Title: Have you had A Blood Transfusion?
Text: Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed
Two weeks ago, I preached on being covered by the blood out of Exodus 12:11-14, Last week I preached John 19:23-24 Close to the Cross, but far from the Blood.
A blood transfusion is a routine medical procedure in which donated blood is provided to you through a narrow tube placed within a vein in your arm.
This potentially life-saving procedure can help replace blood lost due to surgery or injury. A blood transfusion also can help if an illness prevents your body from making blood or some of your blood's components correctly.
A blood transfusion is important, there are groups that don’t believe in blood transfusion, the one I think of is the Jehovah’s witness, the other is Christian Science and maybe a couple other groups might be out there.
Two missionary doctors working in India, both surgeons, were frustrated by the unwillingness of most Indians to donate blood. To the Indians, blood was life, and they couldn’t get past the idea of sacrificing any of their precious life-force. Parents were often even unwilling to donate blood to save the lives of their own children.
One day a 12-year-old girl was brought into their hospital suffering from a severely diseased lung that needed to be removed immediately. The surgery would require at least three pints of blood. Fortunately, the girl was an AB+ blood type, a “universal recipient,” meaning that she could receive the blood of any donor, regardless of type. But the hospital had only two pints of blood on hand, so they needed one more from the family. After learning this and conferring together, the family pooled their money and offered to buy the additional pint.
Dr. Reeve Betts, one of the surgeons, explained that there was no blood to be bought, and that if the family didn’t provide it themselves, they might as well take the girl back home to die. So, the family huddled once again, and finally they pushed forward a frail old woman weighing under 100 pounds, the smallest and weakest member of the family.
Dr. Betts looked around at the healthy, well-fed men who’d made that decision, and he lost his temper. In his broken Tamil dialect, he berated the dozen or so other family members, jabbing his finger back and forth from the strong men to the frail old woman. They cowered in the face of his anger, but even then, no one stepped forward.
Finally, Reeve rolled up his own sleeve and told his colleague, Dr. Paul Brand, “I can’t stand by and let that girl die. Take my blood.” The family fell silent and watched in awe as Paul cuffed his arm, slipped the needle into his vein, and the rich, red flow of blood spurted into the bottle. A collective “ahh,” sound arose from among the family members, and Reeve heard them saying, “Look, the sahib doctor is giving his own life.” It was an act of sacrificial love in their eyes, one that witnessed to them more than any sermon ever could have, and it saved that young girl’s life.
The Strips is a promise of a Healing
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed
He promises a physical healing.
People receive blood transfusions for many reasons — such as surgery, injury, disease and bleeding disorders.
When we go to the hospital and they tell us that we need a blood transfusion because of a sickness or a disease or and Operation, that’s to help us heal. They (the doctors) will let you know that a blood transfusion is need.
A transfusion provides the part or parts of blood you need.
When the Father planned that redemption was going to be needed, he set that the blood would be the important part of our forgiveness of sin. The Old Testament in the covenant there was the place for atonement for sin. The scripture points that the blood was the life. The sacrificed animal that was brought to pay for our sin was slain and the blood was sprinkled upon the altar and upon the elements on the altar.
Hebrews 9:21-23 says “21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The Blood is Life.
Try living without any blood in your body, it is impossible they have never made any synthetic, or artificial or fake blood. They can’t or we would never run out or be in short supply of any type of blood.
Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. needs more blood. But blood can’t be made in a lab. It has to come from another person, and not just any person. He or she has to have the same blood type as the person who’s going to receive it.
They give blood that match the same blood type you have or that is compatible with our blood type. For a transfusion to be safe, the doctor must be sure your blood type matches that of the donor. If the blood type doesn’t match, your immune system will attack it. You can die because of it.
Let me tell something, the blood is very import, Hospitals and blood banks make sure that if you are to have a transfusion, they do everything they can to make sure there is no mix up, but sadly there are about 20 deaths a year because of the wrong blood is given.
The scripture tells us as we read last week and the week before and today. “without the shedding of Blood there is no forgiveness for sin.”
The Devil has caused us to need a transfusion, a blood transfusion. In the garden when he deceived Eve, he caused sin to make a pathway into our hearts. When Eve gave it to Adam, he caused sin to make a home in the human heart. It was planted in each of us it’s call carnality the carnal nature, each one of us has it.
The Blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin and the blessed Holy Spirit applies His sanctifying power and cleansing from this old nature of carnality. When we are entirely sanctified our hearts are aligned with God the Father’s.
What is His heart? It is mastered by His love that drives Him beyond maintenance mentality. What are the disciples like? What are they after? Self-Promotion. In selfish attitude we say things like: “Can you believe it, last in the potluck dinner line again.” “Boy am I ticked off. They honored what’s his name and I work just as hard.”
“Can you believe it? After all I’ve given and done for this church and they didn’t elect me to this or that board. Or didn’t include me in the planning?”
Jesus says, “I’m calling you to align your heart after the Father’s heart. We have one problem: Carnality, a self-centered focus. Only one explanation why our church won’t grow: a self-centered focus. Are we preoccupied with ourselves, Windham Church? There is only one reason we don’t “own” Mineral Ridge: self-centered focus. Only one reason people get mad, upset, and up the MIFF Tree: self-centered focus. We are content. We spend hour after hour on ourselves. How many hours do we spend on the needs of others? We need to get back on our knees and get back the vision of the missing of the Kingdom, and then go out and do it. What would happen if the church would spend the hours and money and energy that are spent on other items, were spent on prayer and visitation? Spend the time and energy weeping and crying before God for the lost, for the hurting, for the church. What would happen? REVIVAL! Jesus says, “Disciple, I’m calling you to align your heart with the Father’s heart. I want you to see what He sees, move as He moves. I want you to spend your energy on what the Father spends His on. Get the Father’s attention. Get the Father’s action.”
What gives God pleasure? What gives God goose bumps? When our hearts are aligned with His seeking the Lost. Have you ever gotten God excited?
When you come into the sanctuary on Sunday morning and you look over the crowd who is there just because of you? Jesus wants you to align yourself, your heart with the Father’s. He says, “I want you to see as He sees. I want you to feel as He feels. With that same persistence that you fought for yourself, I want you to fight the same way for others. The same way you babied and pampered yourself, I want you to baby and pamper others. The same way you cried for yourself, I want you to cry for others. The same way you cared for your eternal destiny; I want you to care for others.”
Story of Plato. A young man came and asked Plato if he would teach him philosophy. The young man seemed desperate to learn so Plato told him to come the next morning at 6am. The next morning a little before 6am, the young man was standing outside of Plato’s door. Plato walked out at 6am sharp, not looking around and walked down the dusty road. The young man followed him and tried the best he could to walk in Plato’s actual footsteps. Walking by the great philosopher and all the time thinking, “He’s going to teach me a great lesson. I must not miss it.” All day long they walked and Plato didn’t say a thing. All day long the young man followed concentrating on the lesson. Finally, in the evening, they came to a lake. Plato walked into the lake and young man followed still concentrating as not to miss the lesson. Up to the shoulders the water came and the young man felt two hands on his head forcing him down into the water. Concentrating on the lesson, he held his breath as long as he could. Finally, Plato pulled his head from the water. Coughing and choking, the young man asked, “Plato, what is the lesson?”
Plato said, “When you want to learn philosophy as badly as your lungs want air; you come back.”
Do you want to win others to the Lord as badly as your lungs want air? You will be the board member you should be, when you want it as badly as your lungs want air. You will be the S.S. teacher you should be when you want it as badly as your lungs want air. You will be the Christian you should be, when you want it as badly as your lungs want air.
When you will be the Christian you should be as badly as your lungs want air, then and only then will you have the Father’s heart.
When you get close to the Father’s heart, you see your own heart for what it really is. We see how stuck we are on ourselves. We see our self excuses. WE see our self-justification. When we get close to the Father’s heart, we see the Self-centered focus in our own hearts.
What bothers me is not that we don’t witness, but that we can keep from witnessing.
What bothers me is not that we don’t grow, but that we are satisfied to merely maintain.
The problem is we are too satisfied, too content. We need to come to the Father’s heart until we are no longer satisfied with the status quo. We are no longer content to just maintain. We need to come close to the Father’s heart until we burn with what He burns with, until we are concerned with what He’s concerned with.
To get rid of that sin nature as we call it, we need a blood transfusion.
When they give you a blood transfusion in the hospitals it can and mostly will save your life. If you have type O-, your what health professionals call a universal donor. You can safely give blood to anyone. Only 7% of people have this blood type.
If you have AB+ blood, you’re a universal recipient. You can receive blood from any donor and your body will not attack it. AB blood also makes you a universal plasma donor. You can donate the plasma part of your blood to all blood types because it doesn’t have A or B antigens.
The rarest major blood type is AB-. Only 1% of the population has it.
Can I tell you something? That maybe the rarest blood type to have humanly, it may help save some people lives physically but I know a blood type that we need to have that will keep us living forever. It is the blood of Jesus Christ.
What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
O precious is the flow That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for my sin atone- Nothing but the Blood of Jesus
O precious is the flow That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know- Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
The thing is this AB- maybe the rarest type of blood to have as a human but the best Transfusion is to have the blood of Jesus to wash you from all your sins, Without being washed it the blood of Jesus we will not make heaven our home, we will not be with love ones in heaven.
Pastor Bob Donato, Sermon Central
