[0:00] You may be seated. Greet you in the name of Jesus this morning. May that be all of our goals, to grow deeper the love of Jesus and to know him more and more.
[0:19] This morning, I'm going to start Revelation 12. I'm going to get verse 11 here. And what I want to talk about this morning is basically branching off from this verse.
[0:42] I'll read this verse. 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.
[0:57] They overcame who? They overcame the devil, Satan, our enemy. They overcame him. How?
[1:08] By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, they loved not their lives unto the death. So this morning, I'm going to look at especially two of these, the blood that redeems us and the word of our testimony.
[1:28] You know, as we read this verse and we look at this, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.
[1:45] The blood of the Lamb, the blood of Jesus. The precious blood of Jesus. I want to get a few verses. The first one will be in Colossians 1, 13 to 14.
[2:03] The apostle telling us here that when we become born again, we're translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
[2:42] And how, what has, what has opened the door for that to happen? It was the blood of Jesus shed on Calvary that has made the way for us to be translated out.
[3:01] It's like that word translated means to be moved out of one place into another. You know, if we are, if we are born again, we are removed from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
[3:23] And it is by the blood of Jesus that we can experience this. He says, in whom we have redemption. We have redemption in Christ Jesus through His blood.
[3:37] And we have forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus. And these are things that we want to look at and we want to talk about this this morning.
[3:51] Forgiveness of sins and redemption through the blood of Jesus. And this is how, this is how we overcome the devil.
[4:03] First of all, we need to be born again and translated and removed out of His kingdom into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. But then it also says, by the word of their testimony.
[4:18] And what do we testify of? I believe that we, that what He's looking for, what He, what we need to do is to testify of what the blood of Jesus has done for us.
[4:33] You know, a positive confession will not do anything for you unless you've experienced it. But once you've experienced the washing of the blood of Jesus and being born anew, then we need to confess with our mouth.
[4:51] And we'll probably read that verse in a little bit, but Romans tells us that with the heart man believes, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
[5:04] I believe that unless, if we are not confessing with our mouth and saying what God has done for us, we will probably lose the experience that we've had if we had it at all.
[5:26] He has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. You know, we talk a lot about being in Christ and abiding in Christ and so on.
[5:40] And that's where we are and that's who we are. You know, there's a verse in 1 John that says, the whole world lieth in the wicked one.
[5:54] In the King James, it says, in wickedness. Some other translations say, in the wicked one. The whole world is in the wicked one, just like we Christians are in Christ.
[6:10] In other words, there is no neutral ground. Either we are influenced and directed by the Holy Ghost or we're influenced and directed by the wicked one, by Satan and his hosts, his evil spirits.
[6:32] In whom we have redemption through His blood. That word redemption, it means to be redeemed. It means to be bought back.
[6:44] To be bought back. You know, in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, they fell, they sinned.
[6:57] They rebelled against God. And the human race was sold to the devil. But now Jesus has redeemed us back. He bought us back out of the hand of the enemy.
[7:09] We have redemption. through His blood. His blood was the payment of our redemption. In Hebrews, it tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
[7:27] And, you know, this is a very familiar verse. But, just think of this verse for a moment with me. without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
[7:42] The Bible also tells us that the life is in the blood. Your life, in your physical body, it is in the blood. You know, you might be able to see those veins.
[7:54] sins. If the blood was drained from your body, you would lose your life. So, the life is in the blood.
[8:06] And, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Now, let's think of another verse. The wages of sin is death.
[8:18] death. The cost to pay for our sin is death. And, Jesus paid for it with His blood, with His life.
[8:38] The forgiveness of sins. You know, how, how do we enter into the forgiveness of sins?
[8:50] Now, turn with me to 1 John chapter 1. We want to look at this. 1 John chapter 1.
[9:05] Start reading in verse 5. This then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you that God is light and in Him is no darkness.
[9:18] at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
[9:34] And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth and the truth is not in us.
[9:47] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
[10:05] Now, let's go back and look at this. I just asked the question a moment ago. How do we receive forgiveness for our sins?
[10:16] And here in verse 9 He says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[10:31] So, if we want to be forgiven for our sin, then we need to confess our sin and He will, He is, He is faithful to forgive it.
[10:43] But if we hide it, you know, Proverbs says, He that covers his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesses and forsaketh shall have mercy.
[10:55] So, if we want the mercy of God and if we want to be forgiven for our past, we need to confess those things and lay them out and get rid of them.
[11:07] Get them under the blood. That's how we get them under the blood is to confess and to forsake and to bring them to the cross and to have them washed away by the blood of Jesus.
[11:27] Now, let's back up a little further. in verse 5, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
[11:39] You know, in this room, you look here, you look under the chairs, you look in the corners, there's shadows. There's shadows. You know, God is light and there is no darkness.
[11:54] I believe there's no shadows to hide in in the presence of God. Sin cannot hide in the presence of God.
[12:10] No. So, what does he say? He says, if we have fellowship with Him, with God, if we have fellowship with God, then, and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
[12:31] You know, if we are hiding something in our life, if we are, you know, men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds are evil.
[12:42] So, if we are hiding something, and we're trying to keep it in the shadows, then we're lying when we say that we are walking with God because God is light and He will expose everything if we walk in the light as He is in the light.
[13:10] So, now, if we are walking with God in the light, we're redeemed, we're bought by the blood of Jesus and we're walking with Him, we're walking in the light, then what will happen?
[13:24] He says, we have fellowship one with another. We have fellowship one with another. There's an open communication.
[13:35] There is fellowship with our brothers and sisters because we are walking in the light and we have fellowship one with another and as we have fellowship one with another and we walk in the light, it says, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
[13:56] and I believe that as we walk together in fellowship, iron sharpeneth iron and as we walk together in fellowship, then the light shines brighter and brighter and it exposes any hidden things that are deep in some back closet hidden away, they will be exposed, they will be brought to light and it's our decision if we will confess and forsake or if we will hide it.
[14:42] The next chapter says, he that is, he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now.
[14:53] He that, in verse 10, he that loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
[15:06] He that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
[15:18] so if we love our brother we abide in the light and says there is none occasion of stumbling.
[15:29] You know, if we walk together in fellowship as a group of believers then says there is none occasion of stumbling.
[15:40] What's he saying? I believe that you know, in the day we live in we need each other, we need a brotherhood, we need to walk together. You know, if there is something in the path that would make us trip, you know, together we can overcome but if we are by ourselves we might stumble.
[16:08] The brotherhood, very important. And as we have fellowship one with another the life of Jesus Christ will flow through the body.
[16:20] It says the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us as we have fellowship one with another. So how do we walk in the light?
[16:31] I believe that when God speaks to us then we respond to it and we confess whatever the Holy Spirit reveals that is still a hindrance in our life.
[16:44] We live, we walk in the light that we have and what we know. And if there is something that we are blind to He will reveal that.
[16:56] But notice what He says here. We read this in chapter 2 verse 11. The darkness blinded His eyes. You know, the darkness of sin, the darkness of rebellion, the darkness of resisting the Holy Ghost.
[17:18] It will bring a blindness. It will blind us that we cannot see the truth, that we cannot see what is right and what is true.
[17:30] if we resist the Spirit of God, blindness will overtake us.
[17:46] Blindness will overtake us. If there is any unconfessed sin, it gives Satan a legal right into your life.
[17:57] You know, you can resist the devil, like James says. He says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. But the verse before that says, submit yourselves to God.
[18:10] If we're not in submission to God Almighty, we have no power to resist the devil. But He has, if we, if we are not in submission to God in every area, if there's one little hidden sin that we're hanging on to and we're not willing to get it under the blood, we're not willing to confess it, it gives Satan a legal right into our life.
[18:44] It gives him a foothold to work from. If he has a legal claim, he will not give up. No, he won't.
[18:55] He's a legal expert. He's a legal expert and he knows his rights. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesses and forsaketh shall have mercy.
[19:22] A couple quotes here. coming into the light means confessing our sins and bringing them into the light. The evidence that we are walking in the light is that we have fellowship one with another.
[19:37] The closer we walk in fellowship, the brighter the light grows. How wonderful. Hallelujah. Amen. Do we love the light?
[19:49] Do we love the light? light? Are we walking? Are we walking in light? We have redemption through the blood of Jesus and we have all the rights of redemption if our sins are forgiven.
[20:10] Amen. We are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Peter. Peter. Peter. We are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
[20:23] Yes. Let's just read a couple verses there in Peter. They are 1 Peter 1 18.
[20:41] For as much as ye know they were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God.
[21:20] Seeing ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit and unfeigned love of the brethren see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.
[21:43] Verse 22 you know if we walk in the light I believe this verse will be a reality in our lives having seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit the truth that the holy spirit brings as we walk in the light the spirit of truth the holy spirit will bring his truth to us unto unfaint love of the brethren the longer we walk in the light and in this fellowship we have fellowship one with another our love will increase and grow see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently fervent love for one another amen that is the will of God James 5 16 just part of that verse says confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed confess your faults one to another you know many people will say well I confess to
[23:02] God and that has its place but sometimes we need to confess to the brethren that we can be free and that we can find freedom and victory Hebrews let's turn to Hebrews chapter four Hebrews chapter four verse twelve for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart you know you know and there's many other verses that will tell us that God knows our heart and he knows he knows what we're thinking he knows our motives notice what it says here he is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents the very intentions the very things that that motivate us he knows why you do the things you do if it's a pure motive or if it's a wrong motive he knows why you know
[24:35] Proverbs says he ponders the path that we walk he ponders the path of our feet you know the places you go they tell a story they show what's in your heart the places you go the things you do it reveals what's in the heart and God is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart he says the word of God it's quick it's powerful it's sharper than a two-edged sword it through the word of God it discerns what's in your heart it's a divider of soul and spirit joints and marrow God knows our being he knows us he knows what motivates us you know there's let me see in Romans 8 in Romans 8 it says to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against
[26:02] God for it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be you know what is the carnal mind mind what is the carnal mind let me just explain it as simply as I know how in a short in a shorter way that we know how is just simply our own thinking without the Holy Ghost that's the carnal mind and it is an enemy of God it's not subject to the law of God and it cannot be why not because our mind must be renewed by the Holy Ghost our mind must be renewed by the blood of Jesus and renewed by the Holy Ghost you know Jeremiah talked about this talked about about that old man that old mind our own carnal thinking in
[27:08] Jeremiah 17 in Jeremiah 17 verse 9 and 10 he says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it you know that heart it wants to hide the sin in it he wants to flee into the shadows and he wants to hide there it is desperately wicked it will tell you everything's okay and it's at the same time hiding some sin Jeremiah says the heart it is deceitful above all things and it's desperately wicked who can know it he asks the question who can know it but the very next verse tells us who can know it it says I the Lord search the heart I try the reins even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings the Lord knows our heart the Lord searches our heart and what does he say here he says he will reward us he will give us every man according to our ways not according to our words you know this old heart it can say a lot of good sounding words but that's not what
[28:40] God goes by he goes by our works and by the fruit that comes from our from our life that's what God goes by says even to give every man according to his ways the ways that you walk in you will reap for what you sow you will reap for the path you walk you know every every walk has a consequence and if it's a walk in the light and in fellowship with the brothers then we will reap that but if we hide in the shadows and we hide things in the shadows and we don't have fellowship with one another we will reap that also the law of sowing and reaping he is the discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart now let's go to
[29:56] Romans chapter 10 let's just start in verse 1 brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth you know now I know he's talking about Israel here but I believe that you know it's not only the Jews that try to establish their own righteousness but it's a product of the carnal mind because that carnal mind it has always wanted to be accepted by God it has always wanted to force
[31:12] God to accept it and so it will put up it will come up with with a religious system and we know many religious systems and people walk in them and they sacrifice many things trying trying to live a life that is pleasing to God but in so doing they're just exactly like like the apostle describes the Jews here does they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge and they are ignorant of God's righteousness they're ignorant of God's righteousness and they go about trying to establish their own righteousness and our own righteousness Isaiah tells us is as filthy rags it will never please
[32:13] God but it is a horrible stinky mess that's what it is our own righteousness Christ is our righteousness and when we're redeemed by the blood of Jesus and when we're set free from our sin and we we give our old life to him and it is buried with him and we have his righteousness we are just as if we had never sinned set free and washed by the blood of Jesus verse 6 the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven that is to bring
[33:15] Christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up Christ again from the dead but what saith it what's it saying the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith which we preach that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation notice you know we we we know it's so important to believe in our heart that Jesus died for us and he shed his blood for us and he rose again but my
[34:20] Bible tells me that we must also confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and we must confess and testify of what he has done for us he says with the mouth confession is made unto salvation confession confessing our sin confessing that Christ died for me confessing acknowledging what has happened testifying of what Jesus has done for me if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus you know in verse in verse nine we have confessing with our mouth before believing in the heart that but the two go together and we can never separate them and if we will be victorious over our enemy we will overcome our enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony yes that is how we will overcome that is how faith will rise in our heart that is how we will we will enter in more fully into salvation you know and it's not complicated very simple like you know if we've been redeemed you know
[36:01] I want to read I want to read a couple verses in the Old Testament out of Psalms actually 107 we probably all know that verse but I want to read it Psalm 107 1 and 2 oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth forever let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy you know the psalmist he realized the need to to speak forth what God has done for us if we are redeemed he says let the redeemed of the
[37:02] Lord say so it's very simple through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven are they if all your sins are forgiven then you can say that you can say that and you're not just saying it to me or to us here but you're also saying it to the heavenly host good and bad and the devil is going to hear it too when he comes after you with that ugly temptation you tell him no I'm redeemed by the blood of Jesus my sins are forgiven and I can't listen to you anymore first John if we walk in the light how about this as I walk in the light the blood of
[38:03] Jesus is cleansing me now and continually of all sin you know if our heart is open and exposed to the light we are free it brings a freedom we have nothing to hide hallelujah let the redeemed of the Lord say so amen amen it is through the blood of Jesus that we are redeemed out of the hand of the enemy we are translated out of his kingdom into the kingdom of Jesus Christ hallelujah hallelujah psalm 91 he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty Tiろう
[39:12] God mil au to l in church and saying what God had done for him.
[39:30] He said, I will say of the Lord. And who is he going to say it to? Well, probably, I think, first of all, he probably said it to his sheep out there.
[39:45] The Lord, he is my refuge. And he is my fortress. He is my God. In him will I trust.
[39:55] You know, if we are walking in the light, we're redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Our sins are washed away. They're under the blood.
[40:06] They're confessed and forsaken. And they're gone. Hallelujah. He is our God. He is our rock. He is our fortress.
[40:18] And we can trust in him. For whatever we will meet in the future. That's what the psalmist says here.
[40:31] Look at these next verses. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. Now he's talking about things in the future, not just things in the past.
[40:55] He shall cover thee with his feathers. Under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
[41:07] Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
[41:26] You know, is this where we're at? Can we trust God in this way?
[41:42] A thousand shall fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
[42:02] Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation. Are we abiding in him?
[42:16] Are we abiding in him? Have we made him our habitation? Are we resting?
[42:27] Have we found that rest in our Savior? There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
[42:40] He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in thy hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder.
[42:52] The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him.
[43:04] I will set him on high because he has known my name. You know, it's more than just knowing the name of Jesus.
[43:17] It's more than knowing the name of God. But it is knowing him personally. Jesus, the son of the living God.
[43:31] Do we know him that way? Do we know his name? Do we know him?
[43:43] It says, He shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
[43:54] With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. If we dwell in that secret place, if we abide under the shadow of the Almighty, our God, the Almighty God.
[44:16] Do we abide in him? Remember, remember that verse in 1 John 5, 19, the whole world lieth in the wicked one.
[44:28] It's one or the other. We're either under the power of the wicked one or we're under the power of the Holy Ghost. It's one or the other.
[44:39] It's never neutral. We're never our own person. We're never our own person. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.
[45:03] Are we willing to lay down our life for our Lord Jesus? He laid down his for us. What less can we do for him?
[45:15] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you have loved us with an everlasting love, and you shed your blood for us, that we can be redeemed, that we can have eternal life, that we can be your sons and daughters.
[45:37] Thank you, Lord Jesus. Lord, help us to walk in the light as you are in the light, and allow your light to shine into the hidden crevices of our hearts and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[46:00] Lord, search us and try us, and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting.
[46:13] Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.