“And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day these things shall be performed because thou does not have faith, trust and confidence in my spoken words expressing intelligence which shall be fulfilled in this season and time of opportunity.” Comment: Zechariah was a Priest in the Jewish Temple. His wife Elizabeth was also a Godly woman! If anyone had opportunity to be close to God it would be this couple! This was evidenced by Gabriel speaking to them directly! Zechariah being a Priest had a great knowledge of the scriptures just like you may today. They were getting up in age and probably though God could not use them anymore! When the Angel Gabriel presented Zachariah with the spoken word of God he flinched! He did not believe the words! As a young man I attended Church but did not really believe the word of God! How do you know? Because I would not speak the word of God! I read it and heard it but would not speak it! Like a mute! When the written word was spoken back to Zechariah he did not believe it! The day I believed the written word of God was the day I responded to the spoken word of God! After I got saved I began to speak the Word of God to others who did not believe! Sin is all about not believing the Word of God! You remember Satan’s words to Eve in the Garden of Eden? Surely God has not said you will die if you eat of the fruit of this tree! The Pharisees had a great knowledge of the scriptures but did not believe them when Jesus spoke them to them? When I was a young man on my death bed Jesus came into my room that night and spoke three words to me! “God loves you!” When I believed those three words everything changed! From death to life! From darkness to light! I was raised from the dead! So was Zacharias and Elizabeth for they were long past having a son! John the Baptist became an important part of Jesus ministry! Your season of Salvation will come once in your life! After I got saved I could not stop telling people about Jesus! The Angel Gabriel was telling Zacharias since you do not believe God at his word then you are not going to be able to speak for a season! Hearing is the prerequisite for speaking! If you do not share your faith with others then you really have no faith! Faith that is not spoken is faith that is not believed! There are no Happy Holidays without Christ! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: baptist
What Jesus Wants for Christmas?
Well, it is Jesus birthday so what does he want? Since I was a little child I always was asked what I want for Christmas? The gifts were for me! I though it was all about me! Jesus gave us the greatest gift but what do with it? Do I treat the gifts as precious? Could I give Jesus more of my time? The time is not mine because he created time! Could I give him gold like the wise men? The streets of Heaven are paved with gold and besides the scriptures declare he is more precious than silver or gold! Could I pray more? He is interceding for me right now at the right hand of the Father! Could I love him more? He first loved me! Could I live for him? He gave his life for me! Could I put sinners under his Christmas tree? Could I put the lost souls of this generation under his tree? Could I present worms turned to butterfly’s under his tree? Could I help to populate Heaven and earth with Saints! Forgiven sinners? Only by his power and grace! Can I do anything without Jesus? I can sin and live a selfish life away from him! I can work death instead of life! Because of him I do not have to do that! I think the best thing I can do for Christmas is receive his gift of Salvation and eternal life and share his gift with others! Happy Birthday Jesus! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
The White Wave!
“Depend on it, your dying hour will be the best you have ever known! Your last moment will be your richest moment, better than the day of your birth will be the day of your death. It shall be the beginning of Heaven, the rising of a sun that shall never go down no more, forever!” Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), Baptist Preacher
Who Do You Trust? Psalm 86:11
Hebrew Translation: “Teach me by laying a foundation established and erect controlling me which leads me down the road of life. O Lord; I will walk faithfully and stable in thy truth; unite my heart in the totality of my inner nature to reverence and respect your name.” Comment: We like Jesus disciples have struggled with this scripture! Like Jesus disciples we sometimes do not walk stable following him! We waver in faith getting off the road that leads to life! The disciples would sometimes get off the foundation! Their heart was not always united with Christ! Reverence and respect for his name was not always there! Peter denied Jesus even though he told him he would die for him! He eventually did in Rome years later! Jesus told us to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel! We say let the church do it! Let an organization do it! Pay them so I do not have to do it! Our gift’s God has given us cannot be used unless we do what Jesus told us to do! At the feeding of the 5000 Jesus asked the disciples what do they have? The disciples wanted to send the crowd away! We do not have money to feed this large crowd? Cancel the meeting! Send them home! The disciples were perplexed? They can buy their own food! A little boy in the crowd came prepared! He had more than enough for himself! He had a little faith! Enough faith to give Jesus everything he had! The little boy gave his all! He had the gift of 5 loaves and 2 fish! Bring what you have to Jesus! God will multiply it! Let God bless what you have! Really what he has given you! Doesn’t seem like much but enough! He will multiply it to feed everyone! God is greater than what you have! Have you figured this out yet? Do something with what God has given you! With your life! Don’t waste it on drugs and go to work! With the left overs from a miracle you can feed even more people! Twelve baskets full! Israel had twelve tribes and Jesus had twelve disciples! God can build a nation out of left overs! God can build a church with left overs! God has more than enough for your family! He has more than enough for your church! God can bless you if you bring all you have to him! Peter build my church! Do you want to distribute God to the world? Or keep him for yourself? Sow the seed you have! Do not eat your seed! Share and multiply what you have! The rich young ruler was not able to do that? He valued his possessions more than God! I don’t need to tithe and make offerings? The possessions God had given to him he could not give back! If you give to God what you have he will do more with it than you ever could by yourself! The graveyard is full of excuses! Even David who wrote this Psalm waivered at times! Jesus never did! Wait on God but not on anything else! Do what God has called you to do! Help the needy and the lost! Go after those the world has rejected! Pray and agree with God! Jesus had every excuse to quit! The crown of thorns was very painful! The betrayal of his disciples was painful! His back cut open and bleeding was painful! His Cross was heavy! Your will be done! God’s will is not easy! Jesus had no excuses to die for you! Do you have any excuses not to live for him? He gave his all! Can you? Be faithful! Stand up for our flag and take a knee for Jesus in prayer! Pastor Don Wildes, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia
Only 4 Weeks to Live!
Our Pastor challenged us with this question! If you had only 4 weeks to live what would you do? Would you do anything different in the next 30 days from what you normally do? John stood up in the congregation and declared he would go out and feed the poor with the money he had left in his savings account! Sally stood up and said she would pray! Pray! Pray! Pray for a healing and be closer to Jesus! Henry stood up in the congregation and said he would spend the last 4 weeks of his life over at his mother-in-law’s house! He told the congregation it would be the longest 4 weeks of my life! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Church Growth & Decline! II Chronicles Chapters 6-7
Mary pondered these things in her heart! Do we ponder the things of God? His House? A church that was once strong and powerful fades away into history? Solomon built the most beautiful Temple for God in history! Solomon had so much wealth given to him! The Queen of Sheba gave him 4 tons of gold for a gift! Solomon did not spend on himself but invested it into the building of the Temple! The Jews made sacrifices to construct the Temple! Solomon asked God for wisdom but God gave him both wisdom and riches! Riches outside the will and purpose of God will come to nothing! After Solomon and many years passed the Temple declined and was destroyed and the Jews went into captivity! Why do some churches fail while others prosper? What series of events cause these opposite outcomes? We must see life God’s way and not our own way! Solomon took the wealth God had given him and invested it into the Temple for worship! God gave the provisions! The church began and the people gave their best! We see from the recorded scriptures here the people prayed and God heard their requests and acted upon them! He bless their cause and work! At the end of Solomon’s prayer God was pleased and fire came down from Heaven and the sacrifice was consumed! What was going right in the Temple! People were obedient to leadership! It was more than just the ornaments of gold silver and jewels! Something was going on inside the Temple! Fire came down and the Lord’s House was filled with His Glory! His mercy endures forever! Solomon built a place where people could bring the sacrifices! God confirmed the blessings with his presence! God has chosen this place for himself! The power of faithfulness and obedience! God heard their prayers! If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves………! We will hear from Heaven! Revival! Times of refreshing! Heart’s right with God! Eyes opened! New revelation! Examine ourselves! Meet God! Who is your God? God is not the reason for a declining church! People have forgotten who they are in Christ! Lost favor of God! Lost sense of purpose! Focus on themselves! No witness of God to the community! Forsaken the God of our Father’s! Calamity follows! God moves out and the world moves in! Secularism! Return to the Lord! He will hear from heaven! He will heal with church growth! Now I must ask you a personal question? Have you given any sacrifice to God that he can consume? When God consumes your sacrifice his presence is manifested in his House! No sacrifice no consumption and no presence! No God in the House! Empty! Christ’s sacrifice caused God to consume Jesus completely with His manifested Glory! Miracles left and right! Are tithes and offerings too much sacrifice for you? Are ministries into your community too much for you? Prison ministry? Hospital and nursing home visits too much for you? Without your sacrifice he has nothing to work with! Do not waste your sacrifice on the world! Your effort will be lost forever! Have faith in God and trust him! You will never be disappointed! When the leadership and people stop sacrificing the ministry declines! When they begin to sacrifice the ministry grows! Pastor Ron Wilder, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Trinity of Communion! 1 John 5:7-8
Verse 7: “These are the 3 that witness a good report in heaven, the Father, the written Word and the Holy Spirit or the Breath of God.: Verse 8: “and these are the 3 that witness a good report in the earth, the Spirit, and the water and the blood; and these 3 agree as one.” Comment: So we see in Heaven a Trinity of the Father, Word and Holy Spirit! So where is Jesus in Heaven? Remember the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! Now let us move down here to the earth. We have a good witness of the Spirit, the Water and the Blood! We have the Holy Spirit, the Blood (Jesus Christ) and the Water! The Water? There is only one thing the Lord could be talking about here! Baptism! Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River! Jesus washed the disciples feet with water before the Cross! I believe there are 3 elements of Communion! The body, the blood and water! Baptism is a separate ordinance in the church as so is Communion however you cannot separate them spiritually! After Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on Him! It pleased the Father! Should we want to please God? Baptism is a witness in the earth to the world that we belong to Christ! In Communion we identify with Christ in Heaven here in the earth and in Baptism we identify with Christ here in the earth as a witness to the world! We do these things in remembrance of Him because He first remembered us at Calvary! God first loved us! Do you want to identify with Christ? Can you be saved without baptism and communion? Yes like the thief on the Cross but would you not want to experience the joy and fellowship of communion with God? In order to be in authority we must be under authority! The ordinances of the Church and the tithes and offerings established by God are there to test you and see if you are under God’s authority? You cannot be in God and not under His authority! Do you forsake assembling together in Church on Sunday’s? If you do you are not under His authority! If we really believe the Word of God then we need to practice the Word of God as a witness for Him in the earth and in Heaven! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Inverse Proportion! John 3:30
Comment: How do we decrease and Christ increase? How did the Apostle John do this? Caesar boiled him in a pot of hot oil and when that did not work he exiled him to a slave labor camp stone quarry on the island of Patmos! There he wrote the Book of Revelation! The purpose of any ministry is to point people to Christ! If pride rules your life you cannot do this! Every time you point people to Christ, that is increase the Kingdom of God you must decrease! If we try to increase ourselves then Christ decreases in us! Our 3 years in India helped me to understand this! The more I decreased the more Christ increased in me! The more I try to puff up myself the less Christ has influence over my life! The measure of Christ’s influence over any culture is measured by church attendance! Today only 28 percent of young people between the ages of 23-37 attend church? Forty seven percent of all American’s are unchurched! Fifty nine percent of all millennials who grew up in church have left! Eighty five percent of all American churches are declining or have plateaued! Europe is even worse! Before we start blaming Pastor’s let us see how we got to this point! Supreme Court rulings banning prayer and the 10 Commandments in our public schools! The vacuum left is school shootings! The secularization of public schools by atheists John Dewey and Charles Darwin! The teaching of evolution as a science disregarding the creation model of our Bible! The pursuit of success and money robbing parents the time needed to instill religious values in their children! The list goes on but these are some honorable mentions! Imagine the millions of souls Dewey and Darwin have kept out of the Kingdom of God ? Certainly they are seated at the right hand of Satan! So how do we get America back? Is this prophetic heading us towards the one world government ruled by the Anti-Christ? I have asked President Trump to introduce school vouchers where private schools can replace our failing public tax funded education system! Schools must be competitive not paying our tax money to the failed public education system! Christianity is just one generation from extinction! Is America worth the fight to turn this around? Is it worth your time? Go to Reachrightstudios.com They have some good idea’s! The Southern Baptist’s found out after building 600 new churches that attendance increased 21 percent in these new churches over a 5 year period! Thankyou! James and Hamsa Sasse, GodWhoisGod.com
One Week After Easter! April 14, 1912
Pastor John Harper was an accomplished Pastor out of Scotland with hundreds of congregation members in his home church! He had been invited by Moody Church in Chicago to participate with this ministry! He was excited and his young daughter and sister accompanied them on a brand new ship on it’s maiden voyage to New York! His wife had been deceased years earlier. The Titanic was promoted as the safest ship to ever sail. On the late night of April 14th the Titanic struck that rock of ice and began taking on water! As the tragedy unfolded Pastor Harper helped load the women and children into the life boats! He gave up his life vest to another who did not have one! A crew member warned him that without the life vest you are going down with the ship! Pastor Harper replied that he was going up and not down! Pastor Harper kept shouting to the crowds, “Do you know Jesus as your Savior?” He continued to shout, “No one can save you tonight but God!” Survivors said that Pastor Harper kept preaching the Gospel to the end especially after Acts 16:31. Are you saved was his continual cry to the people entering the cold icy waters of the North Atlantic! Pastor Harper found himself in the cold frigid waters clinging to a deck chair floating in the water! As people floated by him he would ask them if they were saved? Do you know Christ! Declare His name from your lips and enter into eternal life! You only have one chance tonight! Do not let the love of this world keep you from Christ! Christ loves you but not this world! Trust Christ not your own efforts! Whether here tonight or later we will all perish from this earth! There is only one name under Heaven in where you can be saved! Pastor Harper with over 1500 people perished that night and entered eternity either saved or lost! Are you saved! When we run out of time we run out of choices! The word time means, “To Honor.” Why not honor Him today with the rest of your life here on earth? Pastor John Harpers life can be seen by reading a book called, “The Titanic’s Last Hero”, published by Moody Adams. Do not let Easter slip away from you under the dark waters of death! Pastor Oscar Cope, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia.
Prepare You a Way! Isaiah 40:3
“Prepare a physical pathway for the Lord, make upright and just in a wilderness a highway for our God.” Comment: This Old Testament prophecy was also quoted in the New Testament in several places! In (John 1:23), John the Baptist quoted this scripture to the religious and political leaders explaining what he was doing and why! The word “way”, used in the New Testament means a road in which one travels. Here is the real deal. We as believers had a way prepared for us to find God! The message you received about Christ may have come from a Evangelist, Pastor, teacher, Priest, prophet, elder, parent, grandparent or a missionary! They prepared a way for you to find Christ! We are to return the favor! You are preparing the way for others as you preach His Word! You may be doing a Bible study, prayer group, web site, Blog, audio or video tracts, prison ministry or a Pastor of a local church. You may be a missionary in a foreign land! You may distribute Bibles, Gospel tracts or do hospital and nursing home ministries. You may be doing a food kitchen or clothing distribution for the poor. Just like John the Baptist you are preparing the way for people to find Christ! At Jesus first coming John the Baptist prepared people to receive Christ! However today Christ’s second coming is even more important to prepare people’s hearts because His second coming will not be as Savior but as Judge of all. This makes our mission very important! John sacrificed his life for his mission but today the stakes are even higher! Even more is on the line today! At Christ’s second coming there will be no more choices available to you! Your eternity will be locked in forever! We cannot afford to play church! We must play for keeps! No business as usual. Each day that slips by begs the question what did I do today to prepare the way for others? Will we be able to answer Christ at the Judgment Seat with confidence and assurance that we did all we could to reach the lost? Was our heart in the world or in Heaven? If our destination is Heaven then think about Heaven! We cannot work our way to Heaven but we can prepare a way for others! Go out into the whole world and preach the Gospel. At marriage we say, “I do.” When we join the military we say, “I do.” Then the sacrifices begin! Jesus on the Cross said, “It is finished.” May the God of Heaven give us the grace to finish the highway to Heaven for others and receive the rewards Christ has promised us! Nothing could be more rewarding than to be in Heaven and witness others coming in after us who we have helped to prepare the way for them! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com