THE OVERCOMING BLOOD
Rev. 12:11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. In England there’s a little town. It has a grocery store, gas station, a pub, a flower shop and a monastery. The pub is where everyone gathers to talk. A big storm came through and damaged the monastery. The Monks decided to sell flowers to raise the money to repair it. They went to talk to the flower shop owner to see if he’d mind. He said, “My flower shop puts the food on my table, but if you’ll agree to stop selling flowers once the money’s raised, that will be fine.”
2. A year later the monastery was repaired but the Monks decided to keep selling flowers. The flower shop owner protested but was ignored. He owner went to the pub & told his problem to a giant of a man named Hugh. Hugh said, “I’ll go talk to the Monks.” But they still refused to stop. Hugh got madder and madder, and went back and whooped up on the Monks and they decided to close their flower operation.
3. What’s the moral of the story? “Hugh and only Hugh can prevent Florist Friars.”
B. ILLUS.
1. For more than 130 years the Eiffel Tower has stood majestically over the city of Paris, a symbol of architectural brilliance. The city proudly promotes the tower as a key element of its beauty.
2. As it was being built however, many people thought it looked ugly. French writer Guy De Maupassant said it had “a ridiculous thin shape like a factory chimney.”
3. Many people look at Jesus and don’t see anything lovely. As a matter of fact, the prophet Isaiah observed, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him; there was nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him” (53:2)
4. But Peter best describes our feelings, “to you who believe, He is precious” 1 Pet. 2:7. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. We see the beauty of His character and what He’s done for us.
C. THESIS
1. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony...” Rev. 12:11.
2. Today we’re looking at the power of the Overcoming Blood of Jesus.
I. THE BLOOD IS OUR PROTECTION
A. VALUE OF THE BLOOD
1. We must have confidence in the value of the blood of Jesus. When Israel was about to leave Egypt, God said to them, “Kill the passover lamb and put it’s blood on the doorposts and lentils. When the death angel comes, he will see the blood and pass over your dwelling.”
2. The death angel didn’t spare them based on merit. He didn’t look into the houses to see if someone was smoking a cigarette, or committing some sin; it was the blood that saved them. It’s the blood that saves us!
3. We don’t have to tiptoe around the devil! We have an unshakable ground of forgiveness the devil can’t penetrate.
B. THE BLOOD IS A HEDGE TO SATAN
1. The Blood surrounds our spiritual experience. If you’re in water, the water surrounds you. If you’re in Christ, every part of Christ surrounds your spiritual being.
2. In order for Satan to touch you he must first come through Jesus Christ. He’s our hedge as certainly as Job had a hedge around him.
C. WE ARE POSITIONED ABOVE THE POWERS OF DARKNESS
1. Eph. 2:4-6, “God...made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”
2. This tells us that as believers, we’re positioned spiritually above Satan and we’re on the highest ground. We are in Christ, and Paul says that Christ has been exalted far above ALL the rulers of darkness. His enemies are under His feet and I am in Him.
3. That means that you and I, true believers in Christ, have been placed in a position above Satan. When we fight the devil, we don’t fight as inferiors; we fight from a superior position in Christ. We need not bargain, beg, or plead, but only to claim the victory of Jesus from our heavenly position in Jesus and operate in His power!
4. It's not our battle, but His. However, we must enforce it in His Name. Standing on the ground secured by the blood, we are more than conquerors! Never has the church needed to know our position and weapons more than now when the church is under such attack.
5. Jesus said, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” Luke 10:19. When Jesus told this to His disciples, they were given, at that instant, power over the enemy.
II. THE VIRTUE OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS
A. THE BLOOD IS PURE & WITHOUT BLEMISH
1. Peter said, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1 Pet. 1:18-19.
2. Peter tells us that His blood was precious blood, without spot or blemish. In the O.T. when sheep were brought to the Temple for sacrifices, they were carefully examined to see if they had any imperfections. Any blemish meant they were unworthy to offer to God.
3. This speaks loudly about the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God! Every thought and action of His life were examined and the Father found Him faultless. This testifies to the holiness of His blood! Not only was He sinless, but His holiness made Him eligible to be the substitute/ ransom for all the world’s sins!
4. In the O.T. Temple, the Holy Spirit only came where the blood has been sprinkled! It’s true today. The Spirit only comes on the believer that has the Blood on them. Jesus’ is a life over which death has no power. Hell has been broken open and plundered by the power of the blood!
B. IT WAS WILLINGLY SHED BY CHRIST
1. There’s something almighty in the death of Jesus! All the crosses and the armies who used them could never have brought about the death of Jesus without His consent. He said, “I lay down My life...no man takes it from Me” John 10:17-18.
2. The preaching of Christ crucified is not merely about what people did to Him, but what He allowed men to do. The destruction of the Kingdom of darkness centers in the Person of Christ. He “became sin for us” and yet was so pure that Hell couldn’t keep its hold on Him. Only Jesus could have done it.
C. HUMOR
1. The personnel director of a company was reviewing the different job applications that had been turned in that day. One man’s application caught her attention.
2. A question asked, “Have you ever been arrested?” The man answered, “No.” For those who answered “yes” there was a follow-up question, “Why?”
3. The man, a simple soul, wrote in the blank, “Because I’ve never been caught.” How true!
4. Even if we’re not an inmate of the prison, it’s not because we’re more righteous than them, it’s probably because we just weren’t caught in all the stuff WE did!
III. THE MINISTRY OF THE BLOOD
A. IT CLEANSES US DAILY
1. Blood does everything the body needs. The stomach breaks down our food into portable nutrition, which it passes into our blood. The lungs inject oxygen into the blood and draws out the carbon dioxide. The blood conveys waste products to various organs for disposal. Every 23 seconds the blood circulates to every cell in our bodies!
2. Christ’s blood does the same things for us, spiritually, that human blood does. 1 John 1:7 says, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son CLEANSES us from all sin.” It washes away all that’s remaining of the world, the flesh, and the devil. It “PURGES” (Heb. 9:14) our consciences daily. We’re cleansed by the Blood, the Word (Eph. 5:26), and the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5). Nine-tenths of all sickness is the result of improper elimination of waste from the body. If we don’t abide in Christ’s blood, corruption will be in our lives!
3. Folks, we don’t just need a one-time exposure to the Blood, but a continuous exposure! The life of the creature is in the blood! If you ever get away from the freshness of the Blood of Jesus, you will die.
4. 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!
5. Think how HOLY the Blood of Jesus is: even heaven is purified by that Blood (Heb. 9:23). Its sacredness outweighs all the evil sin has ever produced!
6. HUMAN BLOOD HAS A VERY SHORT LIFESPAN. Red blood cells only live for 120 days, but the Bible tells us that the blood of Jesus is STILL FRESH TODAY, because it’s still speaking (Heb. 12:24)! After 2,000 years, THE BLOOD OF JESUS IS STILL FRESH AND POWERFUL! It’s on the Mercy Seat in Heaven and is pleading for mercy for us! PTL!
7. When the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, it was “never without blood.” Blood was applied to his EAR, his HAND, and his FOOT. This is symbolic that everything the Christian HEARS should come through the blood; everything he/she DOES should come through the blood, and every place we GO should be in the blood. We should plead the blood over our minds, our ears, our actions and attitudes.
B. THE BLOOD IS THE ANTIDOTE TO ALL SIN
1. There was a French doctor, Pierre Roux, who was a close associate of Louis Pasteur. He watched as his granddaughter died of “black diphtheria” and vowed that he would find a cure for this dreaded disease.
2. Dr. Roux swabbed 20 Belgian stallion’s/ horses’ nostrils, tongues, and throats with the germs that he had cultured with “Black Diphtheria.”
3. One by one the horses began to die until there was only one horse left. The scientists all gave up and left. But Dr. Roux remained watching through the night.
4. At last the horse fought off the germs and by the next day was standing and eating as if nothing had ever been wrong.
5. Dr. Roux killed the horse and extracted all of its blood and rushed to the Hôpital des Enfants-Malades (Hospital for Infants). He went into the ward where 300 babies lay, segregated to die from the “Black Diphtheria.”
6. With the blood of the horse, he forcibly inoculated all of the babies. All but three lived and recovered completely.
7. THEY WERE SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF AN OVERCOMER! SO ARE WE saved by the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ! 2,000 years ago Jesus came to this earth to allow the serpent to bite Him.
8. Jesus in effect said to Satan, “Inoculate Me with the sins of the whole world, and in My death, I will conquer death. My blood will become the antidote.” All mankind was infected with Satan’s poison. The blood of Jesus is our only cure!
C. WE CAN DO WHAT JESUS DID
1. With the new nature of Christ, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, we have the power to live above sin. We can love the unlovely. We can forgive the unforgivable. We can believe in the unbelievable. In that blood the very genes of the Almighty are flowing and continually restoring us to the image of Jesus. We are predestined to be conformed into the image of Christ!
2. The blood is a legal satisfaction, the pardon of our sins, before God. When He looks on the blood, He says, “When I see the blood I will pass over you.” The blood not only deals with our past, but it has cleansing power we’re to apply day after day. That’s why Hebrews says, “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience...” The blood has the power to clear our consciences and remove our guilt.
3. Let’s trust in the Blood of Jesus. It has power which can’t be estimated or exaggerated. Believe it, trust it, act on it. May God make it real to you!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: ACCEPTING WHAT THE BLOOD CAN DO
1. Years ago in London there was a large gathering of notables for a concert. One of the invited guests was a famous preacher, Caesar Milan. A young lady charmed the audience that night with her singing.
2. After the concert Milan went up to her and graciously, but boldly, said to her, "I thought as I listened to you tonight how tremendously the cause of Christ would be benefited if your talents were dedicated to His cause. You know, young lady, you are a sinner in the sight of God, but I am glad to tell you that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse you from all sin."
3. The lady became so angry at the preacher that she stomped her feet and walked away. As she was leaving he said, "I meant no offense. I will pray that God’s Spirit will convict you."
4. The young lady went home, but she couldn’t sleep. The face of the preacher appeared before her, and his words rang through her mind. About two o’clock in the morning she got out of bed, took a pencil and piece of paper, and with tears rolling down her face, Charlotte Elliot wrote:
5. “Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” [David Jeremiah, “The Handwriting on the Wall”]
B. THE CALL
1. We can ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit or listen to Him. He is speaking to you right now. Let’s all stand.
2. How many of you will say, “Just as I am...I come?” If you have things you need to put under the Blood, why don’t you make your way to the front?
3. PRAYER for forgiveness of sins.
C. THE LORD’S SUPPER
