Pentecost Sunday May 19, 2013

We have a birthday today! Yes the birth of His Church! Fifty days after Christ was raised from the dead His Church was born! Remember the Torah or Law was given to the people after 50 days. In the Old Testament God gave us the standard to live by but in the New Testament at Pentecost through His Holy Spirit He gave us power to live up to the standard! Source; Introduction to message given at New Life Church by Pastor Brady Boyd, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Christ Saves And Secures! 1 John 3:6-9

In this passage, John examines the question of whether the person “Born Again” can commit sin? In verse six the apostle writes, “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not”, and in verse eight, “He that commits sin is of the devil.” Furthermore in verse nine there is an emphatic declaration: “Whosoever is of God doth not commit sin…and he cannot sin.” If it were possible for a Christian to sin, there would be a contradiction in these portions of scriptures. In this instance, John says if it is not possible for those who are really born again to sin, there must be very few genuine Christians. Every believer still possesses a fallen, sin nature, as well as the indwelling Holy Spirit. Also the doctrine of eternal security is evident in scripture ( John 1:12, 10:28, Romans 8: 38-39 ). Though you may fall into sin, the believers eternal salvation is not affected. ( See note on 1 Thess. 2:3-9 ). Antinomians contend that the covenant of grace was not established based on conditions. The result of this belief is that no person can be held accountable to any moral law. It is only required that they believe, then they can live as they please. The perfectionist go so far as to say that the sin nature has been surgically removed. John was warning believers against these forms of thinking, that they not continue in sin, but abide in righteousness (v v. 8-9). Moreover, the apostle exposes these doctrines in the command, “My little children, these write i unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” ( 1 John 2:1 ) This is not the proper rendering of this verse. It should denote the mere action of a sin, not the idea of habitually sinning. John explains that even he is capable of committing sin, not in the habitual sense, but as one particular action. The phrase here in verse nine, “does not commit sin”, is in the present tense denoting continued action. On the other hand in chapter two, verse one John uses the aorist tense, speaking of one point in the past when a sin was committed. Furthermore there were those who taught that the mere intellectual assent to the Christian faith was enough to make one acceptable to God, even though he or she had impure lives. Therefore John reiterates in verse seven that only those who continued in righteousness, ( ho poion, Strongs 4160 ),a particple phrase meaning, “the one habitually doing”, were considered righteous. they were not only making the righteous and holy life of Christ the object of their trust, but also the pattern of their walk and practice. John’s idea of committing sin on a permanent, habitual basis is further explained in 3 John 1:11, “He that doeth good is of God, but he that doeth evil has not seen God.” There are two participial nouns in this verse, ho agathopoin (Strongs 215), meaning “the one being a doer of good, a benevolent person”, and ho kakopoion (Strongs 2554), referring to, “the one doing evil, a malicious person.” This is the same usage found in 1 John 3:7, “he that doeth righteous is righteous.” John does not imply that merely acting good will make one righteous. A person is an artisan who has acquired a skill and works at a trade as his calling or occupation. Hense the correct translation of 1 John 3:8 should be, “the one who practices sin.” The expression, “he cannot sin”, ( 1 John 3:9 simply means the true believer cannot sin habitually, deliberately and maliciously (e.g. Cain sinned out of hatred for goodness, 1 John 3:12. John does not ignore the existence of the sinful nature in the believer which exists as a mortal living in a fallen world. Consequently, John states in 1 John 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Source: Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible. Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Was Jesus Married?

This subject has come up alot since about the 4th Century! The novel, Da Vinci Code was our most recent until a Harvard scholar says she has found evidence? This writing is out of the 4th Century. The 4th Century is a long way out from the Gospel’s that were written a few years after Jesus life in the 1st Century! Keep in mind what was going on in the 4th Century! One of the greatest challenges to Christianity came from the Coptic Church in Egypt! You had a non-trinitarian theology system rising and with that the rise of Arianism! Arianism said Jesus did not pre-exist His birth. All these forces lead to the Nicene Council in 325 A.D. This lead to the Nicene Creed which millions of churches around the world hold in their theology. There were many forces in the 4th Century trying to remove Christ’s Divinity and reduce Him to a mere man. The same goes for today! This letter from Harvard came out of the 4th Century. The Gospel’s of the New Testament mention all of Jesus family which includes mother, father, sisters, brothers, cousins, ect. Also the Gospel’s take Jesus lineage all the way back to Adam and Eve! If Jesus was married it would not have been left out by all these writers of Biblical and Non-Biblical Historians during the 1st Century! His disciples died promoting the truth and reality of who Christ is and would not have died for a fake! Sometimes I joke and say Jesus did not get married because He was too smart! Think about the plan God had for His Son Jesus and what it required of Him! The Cross and all that lead up to it and then after the Cross! When would He have time for a wife and kids? Then you would have generations living after Christ who would claim they are His relatives and claim special rights! Jesus is married to His Church! We are His Bride! Jesus said you must be born again! This birth is a Spiritual Birth that transforms your life and prepares you to receive the Holy Spirit! Are you married to Jesus or are you trying to live without God? The choice is yours. Love demands a choice! You either serve God or Satan! Choose the one who has created you, died for you, saved you, rose from the grave for you and is in Heaven preparing a place for you! No one else in history can do this or would do this for you! Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Born Loser!

In a 1955 TV episode of Gunsmoke this lady in Dodge City Kansas was having a very difficult life! She was a drunk and a prostitute. Everyone in Dodge City who was of good character was trying to help her! This included Sheriff Matt Dillion, Deputy Sheriff Festus, Doc and Kitty. Matt and Festus were in the saloon trying to figure out how to help her while drinking a couple of beers. Festus was deep in thought where he finally came to a conclusion! He said,” Matt you know some people are born losers but the rest of us have to work at it! ”

Brethren

Paul begins his speech in First Corinthians Chapter 15 with the word brethern. The Greek word used in the text is the word Adelphos. This word means of the same womb. It can mean a brother literal of figurative. I cannot help but to ask do we treat each other like we came from the same womb? We do not expect the world to do this but how about the Church? Paul’s most trouble of all came from the Church at Corinth! More divisions and more immoral behavior than any other Church. Paul was trying to bring unity to a divided Church! So he began in Chapter 15 by using the word brethern. During my three years in India I had a difficult time getting Pastor’s to work together. The biggest issue above denominations was the caste system. If Pastor’s were not of the same caste they did not want to work together? I used to ask them is your caste greater than your God? Jesus said we must be born again! We must and need this second birth that is greater and more important than our natural birth! We have issues in our own Church right now where some people do not want to mix with other races of people? Unless one is born again one cannot get beyond their first earthly birth! Do we see the world through the eyes of God? Are we color blind and only see the creator of all behind the visual images in our mind? Do we have the mind of Christ and accept all people as God has made all people? Does God discriminate? He does in only one area. He descriminates when it comes to right and wrong! He upholds the righteous and condemns the wicked! Paul was trying to get the Church at Corinth to see beyond themselves and seek a purpose greater than themselves! Mary’s womb produced many children but the first born Christ was unique from all other children who have or ever will be born again! Christ’s Father in Heaven looked down to His only begotten Son ever to live on the earth and become the sacrifice for my Sin and yours! Only the womb of God can produce children who recognize other children who have been born from the same womb! Are you born again? I was born again in the year 1973. Do you know your second birth date? If so I can only say, “Happy Birthday!”

Pastor Terry Jones

Was Pastor Terry Jones right? He was right about Islam! His expression about it was wrong! His actions exposed Islam for what it is! The news media asked Pastor Jones, “What would Jesus do?” The more important question should have been, “What did Jesus do?” Jesus was not a whimp! He called evil evil and good good. Today the world we live in calls evil good and good evil! When Jesus called the wicked religious leaders of his day a generation of vipers they nailed Him to a Cross! I am not Jesus and neither is Pastor Jones! Jesus loved his enemies by going to a Cross for their wickedness! Jesus went to that Cross for me, you, Pastor Jones, all Muslims and all enemies of the Cross which includes all people ever born or will ever be born on planet earth! I am not offering you a Christian but Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God who shed His precious Blood on a Cross 2000 years ago for your Sin and my Sin! Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Christmas Story will not save you!

It was around Christmas time in New York City. It was a cold night with light snow showers. Christmas carol’s were being sung around the city. An old man was walking down the street in Brooklyn. His mind was on his past and the mess he had made of his life! So many bad decisions and wrong choices. His thoughts were where will I go when I die? How do I get rid of my past? As he walked by a church he stopped turned around and knocked on the front door of the church. The Pastor opened the door and invited him in. The old man asked the Pastor if he could join the church? The Pastor said he could if he can answer one question correctly. The question is, “Where was Jesus Christ born?” The old man thought a minute and said, “I think it was Philadelphia?” The Pastor told him he was sorry and he should find another church. So the old man went down the street until he came to a Catholic Church. He knocked on the door and a Priest opened the door and invited him in. Old man asked Priest if he could join his Parish? Priest said he could if he could ask one question correctly. The Priest asked the old man where Jesus Christ was born? The old man said.” I think it was Pittsburg!” The Priest kindly asked him to join another Parish. Discouraged but not defeated he continued down the steets of Brooklyn. After a few blocks he came across a Synagogue. He knocked on the door and the Rabbi invited him in. He asked the Rabbi if he could join his congregation? The Rabbi said yes you can! The old man asked the Rabbi if he was going to ask him any questions? No said the Rabbi. We will take you just as you are! The old man was puzzled? Do you mind Rabbi if I ask you a question? The Rabbi said yes you can ask me any question you would like. The old man said,”I was just curious where was Jesus Christ born?” The Rabbi replied Bethehem! The old man just shook his head and said, “I knew it was in Pennsylvania some place?” The Christmas story cannot save us but Jesus Christ can! Merry Christmas!