Comment: The word mystery translated from the Greek means a sacred spiritual mystery! Something that is hidden but to be revealed later. This is why a believer in Christ lives by faith! We do not see everything about our faith immediately but God reveals himself to us in steps as we progress in following him! The word angels used here simply means a messenger! Someone with a message! It could be Gabriel however this word angel in the Greek can also mean a Bishop, Pastor or a designated elder! The word churches means a congregation of believers following Christ. I believe the angels were the seven Pastor’s of the seven churches in Asia Minor (Turkey). This letter was for them! Some believe the Roman guards would have read John’s letters so he coded them so only the churches would understand what he was saying! When the Roman guards read these letters they probably thought John was crazy! I am sure the world today looks at us the same way! The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men! The reason the Romans released John from prison is probably because they thought he was not a threat to Caesar but just plain crazy! Remember the whole Book of Revelation is the unveiling or uncovering the mystery of Jesus Christ! Look for Jesus Christ as you read and study this Book! To those who have not received the Revelation of Jesus Christ this Book would look foolish yet to those who have received him it is the power of God! The stars and the candlesticks ultimately all point to Christ! There was a star over Bethlehem and Jesus is the light of the world! Let him light your path so you do not stumble in the darkness! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: patmos
Why Suffer? Revelation 1:9
Greek Translation: I John, who also am among you a brother of the same womb (Born Again) and companion in tribulation. In tribulation of being broken, squeezed, crushed with the pressure of a burden upon my spirit in a confined space (Prison). And in the Kingdom of God under all circumstances with endurance towards people. I was in the isle of Patmos, for the Word of God and for the testimony being a witness, certifying and declaring Jesus Christ. Comment: Suffering by the world brings death! Suffering by God has brought men Salvation! John suffered for a testimony of Jesus Christ! Suffering in Christ brings purpose in your life! To live is Christ and to die is gain! We have an interesting story about India. We spent two of our three years there on a remote mountain village named Yercaud in South India. They had an old English church up there that had the graveyard surrounding the church! I explained in a previous post why the British did this. Since I had to walk through the cemetery to get to the front door of the church I noticed some of the grave markers. There were two grave markers of a missionary couple from England that spent their whole life preaching the Gospel in India! But I noticed next to their graves was a little grave marker of a four year old girl. This was their daughter who died of malaria while ministering to the people of India! I wrote there names down and then inquired of the elders of the village if anyone knew about them? An old man in the village told me the story his grandfather told him many years ago. This couple had a powerful ministry bringing hundreds of Hindus and Muslims to Christ! They had been appointed to a three year mission work to India. However after their daughter died there they spent the rest of their lives ministering in India! They decided their daughter’s death would not be in vain! Her sacrifice was not to be wasted! Jesus said, “This do in remembrance of me!” As we take the bread and the cup let us remember he did not let the cup pass from him! A sacrifice was provided to you for your Salvation! Remember him when you are suffering for he has never forgotten you! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Seven Spirits! Revelation 1:4
John to the seven churches which are in Asia; grace be unto you, and peace, from which is and which is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his Thrown. Comment: The seven churches in Asia Minor were not the only congregations there! They were the nearest churches to John who was exiled on the island of Patmos. The phrase “from which is and which is to come”, refers to Jesus Christ. Grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ. Where some controversy can come is the phrase, “Seven spirits who are before his Throne”. Some believe these are angels! However the problem here is the word used is not angels but spirits! The word spirits, Strongs #4151, translates breath of God or the mighty rushing wind of God! This leads me to believe this was the Holy Spirit part of the Trinity! Remember the Holy Spirit was already sent to the church at Pentecost! Jesus said I must go back to my Father to send the Holy Spirit! Where is the Holy Spirit sent from? Heaven! From the Throne of God where He resides! Remember the Holy Spirit is not a created being like humans and angels! However the Holy Spirit resides in created beings like me and you! Why? For God’s purposes! Remember Lucifer who became Satan and 1/3 of the angels rejected God and His Holy Spirit! God does use angels like Gabriel and Michael and are his servants! They have a choice just like we do! Some believe these spirits are the gifts of the Holy Spirit! The Catholics believe there are 7 gifts and the Protestants believe there are 9 gifts! The gifts are for His church! Later in this Book of Revelation we see these 7 spirits help the churches is Asia Minor! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Read! Hear! Speak! Revelation 1:3
Blessed is he possessing the character of God expressed as a believer in Christ who is well spoken of and is fully satisfied regardless of the circumstances. God’s Kingdom is in your heart. These blessings come when you read and hear the word of this prophecy. The prophecy of telling God’s word where His grace and empowerment are to be exercised in the church. You are to keep those things which are written therein: For the time or season of opportunity is given for these events to take place. Comment: The word Blessed used here could not be better expressed than in the life of the Apostle John! Regardless of circumstances! A lot of 21st Century preaching today says you are blessed only if your circumstances of money, wealth and health reflect it! John was boiled in a pot of oil! When that did not kill him the Roman Emperor had John exiled to a slave labor camp on the remote Greek island of Patmos working in a stone quarry! The 21st Century Christian would have trouble understanding his blessings? Lord if you just help me win the lottery I will serve you! The word Blessed has nothing to do with your external circumstances but everything to do with your internal condition! Your soul. It is all about Christ living and dwelling in you! His presence comes through reading his word and hearing his word and then speaking His word to others! Evangelism! The word time used in this scripture passage is not the word chronology and does not mean a succession of time! The Greek word for time, used here, Strongs #2540, means a season of opportunity for events to take place. You might call it grace! Your season and my season of opportunity will only come by once in your life! Use your opportunity today and the rest of your life to read, hear and speak His Word! 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
Cloudless Harps! Revelation 21:1-27
In the new heaven and earth there will be no sanctuary, temple or church! Yes unemployed Rabbi’s, Priest’s and Pastor’s! There will be no sun and no moon! Jesus is the light of the world! Remember at creation? Let there be light! No night there! No clouds there! We reflect the light of Jesus as the moon reflects the light of the sun! No sickness in heaven! No hospital’s, no doctor’s, no nurses, no pharmacy, no x-ray machines, no MRI scanners and no chemo therapy! No sadness in heaven! No more tears! No tears of wasted lives! No tears of pre-mature death! No tears for suicides! No graves! No undertaker’s! No cemetery! No stone cutter’s! No wreath maker’s! Also no separation in heaven! No more farewell parties at the airport! No crying for departed loved ones! No more sea of separation! Remember the Apostle John who wrote this Book of Revelation? He was imprisoned on the island of Patmos surrounded by a sea! He longed to be with the seven Churches but was imprisoned as a slave laborer in a marble stone quarry! No prison’s in heaven! No more condemnation in heaven! I will pray for you but the reason for all your problems is because of sin! No prayer in heaven! Last no more sin in heaven! No military, no police departments, no FBI. no CIA, no NSA. The unrepentant sinners will be separated from heaven in the Lake of Fire! No dirty words spoken in heaven! No disobedient thoughts and actions! No acts of revenge from unrepentant sinners expressed in violence! Yes, cloudless harps! We will be in constant praise to our King in heaven! Sound boring? Then try the Lake of Fire where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched! You cannot have one foot in heaven and one foot in hell? You have a choice as long as you have breath! Do not delay and default to hell. A choice not for Jesus is a choice for hell. Pastor David Jeremiah. Note; The wife of Pastor David Jeremiah is the great granddaughter of D.L. Moody!
It Was Fun! Luke 6:22-23
These were the words of Tom Brady quarterback of the New England Patriots at the end of his interview last night after their Sunday night football game win over the Pittsburg Steelers! This game was really a hard fought battle with both teams having to send players to the hospital during the game! Hopefully not with career ending injuries! Brady himself was body slammed to the ground by 300 pound plus linemen! So what was fun? Was it the pain, injuries, training or uncertainty of every game? Was it the risk of a career ending injury or death? It was the winning! The sacrifices are then forgotten! Do we have the child like excitement about Christmas? About giving? About receiving? Is it fun? In Luke chapter six Jesus is well past the manger scene! He is preparing his players for the game ahead! Jesus told His 12 players that they are going to hate you, isolate you, reproach you and call you evil because of me! Like NFL players they are going to sack you! But Jesus said to rejoice in that day! Leap for joy! You guys just won the Super Bowl! Your reward is great in Heaven! Your fathers the prophets suffered the same things! We do not like to think about suffering during the Christmas season! Yet that is why He came! To suffer for us! To make our lives fun and meaningful with purpose! To win! Losers made winners! The victory parade for you is going on in Heaven right now! While running your race sometimes the pain seems unbearable! Give your pain to Jesus! He became a curse for you! He took your pain upon Himself! We are on the same team! Jesus disciples except John all crossed the finish line with martyrdom! John was boiled in oil and then exiled to a stone quarry for slaves on the island of Patmos! They all looked beyond the finish line towards the goal and their and your victory in Christ! Those that have gone before us have prepared a way for us! Give a sacrificial gift to someone this Christmas as we were given the gift of a little baby boy born in a manger in Bethlehem! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Prayer! Matthew 21:13
Some people think that prayer means asking for things, and if they fail to receive exactly what they ask for, then they think the whole thing is a fraud! Gerald Vann (1906-1963), British Catholic Theologian, Author of 24 Books. Comment: Prayer is really fellowship with God! Fellowship with the Father through His Son! You remember some of Jesus words! Father forgive them for they know not what they do! Father if possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but Thy will be done! We can pray for the stuff but it will perish one day! I can pray for the sick which is good but they will die one day! The fellowship with our Father through Jesus will last forever! We pray expecting but according to the will of God! All Jesus disciples were martyred except John who was boiled in oil and sentenced to a slave labor camp stone quarry on the island of Patmos where he wrote the Book of Revelation! Some in the church today might think they were out of the will of God because they did not die rich with a lot of stuff? Success is more than stuff! The Gold Standard for success with God is to love others and sacrifice yourself for their benefit! What are our prayers like? Lord I am a sinner forgive me as my Savior! Lord forgive them and forgive me! Do we continue to fellowship and worship God through prayer in Heaven? What is Jesus doing right now in Heaven? He is interceding for the Saints here on earth! Satan has no prayer life and is separated from God! The Old Testament Hebrew word for prayer means to intercede for someone else! Jesus is following this pattern in Heaven today! One of the Greek words for prayer in the New Testament means to ask for a specific benefit from God! Send your Holy Spirit and dwell in me! Whatever the benefit it is to benefit others! Pray more for souls and less for stuff! What will be our prayer in Heaven? Praying for those here on earth! Why not start today? An American Pastor Charity and Ruth Harris ministered to us in a church in Denver Colorado back in the 1970’s for two years. They have spent over 40 years on the Mission field in Africa! They build hundreds of Tabernacle churches in the remote villages of Africa! Charity is now old in a nursing home legally blind. What is he doing today there? Praying for others including my family and preparing himself through prayer for Heaven! No one on earth can bestow a greater honor on you than to lift your name up to the Son and to the Father! Jesus said my House shall be called a House of prayer and not a den of thieves! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
How Did The Apostle John Decrease? John 3:30
John was arrested in Ephesus when his enemies threw him into a pot of boiling oil. However John was miraculously delivered from death! The authorities then sentenced him to a slave labor camp in the marble mines of Patmos! On this island on the Aegean Sea John under impossible odds had a vision of Jesus Christ and wrote the Prophetic Book of Revelation! John years later was freed due to his old age and returned to Ephesus in now modern day Turkey. He died an old man sometime after 98 A.D. He was the only Apostle to die peacefully! Comment: If we will decrease Jesus will increase! Most 21st Century Christians think of decreasing as missing a meal now and then or even a whole day! When you find yourself in a pot of boiling oil up to your neck you could easily think I am having a bad day! Especially when the local natives are cutting up vegetables and putting them in your pot! To be sentenced to a slave labor camp on a remote island under Roman guards in a stone quarry might cause you to think you are having another bad day? John probably said all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com