned me, He is not here.”
… And he fought, when he finished, the Bible says, it was all God!
You are in a battle today, it is all God. I say, it is all God: He is with you in that battle and you are not going to run.
Somebody say: I am not going to run; I am fighting for my Expectations, I am fighting for my Destiny, I am fighting for my Future – No running!
Listen to me, some of you have been running for too long – And you have been running since then.
Because anytime you see trouble you run; you see danger you run. And the devil has mapped you out;
And all the devil has to do is to show you Masquerade and you have been running and running. And you have Nothing to show for your Life.
But in this Season I Pray for you – I Pray for the Courage that God gave to the Apostle Paul to face Demetrius;
I am Praying for the Courage that God gave to Shammah to face the Philistines;
I Pray for a Fighting Spirit, for the Spirit of Courage, Spirit of Boldness;
You will not run! The enemies may be a Troop, you may be alone; you will not run!
Because in the end, it is all God; and He is going to give you the Victory!
CLOSING PRAYER
So, Father I Pray for every one that is under the Sound of my voice or reading now on the Label of DMC;
Let today be the Day they will be taking their Stand!
From today, there will be no running, there will be no turning back, there will be no fear!
From today, we take our Stand in Your Promises, we take our Stand in Your Purposes, we take our Stand in Your Expectations.
There may be a Troop against us, but we’ll Stand in the Name of the Lord to fight!
May You grant Victory to Your Children, O LORD.
In every battles they are involved in, let this be the Day when they start fighting.
And let us come to that Day when it will be said, “So the Lord brought about a Great Victory.”
May that be your Testimony!
In Jesus’ Mighty Name – Amen and Amen!
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