PLEADING THE BLOOD
Rev. 5:9; 12:11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. “Now class,” she said, “if I stood on my head, the blood would run into it and I would turn red in the face, right?” “Yes ma’am,” the class murmured.
2. “Then why is it, when I am standing upright in the ordinary position, that my blood doesn’t rush into my feet?” A little fellow shouted, “Cause your feet aren’t empty!”
B. THESIS & TITLE
1. If you talk to old-timers about spiritual warfare, you’ll inevitably hear one of them use the expression, to “Plead the Blood.” This phrase means to speak of the blood in prayer to God, to claim it as a protective shield against the enemy, or even as an offensive weapon against spiritual forces.
2. So we’re going to look at 4 things: 1). How the Blood saves, 2). How it turns back the forces of evil, 3). How it averts God’s wrath & opens Heaven, and 4). How it’s an Offensive weapon to overcome the enemy.
3. This message, “Pleading the Blood,” shows 4 powers of the Blood of Christ:
I. THE BLOOD SAVES YOUR SOUL FROM SIN/ HELL
A. FORGIVENESS ONLY THROUGH THE BLOOD
1. First of all, notice the vast worth & importance of the Blood of Jesus! Sin separates us from God – Isa. 59:2. Sin is a stain for which there is no stain-remover, except the Blood! Hebrews 9:22 tells us, “...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
2. That’s why preachers have talked about the “bloodline” or representations of the Blood of Jesus, down through history.
3. When Adam & Eve sinned, animals were slain (their blood shed) so that they might be ‘clothed.’ Abel offered lambs for atoning sacrifice. So did Noah, Abraham, Job, and all the other patriarchs, because showed them the truth, a life in exchange for a life. That’s the basis of the sacrificial system. This is also common in humanity; for us to live, we must consume the life of some other plant or animal.
B. BOUGHT BACK BY THE BLOOD
1. Peter pointed out that we were NOT redeemed “with perishable things such as silver or gold...but with the precious blood of Christ” 1 Pet. 1:18-19. Christians are a blood-bought people!
2. In Heaven the angels (Book of Revelation) praised Christ as, “You were slain, and with your blood you PURCHASED for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” Rev. 5:9.
3. How many know that we owe a great debt? (The Song), “He paid a debt He did not owe!” The blood of Jesus is the most valuable substance in the universe!
4. WHAT ARE THE MOST VALUABLE THINGS IN THE WORLD? (Business Insider Mag., 9/22/14) plus others:
a. Gold $27,000/pound
b. Diamonds $29 Million/pound
c. Da Vinci Painting $450 Million (Salvator Mundi)
d. Element Californium $12 Billion/pound
e. Anti-matter $45,000 Trillion/pound
5. BUT NONE OF THOSE WOULD AVAIL TO PURCHASE YOUR SALVATION! They’re of little or no worth to God. But the blood of Jesus is the most precious commodity in the Universe; one drop of it could redeem the entire human race!
6. The Blood of Jesus is a form of currency; It has purchasing power; it alone was worth enough to pay the sin-debt of the entire world!
C. ILLUSTRATION
1. There was a “parliament of religions,” held in Chicago many years ago, where practically every known religion was represented. During one session, Dr. Joseph Cook, of Boston, rose and said: “Gentlemen, there is a woman with a great sorrow. Bloodstains are on her hands, and nothing she has tried will remove them. The blood is that of murder. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and give her peace?”
2. The representatives of the foreign religions sat silent, for with that sin none could offer her hope. Dr. Cook then cried out, “Apostle John, can you tell this woman how to get rid of her awful sin?” He waited, as if listening, & then said, “Listen. John speaks: ’The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from ALL sins’ (I John 1:7).”
3. In the face of human need, only the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the answer of sin, not because it was overlooked, but because it was paid for! [Frederick A. Tatford]
II. THE BLOOD TURNS BACK THE FORCES OF EVIL
A. PROTECTION IN EGYPT
1. When God allowed Egypt to experience the 10 plagues, Ps. 78:49 says it was actually a “band of destroying angels.” God removed His protection from Egypt, because of their sin. It culminated in the death of the firstborn.
2. Moses called this angel of death “the destroyer” (Ex. 12:23), using the Heb. word “shawkhath” which means “decay, ruin.” I believe these weren’t good angels, but fallen angels, due to their nature as destroyers.
3. This is significant! Not one of those destroyers could touch those behind the Blood of the Passover Lamb! 1 Cor. 5:7 says that “Christ is our Passover Lamb!”
4. That’s why the Saints for centuries have “plead the Blood” over their families, their homes, their cars, their businesses, their animals, etc., because the enemy can’t cross the Blood!
5. I have known of ranchers who circled their property “pleading the blood of Christ” and they later testified that they found dead wolves (or wild dogs) on their property line. Their livestock were protected. “As is your faith, so be it unto you.”
B. PROTECTION AT JERICHO
1. Another instance of protection through the blood occurred at Jericho. Rahab was told to put a scarlet (red) cord in her window for Israel to see when they came against the city (Josh. 2:18).
2. Rahab’s house was built high up on the city wall (2:6,15), all her family were told to stay in her house (2:18). When God caused the city walls to fall, Rahab’s section did not fall (6:23)! The symbol of the Blood protected her family from the powers that brought down the walls! [This same Rahab became a great grandmother of Christ! (Matt. 1:5)]
C. ILLUS. “Mention the Blood!”
1. Walter Knight told about a man from India who came to Europe to study law and languages. In Paris he got involved with Madam Blavatsky, and began to channel evil spirits.
2. He later became a Christian. It was then that he came under satanic attack by the spirits. Night after night he was awakened, and felt their evil presence around him. He kept praying to God for help.
3. At last the voice of God got through, saying, “Mention the Blood!” He then spoke to the spirits, commanding them, by the precious blood of Jesus, to leave him! The spirits left him completely, and never returned! [3,000 Illus. for Christian Service, Walter Knight, p. 209]
III. IT AVERTS GOD’S WRATH & OPENS HEAVEN
A. THE BLOOD MADE ATONEMENT
1. In the Holy of Holies of the O.T. Temple was the Ark of the Covenant. It was a box of wood, overlaid with gold. Its lid was made of solid gold and on both ends of it were statues of angels with their wings outstretched. Inside the Ark was a copy of the 10 Commandments, a jar of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded (Heb. 9:4).
2. God’s presence appeared above the Ark, between the wings of the cherubim (Ex. 25:22; Lev. 16:2). God’s voice was heard by Moses speaking from that place (Num. 7:89).
3. This gold lid was also called the “mercy seat” (22 times in the KJV) because, primarily, on the Day of Atonement the blood of the sin offering for Israel was sprinkled 7 times upon this “atonement cover” (Lev. 16:15, NIV).
4. PICTURE THIS: God, above the Ark, looked down to see the Law of God, which would condemn the people; but, glory-to-God, there in between, was the blood of the atoning sacrifice! God’s wrath for sin was averted!
B. OPENS THE HOLY OF HOLIES TO US!
1. The Book of Hebrews tells us that the earthly Temple, Holy of Holies, and Ark of the Covenant – were just types and shadows of those which are in Heaven.
2. Rev. 11:19, John SAW the heavenly Temple, and inside it, was the holy of holies. In it was the Ark of the Covenant. Just as the earthly Mercy Seat received the blood of the atonement, so the heavenly Mercy Seat received its infinitely superior countertype in the Blood of Jesus!
3. Up there, Jesus is the High Priest and His blood is that which was sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat; “But you have come to....Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” Heb. 12:22,24.
4. That blood is still fresh today, because it is still speaking (Heb. 12:24), still crying out for mercy! Heb. 10:19 tells us we can enter the Most Holy Place – the very presence of God – by the blood of Jesus!
IV. AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON TO OVERCOME SATAN
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” Rev. 12:7-11 NIV1984. WHY COULD THEY OVERCOME BY THE BLOOD?
A. BECAUSE THE BLOOD DESTROYS SATAN’S GROUNDS OF ACCUSATION AGAINST US
1. Rom. 5:9 tells us we are “justified by His blood.” It is “just-as-if-I’d” never sinned at all. Wherever there’s death, the Blood brings Life. Wherever there’s darkness, it brings Light. It’s a cleansing wave that wipes out the powers of darkness, rendering them weak & ineffectual.
2. The Blood of Jesus joins us in covenant to God, similar to a treaty or an alliance (Hb. 9:15; Mt. 26:28). God is obligated to take up for us, to fight for us. This arms us with a Mighty Ally!
B. IT ATTACKS & CONSUMES SIN & EVIL
1. Lev. 17:11 says, “The life of the creature is in the blood.” The Blood represents the indestructible life of Jesus Christ! ANY CORRUPTION THAT CONTACTS THE LIFE OF JESUS IS IRRADICATED! Jesus touched the leper but He didn’t get leprosy -- the leprosy was driven out (Mt. 8:3). The sinful woman touched Jesus – He didn’t get contaminated, but she got cleansed of sins!
2. 1 John 3:8 – “The reason the Son of God appeared was to DESTROY the works of the devil.” The HOLY BLOOD of Jesus is to the devil what water was to the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz! His blood is holy, pure, without sin, innocent. Any time we plead the Blood, the enemy has to flee!
3. Think how HOLY the Blood of Jesus is: even heaven is purified by that Blood (Heb. 9:23). Its sacredness outweighs, as if on scales, all the evil sin could ever produce!
4. Pleading the Blood is a potent weapon for the Saint of God!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. There is an old legend that tells of a wealthy man who sought admittance into heaven. An angel asked him for the password. The elegantly attired gentleman answered, “I have contributed generously to the church. Everyone knows of my sterling character. I am respected everywhere. Surely you will have a place for me; I have earned it.”
2. But the angel answered, “Sorry, sir. That is not the password. You may not enter.”
3. Another man approached, distinguished looking and refined. He too was asked for the password. “I have served the Lord as a minister. I have stood before churches Sunday after Sunday. I have received some of the highest theological degrees. Certainly, I merit heaven’s favor!”
4. Again the angel shook his head sadly. “Sorry. That is not the password. You do not know the King here.”
5. Then an old woman appeared before the celestial creature. Her body was bent from many years of hard labor, but her eyes were shining and she radiated joy.
6. The angel asked her for the password. And she lifted up her hands and began to sing, “The Blood, the Blood, is all my plea. Hallelujah! It cleanses me, it cleanses me!”
7. And the angel smiled and the gates of heaven swung wide for her to enter!
B. THE CALL
1. In 2003, after Angela & I bought some wooded lots in Elkins neighborhood, I crawled through the bushes and brush, below the stately pine trees, and tied red surveying tape around the few trees we DIDN’T want cut down by the loggers.
2. All the ones I marked were scrawny, struggling hardwood trees all about 4 inches in diameter, that were dwarfed by the 80-foot tall pines.
3. A few weeks later, the clearing company came. It was shocking when I next saw our property: the great stately pines lay on the ground. Massive trunks, huge stumps, twisted and mangled tops – lay everywhere.
4. But in the wreck and destruction, all that was left standing were the trees with the red surveying tape on them! So it will be on the Great Day of Judgment.
5. All the mighty, the wealthy, the educated, and the powerful – will all be laid low. The only ones who will be able to survive on that day will be the people with the Blood of Jesus on them!
6. HOW MANY WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE COVERED BY THE BLOOD?
7. HOW MANY HAVE AN URGENT PRAYER NEED IN YOUR LIFE? ALL COME FORWARD FOR PRAYER!
