Sermon Notes for 12th November by Margaret
Covenant Blood
I want us to have an understanding about what some call “pleading the blood”
Old timers in the faith used this phrase a great deal
Many today say its nonsense or even heretical…so what is it?
RECAP First of all What is Covenant?. ….the stages are
Coming together, exchanging robes and armour, cutting and shedding blood, making a scar, declaring the blessings and curses, eating a meal, planting a tree
We know
That Jesus was the advocate, the sacrifice and the mediator of the New Covenant when he went to the cross and shed his blood on our behalf
We know
That we have cut into this covenant by accepting the Lordship of Jesus and declaring it publicly (believing in our heart and confessing it with our mouths Romans 10 9 and 10) and showing it by Baptism
We know
That this is an everlasting eternal unbreakable covenant that far excels all other covenants
Heb 9. 20-24
For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with [human] hands, only a copy and pattern and type of the true one, but [He has entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the [very] presence of God on our behalf.
Nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again, as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own. For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world
But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself].Saying these words:
This is the blood that seals and ratifies the agreement (the testament, the covenant) which God commanded [me to deliver to] you.)
if you remember that Abraham when given amazing promises from God says HOW SHALL I KNOW? And God and God walked through the bloody pieces of the animals making covenant with each other
We can say HOW SHALL I KNOW …and look at the shed blood of the cross that confirms it all. The blessings were purchased by the blood
All the promises of God are yea and Amen in Christ IN THE COVENANT
Which is Ratified by the blood
Ratified means…validated, endorsed, authenticated, confirmed, authorized, upheld established
All the promises of the Bible
Eph 1.7
In Him we have
redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood,
the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor, which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence),
Making known to us
the mystery (secret) of His will (of His plan, of His purpose).
In accordance with His good pleasure (His merciful intention) which He had previously purposed and set forth in Him,
Eph 2.12-14
12[Remember] that you were at that time separated (living apart) from Christ [excluded from all part in Him], utterly estranged and outlawed from the rights of Israel as a nation, and strangers with no share in the sacred compacts of the [Messianic] promise [with no knowledge of or right in God's agreements, His covenants]. And you had no hope (no promise); you were in the world without God.
13But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.
We know that God works according to patterns based on principles
SO we can trace what you might call the “red cord” right through scripture
Abraham
Moses…Passover ….Blood on door posts
Rahab…of Jericho …her whole house saved …..ETC
1 John 5 .8 says that there are three witnesses on the earth
and there are three witnesses on the earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree [are in unison; their testimony coincides].
Spirit…the surety of the covenant
Water,… baptism…..
Blood…the crucifixion by which Christ completed his work
Rev 12.10-11 says
Then I heard a strong (loud) voice in heaven, saying, Now it has come--the salvation and the power and the kingdom (the dominion, the reign) of our God, and the power (the sovereignty, the authority) of His Christ (the Messiah); for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night, has been cast out
And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].
Remember I said that we enter into the covenant
1. through the pattern of Romans 10: 9&10,
2. based on the principles of covenant making
In other words …Believe in your heart…...Confess with mouth
So when people are “pleading the blood” it is a kind of short-hand way of expressing our understanding of what Jesus accomplished on the cross through his blood, which releases every promise of God to us for our protection ,deliverance safety and healing, BUT It cannot be JUST formula . Like “In the name of Jesus” tacked onto a prayer is not a formula, or “touching the hem of his garment”
There is no magic property in the actual blood itself So…by the blood of the lamb?
But there is power released by our faith in what God has done Faith in what the living blood of the Passover Lamb has accomplished
Faith in the overcoming victory of Christ
The word of our testimony? ….. The proclamation of what the blood has done and the use of our authority that was gained by it
All of the promises of God are ours …...through faith working by love
There is a lot of courtroom language in the bible …and all that God has done for us is a legal transaction …Micah 7 8&9 …Jer 50 34 …..plead your case
Satan is the prosecuting attorney
Jesus is the advocate with the father ( if any man sins)
Jesus Christ the righteous is the propitiation for our sin …he bore the sentence for us
So when we look at Deut 28 we see
Blessings for covenant keeping in Deut 28 1-15
Penalties for covenant breaking in breaking in 16+ , which he bore on the cross(Gal 3, 13)Therefore we can declare that we are free of the curses…through the blood Make sure you know what they are !!!!!!
The blood of Jesus Speaks of my victory
SO…..WE can take the word of God declare boldly
Satan I overcome all of your works by the blood of the lamb
Hold up your Bible and say :
I want you to know Satan that this is God’s everlasting blood covenant that has been made by Jesus Christ himself on my behalf
Jesus’ righteousness has been imputed to me
All God’s promises are mine in him
All God’s blessings are mine in him
I command you Satan to consider that blood
The word of my testimony is that I dare to stand on God’s promises.
They are tried and proven and are ratified by his blood
I am a covenant person I will not break my word an not will he
I Love not my life unto death?...
I have made an unqualified commitment to God whether things look as if they are going my way or not …like on the marriage covenant we promise to be faithful “in sickness and in health”
If necessary I will die for him
See that blood devil
This is the blood of the one who crushed your head and took away your power
This is the blood that says
I am justified…I can stand before God without shame
I am redeemed…I am his precious purchase
I have peace …”no weapon formed against me shall prosper”
I am healed …”by his stripes”
I am God’s property. ….so you have no right to touch me
I have eternal salvation…my home is heaven
I am washed, and I am clean and I am forgiven …
I have victory…”I am above and not beneath I come behind on no good thing “
I am protected …Psalm 91… “I am under the shelter of the most high”
My children are saved ….”all my children shall be taught by the Lord”
You do not overcome Satan by your efforts or by your tenacity He has already been overcome and thrown down but we must stand BY DECLARING in faith in the victory already won…and sometimes people shorten that to pleading the blood However be sure you really know what it means so that it s a faith declaration not a formula
Story: woman who dreamed about heaven and worried that her woks were not good enough. Only the blood gives us entrance to heaven
Story Brenda Steen 1993 California Earthquake Preached on the blood and …That very night, she had said “I don’t care if I do live on a fault line. My house will not be destroyed “Not one of the congregation lost their homes or were killed even though the whole area of Thousand Oaks was declared an official disaster area
Remember his covenant love CHESED…Loving kindness. Psalm 107
Whatever the problem we can cry out and receive HIS rescue.
