Gbile Akanni: Witnesses of Water, Blood and Spirit
Prayer: Lord we are here again, we are here at Your feet and we are praying that You will make Your face to shine upon us. We ask Lord that Your hand will be stretched forth toward us in mercy and that hearts of men will be turned over to You even as we look into Your Word.
We want to pray that these Guidepost of faith might be made explicit into our lives. Thank You for hearing us for we have prayed in Jesus Name. Amen.
We want to praise God for giving us continuous opportunity to look into His word and to study together. By our last discussion we began to introduce the Guidepost of faith especially for the end-time believer and we read from verse 4 of First John chapter 5 that says
1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
And we did emphasise that whatever originates and issues out of God has the capacity to overcome every manifestation of the spirit of lawlessness in the end-time. So we concluded by saying that for you as an end-time believer, you need to be sure first that you are born of God. Secondly you need to be sure that everything you do, everything you put your feet upon, everything you lay your hands on is NOT a human idea, is not a worldly idea, is not that which came to you because it was flashy: IT has to be born of God. It must issue out of God, you have to wait on God until it is born out of God into your life, otherwise, it CANNOT overcome, it cannot stand the test of the end-time!
So while we continue to establish that, we want to progress today looking at the Guidepost of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as a way for the end-time believer. And you will see that as we read First John chapter 5 from verse to verse 13 today.
Lets read together
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
1Jn 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1Jn 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
1Jn 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
1Jn 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
1Jn 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
I want us to stop there trusting the Holy Spirit to grant us revelation into this in the Name of Jesus Christ.
I would like you to look at the entire passage we have read: there are several crucial issues that we need to talk about. Some of you will be wondering why this particular passage – what does God mean by bringing this kind of passage into the discussion that is at hand with us?
First, I would like you to know that more and more as we approach the end-time, the issue of conflict actually is the issue of who owns the world, who is the heir of all things? And so you will discover that the main argument the devil has continued to propound over the years IS to deny that Jesus is the Son of God and He is the only Saviour. As you go from one community to the other, as people develop in either science or in technology and as they develop in all kinds of ideas, you find that the central issue of conflict is whether Jesus is the Son of the living God and whether He is the only way of salvation!
Nowadays, in this end-time, the world system is gathering together and all they are against is the Lord and His Christ.
I want you to get to know this! That the world system is not against any religion that does not proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour! The world system for example is not going to stand against Buddhism, Islam or whatever because each of this belief-system technically denied that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God! AND that already shows that all these religions emanate from the spirit of antichrist: they are the ones that argue that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh – that God has not come in the flesh – and that there is nothing about Jesus Christ that would have given Him an edge over any other thing!
But we want to say that — this is a matter of conflict in the end-time, and the more you go on in this end-time you will find that severally even those that have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ over the years are becoming intimidated and cannot boldly declare that Jesus is the only way! They are beginning to give in to humanism and secularism, they are talking about multi-faith now! People now want to pray BUT they dont want to pray directly in the Name of the Lord Jesus!!
THIS is why this matter of our faith in the Son of God is very, very crucial and very relevant as a Guidepost for you as an end-time believer. Permit us to study this very quickly as much as the Lord will grant us opportunity.
1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Now! There is no controversy about this and I just want you to note the way the Bible put this in a very, very clear manner.
It says – AND who is this? Who wins this battle against the world except that man, that woman that believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God! Who could possibly fight and win THIS battle except by believing that Jesus is truly the Son of God? Let us note that! THAT is a fact and there is no need to argue about it – that the only people, those that have come to commit themselves, commit their soul unto THIS fact that Jesus is the Son of the Living God and that He is the only one that you can hold and you will win, He is the only one that you can believe and you are sure to please God, He is the only way that you can go and you will arrive at eternity with joy and with confidence. This people are the only set of people that can overcome the world!
But the question I want to discuss at this hour is what is it – what is the essence of our faith in the Son of God? Why does it bring us the victory? Let us look at verse 6, verse 7 and verse 8 and 9 together.
1Jn 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Before we press on to the rest of the verses, the Bible said: the Lord Jesus Christ is He that came by water and blood. You will wonder what are we talking about and what are we discussing here! There are different angles that we could apply this case that is coming to us. First and foremost I would like to establish that when we talk about Jesus, we are NOT talking of a ghost! We are not talking about an intangible fellow. We are talking about Jesus Christ the Word of God that became flesh. John chapter 1 verse 14 says
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
I want you to listen to this
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The first thing that the devil wants to attack in your faith is – if Jesus was divine He could not be human! And so a lot of people say – No! He was not human and if He was not human where would He get the blood for our atonement. If He was not human where would He get all the experiences to deliver us from the power of sin? !
THE FIRST thing God is demanding as a critical and cardinal point in your faith is that this Jesus we are talking about is the One that took upon Himself the nature of man so that by the grace of God He might taste death for those of us who because of the fear of death are subject to bondage all our lifetime.
Lets quickly look at the book of Hebrews chapter 2 on this note before we build on. I will read a long passage in that chapter but I pray that God will grant you an understanding.
Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
Heb 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Heb 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus…
That is where we are going
We see Jesus.
But before we go on looking at that, we want to note that God has never subjected the world, either this present world or the one to come, under angels. So even for the principalities and powers, the devils, I mean the demonic spirits that are over-riding and over-ruling the world system now, the Word of God is very clear that GOD NEVER CREATED THE WORLD FOR THE DEVIL TO RULE! And whatever the devil is doing in the world now, he is a usurper.
AND GOD HAS DETERMINED – HE HAS RAISED A MAN, Alleluia – AND THAT MAN IS THE LORD JESUS who is going to subdue the world and rule the world and govern it for God. THIS is the contention of our faith and why the devil goes all the way to say Jesus did not come in the flesh – that He did not come by water and by blood! THIS IS the argument when you go through all other religions! When it comes to crucifixion on the Cross of Calvary, all of them denied it. THIS is the master plan of the devil: to make sure that the faith of man is shifted from a living man called the Lord Jesus Christ which is at the centre and the very core of our faith.
Now look at the Bible
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
THIS IS THE CRITICAL POINT OF OUR FAITH AND THIS IS THE ARGUEMENT THAT THE DEVIL IS PUTTING FORTH IN ALL OTHER RELIGIONS THAT THE DEVIL HAD PUT FORWARD! The devil keeps propounding that you do not need any man to die for your sin: you are either dying by yourself or making some sacrifices. And that is why there is a lot of rigid rules and regulations in several places with several men and the devil uses all these to deny their need to believe in the Son of the Living God who came by water and by blood to make atonement for our sins.
But look the Bible says: we see Jesus,
Heb 2:9 …who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Look at this!
Heb 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
The beautiful thing we are dealing with here is that IF Jesus did not come as a man, how could we be fellow heirs with Him? How could we have the hope of sharing in the same glory He shared? A human being could never become an angel, so if Jesus were to be an angel, or just to remain in spirit, how could we ever become brother and sister with Him?
Now! That is the critical issue that the devil keeps fighting everywhere you go. As you advance in your study you will keep discovering that the conflict between the world and the Kingdom of God is contention whether Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God OR not!
Listen! You can ONLY overcome the world system IF you will believe in this supreme redemptive work that Jesus has done on the Cross of Calvary for us. The Bible says and I would like you to look at verse 14 of the Hebrews 12 Scripture we are reading
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same…
Why?
Heb 2:14 …that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
I would like you to stop there.
Now! Why do we believe, why is this very central to our faith as a Guidepost for the end-time believer? It is that THIS is the central issue that transposes us from sinners to becoming saints! IF not for the atonement of the blood of Jesus shed on the Cross of Calvary our sins could NEVER have been washed!
So the Bible says in the First John Scripture
1Jn 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood…
That is first of all dealing with His humanity. But I want us to move on a little further by looking at what is the implication even of that statement apart from the general belief that He took the nature of our flesh and blood so that He could taste death on our behalf and that by reason of His death He might destroy the devil who has subjected mankind unto lifetime perpetual bondage because of the fear of death when Jesus Christ went to taste death on our behalf!
But listen to me, no angel has ever died! No spirit can taste death – spirit cannot die!! That is why we cannot allow the world system and the devil to unseat your faith by proving or by pulling you away from the basis of our deliverance. The basis of our salvation is because our High Priest Himself took part of the same nature as well as ourselves. And as a result of this we have confidence to enter into the very presence of God.
Now come with me! In the Old Testament, when the issue of sin is mentioned, there are two (2) things that are used to deal with it every time: the water of sprinkling and the blood. The water was meant to wash the external contamination of sin in the lives of people, but yet when you wash the external with water it remains the blood to deal with the internal trouble, the defilement that sin has created. So each time you read the Leviticus passages, you find that at the point of atonement, there is the washing of water and there is the sprinkling of the blood on the altar. But we want to thank God that the Bible said this man Jesus is the One that came to us BY WATER and BY BLOOD, that means that He was completely equipped with every instrument, with every tool that can make for our total deliverance and our total cleansing.
Lets go to Hebrews chapter 10 and see how the Lord will give us understanding there. In Hebrews 10 the Bible says and I wish you could read from verse 1
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
So we found that Jesus came in a human body in order to be that sacrifice which will deliver man from sin, He came by water and He came by blood!
But much more than that I think we see in the book of Hebrews chapter 9 – if you could quickly look at chapter 9, no, chapter 10 rather! Still follow me to Hebrews chapter 10, can we look at verse 19 very quickly?
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Thank God!
So this man Jesus, He came by water, He came by the blood: water to cleanse our lives – but that water is not just the ordinary water that people use: I have seen different churches and different denominations and religions always telling you to go and bath on the river side so that you can enter into the presence of God. There is NOTHING about that! The Bible says even if you wash yourself with hyssop, your sin will still be before me! Now when we talk about the water and the blood by which Jesus Christ came, we are talking of the water by the Word of God because He Himself said – You are clean by the Word that I have spoken to you (John 15:3). This man that we are talking about even His word, which comes out of His personality is like water that cleanses us from all unrighteousness, the water of regeneration. And yet the blood that was shed on Calvary was able to wash away and cleanse ALL the stain and the blot of sin from those who believe.
YET you find the third evidence that has been bearing witness to this our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What is that evidence? The evidence of the Holy Spirit that came and rested upon Him. So now we have three issues that bear witness that Jesus is the Son of the Living God – no i.) we have the Spirit of God ii.) we have the water and iii.) we have the blood! And they all testify to us continually that this is the way of salvation! This is the Man that God has sealed for our salvation! This is the redeemer-kinsman! No other man has come with the water and the blood and with the Spirit of God to work out our deliverance.
Dear brother, dear sister, as a believer in the end-time, this is cardinal to your faith: to know that no man could overcome the world by self effort, by human activity. You can ONLY overcome the world by putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ our High Priest who was well equipped with every necessary tool to secure our deliverance.
As we pray with you, you need to check your heart – are you already getting unseated, are you confused, are you putting your faith in ordinary activities. The man to believe, the person to hold unto is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Source
https://witsite.wordpress.com/2015/09/07/gbile-akanni-witnesses-of-water-blood-and-spirit/
