God’s Atomic Weapon - The Blood of Jesus

I’d like to read by way of introduction from the 12th chapter of Revelation, reading from verse 7 through verse 13. If you have your Bibles, follow with me. Revelation 12:7–13.

“And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not. Neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore, rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea. For the devil is come down unto you having great wrath. Because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.”

Now I have been bringing a message, a series of messages on the theme of effective praying. The last message in that series dealt with spiritual warfare and spiritual weapons. And in a certain sense, what I’m going to bring you now is a continuation of this theme though it can be taken entirely on its own. But I want to revert to a chart that I used for that previous series of messages. So I’m going to place this chart up here for a moment opening at one particular diagram which is here. Now, I want you to view the diagram in the light of the scriptures that I have been reading to you. We read there in Revelations 12:7 that there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought. And the dragon—and we’re told that the dragon is the devil—and his angels fought. And prevailed not. Neither was their place found any more in heaven. Neither was the place of the devil and his angels any more in heaven.

Now I am aware that there are various different ways of interpreting the book of Revelation. I’ve given some considerable thought and attention to this and personally I am convinced that the events described here in Revelation 12, the passage that I have just read to you, is still in the future. It has not yet had its fulfillment. Now I have studied interpretations of Revelation from what is called the historicists school which seek to show that the events of history from the Christian era until now have been set forth in types and symbols and patterns and so on in the book of Revelation. I’ve given careful consideration to these but I am unable to believe them. As far as I am concerned, they do not do justice to the facts of history and they do not do justice to the facts of Revelation. Neither history nor the facts of the book of Revelation can be made to fit in with the theory which is that the great day of God’s wrath came when the Ottoman empire dried up and so on. I’ve been into all that and I am unable to believe it. For me, it is clear that the situation described here in Revelation 12 is still in the future. And in the scene described here, Satan and his angels are still in the heavenlies. And only at this point are they cast finally out of the heavenlies and the passages closes with the statement that the dragon came down to earth.

Now I’m sure many, many Christians find it hard to understand how Satan right at the close of the Bible in the book of Revelation is still in the heavenlies. Now we’ve dealt with this in the last of our series on effective praying and I sought to portray the situation with this chart. And now I’m just going to go back briefly over the material in this chart. The chart shows what I would call three levels of heaven. There is the third heaven which is referred to in 2 Corinthians 12:2 where the apostle Paul says he knew a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven and he indicates that that was where Paradise was, the presence of God. As I said before, if there is a third heaven there must logically be a first and a second heaven. You cannot have a third of anything without the first and the second. If a lady comes to me and says this is my third child, I know without a shadow of a doubt she had two children before that one. Otherwise it wouldn’t be her third child. Likewise, if there’s a third heaven there must be two other heavens. And I believe that the scripture speaks about something which we could call the mid heaven. This word is taken from the book of Revelation and the scripture reveals that at the present time, Satan’s headquarters are in the heavenlies. Ephesians 6:12:

“Our wrestling match is not against flesh and blood but against rulerships, and the realms of their authority, against the world rulers of the darkness of this present age, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenlies.”

And then we come down to what I call the visible heaven, what you and I see when we walk out at night and look up at the stars. We see the visible heaven. And this is, as I might call it, the roof of man’s dwelling place. And so, we find God up here, man down here and between God and man a rebellious kingdom of Satan and his fallen angels seeking to do everything they can to harm and to destroy on earth and to resist the purposes of God’s grace, blessing and mercy. Remember that the word Satan means literally the resistor. That’s his name because that’s his nature. Satan deliberately and persistently resists every purpose of God’s grace, mercy and blessing and he resists not merely God himself but the people of God. And the moment we profess faith in Jesus Christ we are immediately plunged into a warfare in which we on earth have a wrestling match with Satan’s spiritual forces of rebellion and lawlessness in the heavenlies.

And so we came to this fact that when Daniel started to pray in the book of Daniel 10, he prayed 21 days. At the end of 21 days the archangel Gabriel arrived from God’s heaven. And the archangel told Daniel that he’d been 21 days on the way, that Daniel’s prayer was heard the first day. The angel had set out but that resistance by Satanic angels in the mid heaven had prevented him from arriving until the 21st day. You can read that very carefully in the 10th chapter of Daniel.

And I pointed out two facts of tremendous importance. First, that it was Daniel’s prayers that got the angel through. Second, the initiative is with earth, not with heaven. It was Daniel’s prayers on earth that started heaven moving. In other words, we who are believers and know how to pray are much more important than most of us have the faintest idea. I said, and I’ll say it again, earth is not the center of the universe but it is the stage of the universe. And at the present time the unseen realm are all gazing down upon us. The apostle Paul said we are made a theater to the universe to God, to men and to angels. And on this little stage of this humble planet is being enacted the last great drama of the present age. And one of the great events that bring the drama to a close is the casting down of Satan and his angels out of the heavenlies onto earth. And this is recorded in the 12 chapter of Revelation. At the present time I do not believe it has taken place. In other words, Ephesians 6:12 is still true. We have a wrestling match with Satanic forces, spiritual forces of wickedness who are in the heavenlies.

Now, turning to Revelation 12 again I want to point out to you a vitally important fact. If you have your Bibles open follow with me. In verse 9 it says:

“He [Satan] was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. [then in verse 10] A loud voice said in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ.”

Where? In the heavenlies. Why? Because the accuser of our brethren has been cast down which accused our brethren day and night before God. Now when the angel say our brethren, they mean the believers on earth. And you get a wonderful revelation which every one of us needs to remember: Satan at the present time has one supreme task which he’s very busy with. And you know what that is? Accusing you and me before the throne of God day and night. He found every fault, every weakness, every flaw, every inconsistency that he can in our character, motives and conduct and reports it to God.

You see, I believe that before Satan fell the scripture indicates clearly he was Lucifer. And at that time when he was still in a right relationship with God his business was to bring reports from this area of the universe. And when he fell and became a rebel, like a lot of other rebels I know, he tried to carry on as if nothing had ever happened. So he just goes on bringing his reports. And believe me, they’re extremely uncharitable, critical, bitter, cynical. He tears us to shreds with his descriptions of our motives and conduct. And I would like to tell you this, he doesn’t need your help. So don’t become a critic of God’s children. Because he’s doing all right without you. And above all, don’t become a critic of yourself. Don’t resort to self condemnation because you’re doing the devil’s job for him in your own life. If you are a new creature in Christ, when you criticize yourself you’re criticizing God’s handiwork. And that isn’t your job. So don’t do it. The whole issue of this battle centers around one thing. Righteousness. The moment I receive by faith that I’m really identified with Jesus Christ in his righteousness, that I’m accepted in the beloved not for what I am but for what he is, the devil has nothing more against me. You will find that your spiritual progress—you can almost measure it by the extent to which you have been able to accept and appropriate by faith the righteousness of Jesus Christ on your own behalf. Because God has made it possible that the devil will have nothing to bring against us in heaven. When we accept and live out the righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith, the devil has nothing to bring against that. You can bring in the best Baptist living you have, the best Methodist principles, the best Roman Catholic piety and he can tear it to shreds. But when you bring in the righteousness of Jesus Christ he’s silent. This is the great lesson that we have to learn as children of God, not to present our own righteousness, not to flaunt the religious label or denomination or a church membership but to speak and act only in the righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith according to the word of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21:

“God made him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

When you are made the righteousness of God the devil can say nothing against that. And remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33. It’s so often misunderstood.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness [not your own].”

It’s said of the Jewish nation in Romans 10, they going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness which is of God by faith in Jesus Christ. It takes humility to accept the righteousness of Jesus Christ because it means, first of all, you have renounced every shred of your old self righteousness. Isaiah 64:6:

“All our righteousness are as filthy rags.”

Not all our sins, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of God. As long as you flaunt the filthy rags of your church membership, your self-righteousness, your good deeds, your piety, the devil will tear you to shreds in the presence of God. But when you come to the place where you’re relying on nothing and on no one but the word of God, the blood of Jesus and the righteousness which is by the faith of Christ, you are no more a target for the devil. There’s nothing in you that he can put his finger on and bring up by way of accusation before God.

Now we come to this final astonishing fact in verse 11. The angels are speaking and they say this. They’re talking about their brethren, the believers on earth. They say:

“They [Who is they? The believers on earth] overcame him [who is that? Satan] by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. They loved not their lives unto the death.”

And then we have this revelation. Heaven has been purged. Rejoice heaven but look out earth. Because now the devil isn’t here any longer, he’s right down on earth and he’s come here knowing he’s only got a few short years to do all the mischief and make all the harm that he can. To me it is clear that period that he has is closely related to the 70th week of the prophecy of Daniel 9. Whether it’s a whole week or half the week I’m not prepared to offer an opinion but it’s clear that we’ve come to a specific period of time and the devil who is a student of prophecy knows it pretty well. When he comes down out of here onto here he knows he’s got three and a half years. And Jesus says remember those days will be cut short. So though theoretically it’s three and a half years there’s going to be at least a few days taken off at the end. And the devil is going to be out to do the maximum of harm in that short period of time before he’s bound and imprisoned in the bottomless pit.

Now then we come to the theme of this message tonight which is this: They, the believers on earth, overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. Do you see that it’s the believer on earth that eventually gets the devil down? Not so much the angels. They have their part to play as they did with Daniel but ultimately it’s the believers on earth that procure the final defeat in casting down of Satan. Doesn’t that make you feel good? I think it’s tremendous. But you know what? The devil wants to keep you ignorant about that fact because as long as he keeps the believers ignorant they cannot do what God has appointed them to do. So the devil fights by every means in his power to keep us ignorant of this fact that God has given us the spiritual weapons that can cast down Satan from his place in the heavenlies.

I must give you this scripture also from 2 Corinthians 10 before we move into the details.

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.”

The spiritual weapons given to us will enable us to cast down every high thing that opposes God and his kingdom. The last, the ultimate, the supreme high thing that opposes God is Satan’s kingdom in the heavenlies. To us are committed the weapons that will enable us to do it.

And in Revelation 12:11 the actual scene is described.

“They [the believers on earth] overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto the death.”

They were people totally committed to God. Whether they lived, whether they died was not important. What was important to them was that they should fulfill their God appointed function to overthrow Satan and cast him down.

Now I’m going to take the rest of this message to consider what is meant by this tremendous statement, “They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.” You see there, God’s atomic weapon? All right, now this is it. We come here to what it means to do what is stated in Revelation 12:11: To overcome Satan. Now I’ve heard lots of people, mainly Pentecostals, speaking about pleading the blood and so on and so forth. I respect them but I do believe the majority of Christians have never considered carefully what it really means to use the blood of the lamb by the word of your testimony. And I do believe that God has shown me out of scripture what it really means. I’ve put it up here and am going to share it with you. Testify personally to what the word says that the blood does for you. I’m going to say that again. This is how you overcome Satan by the blood of the lamb and by the word of your testimony. The key words are testimony, word and blood. These are the three key words; testimony, word and blood. So you testify personally to what the word [that’s the scripture] says that the blood does for you. And to make it effective you must make it personal. To whom are you testifying? To Satan. This is not a believer’s testimony meeting. This is where you and I come face to fact with the enemy of our souls, we speak directly to him in the name and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and we tell him what the word of God says the blood of Jesus does for us.

Now it is obvious that in order to be able to do that you must know what the word says about the blood. If you do not know that you cannot exercise this weapon. You see, in fact as long as you remain ignorant of the word of God, ultimately you will become prey to the devil. The great weapon of attack is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. And the scripture says it’s your responsibility and mine to take it. Ephesians 6:7, “take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.”

Now I’m going to deal with the statements made in God’s word about the blood. But before I do that I want to turn back to the Old Testament for a very, very vivid illustration. Exodus 12 is the Passover chapter. It describes the ordinances of the Passover as ordained through Moses for Israel when they were in Egypt. And you will recall that the Passover was God’s means to bring Israel out from the bondage and the darkness and the misery of Egypt. It is always taken throughout the scriptures as the clearest and probably the most vivid of all types of our deliverance from the bondage and darkness and misery of Satan and sin through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now the whole of Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt centered in the Passover lamb. The 10th day of the first month, every household had to choose a lamb. And on the 14th day at evening they had the slay the lamb. Now ultimately, protection would come only through the blood of the lamb applied on the outside of the door of every Israelite’s home in Egypt. God said when I see the blood on your door, I will pass over you, the destroyer will not be allowed to come in. And he said you’re to put the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts. But remember, not on the threshold because the blood is so sacred we must never walk over it. You remember in Hebrews it speaks about those who have trampled underfoot the blood of Jesus. The reference is to misusing the blood and applying it where it should not have been applied.

So here we have the lamb slain the 14th evening, here we have the door that must be covered with the blood. Now the problem if I may use that word, is to get the blood of the lamb to the door. When the lamb was slain the account makes it perfectly clear that the blood was carefully captured, drop by drop in a basin. Not one drop of that precious blood was allowed to go to waste. So the blood was now in the basin. Available but of no use. And what I want you to see is this. The blood in the basin protected no one. If all that Israel had done had been to slay the lamb and catch the blood in the basin and keep it there, not one Israelite home would have been protected. They had to transfer the blood from the basin to the door.

Now God gave them one and only one authorized means to do that. He said you take a bunch of hyssop, a little herb that grows profusely and commonly all over the Middle East, you’ll pluck this bunch of hyssop. Dip the hyssop in the blood and when the hyssop is dripping with blood you’ll smite with the hyssop the lintel and the two doorposts. In this way you will transfer the blood by the hyssop to the door. You see, the hyssop, though it was such a humble thing, was an essential part of the total plan of deliverance. Without the hyssop the blood would have remained in the basin, could never have been applied to the door, and no Israelite home would have been protected.

Now then we apply this by analogy to our salvation in Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5, “Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed for us.” He has been killed, his blood has been shed. In the terms of the analogy the blood is now in the basin. But the blood in the basin does nothing for you and me. We have to transfer blood from the basin to the place where we are, to our personal need; spiritual, physical, financial, family, business. Whatever it may be, we have to get the blood of Jesus out of the basin and where we live, at our address. And God has provided a means. Of course, it is not hyssop. What is it? One word. I don’t hear it. I think I heard it, testimony. It’s by your testimony that you transfer the blood from the basin to the door. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. They testified personally to what the word says the blood does. And only when you make that personal testimony does the blood become effective in your life and experience. Until then you are in the condition of Israel when the lamb had been slain. The blood was in the basin but it protected no one. Christ has been slain, his blood has been shed. Protection is available but we only make it ours in experience and in reality when we use the hyssop which is our personal testimony. When I testify personally to what the word of God says that the blood of Jesus does for me, that’s like taking the hyssop, dip it in the blood and sprinkling it all over myself. Then I have the total protection and all the legal rights of the blood of Jesus over me, my situation, my body, my home, my life wherever it may be. But if we do not use the hyssop, if we do not testify, if our lips are sealed and the devil can keep us from speaking out boldly in personal testimony what the word says the blood does for us, then the blood might as well have not been shed so far as you and I are concerned. The only means to get the blood from the basin to the door is the hyssop. The only way to make the blood of Jesus Christ effective in our personal life and experience is—now let’s hear—testimony. Can you say that again? Testimony. The hyssop of the New Covenant is our personal testimony. Can you understand now why the devil fights your testimony? Can you see that he knows much better than you that when you testify he’s lost his opportunity to harass you, hurt you and invade your home. Once you’ve applied the blood by your testimony, he cannot pass through the blood. Isn’t that wonderful!

Now then we’ll take time to consider what the word of God says that the blood of Jesus does for us. I’m going to take a number of statements in succession made in the word of God about the blood of Jesus and I’m going to show you how to apply them with the hyssop of your personal testimony to your own life situation and need. We’ll begin with Ephesians 1:7. I do not need to turn to my Bible because I know these by heart. In fact, if I stood upside down in a dark room in a corner on a dark night I could quote every one of these scriptures without the least problem. I live by these scriptures. I keep my hyssop in my hand. Believe me, there’s not many days pass that I’m not using the hyssop in my own life. I’ve discovered it does the job. Ephesians 1:7, speaking about Christ says:

“In whom [that is in Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of his grace.”

Now this tells us two things that we have through the blood of Jesus when we’re in Christ. Remember, when we’re outside of Christ it does not avail. And remember, that in Egypt the blood did not protect those who were not inside the house. It was only inside the house that they were protected. It was only inside Christ that we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. What are the two things that are there stated? We are redeemed which means bought back by a ransom price that had to be paid. We are forgiven.

Now I want to you take with that Psalm 107:2 which is one of the most powerful scriptures for enforcing the value of testimony. Psalm 107:2 says this:

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”

What is say so? That’s take the hyssop and use it.

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath redeemed out of the hand of the enemy.”

Who is the enemy? Satan. We were in the hand of the devil—did you know you were in the hand of the devil? I have no problem about knowing that I was in the hand of the devil. I was in the hand of the devil but I am not in the hand of the devil now. Why? Because I’ve been redeemed out of the hand of the devil. So if I want the effectiveness of redemption through the blood of Jesus what do I have to do? I have to say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath redeemed out of the hand of the enemy.

All right. We’ll take you to Ephesians 1:7 and I’ll show you my testimony on the basis of that. My testimony is this and I want you to listen once because the second time I want you to say it with me. Listen carefully first. Through the blood of Jesus I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil. Did you get that? Now I’ll say it section by section. You don’t say it with me, say it after me. Are you ready? I’ll give you the scripture to say that first. Ephesians 1:7. Through the blood of Jesus I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil. Now this same scripture tells me all my sins are forgiven. So my testimony there is Ephesians 1:7. Through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven. Will you say that after me? Ephesians 1:7. Through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven.

We move on to 1 John 1:7 which says this:

“If we walk in the light as he [Jesus] is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sin.”

It is all continuing present tenses. If we continually walk in the light we continually have fellowship and the blood continually cleanses us. This is not a single isolated experience, it’s a continuing process, a continual ever present cleansing of the blood of Jesus.

Now I will not go into the conditions which are stated because time does not allow but if I am meeting the conditions, if I’m walking in the light, if I’m in fellowship with my fellow believers, then my testimony is this. I’ll say it once and you can repeat it after me. 1 John 1:7. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, continually cleanses me from all sin. Are you ready? Say it after me, not with me. 1 John 1:7. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, continually cleanses me from all sin.

Now we’ll move on and see some other statements of scripture. Romans 5:9 says:

“We are justified by the blood of Jesus.”

Now the word justified is not understood by many present day believers. But just and righteous are interchangeable terms both in Hebrew and in Greek. Both in the Old Testament and in the New. So to be justified means to be made righteous. What is it to be made righteous? This is the definition, this is my favorite definition. To be justified is to be just-as-if-I’d never sinned. When I’m made righteous with the righteousness of Jesus Christ it is as though I have never sinned. So I’ll say it once, then you say it after me the second time. Romans 5:9. Through the blood of Jesus I am justified, made righteous, just-as-if-I’d never sinned. Now you say it after me this time. Romans 5:9. Through the blood of Jesus I am justified, made righteous, just-as-if-I’d never sinned.

Hebrews 13:12 says:

“That he [Jesus] might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gain.”

This scripture tells me that through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified. Now the word sanctified is similar in form to the word justify. To justify means to make just or righteous. To sanctify means to make saintly or holy. The best definition or the best explanation of to be sanctified is to be made holy. And to be made holy includes, though it is not exhausted by the statement, the person who is made holy is set apart to God. So my testimony now is Hebrews 13:12. Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God. In other words, when I’m set apart to God I’m not in the devil’s territory. I’m separated from the devil by the blood of Jesus.

God told Pharaoh in Egypt that he would set a redemptive difference between the people of Egypt and the people of Israel. The plagues that came upon Egypt would not come upon Israel even though they dwelt in Egypt because there was a redemptive difference. The redemptive difference in our lives is the blood of Jesus. We are set apart to God by the blood of Jesus.

Did you know that it was never the will of God for God’s judgment on the wicked to come upon the righteous? I cannot take time to go into this but it’s a fact that all scripture confirms. It never was the will of God for God’s judgment on the wicked to fall upon the righteous. And if I am set apart to God by the blood of Jesus then God’s judgments on the wicked should never fall on me. I’m set apart. I’m not in the territory where those judgments apply.

Okay. My testimony now is this: Hebrews 13:12. Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God. Say it just after me. Hebrews 13:12. Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God.

Now we go on to the climax. The climax is found in the scripture in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. We’ll read that scripture then we’ll apply it in the light of what we have already said about the blood of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. I want to read just two other passages from 1 Corinthian 6 first. The second part of verse 13 says:

“Now the body is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.”

Did you know that? Your body is for the Lord and the Lord is for your body. That’s a very, very far reaching truth. If you do not misuse your body by uncleanness and immorality, by gluttony, drunkenness, filling it with all the filth of nicotine and all these horrible things that destroy the human body, the tissues and cells, if you set your body apart to the Lord, then you can say my body is for the Lord and the Lord is for my body. But you’ve got to be sure that your body is for the Lord. And that includes this little member that’s in here between my two lips, my tongue. On whose side is that? You better be very sure.

And then we read in verse 15:

“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?”

Now we come to verse 19 and 20 where it’s brought to a climax with these statements. What?

“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you which ye have of God, and ye are not your own.”

Why are you not your own? Because somebody else has bought you. And when you’ve been bought by somebody else, then you don’t belong to yourself. Who bought you? Jesus. With what price? The blood. So if you’re bought by Jesus, remember you don’t belong to yourself. If you belong to yourself, then you’re not bought with the blood of Jesus. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot belong to yourself and to the Lord. The Lord wants you for himself, he’s paid the price of his precious blood. But if you want to hold onto your own life then remember you’re not bought with a price. You cannot have it both ways. If you belong to God you don’t belong to yourself. If you belong to yourself you don’t belong to God.

Now Paul says in the 20th verse:

“For ye are bought with a price [the price is the precious blood of Jesus] therefore, [because of the price that has been paid to buy you] glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s.”

When Jesus died on the cross he paid a total price for a total redemption. He didn’t redeem a part of you, he redeemed the whole of you. Spirit, soul and body Jesus died to redeem you. And if you’ve accepted redemption through his blood then you are not your own, you belong to him. Both your spirit and your body are God’s because Jesus paid the price of his blood to possess you.

Now we take the scriptures from the previous pages and unite them with this fact that Jesus redeemed our bodies by his blood and we come up with this confession. Now before we make this confession let me tell you that in my experience this is the most powerful single way of dealing with demons and Satan’s power that I have ever experienced. And when the Spirit of God is on a person or a meeting and people make this testimony, it is tremendous what it will accomplish.

Now if while we are going through the remainder of this service there’s something in you that gets stirred up and there’s a churning going on inside you and something doesn’t want to let you say these words or there’s something in you that is questioning or opposing, that is the enemy. And the testimony to the blood of Jesus has brought him out into the open. And when he’s brought out into the open, then you better chase him out. People tell me in a deliverance service, how do I know if I’ve been completely delivered? Some of you have asked me that and you’ll always get the same answer. You know what it is? It isn’t my business to give you a certificate. And if I did, it wouldn’t be worth the paper that it’s written on. But, I’ll say, when the Spirit of God is moving, if you will make this confession in good faith, I’ll be very surprised if the enemy can keep quiet then. This is the way to flush him out into the open.

See, one of the great ministries of the Holy Spirit through the word is to stir up the devil. Many people have said to me I have a much more peaceful time before I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. That’s not surprising because if you have evil spirits in you that are not driven out, then there’s going to be a conflict that there never was before. The Holy Spirit will force the enemy out into the open. That’s why some people don’t like Holy Spirit religion because they’d rather keep the enemy suppressed and respectable than have him forced out into the open and behave like the beast he really is. They’d rather keep up the religious facade and remain respectable in front of their neighbors than be heard burping or spitting or screaming and have the enemy forced out into the open. I always tell people in a deliverance serve they’ll come to a place where you may have to make a choice between your dignity on one hand and your deliverance on the other. Now my advice is let dignity go and choose deliverance because your dignity will come back later. But if you hold onto your dignity, all you are doing is suppressing the enemy. And he’s glad to be suppressed rather than to be driven out. If he’s got the choice, that’s what he’ll do. But the way to stir him up, the way to get him so mad he just can’t keep quiet any longer is testify about the blood of Jesus. Then things begin to show themselves for what they really are.

All right. Now this is the testimony. I’ll read it once and then I’m inviting you to say it with me. And as somebody said once, buckle your seat belts. Because who knows what will happen next. “My body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. Redeemed, cleansed, sanctified by the blood of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. Now we’ll say it the other way around and you say it after me phase by phase. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. My body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. Redeemed, cleansed, sanctified by the blood of Jesus. Now, we haven’t finished. That’s all we could get on that page but the last page is the best. “Therefore, because of all that’s gone before, therefore, because my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed, sanctified by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me through the blood of Jesus.” If anything makes him mad, that does. You be sure to say it and keep on saying it. He may keep quiet the first time, the second time, the third time, but if you go on saying it he has got to show his colors. He’ll be forced out into the open. And when he’s out in the open then you can deal with him. Let’s put this part in then we’ll go through the whole declaration. Are you ready? I’ll say it and you say it after me. Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me through the blood of Jesus. Now we’re going to go through it phase by phase. Starting back here and I want you to say it not with me but after me.

Ephesians 1:7: Through the blood of Jesus I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil. Ephesians 1:7: Through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven. 1 John 1:7: The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses me continually from all sin. Romans 5:9: Through the blood of Jesus I am justified, made righteous, just as if I’d never sinned. Hebrews 13:12: Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20: My body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed, sanctified by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me, through the blood of Jesus.

Now if you really believe that you know the next thing to do? Praise the Lord for it. Take a little time to praise him. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for the precious blood of Jesus. We thank you for the redemptive blood of Christ. We thank you for the justifying, sanctifying, precious shared blood of the lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the name of the Lord. We praise you, Jesus. We thank you that you paid the price of our redemption. You shed your precious blood on the cross. You are the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And tonight, Lord, we’ve taken the blood from the basin and we’ve transferred it to our own personal address by the hyssop of our personal testimony.

Now in closing let me just direct your attention to one more passage of scripture which is relevant to what we have been saying. Then we are going to go into ministry on the basis of what we have been saying. We are going to give you the opportunity here in this service to get to grips with the enemy in any area of your life whether it be your mind, your body, your finance, your circumstances, your family. We’re going to give you an opportunity on the basis of your testimony to deal with the enemy.

Now 1 John 5:6–8. Speaking about Jesus it says this:

“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. [now leave out verse 7 which is probably an interpolation] There are three that bear witness in earth: the Spirit and the water and the blood. And these three agree in one.”

Now here’s a tremendous focus of power. It speaks about three witnesses. Two witnesses were all that were actually required. But for real strong confirmation we’re provided with a third. The three witnesses are the Spirit [the Holy Spirit] the water and the blood.

Now in verse 6 it says about Jesus, 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. Jesus came by water as the great teacher. The water here is the clean water of the word. John 15:3, even before he went to the cross and shed his blood he said ye are clean through the word which I’ve spoken unto you. And in Ephesians 5:25 and following it says Christ redeemed the church by his blood that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. So Jesus came to wash with water by the word as the great teacher to redeem on the cross with the redemptive price of his shed blood. He came not only by water to teach but by water to teach and by blood to redeem. But when he had redeemed by his blood, remember that thereafter his purpose was to sanctify and cleanse his bride to make his bride acceptable for himself with the washing of water by the word. So we must have the water of the word and we must have the redemptive blood shed on the cross which cleanses from all sin. And the one that bears witness is the Holy Spirit. So the Spirit, the water of the word and the blood shed on the cross agree in one.

Now when we come to this place of divine agreement of these three witnesses in our lives, I’ll tell you that we have overcome Satan. Now I can teach you this as a matter of doctrine and theory. It is always true and valuable. The statements that I have taught you are true. You have used the word to testify to the blood. You’ve used the water of the word and the blood. But it’s when the Spirit bears witness the real effect comes. In other words, there’s nothing in the Christian life that is just a set of rules. There’s nothing that’s just technique. Salvation isn’t a technique. Healing isn’t a technique. Deliverance from evil spirits is not a technique. Anybody who tries to reduce any of these things to a technique and a set of rules misses the point. Then they get mad with the preacher because I say I can’t deliver you. See? What’s the purpose of it all. That when we use the water of the word, when we use the blood in our testimony, the moment when the Spirit bears witness. And that’s when heaven’s floor drops out and heaven comes to earth. It’s when the Spirit bears witness to the water of the word and the blood.

Now this is the place where we must come this evening if we are going to have the results that you and I need. We’ve got to come to a place where it’s the water, the blood and the Spirit. And I’m going to ask you in closing this message—and I do not know how much more time I have exactly—but I’m going to close the message by leading you in a personal confession of these truths that I’ve taught. And after that I’m going to pray for you en masse. And when I pray for you en masse, turn loose. Get healed, get delivered, get whatever you need. When the water is troubled, jump in. Don’t come running up to me afterwards and say, Brother Prince, I didn’t get it. This is going to be your time and then we’re going to turn this meeting open to the Holy Spirit and we’ll stay here till midnight if necessary. But remember, if you don’t move when the Spirit moves, there’s not a preacher on the face of the earth that can help you. All we can do is move where we see the Spirit move.

Would you stand to your feet and I’m going to lead you in this confession. I’m not going to give you the scriptures now but just the statements. We’ve seen the scriptural basis. I want you to say it not with me but after me. And when we come to the end and I say amen, then my good friend, please turn loose. Okay. “Through the blood of Jesus I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil. Through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses me continually from all sin. Through the blood of Jesus I am justified, made righteous, just-as-if-I’d never sinned. Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God. My body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed, sanctified by the blood of Jesus. Life one hand—Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me, through the blood of Jesus. I renounce him, loose myself from him and command him to leave me in the name of Jesus. Amen.