The Complete Testimony

It’s good to be with you again, as we draw near to the close of another week. Today I’ll continue, and complete, the theme that we’ve been studying together for these past two weeks: How to Overcome Evil.

I’ll commence my talk today by turning once more to a verse that I’ve quoted several times: Revelation 12:11:

“They overcame him [they, the Believers; him, Satan - direct person to person conflict between Believers and Satan] They overcame him [then the weapons] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” (NIV)

You remember the three weapons there shown to us; the blood of the Lamb, that’s Jesus, the Word of God, and our personal testimony. And then I explained to you how we bring those three weapons into operation, and I explained it this way. We overcome Satan when we testify personally to what the Word of God says the blood of Jesus does for us. You see, there are the three weapons, the blood, the Word, our testimony and our testimony is the key that releases the other two weapons. Our testimony is like the hyssop in the ceremony of the Passover in the Old Testament. The blood was provided in the basin, potentially complete, redemption was available, but to make it actual, to make it effective, the blood had to be transferred from the basin to the place where the Israelite family was living, to their home. It had to be sprinkled on the outside of the home where it could be seen and the means to do that was this humble little bunch of hyssop. And although it was such a humble everyday thing, it was essential for the preservation of Israel. Without the hyssop, they would have all suffered the judgement of God. And in the New Covenant, in the New Testament, our hyssop is our personal testimony. That’s what transfers the blood of Jesus to the place where we live, to our lives. That’s what provides us with the perfection which is potentially available,  but has to be actualized by our personal testimony.

In past days this week, I’ve directed you to various passages of Scripture that reveal what has been provided for us through the blood of Jesus. I’m going to go over those again. If you haven’t already done so, make a note of them.

The first one, Ephesians 1:7:

“In Him [that’s Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (NIV)

Notice the two provisions there, redemption and forgiveness of sins. And then, in 1st John 1:7:

“But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (NASB)

I’ve pointed out that all the verbs there are in the continuing present tense, if we continually walk in the light, we continually have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all sin. We live in an evil sin-polluted world. It’s very easy to become polluted with sin even without knowing it or desiring it. In order to remain pure, we have to be cotinually cleansed by the blood of Jesus and the condition is that we walk in the light and have fellowship one with another.

Then in Romans 5:9:

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, [that’s the blood of Jesus] how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (NIV)

The provision there is justification. Do you remember that I explained that to justify means literally to make righteous and since we are made righteous, not with our own righteousness, but with the righteousness of God, which has never known sin, we can say when we realize that we’ve been justified, “I’m justified, made righteous, just as if I’d never sinned.” I hope you’ll lay hold of that definition of justified. Let me give it to you once more, “I’m justified, made righteous with Christ’s righteousness, just as if I’d never sinned.” - no room for guilt, no place for Satan’s accusations. And then in Hebrews 13:12:

“Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” (NASB)

The provision there is sanctification and I explained that to sanctify means to make holy and practically to set apart to God. That which is sanctified is set apart to God.  In a special way, it belongs to God.  It’s under God’s protection.

Now, on the basis of all that I’ve been speaking about this week I’m going to recapitulate the complete series of testimonies through which we appropriate each one of these provisions for ourselves, like dipping the hyssop in the blood and then sprinkling it where we need it. I’m going to say them first and then I’m going to invite you to repeat them after me.

Alright, the first one is forgiveness. The testimony is this: “Through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven.” The next one is redemption. “Through the blood of Jesus I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil.” The next one is cleansing. “As I walk in the light the blood of Jesus is cleansing me now, and continually, from all sin.” The next one is justification. “Through the blood of Jesus I am justified, made righteous, just as if I’d never sinned.” The next one is sanctification. “Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God.”

Now I’m going to go through them again, slowly, phrase by phrase, and I’m going to give you the privilege of repeating each phrase after me. Do it aloud if you possibly can. If your circumstances permit, do it in faith. Remember, you’re not just speaking to yourself or to an empty room, but you’re speaking to the whole unseen world. Infinite numbers of angels are watching on. God Himself, the devil himself, the holy angels, the evil angels, the demons; you’re meeting all of them with this testimony. Alright, now are you ready? First of all, forgiveness,  “Through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven.” Second, redemption, “Through the blood of Jesus I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil.” Third, cleansing, “As I walk in the light the blood of Jesus is cleansing me now, and continually, from all sin.” The next one, justification, “Through the blood of Jesus I am justified, made righteous, just as if I’d never sinned. The last one, sanctification, “Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God.”

To close this series today, I want to share with you now one more precious and wonderful truth about the blood of Jesus. One I think which many of God’s people are not aware of. It’s stated in Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 22 through 24. I’m not going to read all the verses. I’m simply going to pick out the particular statement that I want to focus on. It says:

“You [that’s all true Believers] have come to Mount Zion... [and then it speaks about the various things that we have in Mount Zion; that’s the heavenly Mount Zion. Spiritualy we have come there, and it says] You have come to Mount Zion...to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (NIV)

One of the things in the heavenly Mount Zion is the blood of Jesus which was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies before the very presence of God on our behalf. He entered there as our forerunner, our representative, having attained eternal redemption through His blood and he sprinkled the evidence of that redemption in the very presence of Almighty God the Father, and that sprinkled blood, it says, speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Now there’s a very interesting and important contrast. You remember that early on in human history, Cain murdered his brother Abel and then tried to disclaim responsibility but the Lord challenged Cain and He said, “How can you say you don’t know.” He said, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.” He said, “There’s no way you can conceal your guilt because the blood of your brother that you shed on the earth is crying out to me for vengeance.” Now compare that with the blood of Jesus sprinkled in heaven. The blood of Jesus, sprinkled in heaven, doesn’t cry out for vengeance; it cries out for mercy. It’s a continual plea in the very presence of God for God’s mercy. Contrastthe two. The blood of Abel, shed on the earth, cried out for vengeance. The blood of Jesus, sprinkled in heaven, cries out for mercy. And, the writer of Hebrews say, (just get this phrase as I close) “The sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” I want you to see that. Once we’ve testified to the blood of Jesus, once we’ve made our own personal testimony, we don’t have to keep on repeating these words every five minutes because the blood of Jesus is speaking all the time in the very presence of God on our behalf. Everytime you’re troubled, tempted, fearful, anxious, just remind yourself, “the blood of Jesus is speaking in God’s presence on my behalf right now.”

Well our time is up for today. I’ll be back with you again next week at this same time, Monday through Friday. I’ll be sharing with you on another rich and exciting theme from the Word of God.

In my talks this week I’ve been emphasizing the vital necessity to know what the Bible actually says. My special offer of the week is designed to help you with this. It’s my Self Study Bible Course, a complete course of basic Bible study in fourteen lessons with explanatory notes, correct answers, and coordinated memory work. The only additional equipment you need is a Bible and a pen.

In addition, with the Bible Course, we’ll enclose a special printed card that contains “The Complete Testimony About The Blood Of Jesus” that I’ve been teaching this week.

Also, my complete series of messages this week on “How To Overcome Evil” (Part 2) is available in a single, carefully edited cassette.

Stay tuned for details.