FAITH TO RECEIVE – PART 1: DR. MENSAH OTABIL, ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE, 8TH NOVEMBER, 2020
ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)
TOPIC: FAITH TO RECEIVE – PART 1
DATE: 8TH NOVEMBER, 2020
TEXT: HEBREWS 11:11
Amen! – Let’s keep standing (wherever you are reading on the Label of DMC) as we make our DECLARATIONS OF EXCELLENCE, in this Year of Excellence.
Whether you see it or not: 2020 is our YEAR OF EXCELLENCE.
… Are you READY?
SAY WITH ME:
Out of Zion, the Perfection of Beauty, God shines forth. The Lord my God causes the righteous to Shine forth as the Sun.
His Awesome Hands has formed me; His Creative Spirit inspires my mind. He skillfully guides my hands.
Therefore, I boldly declare: I am set apart for Excellence. The Ruler of the Universe has exalted my horn among the Nations. He sets my feet on high! In His Strength, I rise!
By Faith, I Press forward towards the Prize of my Highest Calling.
I believe in my heart, and confess with my mouth: that Jesus is Lord! He is the Vine, I am the Branch; in Him I abide, in Him I Blossom.
As it is written: God, who commanded Light out of darkness, has shone His Light in our hearts;
We have His Treasure in Earthen Vessels. That the Excellence of the Power may be of God, and not of us!
In this Year, I commit to EXCELLENCE, I commit to EXCEPTIONALISM, I commit to do the EXTRAORDINARY.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen and Amen and Amen and Amen!
Today, I am speaking on – FAITH TO RECEIVE (PART 1).
Because FAITH is not only about BECOMING, it’s not also only about REFUSING; but Faith also enables us to RECEIVE.
And in this Part 1; we are going to focus on a woman who is Popular in the Bible, but usually not mentioned much.
… And that is SARAH.
And I am going to focus my teaching on her.
And my Text is from Hebrews 11:11. And Hebrews Chapter 11 talks about FAITH. It defines FAITH; and then it talks about all kinds of people who had Faith, and then different kinds of FAITH that people had.
But in verse 11 (Hebrews 11:11) this comment is made about Sarah; a woman who is always ignored when it comes to Faith.
We treat her as if she were a woman of unbelief because of her suggestion to her husband about Hagar.
This is what Hebrews 11:11 (NKJV) says about Sarah. It says;
“By Faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him Faithful who had Promised.”
.. I love that!
Now, many times when we talk about Faith, we focus on Abraham. It’s almost as if Sarah is a Passenger on the journey.
… But Sarah was a Major Player in the story of Abraham and God’s Promise to him.
Sarah had been married to Abraham, when God called Abraham. God spoke to Abraham directly; Sarah did not hear God speaking to her!
But her husband (Abraham) came to her and said – Whatever term they used at time; whether it’s Honey, or Sweetheart or Bone of my Bone: “God has spoken to me; God said we should leave where we are; from the hare of the Chaldeans and go to a Land He is going to show us.
And Sarah did not hear that, only Abraham heard that! Abraham believed God; Sarah believed in Abraham!
She didn’t hear from God, she heard from her husband. And believed that her husband was right, and she left with the husband, to go and look for this Land that God has Promised them.
Then another time, Abraham said to Sarah: God has spoken to me again. He says I’m going to be the father of many nations. And I would be blessed.
… He didn’t speak to Sarah, He spoke to Abraham.
Sarah said to her husband: if that is what God said to you, I believe it too.
… I believe what you say God has spoken to you about.
Then another time Abraham comes and say: Sarah, guess what?
When we were living the Hare of the Chaldeans your name was SARAI; But last night, God said your name is now SARAH.
She says: I didn’t hear from God, but if you say “God Said”, I believe.
So, if you look at the journey of Sarah and Abraham; Abraham is the one who HEARS from God; who BELIEVES the Word of God, who has Faith.
And then he tells his wife and the wife believes him because that’s the husband! And he’s a Man of God, and I believe what he says.
So all these time, Sarah is not hearing from God!
… This is very important!
Now one of the Major things that God said to Abraham was that: Abraham would have children. And that his children would be like the stars in the sky and like the sands on the Seashore!
Naturally, being Abraham’s wife, Sarah believed that she would be the woman that would Produce the children of Abraham.
And then she waited, and waited and waited and nothing was coming out of this Promise.
So, after a long time, Sarah began to put one and two together. And she said to herself, by the way: Abraham was the one God spoke to, not me! Abraham was the one God says would become the father of many Nations.
So, if I cannot help Abraham to become the father of many Nations; then I should find a way, for Abraham to become the father of many Nations.
You can listen to the audio here: Faith To Receive (Part 1) – Dr Mensa Otabil
… Because the Promise is to him (Abraham) and not to me!
So Sarah (with Good intentions) worked out an arrangement for Abraham to become the father of many nations.
Abraham had a child: God says, “GOOD EFFORTS” BUT WRONG!
This is not what I want; Sarah is the one who is going to have the child.
So now, Sarah is stuck – She hasn’t heard from God, her husband is the one who has heard from God; and now it looks like she’s ‘TOO OLD’ to fulfil the Promise of God.
So, that is where the verse (Hebrews 11:11) we just read comes in:
“By Faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him Faithful who had Promised.”
“… By Faith Sarah herself!
Say with me: ‘Sarah HERSELF!’
Now if you wanted just to make a sentence, you can say: “By Faith Sarah believed God.”
But the Passage adds a Qualifier to Sarah. It says: “Sarah HERSELF”.
So, it is making a very important statement about Sarah here. It’s a unique statement about Sarah – Sarah HERSELF.
She used to have Faith, but her Faith was in what Abraham said God had spoken to him about but now, Sarah HERSELF!
Somebody say: Me MYSELF!
Because there comes a time when you by YOURSELF must have Faith.
Not through somebody, not for somebody but you YOURSELF.
SO WHAT DOES “SARAH HERSELF” MEAN?
- It means that she did not depend on Abraham’s Faith.
She came to a Point where she had to have her own Faith in God.
She has spent much of her life tagging along her husband’s Faith.
Many of us tag along the Faith of somebody else.
People tag along the Faith of their Pastor. They believe in the Faith of their Pastor, they believe in the Faith of a Prophet, they believe in the Faith of a Man of God, they believe in the Faith of a Woman of God.
There is somebody whose Faith they believed in – They believed if that Personal Prays, God would hear. If that person says it is so, it so!
That’s what Sarah had been doing for so long without any result. So now, she HERSELF had to have Faith.
And she did not depend on Abraham’s Faith.
- It also means She BELIEVES GOD’S PROMISES to her.
Not just God’s Promises to Abraham, but to Herself (Sarah).
All along it’s Abraham who hears from God, and comes to tell Sarah.
But now Sarah BELIEVES that the Promises are not only to Abraham, but to her as well.
You have to Understand, the Bible is not written for your Pastor. The Bible is written for you as well.
The Word of God is not for the Man of God; it is for the children of God.
And evey child of God has a right to believe the same Word of God that the Pastor Preaches from.
She believed God’s Promises were for her as well, and not for her husband alone.
- She ACTED on God’s Word BY HERSELF.
She had to do the things necessary for the Word of God to manifest in her life.
SO HOW DID SARAH HERSELF HAVE FAITH?
How did she have it? Where did she get the Faith from?
The Bible says that Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
Abraham’s Faith came because he heard from God – God spoke to him to leave his Homeland; God spoke to him that he would be the father of many Nations;
Abraham BELIEVED what God had said to him.
… And that’s how he got Faith.
Faith doesn’t come by squeezing your face!
Some people believe, if you can be ‘STUBBORN’ enough – That’s Faith.
There is a BIG difference between Stubbornness and Faith.
Some people say: You are brave – He is a very brave man; he has a lot of Faith.
No, there’s a big difference between Bravery and Faith.
.. Faith is not bravery, Faith is not Stubbornness.
Faith is simply believing what God has said is True and relying on it.
So, without the Word of God, there is no Biblical Faith.
For Faith to be active in the life of a child of God, the Word of God Has to be heard.
Now remember, Abraham is the one who keeps hearing God, and so he has Faith.
Sarah hasn’t heard from God – So she doesn’t have the RAW MATERIAL to develop Faith.
Until something happened in Genesis 18:9-15; three (3) Personalities visited Abraham. They were on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah to bring Judgement to the two (2) Cities.
But they stopped over at Abraham and Sarah’s house; because they were welcomed into the house!
And God speaks through these three (3) Personalities, what went on.
Because this is where Sarah HERSELF had Faith from.
Genesis 18:9-15 (NKJV):
9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.”
… I can almost imagine he Pointed – “Here, in the tent.”
But he didn’t call her to say – “Sarah, come and hear!” He just said “Here, in the tent.”
10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
… What was she (Sarah) doing? – Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.
For the first (1st) time, Sarah had opportunity to hear what Abraham hears.
Every time, it’s only Abraham who hears. But this time, she brings her ear close to find out what these men are talking to my husband about.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, (Don’t we know it?) well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
… She’s past the age of childbearing, but she heard it.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?”
13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.
And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
So for the first (1st) time, Sarah heard the Promises of God.
You may not think it is important! But for Sarah, this is the first (1st) time she’s heard how Abraham gets his Messages.
Because Abraham would normally come and say: God spoke to me. God says I would be the father of many Nations. God says my children would be like the stars in the sky;
God says whoever curses me, He would curse; God says whoever blesses me, He would Bless; God says He would make my name great!
… Sarah never heard any of these things!
So, if she had not been in the tent listening, it would have been Abraham who would have come to her and say: “Sarah, by the way, the Lord says through the three (3) Visitors who came; that you are going to have a child.”
But for the first (1st) time – Abraham does not have to report the Words of the Lord to Sarah. Sarah HERSELF heard the Word of God.
THE TWO (2) RESPONSES OF SARAH.
- The First (1st) Response is: BEMUSEMENT and WONDER.
The Promise of God was just too Good to be true. It was so shocking and mind blowing, that she burst out LAUGHING.
Her laughter was not a laughter of UNBELIEF; it was a laughter of SHOCK.
It is the kind of laughter that comes from Positive Disbelief.
WHAT IS POSITIVE DISBELIEF?
Positive Disbelief is somebody tells you something that’s so Good, and you say: “YOU ARE LYING.
Now, when you say: ‘You are lying’ you don’t mean to say really the person is lying.
You are literally saying: “This thing is so Good, please I beg it’s not a lie.
… I hope you are not lying to me?
But it’s so Good; I believe it so well. Please, I hope it’s not a lie?
That’s what’s going on with Sarah! – She is not laughing because she thinks it cannot be; No! She thinks Whaooo! After all these years, would I embrace a Miracle?
… So, that’s her first (1st) response!
Then the Lord said to Abraham: “Why did Sarah laugh?”
Have you noticed that in all this conversation the Lord is not speaking to Sarah?
The Lord is speaking to Abraham – Sarah is listening; so she HEARS what God is saying.
… Although it is not specifically spoken to her!
So, sometimes, you can hear the Word of God, spoken to somebody and you can gatecrashed into it! You can receive it for yourself.
- So the second (2nd) Response is SERIOUSNESS and FAITH.
The fact that her silent laughter and her inner thoughts were revealed to her, made her realised:
“This Promise is not a JOKE! I’m not being teased; I’m not being given something that doesn’t work.”
… And she launched unto it!
So the Bible says in Hebrews 11:11: “By Faith Sarah herself also received Strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him Faithful who had Promised.”
… So, Sarah moves from being BAFFLED by God, to BELIEVING God.
I’m going to show you HOW SARAH’S FAITH WORKED
And I’m going to show you three (3) things in the Passage:
… So let’s see how Sarah’s Faith Worked.
- The Bible says: “By Faith Sarah herself also received STRENGTH.”
… Received Strength!
Her body was RENEWED – This is what the Faith does for her.
Please Note what the Bible says and what the Bible doesn’t say.
The Bible didn’t say: “By Faith Sarah received a Child.”
… That’s not what the Bible says!
Obviously, that’s what our minds tell us the Bible is saying.
But the Bible is saying a totally different thing;
What she received by Faith is not a Child; What she received by Faith is STRENGTH.
And this is very important! – Sarah received STRENGTH.
The word that is translated STRENGTH in that Passage in the Greek Language is “DUNAMIS”.
DUNAMIS is the ability to do something.
So her Faith didn’t give her the child; the Faith gave her the ABILITY.
Because many times when we talk about Faith; we think Faith will give us what we are believing for; but Faith gives us the ABILITY.
By Faith, Sarah HERSELF received STRENGTH
What does that mean?
It means that at certain Point in her life (as the Passage describes it) her body is not in a Good shape. She is Past conception, Past delivery.
You know what?
God is not going to use that body to Produce a child because He would have to violate His Own Natural Laws.
So Sarah’s Faith, the first (1st) thing it does, is to TOUCH the body of Sarah and REINVIGORATE her body – So that her body which did not have the CAPACITY to conceive; now is RENEWED to have the CAPACITY TO CONCEIVE.
… Because Faith starts a Process!
The first (1st) thing – Sarah RECEIVED STRENGTH.
- The Second (2nd) thing, SARAH CONCEIVED.
She conceived! She could now form and grow Seed.
The challenge all along for Sarah was that: Her BODY could not Conceive.
… But now, by Faith – her Body CONCEIVED.
- And then the third (3rd) thing you would note is: SHE BORE A CHILD.
… I like that!
She could deliver what she had CONCEIVED; she BORE a child!
She did not RECEIVE the child; Faith did not give her the child;
Faith conditioned her body to be able to Conceive and Produce a child.
And I’m going to make a very important statement about Faith; because this tells us something very, very fundamental about how Faith works.
Because many times we think that: “When I have Faith, I would get what I asked for.”
But Sarah did not get what she asked for through her Faith – She got the ABILITY to Produce what she was asking for.
… Faith gives us the ABILITY!
So this is the statement:
You say, Pastor, what are you talking about? Because we have heard that Faith moves Mountain!
But Faith doesn’t move mountains; Faith gives us the ABILITY to MOVE MOUNTAINS.
So, when I have Faith, the Mountain would still be there; but God would give me the ABILITY to move MOUNTAINS.
You say: Pastor, what is the Scriptural basis for that?
I’m not going to make such a statement without giving you the Scriptural basis.
Matthew 17:19-20; this is when Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration – An Epileptic Boy is brought to the Disciples, and they couldn’t do much about it.
… Jesus comes and cast out the devil.
And this is what the Scriptures say:
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your UNBELIEF; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have Faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
So, two (2) questions I want to ask you – What is MOVING the Mountain?
- Is it the Faith?
- Or is it what you Say?
The Passage doesn’t say it’s the Faith that moves the Mountain;
It says – “If you have Faith …, you will SAY.”
So, Faith gives you the ABILITY TO DO something.
Faith is in your heart – What you SAY out of your mouth is what is going to MOVE the Mountain.
Sarah did not receive a child by Faith; she received the STRENGTH to conceive. And it is by the Process of the conception that the child was born.
Faith gives you the ABILITY to do; it gives you DUNAMIS; it gives you POWER.
DUNAMIS is where we get the English word “DYNAMITE”.
… When I have Faith, I have ABILITY.
For example: “I need money” (who doesn’t)? And I have Faith that God would give me money.
And I say “Father, I believe Your Promises to me that You would bless me, You would supply all my needs.
… And I quote all the Scriptures!
So what’s going to happen next? Is money going to rain down on me? – No!
Because the Scriptures tells us, “That He gives us the POWER to get wealth.”
So, Faith would not give you the money, but Faith would give you the POWER, the ABILITY, the DUNAMIS – To get wealth.
You are believing God for a child?
Faith would not give you the child but Faith would give your body the CONDITION to Produce a child.
That is what Faith did for Sarah.
“By Faith Sarah herself also received Strength to CONCEIVE seed, and she BORE a child when she was PAST THE AGE, because she judged Him FAITHFUL who had PROMISED.”
Your counting God Faithful gives you the ABILITY to get the things that you are desiring for.
So Faith gives us the ability to do something: And that is THE FAITH TO RECEIVE.
We Believe it, we Say it; we Believe it, He Empowers us; we believe it, He gives us the ABILITY, we believe it, He gives us the STRENGTH.
And there are many of us who are BELIEVING God for something:
Maybe you are believing God for a house – You say: “Oh God, please give me a house!”
You are just walking on the street one day, and a house will just come from Heaven (BOOM)! “I AM THE ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYER.”
… That’s not what’s going to happen!
You say God: I need a house and I believe You. And you quote all the a Scriptures.
What would God do for you? What would your Faith do for you?
Faith will not give you a house; Faith would give you the POWER to build the house.
It would give you the Power to build the house; the ABILITY, the wherewithal.
Whatever is required for you to be able to Build the house; Faith would draw it to you and You would build THE house.
What I like about that Passage – about Sarah; it says “Sarah BORE the child.” It was a PRODUCT from her.
But it came because Faith renewed her BODY, and gave her the ABILITY to.
There are many things God wants to do in your life; and what Faith is going to do is: it’s going to give you the ABILITY.
Something that you have Past – Everybody says oh, his time is over!
Faith would RENEW you; Faith would give you the ABILITY; Faith would give you what it takes!
Faith would cause your body that is dead to be alive!
Faith would cause your Hope that is dead to be redefined.
FAITH give us the ABILITY to do what God wants us to do.
And when we understand Faith that way, we will do MASSIVE EXPLOITS.
When you read the Bible you will see the accounts of people who acted in Faith to see the things that God wanted to do.
Faith will not move the Mountain; but Faith would give you the ABILITY to move MOUNTAINS.
By Faith, you would say to the Mountain: be moved, and it will move!
That means that when I have Faith, and don’t use the ABILITY Faith gives me, then I would not get the result I am looking for.
Before we close today, the greatest thing we can use our FAITH TO RECEIVE is to receive JESUS CHRIST to come and live in our hearts.
When Christ comes to live in our hearts, He gives us the ABILITY to become the sons of God.
Faith brings Him into us, and He gives us the Power to become the sons of God.
… It is the same Principle!
ALTAR CALL
So, if you are reading this Message now on the Label of DMC: and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour:
I will just say this: God sent His Son JESUS, he came to die for YOU – He died for your SINS, and ROSE again from the dead so that Salvation would be yours.
And if you believe in Him, He gives you Power to become a child of God:
“As many as believed in Him, to them He gave the POWER to become the sons of God.
Wherever you are reading now on the Label of DMC; today is your day of Salvation.
And if you want Jesus to come into your heart, you are going to activate your Faith by the words you speak.
You shall say it, and Christ would give you the Power to become a child of God.
If you want to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, just lift up your right hand as an indication that you are ready to make this Decision:
And say with me: HEAVENLY FATHER, I COME TO YOU JUST AS I AM; I AM A SINNER, I CANNOT SAVE MYSELF. BUT I THANK YOU, THAT JESUS DIED TO SAVE ME FROM MY SIN. AND HE’S ALIVE AS MY REDEEMER AND MY LORD.
AND TODAY, BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS, I RECEIVE THE POWER TO BECOME A CHILD OF GOD. I RECEIVE JESUS INTO MY HEART; AND I DECLARE THAT I AM BORN AGAIN, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. I WILL FOLLOW JESUS ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE. NO TURNING BACK.
I THANK YOU FATHER FOR ACCEPTING ME, IN JESUS’ NAME – AMEN!
If you did Pray that Prayer, Faith has given you the Power to become a child of God.
And you can boldly say: I am now a Born Again Christian. I am Born of God, I am a child of God; Old things are passed away, and behold all things are become New.
May the Lord cause your Faith to activate Power in your life, ABILITY in your life, DUNAMIS in your life;
And cause you to do things by YOURSELF – through FAITH in the Word of God.
In Jesus’ Name. – Amen and AMEN!
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