Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church

Guest (Male): You are now listening to an inspirational message from Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church where Dr. Michael W. Wesley Sr. is the pastor. Please join the service in progress.

Dr. Michael W. Wesley Sr.: I’m excited and delighted about the opportunity to stand a few moments and to be with you. I want to thank Pastor James for extending the invitation and to all of you, my brothers and sisters, it’s just always good to be home. I feel like a rookie coming back because I haven’t been up here in a minute, but that’s okay. The Lord has me busy in other places and doing other things. I’m excited.

Join me now in this moment of prayer. Holy Father, in the strong name of Jesus, we thank you for blessing us with another week’s journey. We thank you for the highs and the lows. We thank you for the ups and the downs. We thank you for our rest last night and for allowing us to rise early this morning with our hearts and minds on you and wanting to be in the house of prayer. We thank you that since we've been here, you have blessed us with your presence.

The songs have gone up to inspire us, scriptures have informed us, and prayers have covered us. Now, we need a word to help us to live. I pray freshly that you will lift again your human out of self. Fill us with the Holy Spirit. Speak to us and through us in this moment of sharing. Bless now the words that are in our mouth and the meditations that are on our heart, that it may be acceptable in your sight. Oh, Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Speak, Lord, your servants are listening. We ask it all now in the name of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

I don’t have that youthful energy, but I don’t worry about that. I learned how to take my time. I want to invite your attention this morning to the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter one. I’m going to be in a familiar narrative that I know you are familiar with. I want to read about 12 verses in your hearing, starting at verse 26 through verse 38.

"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, 'Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.' And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

And the angel said unto her, 'Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.'

Then said Mary unto the angel, 'How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?' And the angel answered and said unto her, 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.' And Mary said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.' And the angel departed from her."

This is the word of God for the people of God. I want to talk this morning from this subject: "The Blessing and the Burden." Ever since I’ve been in the world or since I've known of myself, I’ve come in contact with a phrase that you’ve probably heard as well. That phrase is "In God we trust." Where did you see that? On money. I’ve been plagued with money for a long time. Every time I walk in the community, if I find a penny, a nickel, a dime, or whatever, I read it and it says "In God we trust." I just remind myself that God is still in charge and that he is providing for my needs.

What I had to learn in all of this process is that to really develop that trust in God, God will sometimes bring you through both spectrums. He'll give you a blessing, but with that blessing is going to come a burden. Many of us want the blessing, but we don't want the burden. The truth is they are not opposites. They are both companions and they are both necessary to develop that trust in us that God so desires and so designs.

God has always blessed people. He has ever since the world was created. He created the world, made the earth the home for the human being, and he placed the man in the beautiful home, the garden that he had made, and intended for him to have a lifetime of blessing. But the man and his wife disobeyed God in the garden, and it caused the whole world to fall into chaos or into sin. But even then, God made a promise. God made a promise in the third chapter of Genesis, verse 15. He said the seed of a woman will come who’s going to end this tyrannical rule of man’s arch-enemy, Satan, the devil.

God came back again and again, and he promised through different times and different people that he was going to send a son. Later on, he talked about raising up a prophet, the great prophet, none like him before or since. What I want to help you understand is all of those promises God had made to the nation of Israel. Because God has been faithful in keeping his promise, you and I can trust him. What I want you to see today is today’s text is a fulfillment of one of those promises that God was going to send somebody. That somebody is the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we look into this text and the context of this passage, I want you to see both the blessing and the burden. I want you to see how they are connected in helping us become stronger in our faith because what God does for Mary, he does for you. He does for me. He puts something on the inside of us that some of us haven’t seen the fulfillment of yet, but it’s there. You’ve just got to know that God is not playing. He’s not mocking you. He’s not setting you up. He intends for it to happen. I think that’s good news. I know it’s good news.

Let’s look at this passage this morning and understand. Whenever God is up to something, God is going to use a messenger. This messenger is an angel. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was dispatched. I’ve heard a whole lot of stuff in my lifetime around the Bible, but it’s not but two angels that have been named by name. One is the angel Gabriel, and the other is Michael. God uses angels because they are messengers. If ever he’s going to give you something, he has a way of delivering to you what he wants you to know.

In the Old Testament, there were a bunch of angels. This boy Jacob, remember Jacob? Abraham’s grandson. Jacob tricked his brother out of his birthright and he was running away from home. He was a fugitive lying on the ground, and God showed up in a dream. Jacob looked up and he saw a ladder extended from earth to heaven, and angels were ascending and descending. Who are angels? Angels are messengers who live in the presence of God. They hear what God says and then God dispatches them down to deliver the message to his people as to whatever it is he wants them to know.

In all of the Bible, more than 75 different ways God is recorded as dropping the message into us. Sometimes he does it through dreams. Sometimes he does it through visions. Sometimes he does it through people. Sometimes he does it through angelic beings. But the point is, in order for you to know what God wants you to know, he uses messengers. When you come to church, believe it or not, I might not look like an angel or act like an angel, but you come here to receive a message from God so that you will know what the Lord wants you to understand.

Angel Gabriel was sent in the sixth month. Earlier in the text, we find out that there was an old priest whose name was Zechariah. Zechariah was married to a woman whose name was Elizabeth. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were in their 70s, perhaps 80s, and Elizabeth had been barren. This same angel was sent by God to tell this man, "Go home because you and your wife, who has never had a child up to this point, is going to have a child."

That was too big for him. He was so shocked he couldn’t even speak. God said, "All right, you don’t believe it? I’m not going to let you open your mouth until this thing is fulfilled." Zechariah had to go home and he just had to sign and write things down to help his wife know she was going to have a child. You’ve got to know they both laughed. Zechariah was popping his suspenders because his buddies were now going to think he’d been a bad boy. But it was divine.

What you might not understand about this angelic messenger, Gabriel, is that this is the second time in this passage that the angel is dispatched to drop a message. First, he went to Zechariah. Now this same angel is sent six months later to this girl in Nazareth, and her name is Mary. What’s amazing about this is that nobody had seen an angel in more than 400 years. There had been no word from God in more than 400 years. All of a sudden, out of the blue, God begins to drop double miracles in a single day. Tell me God won’t do it. When he’s ready for you, when it’s your time, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been. When the Lord is ready, he’s going to let you know that it’s your time. Anybody here looking for your time? I’m glad the Lord doesn’t forget about us. He always comes to let us know what he’s up to.

He wanted this girl to know through this divine angel. Obviously, his appearance scared the grease out of her because people know that when you see an angel, if we saw one, we would know that we were either in heaven or on our way there. Continue to send human messengers because if they start flying around here, we'd be messed up. Ever notice something about whenever an angel showed up? Almost immediately the first thing they had to say was, "Fear not," because they know that their appearance has messed with people.

This angel is telling the girl not to fear. He says to her, "Hail Mary," which is, "Hello, girl." I just like that because God knows just what to do. He knows just when to do it and he always knows just how to do it. He knows how to get our attention. When he was ready to speak to Moses, he didn’t send an angel. He just made the bush burn and the bush would not burn up. Moses saw the phenomenon, but he knew because when he turned to see, God spoke out of the bush.

Sometimes God shows up at night. Sometimes he shows up in the morning. Sometimes he shows up driving down the street. Sometimes God puts an impulse in your heart or in your mind. You have a thought, a dream, a mindset, and you think it’s of you and at first you’re able to dismiss it. But when it’s of God, he’s going to bring it back. It’s going to come back again and again, and you can't shake it. You can't get away from it. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Anybody ever had God to work on you, put something in you, on you? At first you thought this just can’t be. But sometimes when the Lord really wants you to know, he’s going to keep it coming alive until it becomes clear.

Next, God's going to use a messenger to get to you. He’s not going to tell me. If God wants you to know something, he’s not going to tell me. He’s going to tell you because you’re the one who has to follow. I want you to understand it’s personal. Look at what he does. He chooses who the message is going to come to. He chose this girl. Notice what it said about this girl, that she was a virgin. Which meant she was probably about 12 years old. No more than that. 12, 13.

That was on purpose. The Roman law at this time allowed girls to become engaged or betrothed by the minimum age of 12, and usually they were married within about a year of that time. The reason the Roman law was that way is so that the man could be sure that she was still a virgin. It also protected the girls because they would not have to live five, six, seven years until 18 or 19 still trying to protect their virginity. Activity begins to occur in those early teens. God was wise in providing the information to make sure that this fell in the right place.

Why would that be necessary? If he’s getting ready to bring the Lord Jesus into the earth, and he wants to make sure that there’s no cross-contamination because the Son of God is going to be pure. He’s going to live a sinless life, and Jesus becomes the only one in human history to live a sinless life. Why does he get to live a sinless life? Because there’s no human father involved. Go all the way back to the garden. Back in the garden when Adam was born, when God brought Adam out of the soil, Adam was a grown man. When he brought Eve out of Adam’s rib, she was a grown woman. Those first five quarts of blood that were in their veins were pure. Adam was without sin. Eve was without sin.

But when they disobeyed God in the garden, Adam got blood poison. In other words, he got sin in his DNA. When God put them out of the garden, the Bible said Adam knew his wife. That doesn’t mean he knew her name. It meant they had a relationship. They produced a child, and that child’s name was Cain. Cain ended up killing his brother. Killing is murder and it’s a sin. So where did Cain get the sin gene from? He got it from his daddy because when his daddy got blood poison and he went into his mama and passed on the gene, sin was passed on.

Why are you a sinner? Where did you get it from? You got it from your daddy, and where he got it from? He got it from his daddy. It goes all the way back. When God was ready to bring Jesus, to make sure that he would be sinless, he made sure that there was a girl who would be the gift box that had not been with a man. When God artificially inseminates her, the child that she’s going to carry is going to be 100% human because he’s going to come through the birth canal. But he’s going to be 100% God because of the DNA that fertilized the egg.

It was clear. The Bible is not putting this down just to entertain you. She was a virgin because God knew what he was doing. It tripped her out because of the message the angel has for her. First, he says you’ve been chosen. "Hail, girl, you've been chosen. You are highly favored among women." You’ve got to know every since Eve in the garden, woman after woman had expected that God's going to send a male child through me because the seed of a woman was going to produce the child that was going to end Satan's reign.

Every woman that got pregnant for a while, she was thinking, "Could I be carrying that special one?" But now here is the fulfillment of it, and God is deliberately telling this girl, "You are the one." Can I help you understand what that means in personal interpretation? God has a blessing with your name on it. Nobody else had this blessing or this privilege, but she was chosen for that particular assignment. God has a unique assignment, task, and responsibility for every one of us. What I came to tell you is he's going to produce it on the inside, and you're going to have to raise it, but sometimes it's so incredible that you won't even believe it.

Look at her response. How can this be? How in the world am I going to bear a child seeing that I haven't been with a man? I understand what you’re saying, but it’s so big that I can’t get my hand around it because I've never heard of this. I’ve never read about it. Nobody in the community that I know of has experienced this. So the angel says, "Oh, so you need some proof, do you?" He said, "I tell you what. You've got a cousin. Her name is Elizabeth, and she's in her 80s and she's pregnant too. She's already six months in. I know this thing is too big for you to understand by yourself, and you can't talk to another 12-year-old who's going to understand what is going on. So I'm sending you to Elizabeth."

Sometimes God drops vision, dreams, assignments, and futures in us that is so big and is so powerful that you can’t even tell other people about it. Trying to talk to other people who have not experienced that same level of revelation blows their mind, and they end up thinking you’re crazy because they can't identify with what God is doing in your life. What the Lord has put on me is so heavy, so strong, so deep, I even had to step back from this assignment because trying to tell you and explain to you something supernatural this deep would have you thinking that there's something wrong with me.

When there’s been a divine messenger who has stopped by to say that you have been chosen for this particular assignment and this is on you because you have been highly favored, God has put something on you. God has been bubbling under your skin, bubbling under your spirit. He has put something in you. You can hardly sleep at night because every now and then it comes back and it's so strong and it's so powerful. Trying to talk to him or trying to talk to her about it, you know they can't identify with it, so you just shut up.

The divine messenger here, God was up to something. I want you to see the divine choice. He chose this girl. Everybody else might have thought she was crazy. Everybody else might have said something was wrong with you. You tell somebody you’re pregnant. We know how folks get pregnant. You're engaged to that boy and you're supposed to be all of that and a bag of chips. How are you going to explain this?

The message rocked her. It wasn’t so much that most people are terrified when they see an angel. Maybe it was because she was young. This is the first time and only time that an interference, or should I say an intervention, has come into this world from another world. It’s not a UFO this time. It’s not little green men. It’s not people from outer space. This has come straight from the throne of God.

When she sees the angel, yes, it shakes her. But that's not what shook her. What shook her was what the angel said when he said, "Hail Mary, good morning, girl. You are highly favored among all women." You are a recipient of grace. But this is where the Roman Catholic Church has got it wrong because the Roman Catholic Church has believed and has developed a whole doctrine of Mary as if she is to be a dispenser of grace. No, she was not to be the dispenser. She can't give grace. I can't give you grace, and no other human being can give you grace. Grace comes from God. When God gives grace to you, you are the recipient of. That’s what shook the girl. She wondered how in the world can a plain little old 12-year-old girl from a nobody city like Nazareth be highly favored.

That was what blew her mind. How does God select you? Why did God choose you out of all of the other people on the earth? He has chosen you. That is mind-boggling. Then when you think about what he said to the girl, he said, "You're going to have a child." Wait a minute. I'm going to do what? You're going to have a child. She’s blown in her mind. How can these things be? How is this going to happen? Have you ever wondered how God's going to pull off some of the blessing that he has promised you? You know you didn't go to that school. You know you didn't come from that family. You know that mama and them didn't have that money. You know you came from the wrong side of the track. You know that there's nothing in your family DNA that says you should be, and everybody else has been telling you all your life you ain't and you can't become and you're not going to be it. Everything else has all said no, but God somehow has told you yes. God has told you something unique in your spirit. You've had to wrestle with that. You've had to walk the floor. You've had to scratch your head. You've had to say, "Lord, how in the world are these things going to be?" I want to tell you so bad, but I can't tell you because it will wait on God's time.

When he tells you stuff like that, that’s just so monumental, it will mess with you. He has to send you somewhere so that you can get some other kind of proof, some backup. Go up to the hills, go to the hill country. Find Elizabeth. When you get through with your visit with Elizabeth, you won't have to ask nobody nothing else because you'll get all of the proof that you need.

Mary had to be obedient. Now she couldn't go tell Joseph because she knew that was already going to be a train wreck. So she goes to the hill country and she goes to see Elizabeth. She knocks on the door. When Elizabeth comes to the door, Elizabeth shouts. Whoo! You know why she shouted? The Bible tells you. Because the baby inside of Elizabeth shouted. He hooped before he even preached. The baby leaped with joy in Elizabeth’s womb.

Elizabeth said, "Yeah, girl, come on in here, sit down. Let me tell you. Let me put your boots on. Let me take you to school. Listen, before I even saw who you were, just heard your voice, the baby on the inside of me." And I know Mary went, "What baby inside of you? Elizabeth, I've been knowing you all my life and you've been barren. How in the world is you done got pregnant?" I’m using inappropriate English on purpose. I know how to say it, but how you done got pregnant? It gives Elizabeth now a chance to tell Mary her own supernatural story. Only these two women would be able to identify with one another because they’ve had a similar supernatural experience.

I know I’m talking to somebody here this morning. I know God has laid birth because he put this on me too strong. I know what he’s put on me and put in me, and I know he’s done the same for some of you. I just want you to know that you’re not crazy first and foremost. Don't give up on the dream. Don't set it apart because you haven't been able to figure it out yet because he hasn't hooked you up with the right person yet or with the right group of people who can help you see what the steps are going to be and how he's going to get you from where you are to where he wants you to be. That’s God's business.

Elizabeth helped Mary understand. Girl, you're going to have a child, and this thing is not of human origin. This is divine. So let me talk about the child that she’s going to have, then I'm going to give you the burden and the blessing and be out your way. She understands from the angel that this child is not going to be Little Ricky. This child is not going to be Little Stink. This child is not going to be Little Trouble. This one's going to be different. This boy's going to have the government on his shoulder. His name's going to be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. This one’s name is going to be Jesus. His name is going to be Jesus for a purpose because his life mission is going to be that he's going to save his people from their sin.

Mary, you need to understand that what you’re carrying, you ain't going to have no trouble. You ain't going to have to go up to the school to get him out of detention because he's going to be obedient. You ain't going to have to worry about him calling the teacher out of her name because he's the Son of God. You ain't going to have to worry about him touching somebody inappropriately or doing anything wrong in his life because he knows how to walk. When he comes out, he's going to walk straight, and all of the days of his life he's going to be all right.

Girl, I just want you to know he's got some power in his hand. At first they're going to be soft and smooth and you're going to rub on them. But one day, girl, they're going to hurt you. Girl, I know, I understand. This is going to be a blessing, but it's going to also be a burden. Mary, the blessing is you're going to have a child. But the burden is you're going to have to deal with negroes. You're going to have to deal with your community. You're going to have to deal with other people who are haters because they're not going to be able to understand and they're not going to be able to explain. Because they can't understand and because they don't understand, they're going to call you everything but a child of God. They're going to call you a hoochie mama. They're going to think you've been running around with other folk's man.

It’s all because of what God has in mind. Yes, it’s a blessing, but it’s going to also be a burden. It’s going to be a wonderful thing to say that’s my son, but it’s going to break your heart because one day, girl, they're going to lead him to a place called Calvary. Those smooth hands that you once rubbed on and those soft feet that you once massaged are going to have to bear nails. When you see the nails go in his hand, it’s going to break your heart. When you see the nails go in his feet, it’s going to cause tears. Yes, it is a blessing, but it’s going to also be a burden.

Can I help somebody understand that when God calls you, sometimes it will be a blessing to know that you are used by God? But it’s a burden to live a life every day of trying to live right, trying to talk right, trying to treat people right when they know they’re not treating you right. It’s a burden and it’s a blessing. To have a big ministry, James, is a blessing. But I need you to understand it’s also a burden. It’s a wonderful thing to be a deacon in a church like this. It’s a blessing. But you better know it’s also a burden. It’s a wonderful thing to be a blessing as a woman called of God, but it’s also a burden because people don’t understand. They can’t handle it. They hate it. But go on regardless of what it costs. Go on. Be the blessing that you are. Go on. Sing the song that you sing. Go on. Shout the shout that you shout. Go on. Be all that God wants you to be. God knows what he's doing.

As the song says, if you trust and never doubt, he will surely bring you out. There's something you can do with your burden. You can take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there. I trust in God. My Savior, he’s the one who will never fail. When you know who you are, when you know whose you are, when you know why you are, when you know whose hand you’re in, it doesn’t matter what the world says. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks. I am a child of God. I’ve been blood-washed, washed in the blood of the Lamb. I’ve been fixed. I’ve been helped. I’ve been healed. I’ve been sanctified. I’ve been saved. I’ve been set free. I’m on my way.

The Lord has been good to me. The Lord has even more blessings for me. I know that with the new blessing comes new burdens. With every level comes a new devil, but that’s all right. The same Jesus who brought me from yesterday is the same Jesus who’s with me today, and the same Jesus who’s with me today will be with me on tomorrow. I trust in God, and I want you to trust in God. If he did it for Mary, he’ll do it for you. If he did it for Israel, he’ll do it for you. If he did it for Jacob, he’ll do it for you. If he did it for Nicodemus, he’ll do it for you.

God has a blessing with your name on it, and sometimes he has to give it to you in message form. Don’t be afraid of it. You might not be able to explain to other people how he’s going to do it. Let me just put it like this. It’s called a Scooby-Doo blessing. You know what a Scooby-Doo blessing is? Somebody says, "How God do that?" You just have to answer like Scooby-Doo.

A bird has two wings, and he needs both wings to fly. One is a blessing; the other is a burden. But it takes both of them to be able to fly. I want you to know there's a burden in your life. There's also a blessing. It takes both for you to be able to fly. I just want to give you Christ now because if you’ve got him, you’ll have everything that you need to be able to go through whatever it is. You’ll be able to bear whatever burden because you know the depth of the blessing that God has dropped in your life. Come on, choir. We’re offering Christ. We’re going to open the doors of the church now and we’re going to give somebody an opportunity. This could be a life change for you. Yes, it’s a burden to walk out, but it’s so a blessing. It’s a blessing. Give Jesus your heart. This is your moment. This is your time. Give Jesus your heart and let us push forward together. This is your moment.

Guest (Male): Hope you enjoyed the broadcast. You have been listening to a message from the Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church where we are reaching the world for Christ. Located at 2135 Jefferson Avenue Southwest, Birmingham, Alabama, 35211. For a copy of this message, you can reach us at 205-925-9750 or 9751, or visit us on the web at www.greatershiloh.org. For another uplifting message, we invite you to join us for our next broadcast.