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Sunday November 2, 2014
Covered By The Blood
Luke 10: 19-20 " Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
The word of God tells us in Leviticus, Chapter 17 verses 11 and 14 "The life of the flesh is in the blood." It is the life of all flesh."
The blood that flows through our bodies carries everything we need to support every cell of our body and maintain our normal body temperature. As the blood flows through our body it carries away the foreign elements such as virus or bacteria that can make us ill. This is the function of the blood flowing through our bodies. What is true in our natural body is also true in our spiritual body.
If the blood did not flow through our bodies doing it’s job we would die. There is a constant war going on with viruses and germs always trying to invade the body. When we get a wound of some kind the blood rushes to the wound and begins to fight against all the foreign elements that try to get into the wound.
And so the blood of Jesus Christ is our defense of the spiritual body. The blood of Jesus is our defense, our shield, and our protection. The blood of Jesus will rise up to fight spiritual diseases that would otherwise destroy us. The blood of Jesus covers us against the storms of life that Satan throws against us. Luke 10:19 says, behold, I give you power over all the powers of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. This power is in the blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit joins forces with the blood of Christ and becomes one to give us power over the enemy.
By repentance and confession of our sins and being obedient to God, clears the way so that the Blood of Christ can flow and do what it was meant to do. Rest assured there will be attacks from Satan. Things will come against us. But if we maintain a personal relationship with Christ, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, the blood of Christ will have us covered and protected.
Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb.” Who is him? SATAN. The blood of Christ is our greatest defense against SATAN.
When we are born again, we are brought into the family of God, we are now in Christ, which means Christ is in us, we are surrounded by Him, we are secured through the power of His blood.
There is enough sin on any of us to send us to the grave without Christ. However, Hallelujah, there is the precious blood that was shed at Calvary and that blood has secured us. That’s what we throw at Satan when He tries to get us back into a sinful life. “I rebuke you, Satan by the power of the blood of Jesus of Nazareth.”
There is a very poisonous snake, the Cobra, at one time if a person was bitten by a Cobra it was sure death in a very short time. I understand that through experiments they have now a serum that can immunize a person against a Cobra bite.
Now what has the snake, a serpent (Satan), got to do with what we are talking about? Let me say this, many years ago a serpent more poisonous than the Cobra bit the human race. The bible tells us, “by one man’s sin, all of us have been made sinners.” The bible calls Satan a serpent. Through the bite of that old serpent, death has passed upon the entire human race. The bible says that “death reigned and that death ruled.” Why did death reign and rule over the human race? Because there was no antidote to fight it, the poison was in the blood stream of the human race, and all had to die. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
Over two thousand years ago, one man came to this earth that was immune to the serpent’s bite. This man knew no sin. But in order to save the human race which God created, this man, The Holy One, God’s Son, Christ Jesus, willfully allowed the serpent to bite him. Therefore Jesus, the one who knew no sin, became sin for us and by allowing the serpent to bite him, he took my sins and your sins upon himself.
In effect Jesus said to the serpent, bite me, inject me with the sins of the whole world, and by my death, I will conquer death. By my blood I will become the antidote against death, and though it is written,” The soul that sinneth shall die, the soul that receives the antidote of my blood, SHALL LIVE!!” The blood of Christ is the cure, the only cure, for the deadly disease called SIN.
This is something that we should all be aware of as we call for unity in the churches and in families. When we sin willfully by allowing anger, strife, disagreements and bitterness to remain among us, the Blood of Christ cannot do the work it was meant to do.
The word of God tells us that we as Christians, are a “Temple of the Holy Ghost and we are not our own.” We were bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the cross at Calvary.
All believers are members of the body of Christ. When we refuse to walk in the light of faith and obedience to God’s word, then we allow things into our lives and our bodies that will defile us. When we walk in the light and the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin and wrong attitudes, we begin to see others in the perfection of Christ. If we have a bad attitude about something concerning our church, relationships with friends and family, all these will disappear if we walk in the light and allow ourselves to be totally cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. If we are walking in the light and being obedient to God we will have fellowship one with another even though we may have different personalities.
The apostle, John tells us in Chapter 13:35, that Jesus said, “ by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one for another.” In Romans chapter 5, Paul writes about the love of God being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
READ ROMANS 5:1-11 When the peace, love and fellowship of the blood of Christ are visible among us, all people will see it.
Whatever the blood of Christ wishes to remove from us, we must let it go; trying to hold onto it will ultimately destroy us. Confess, repent and let the blood do its perfect work in cleansing you.
Medical science says that death by hemorrhaging from the loss of blood is the most horrible of all deaths. This is doubly true spiritually, words cannot describe the horror of a soul dying without the blood of Jesus Christ covering it. When a soul is hungry for God and cannot find him, that my friend is hell. When a soul physically dies without God; that is eternal Hell, the final destination of one dying without knowing Christ Jesus as their personal Savior. But man does not have to die of a spiritual hemorrhage, without the blood of Christ covering him. Man does not have to die of spiritual starvation. The answer to a natural hemorrhage in the body is a blood transfusion. The answer to spiritual hemorrhage is also a blood transfusion. The blood of Christ will stop the torment of a soul that is lost. The blood of Jesus Christ is the antidote. The blood of Christ is the answer to everything that is of God.
Hebrews 10:19 says, Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest (sanctified) by the blood of Jesus.
God promises many blessings for those who walk in His ways. however this doesn't mean that we are going to have a life of ease and unending prosperity. But it does mean that no matter what we face in life, we have the assurance of God's unending love and continuing work in our lives.
Even if we seek God's wisdom with all of our heart, we may still experience some bad things in our lives. We may suffer the loss of our health, relationships, financial or many other things. But when we choose to live our lives according to the wisdom of God, He assures us that we will come through all these hardships more conformed to the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ and closer to everything God desires for His children.
The first chapter of Proverbs lays it out clearly the difference of desiring God's wisdom in our lives and rejection of His wisdom.
The word of God teaches us that wisdom is being able to see things from God's perspective and to respond to them according to the principles of the Holy Scriptures. To have true wisdom in our lives we will seek Godly wisdom about all the earthly circumstances that we are faced with.
I believe that there are five main reasons why God desires for His children to walk in His wisdom.
1. God desires for all his children to become all that He created them to be. He expects us to develop and use the talents, abilities, and gifts that He gave us in becoming the man or woman He created us to be.
2. God desires for us to accomplish all of the work that He places before us and not go about it halfheartedly. When God places an opportunity, a challenge or goal in front of us He expects us to pursue it with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He wants us to successfully complete what He called us to do.
3. God wants every one of His children to receive, experience, and enjoy all the blessings that He wants to pour into our lives. God wants us to walk wisely and with Godly wisdom so that we can experience the fullness of His provisions promised in His word. He wants us to be spiritually, emotionally, and physically healthy.
4. God wants our lives to bring glory to Him. God wants us to live in a way that causes others to want Christ Jesus in their lives. Living a foolish life does not bring glory to God. But living a life through the wisdom of God does.
5. God desires that all of us avoid the pitfalls associated with a foolish lifestyle.
Most of the time foolish choices are made in response to the pressures of society or pressure from our peers. One of the main problems with society today is that they do not value God's wisdom. Most people simply choose to just go "with the flow of society."
Many people assume that because " EVERY ONE IS DOING IT " it must be ok. They never stop to question whether or not the behavior is wise or foolish. They simply go on with flow as others around them are doing.
The way of a person without God's wisdom is known as the " FOOL’S GAME." The fool's way is that he can live his life " ANY WAY HE WANTS " and come out a winner.
Such a life as this is marked by REBELLION, DISOBEDIENCE, and PRIDE. Such a life lived in this manner will never know the blessings of Almighty God.
A person can brag about all their riches, their degrees, their background experiences, their accomplishments, notoriety, fame and awards, however, if they are rejecting God's plan of Salvation for their life they are still playing the fool's game.
The most important thing a person can do is to receive Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
People living the foolish lifestyle will AVOID, DENY, IGNORE and delay decisions in life that are inevitable.
One such decision that I want to touch on involves eternity. WE ALL WILL DIE. That fact is inevitable. The bible says in Hebrews 9:27 " IT IS APPOINTED FOR MEN TO DIE ONCE, AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT."
There are those who do not believe there is a judgment after death, but surely everyone believes that he will face death. A person only needs to look around and see that he has never met a two-hundred year old person.
Death is not a might, maybe, or perhaps event . . . it is an inevitable fact in every person's life.
A person who walks with God's wisdom will face the inevitabilities of life, especially those of death and judgment. A judgment awaits everyone after they die. 2nd Corinthians 5:10 " for we must all appear before the judgment seat of CHRIST, that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
Only a foolish person would ignore that fact or fail to prepare for God's divine evaluation of his or her life.
I want to urge everyone who has not received Jesus Christ as your savior to do so today. Tomorrow may never come. Then walk with God's wisdom in your life.
Whatever you need - Matthew 7:7-8 '"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."
Heaven, Is it Real or Myth?
I want to touch on the subject of Heaven because during the past week or so I had conversations with folks who were having a hard time grasping the fact whether Heaven is real or just a story.
First of all let me say, that a person must have accepted Jesus Christ into their life and fully trust and believe in His word and His promises before one can have his mind and heart opened through the Holy Spirit in order to believe that Heaven is a definite place.
The very fact that Jesus Himself mentions Heaven about seventy times in the Gospel of Matthew alone should be enough to make one believe that Heaven is real.
The word Heaven is mentioned from the very first verse of Genesis to the 21st chapter of Revelation. Fifty four of the sixty six books of the bible speak of Heaven.
After Jesus resurrection Mark 16:19 tells us that Jesus " was received up into Heaven, and sat on the right hand of God."
The book of Hebrews tells us about the Old Testament heroes of faith and their looking forward to someday being in Heaven. Abraham was not just living in a state of mind he looked to the promise spoken of in Hebrews 11:10, “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." All the heroes of faith looked forward to a better country. Hebrews 11:16, “but now they desire a better country, that is, an Heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city."
In John 14:3-4 Jesus told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them. “ where I go ye know, and the way ye know." That place Jesus was telling them about is Heaven. Jesus is there now preparing a place for everyone who trust Him as their Lord and Savior, making it ready for our arrival.
Having faith in the promise that Heaven is a real place is very important, but even more important is that we understand what it takes to get there. The only thing that can give us true directions is Christ's Gospel Plan of Salvation. That plan is summed up in these words from Jesus Himself. John 14:6
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one cometh to the Father, but by Me."
Moses prayed that God would “Look down from Heaven, your Holy dwelling place."
King Solomon prayed, "O, Lord my God, hear from Heaven, your dwelling place."
Abram said, "God most high, Creator of Heaven."
Jesus taught us to pray " Our Father who art in Heaven."
Heaven is a literal place that is occupied by the presence of Almighty God. This should make Heaven the most important destination for all those who love Christ and long to worship and praise Him as their Creator, God, Lord, Father and Savior.
Heaven is the Father’s house. Heaven is the dwelling place of His Son Jesus Christ. Heaven is the city of the living God and all the redeemed. If all this doesn't fill you with excitement, hope, and a strong desire to someday go to that better country, then I strongly urge you to examine where you stand in your relationship with God.
If you truly love Jesus Christ with all your heart, soul, mind and strength you will want to follow Him all the way to that Glorious Place called Heaven.
The belief of heaven has no value if we don't believe in the resurrection of the one who created Heaven and opened the way to everyone who will enter.
There are those who say they strongly doubt that Jesus was raised from the dead and today lives in Heaven. Yet they will read a book written by someone who says he was taken up to heaven and returned, thus bringing them to say, “I now believe in Heaven." They will believe in a man’s vision more than they believe in what God's Holy Word says. My friends, God's Holy Word, the Holy Bible, is our only true guide. The Bible alone leads us to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Look at what Jesus Himself said ' And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man, who is in Heaven."
So what does Jesus Resurrection have to do with Heaven? Not only does it prove that He was the Son Of God and that there is life after death, but it also assures us that death, our final enemy has been defeated.
The Lord Jesus gave proof of His power over death in the story of Lazarus in the 11th chapter of John when Jesus stood before the tomb where Lazarus was buried and cried with a loud voice, " Lazarus, come forth" and he that was dead walked out of the tomb.
That proved that Jesus has power over death and the truth of this promise to all of us " I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
In the revelation of Jesus Christ to the apostle John, John is reminding all of us that He was an eye witness to the overall final scene that Jesus reveals to Him about being in Heaven with Christ for eternity. Revelation 21:1
Revelation 21:2 speaks of the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven. The new Jerusalem will be the dwelling place throughout eternity for the saints of all ages and fulfills the hope of Abraham for the heavenly city, whose builder and maker is God.
Heaven is not just some Beautiful Isle of Somewhere, Heaven is a definite place. The new Jerusalem is the habitation, the eternal home that Jesus has prepared for the church. John 14:2-3 "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also."
You can rest assured as you pass through this world, it is only a place where we work, eat, sleep and dwell for a short time knowing that Heaven is our real home. The Lord Jesus is there at this moment making everything ready to welcome us home.
