THE PRINCIPLE OF GATHERING – PART 2: PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL – SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE, 17TH SEPTEMBER, 2023.

SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE WITH PASTOR (DR) MENSA OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER, INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)

TOPIC: THE PRINCIPLE OF GATHERING – PART 2 (GOD CAN PUT US BACK TOGETHER AGAIN).

DATE: 17TH SEPTEMBER 2023

BIBLE TEXT: ISAIAH 42:3

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 going to do Part 2 of the Message I started last week: “PRINCIPLE OF GATHERING”.

And the Subtitle today is: God can put us together again.

Because sometimes in Life we get broken, shattered, we go through difficulties. And we wonder whether we would be back to where we used to be. We want to know whether we would recover what has been lost.

We wonder whether we would recover our Joy, our Happiness, our Confidence in the Lord.

I just came this Morning to assure you that God can put you together again – Amen!

Somebody say: God can put me together again – Amen!

Well, I am going to start my Message today in a very unusual way – You know I normally start quoting a Scripture; but today I am not going to start with a Scripture but with a popular Nursery Rhyme.

And it is an old Rhyme that has been recited by Generations.

Probably you recited it, your children have, your Parents did and maybe if your Grandparents went to school, they also recited this Rhyme.

It is called Humpty Dumpty:

… Did you ever recite Humpty Dumpty? Yes!

Let’s say it together:

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses
And all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again”.

Good old Humpty (Laugher)!

The Rhyme is about a Character called Humpty Dumpty. And normally in a Popular Culture, Humpty Dumpty is Presented as an egg-human being with a face, legs, arms; sometimes wearing a trouser.

And the Rhyme Portrays Humpty Dumpty as a very delicate, fragile weak Person, just like the egg is.

And he is sitting on a wall – That means he is cool. He is perching nicely, everything is going on well. Then he has a great fall: things go bad and he cracks up into Pieces.

And the Nursery Rhyme says: He goes to the King’s horses, goes to the King’s men, and they couldn’t put Humpty together again.

You know sometimes in Life, we could be like Humpty Dumpty – We also have a great fall.

Sometimes you are sitting cool, you are minding your business and everything is going well. And you think Life is a cruise, and everything would be nice. And then one day something hits you and then you fall, things go horry and everything just goes bad.

The Rhyme says Humpty Dumpty goes to the King’s horses (I don’t know why he thought that horses could help him). Because when you are broken up, horses couldn’t help you! And then he goes to the King’s men, and none of them could help him.

The Moral of the Story is, he didn’t go to the King! He went to the King’s horses, to the King’s men and they failed him.

I am here to announce that there is a King and His Name is Jesus! And if you ever fall (and you have a great fall): His men may not help you, His horses may not help you. But the King Himself can put you together again – Amen.

We call Him King Jesus, and He can put our lives together again – Amen.

Many times when we go through difficulties in Life, we go to People, we go to Systems, Structures and then we go to Pastors or Prophets.

Or we go to somebody who says He is in touch with God. Or we go to a Specialist, or we go to a Consultant.

We try to go to all these People and hope that they can fix us and they do their Personal best but they can’t put us together.

If you’ve suffered in Life and you’ve gone through hands of People, and none of them could fix you; this Morning the King would fix you – Amen!

I said, the King would fix you – And His Name is Jesus!

… Now I would move from the Good old Humpty Dumpty and we would go to the Scriptures.

WHAT HAPPENS TO US WHEN WE GET BROKEN?

What does God do when we get broken?

One of the things I have come to Notice is that in Life, when you have a great fall that is when People feel anointed to kick you!

When you are down, you would be surprised those who would kick you, spit on you, make your Life Miserable.

Because somehow when People find you weak or that things have gone wrong with you, they never think that they should come around and encourage you.

• That’s when best friends would let you down.
• That’s when People who have met you for a long time would add to your injury.
• That’s when you are going to find People trying to make your Life Miserable.

But that is not God’s attitude to us when we have a great fall – When we are like Humpty Dumpty and we have a Great fall, God does not treat us as People treat us.

So we are going to look first, at What God does not do when we are broken; when we are wounded, when Life is hard, when make a big Mistake;

WHAT GOD DOES NOT DO WHEN WE ARE BROKEN.

Isaiah 42:3 is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and His Ministry. It says:

A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth – Isaiah 42:3 (NKJV)

1. A bruised reed He will not break:

A reed is very fragile.

If you know what a reed is, it’s not like a big stake – it’s very fragile, it’s weak. And when reed is bruised, the most logical thing you want to do is to cut it off!

It’s like if you are tending your roses – Those of you who do Gardening; you are tending your roses and you go to your nice Rose Plant or whatever Plant you and dealing with, and you find that some of the leaves have become weak; they’ve become brown or something is wrong with the leaves.

Your normal response is that you are going to cut it off.

Human beings, when People are weak, when People are fragile, our normal response is cut them off!

It’s like a friend of yours who has a lot of and they are overwhelmed by Life. And any time they come to you they talk and talk and just make your Life Miserable.

They sit in your house and they never leave.

When you want them to go or for them to leave they don’t leave.

And after some time you just get tired of them and you want to just cut them off.

They are “a bruised reed” – And all we want to do is to say: listened, I don’t have time to carry your burden with you.

But that is not God’s Attitude.

Our Binle Text in Isaiah 42:3 says, “A bruised reed He will not break”.

God does not cut off the broken – Human beings will because:

• When you are not Productive, you are going to be cut off; they are going to dispose of you.
• When you are tired and overwhelmed your best friend will abandon you.

And some of you have become bruised reeds in other People’s lives – Now Nobody answers your call. They see you one way they go another way.

Even when they see you in Church, they turn and go the other way. Because you have become a bruised reed.

But that’s not God’s response!

And don’t ever think that because the King’s men and the King’s horses can’t fix you that God cannot also fix you.

Don’t ever think that because your best friend abandoned you or somebody you trusted abandoned you, that God will also abandon you: because God is not a man.

People cannot stand you, but God can stand you – “A bruised reed He will not break”.

2. And smoking flax He will not quench.

A flax in the days of the Old Testament is like our wick today.

And the Bible is talking about a smoking flax.

A smoking flax is like when you have a candle (it has a wick) and there is a flame on it.

And you’ve noticed that when the fire goes off, the wick of the candle begins to smoke.

That’s what God is talking about. He says, when the fire is off and all we have is smoke, God will not quench. He will not extinguish our hope.

Why? Because so far as there is a little smoke coming out of the wick; God still can bring the fire back.

God is not in the business of taking us completely away – He does not extinguish our Hope!

Yes, Life can hit you bad – Yes, you can get broken, yes, you can get wounded.

Sometimes you feel like all Hope is lost – “I’ve lost everything, I can’t even see the future.

But God says, even the little thing that is left there, He can still work with it – He will not extinguish your Hope.

Because Life is going to sometimes deal you a very bad blow.

I don’t know about you, but life can be very brutal.

Unexpectedly it’s going to hit you but He says He will not break you and He will not extinguish your Hope.

… I think Humpty Dumpty should have gone to God (laughter)!

You know, sometimes maybe when you hear too much criticism – People speak so much evil against you. Somehow it messes up your Mind and you feel maybe that’s what everyone thinks about you.

I. If you are a woman and your husband says you are not beautiful, and describes you in the worse way, somehow it gets into your head and you feel, that’s what God thinks about you.

II. If you are a man and your wife just beats you up, “Who are you – You think you are man, and you can do this and you can do all of that? Somehow it gets into your head and you feel, that’s how God thinks about you.

But God doesn’t think about you the way people think about you. “If the reed is bruised He will not break; the flax is smoking He will not quench”.

• If all you have is a “Tiny Hope” of Deliverance, He will not quench your Hope.
• If all you have is “I believe one day it would be well with me” God is not going to quench that Hope.

Because He is interested in bringing you back to the Place He has appointed you to be. And People’s view does not represent God’s view.

You need to hear that!

Because sometimes we’ve heard People’s view for so long, we think that’s God’s Will.

Even we ourselves think there’s no Hope for us. And we think because we have lost Hope God has also lost Hope.

But whilst we remain Faithless He remains Faithful – God will do more than you think or ask about. He doesn’t break us and He doesn’t quench our Hope.

… So if He doesn’t do that:

WHAT DOES GOD DO?

Psalms 147:2-3; The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the Outcasts of Israel. He heals the Brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Three (3) Things God does:

1. He Builds Up:

When we are broken down He builds us up.

Even when People have failed and you have failed terribly, God wants to build you up.

2. Secondly, He gathers together:

He gathers the Outcasts.

3. And thirdly, He binds up and He heals.

• I don’t know where you are in your Life, but God wants to build you up.
• I don’t know what is Scattered in your Life, but God wants to gather it.
• I don’t know what is Wounded in your Life, but God wants to heal you; He wants to bind you together.

You may not even believe that about yourself but that’s what God believes about you.

You may not think there’s hope for you but God believes there’s Hope for you.

And truly, there is Hope for you – Amen.

There’s Hope for your Future, there’s Hope that things will get better – Amen.

Somebody says, “Pastor, in this Ghana/Nigeria?”

Well, if everything we believe is only in Africa, then what a Miserable People we would have;

If our Hope is based on what is available in Africa, what a Miserable People we would be!

The King’s men and the King’s horses cannot fix us but the King can fix us – Amen.

Yes, there’s Hope even in Africa! For God says, no matter where you live, no matter what your situation is; He is able to build you up, able to gather you, He’s able to bind up. Because your Past will not determine your Future.

You are going to make it; and you are going to make it BIG – Amen!

You will not be a disappointment, You will not ashamed, you will not be a reproach – Amen!

You would not look back at your Life and say, what a “Wasted Life” – Amen!

By the time you look back at your Life, you would say: What a Great God I serve! See what the Lord has done. See His handwork in my Life – Amen.

Because God would gather you; God would bind you; God would build you- Amen.

And if you were like Humpty Dumpty and you had a great fall, and Nobody could fix you; God says, I can build you up, I can bind you and I can gather you together.

Men may not do it, Systems cannot do it, but the King can do it.

Somebody say with confidence – God is going to fix me!

God is going to fix me – I fell, everything scattered but He is going to gather it together. I am not going to end on the floor broken, wounded, unhealed;

I am going to rise, I am going to get back on the wall, I am going to sit on the wall again, I am going to Prosper because the King can fix me!

And I believe deep down in my heart that you are entering a New Season in your Life – Amen.

You are entering a Season in your Life of fixing: of God putting things together for you – Amen.

It’s coming back together – The Pieces are coming back together – Amen.

WHAT MUST WE DO?

If God does not break us and He does not extinguish our Hope; then How should we respond? What should we do?

And I am going to end with the Book of Job.

I don’t think anyone has Problems more than this man had.

My God, the man (Job) had Problems – And your Problems are nowhere compared to him.

Job 22:28-29 (NKJV) says: You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So Light will Shine on your ways. When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’ Then He will save the humble Person.

… When they cast you down, you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’

• When they cast you down you don’t say, “oh! I have been cast down”.
• When they break you, you don’t say, “I am broken”.
• When Life is hard you don’t say, “Oh! I can’t make you it.”

He says when they cast you down, you would say, ‘Exaltation will come!’

I just feel that someone should shout boldly: ‘Exaltation will come!’

When they cast you down – ‘Exaltation will come!’

Somebody said, ‘I am going to mess with your Life’. They took you and they said, “I will cast you down.”

… But you say: ‘Exaltation will come!’

So what does that tell us?

It means that we must not speak about the Negative happening around us – You’ve been cast down, but don’t go around telling everybody, “I have been cast down, Nobody wants me”.

It’s tempting to always complain about the Negative.

And yes, sometimes you have to talk about the Negative things happening in your Life.

But there’s only one Person you talk to about the Negative things in your Life – The One Who can fix it. And He is God.

So you can go to God and say Lord, look at what is happening; complaining to Him.

But when you talk to other People, you don’t complain to them because they can’t fix you.

They are the King’s horses, they are the King’s men – They can’t fix you!

But when you talk to the King you can’t complain – You say: ‘Exaltation will come!’

I am going to rise, I’m going to beat this, I’m going to defeat this – A Testimony would come out of my mouth.

*I don’t know what News you heard this week – Maybe you got a Letter (for instance) that reads:

“The Brightness of this Day has given me the opportunity to write to you John (for example). And to say that we’ve been on a long Journey. We had a great time; but I think this is when the journey must end”.

If you had one of those “Dear John” Letters; and you fell like Humpty Dumpty, you had a great fall;

But I came this Morning to tell you inclusive all those reading now this Message on the Label of DMC – ‘Exaltation will come!’

I. Maybe you got fired from your job because the Company is going through difficulties, they are downsizing so they downsized you – ‘Exaltation will come!’

II. Maybe everybody turned their back on you. Don’t go around talking about how everybody turned their back on you. You’ve been cast down, but ‘Exaltation will come!’

That’s what God does for us – When God says He is gathering, it means He is putting us together, He is fixing things for us. ‘Exaltation will come!’

Don’t just go around talking Negative things – “Life is so hard”.

We know Life is hard but He says to your Life – ‘Exaltation will come!’

And He says, You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So Light will Shine on your ways. (Job 22:28)

What does that tell us?

I. It means we have to talk about the Positive things that must happen in our lives;

II. We must begin to speak about the Good things that would happen in our lives; instead of the bad things happening.

III. You are going to decree it, because your words become decrees. And Decrees are Laws that is enforced.

And if you keep talking about how defeated you are, “look at me” – I remembering a Lady about some years ago. She said, Pastor look at me, no man wants to marry me.

… I am not looking at you, by the way (Laugher)!

But I would say, look at yourself do you think you are a Miserable Person? No!

You are a Child of God. You have the Spirit of God in you.

People may spit on you but you are still a Child of God.

They may kick you, but you are still a Child of God.

And when they try to cast you down and they think you are going to go down to the pit, you say: ‘Exaltation will come!’

So this Morning I just came to announce to somebody: You had a great fall, but Exaltation is coming – Amen.

You got scattered on the floor, but Exaltation is coming – Amen.

You Lost it all, but Exaltation is coming – Amen.

And God says what is bruised, He will not break it. He is going to make it strong – He will build it.

He says what is smoking, the fire is gone. He will Light it up again. And He will make your Life Whole for you.

There is Hope for you – Amen!

Say with me: Exaltation will come, I am going to make it BIG – Amen.

You are not going to make it small, you are going to make it Big, Massive – Amen.

When People see you, they have to wear a shade because you are going to Shine so much they have to put on shades – Amen.

Lift up your hands to God and say with me: Exaltation is coming into my life (repeatedly)!

Now begin to talk to the King, not to the King’s horses, not the the King’s men – Talk to the King Himself.

Talk to the King about your Marriage, your children, your business, your health – Whatever the situation is, just talk to the King about it.

He will exalt you, He will not break you, He will not extinguish your hope, He will not cut you off.

Oh! Hallelujah. What a Mighty God we serve. The Keeper of our Faith, the Restorer of Hope.

Thank You Lord for New Exaltations, for New liftings in our Marriages, in our Relationship, in our Health, in our Businesses, in our Ministry.

The Light is Shinning brighter and brighter – It will be greater and greater, in the Name of Jesus.

CLOSING PRAYER

The Lord will lift up His Light upon you!

His Glory will Shine upon you!

His duties will be seen in your Life!

The Lord will Honour you!

He will cause you to sit upon your High Places.

God bless you with the Blessing of Abundance;

And the Blessing of Life, the Blessing of Health, the Blessing of Strength, the Blessing of Favour, the Blessing of Abundance, the Blessing of Fulfilment, the Blessing of Fruitfulness.

It it well with you!

You will not stay Underground, you are going back to the wall, you are going back to your High Places.

May the Lord give you Joy. May the Lord bring Happiness upon your Life.

May there be a Sound of Abundance: heard in your home, heard in your family, heard all over you!

Father we speak these Blessings: we decree a thing and it is established for Your People.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen!

If you believe that, Celebrate the Lord this Morning!

Thank you so much for staying all through to read.

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