07/03/11 - Blood Spirit and Water - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "Blood, Spirit, & Water" in this Sunday morning celebration.

Blood, Spirit, & Water
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, July 03, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:


The Blood, the Spirit, the Water

In 1776, with America's hard-won battle for freedom behind them, the people of our country wanted a national flag that would symbolize not only their independence, but their spirit of unity. The Continental Congress responded by passing the first "Flag Act" which established the first official flag for our nation. It stated: "Resolved that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field." The significance of the colors was defined thus: White signifies purity and innocence; Red, hardiness and valor; Blue, vigilance, perseverance, and justice.

Our national anthem—the Star Spangled Banner, was written by Francis Scott Key.  He was being held prisoner on a British ship during the War of 1812.  He was participating in a prisoner exchange but overheard the plans for an invasion, so he was held until the battle was done.  As the darkness grew, his only sign that the Americans were still standing firm was a glimpse every now and then of the battered flag above their fort.  At dawn, the tattered flag had been replaced by a new, larger flag and Key knew his country had withstood the onslaught.

Just as the red, white and blue signified to Key that the attack had failed, God has given us 3 witnesses to affirm we are winning.  If we will learn to embrace these witnesses, nurture their place in our lives, they will always be there, even in the midst of an all-out assault against us, to confirm we have life and God’s promises to us are true.

There are lots of things that want to tell us we have life, lots of influences and influencers that want to define what life is and what it looks like.  We have been given 3 witnesses that confirm we have life, and are living it.  It’s so easy to be seduced, deceived, or just fall asleep at the wheel.  So if we seek these 3 witnesses in our personal lives, we will know we are in “The Way.” 

Nehemiah 9:20 “You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst.”  Jesus is the manna from Heaven, his flesh and blood.  (John 6:57-58)

1 John 5:7 “So we have these three witnesses—the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree.”


The Blood:

Leviticus 17:11 "for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible."

Leviticus 17:14 "The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community."  We must be cut off from the community of sin (not sinners).  The 'community of sin' has death to expect (the wages of sin is death). There is only one blood that can do that--the blood of a perfect sinless man--Jesus.

John 6:53 "So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you." The Jews would struggle with this because of the prohibition in the Mosaic law of eating blood.  


The Spirit:

John 6:63 “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Romans 8:11 “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”

1 Corinthians 2:12 “And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.”

2 Corinthians 1:22 “and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.” The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is God’s guarantee that Jesus is alive and we are born again.


The Water:

Ephesians 5:25-26 “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.”

Jeremiah 2:13 “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”  Cisterns are stagnant holding ponds used when there is no fresh water.  Jesus challenges us to seek fresh, flowing water—living water—was the term used in His culture to describe a clean, flowing spring of refreshing water. 

John 7:38 “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”  Note it is drink, not think—it is an action of trust.  The word drink here does not denote a little sip, like we were testing its goodness, nor does it denote a little sip as if we were not really thirsty.  It is a gulping drink of a thirsty person who has found fresh, cool water.



There is an alternative to each of these offered by the kingdom of darkness designed to dilute the power of each or place them in the category of fables. 


Blood:

The perversion of this is the idolatry practices of drinking the blood of an animal or another human to take on their attributes.  The myth of vampires is the perversion of this.  The danger with these seemingly harmless fables are the same danger with any fable that takes God's attributes or actions and imitates them--they become the stuff of "fables".  'Next generation' has a harder time believing because all the other examples are lies.  Another is the constant exposure to blood spilling—causing us to become desensitized to the power of His blood.

Spirit:

being 'spiritual', witchcraft, rituals-even so-called Christian rituals. (exorcism, redeeming the curse, etc)

Water:

cisterns of our own rather than living water (springs of Dan), how to books, formulas-even those based on the Word, other words placed in the "holy" realm--not just  those so easily recognizable such as the Koran, the book of Mormon, etc., but also those that trump God's Word in our lives: fashion and cultural mags that define the way we dress, look, talk, the stuff we invest our time talent and resources into, the tv show that we imitate, the celebrity whose life and words are our model, the business model that compromises God's Word, the economic indicators that dictate our money decisions, the scarcity worldview that causes us to be protectionists and hoarders, the fear that tells us to drive the 'stranger' from our land (remember, had Rahab or Ruth been deported there would be no Messiah)


So What:

*   Recognize our continual need for the fellowship of the Blood—our connections empower the Blood work of Jesus in our lives. (1 John 1:7 “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”)

*   Treat the Holy Spirit like He is real and present.  Embrace His presence daily.  (Acts 13:52 NASB)

*   Thirsty people act thirsty.  Drink the Word like you drink physical liquid.  There is not drought.  (Psalm 42:1 “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.”)


Conclusion:

Hebrews 10:22 “let us go right into the presence of God (the Spirit) with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

When we protect the witness of the Blood, the Spirit and the Water in our lives, we live in the presence of God where we find mercy, grace and help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:13)
Just as the red, white and blue of our flag mean we belong—the Blood, the Spirit and the Water are our witnesses that we belong—regardless of what our own doubts or our enemy tell us.