There is an old hymn that opens with the words,
Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood.
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

The chorus went:
There’s power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb.
There’s power, power, wonder working power in the precious blood of the  Lamb

This is part two in the series about the blood.

I am mindful that there is much more to share about the efficacy of the blood of the Lamb that I can share adequately. We could look at His DNA and discover that Jesus had “no natural father” and that has amazing consequences. He called Himself the son of God and the son of Man and both are true, yet He is God who came in the flesh to become one us, deal with the sin issue and bring us into right relationship with God and be granted eternal life as a gift—something that is a privilege and an honour and very precious.

The apostle John penned:
Then I heard a triumphant voice in heaven proclaiming:
Now salvation and power are set in place, and the kingdom reign of our God and the ruling authority of his Anointed One are established.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who relentlessly accused them day and night before our God, has now been defeated—cast out once and for all!
They conquered him completely through the blood of the Lamb and the powerful word of his testimony.
They triumphed because they did not love and cling to their own lives, even when faced with death.
So rejoice, you heavens... Revelation 12:10-12

It may not always seem that way but our adversary has been defeated and he has been conquered by the blood of the Lamb and the word of what other translations call the word of our testimony or witness.
The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ . It is not a book about "revelations"... or "prophecy" although prophetic matters are involved. It is all about the Lord Jesus Christ, thus His testimony and then it becomes our testimony.
One translation calls it the word of His testimony.

According to the end of the book we win because we are in covenant relationship with almighty God. It is a blood covenant relationship.

In Genesis fifteen, God took the initiative and appeared to Abraham in a vision and told him about our destiny.
He commanded Abraham to take a three year old heifer, a three year old goat, a turtledove and a young pigeon and Abraham slaughtered them—but not the birds. Those birds were small harmless hopping birds. Abraham laid the carcasses out in two rows. The birds of the air that were large birds of pray tried to devour his sacrifice. Birds like that often speak of evil spirits.

Evil spirits do not want us to enter into a blood covenant with God. They try to steal, kill and destroy and take away our relationship with God and any opportunity of our growth and maturity in an intimate relationship with the Lord.
They will offer substitutes and present anything that seems “spiritual”, even in many churches today. We are being indoctrinated by the world’s influence that is creeping in, ever so subtle with minor corrections and updates, a gradual tearing out the portions of God’s word that do not line up with what they want to believe.

They often say that certain things have passed away and are no longer necessary. They want to keep up to date with society and Barna research results prove it. Modern “with-it” pastors are offering all kinds of things to become acceptable. They dress like the world, talk like the world, avoid direct and plain talk about the cross and the blood, introduce all kinds of gimmicks to get people to come to their churches.
For example some pastors dress like bikies, ride their Harley Davidson bikes into the church, tell others to bring their cycles with them so that they can “bless them”. People need the presence of God! Others have meetings that are not unlike what we see in a circus.
People need salvation and deliverance. People need healing. They do not want to be entertained or receive a “feel good” talk without substance after a nightclub kind of song service. I am being critical and make no apology for that, but it is true.

Where are sermons on the power of the blood and the power of Jesus’ name?

Abraham had obeyed God and the devil immediately tried to thwart God’s plan! Thank God Abraham drove them away! We are in a time when we need to drive falsehood and shallowness, weak wimpy religion, intellectually based sermons and religious traditions away and it is happening. God is indeed raising up a breed of preacher who refuse to compromise and preach Jesus Christ boldly whilst permitting Him to do what He did before, but confirming the word with the “signs following.” Our problem is a lack of workers who are Spirit filled and willing to go the distance, even to the point of being attacked by other religious people as well as the world system. A pastor I know has cried out for help, because after conducting several big tent crusades with remarkable success, new believers have no spiritual home and no one to turn them into true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus did say however that the fields are unto harvest—but the laborers are few!

Abraham made a sacrifice shedding blood and God walked up and down in the blood to establish covenant (See Genesis 15:17).

Abraham broke that covenant. Ismael is the proof. As a result, God stopped talking to him for thirteen years! God is a covenant maker and a covenant keeper and in Genesis 17, He started talking again and renewed the covenant, but this time with a difference. Abraham had to circumcise himself. Blood had to be shed. The flesh nature had to be dealt with.

When we are in a working blood covenant relationship with God, blood must be shed and our old flesh nature has to be put to death. The flesh, or the old man inside us fights tooth and nail against it and this is why we must stay close, abide in Him—the vine, renew our minds, and fill our hearts, minds and mouths with His word.

When two individuals are in such a relationship, either party can make a legal claim on the other—what is mine is yours and what is yours is mine. God told him what His part in the covenant would be and then told him what He expected of Abraham. He then changed their names! When God changed peoples’ names, He changed their nature and their destiny. The blood is linked with our destiny.

At this stage, it would be good to look again at Passover and we can never overstate its importance.

For 400 years, God’s covenant people had been in bondage in Egypt and Egypt is a type of sin. They went there when times were good, when the king was good and kind to them and let them live in peace and worship God.

He died, but a new king who did not know God sat on the throne. Leaders change office and the presidents and our present day prime ministers are, generally speaking, not real believers, even to the point of being opponents of the Gospel of Christ.
That statement is easily verified by their policies and actions. Many seem to be more like heathens than the politicians I knew as a boy. The standards and codes of conduct are decidedly ungodly.

God sent Moses with a clear statement, “Let My people go” and that command remains unchanged today.

God dealt with all of the false gods of Egypt. Every one of those ten plagues proved that God is God and that there is no other.

God commanded His people to choose a perfect lamb and slaughter it at dawn, signifying that an old era had come to a close.

The people had to collect the blood and apply it to the doorposts and frames of their homes. They roasted the lamb and ate it at their first Pesach or Passover, sitting in their homes whilst they waited for the death angel to see the blood and pass over them.

Try to imagine it. One family who had applied the blood sat in their home and heard the fearful cries and screams of those, perhaps the people next door, who had not applied the blood. The children may have asked their father if they would be preserved and he said a faith filled, “Yes. Because God said so”. Another family on the other side of them may have also applied the blood and the same questions asked, but the father’s reply was, “I hope so”.

Let me ask a pertinent question. “Who was saved?” “Was it the family that was bold and trusting God, or the family that said they hoped so?” The answer was both of them.

I say that because this has nothing to do with us, other than obeying.

You see, it is all about Him! It is all about the blood. It is all about the Name. Every promise of God is a “Yes” and “Amen” to all who trust—and obey, for there’s no other way as the old song goes. Our message has become complicated, but it should be so very simple.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. I recommend that you read Hebrews chapter nine in depth.

Hundreds of years later, God’s people again faced an enemy. The Philistines were attacking! They are still here today, with the same purpose and objectives that are to get rid of us and Israel. History has a habit of repeating itself and we are witnessing a veritable invasion into the minds of the uninformed—to the people who do not Know God And His ways.

THE Philistines gathered their armies for battle and were assembled at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 1 Samuel 17:1

Socoh is a town in the hill-country of Judah. It belonged to God’s people. The name Judah (yehû·ḏā in the Hebrew) appears more than 800 times in scripture. It has a range of meanings, but is generally regarded as meaning praise, thanksgiving and worship.

True worship, in spirit and in truth, has been the subject of much opposition and direct assault.
We ascribe greatness to God in worship.
We give God thanks in worship.
We bow the knee to God in worship.

The enemy hates that and has attacked it so much to the extent that genuine worship is now an artform and a source of entertainment. Music is associated with worship of course and this may be seen when Solomon had a large worship team in the Temple.
Today however what we dub as “worship” is more like a circus with smoke and mirrors, stage lighting and other effects. I like them, but as tools only, not as the objective when the musicians are more like pop stars who dress accordingly. In an attempt to win people to their churches, some people have gone to extremes.

One “pastor” ripped his shirt off on the platform and performed a pole dance! Others have people dressed up as clowns and other churches have had BBQs in the church in lieu of service. It is not uncommon to hear coarse language from the pulpit! I joke not.
The excuses are that they want to “reach people where they are” and to be “all inclusive”, but God’s way is totally different.
He confronts sin. God does not “make allowances” for it. He deals with it, washes it away with blood and then tells us to go and sin no more. Jesus said that!

When I read what happened in the early church, they preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified and people were saved, healed and set free! If, as I believe, the word of God, the blood and the Name of Jesus is what it is about, we do not need props.
We are supposed to be different!

The name of the place Socoh means a bush, or a thorny bush and we know what thorny bushes can be like.

Twice a day, God’s people lined up as if they were going to church war, but did nothing.
Twice a day the Philistines arrayed themselves against God’s people and they also did nothing.

They met at Azekah that means support, aid or assistance, but no one was helping anyone else.
They arrived together, dressed the part, said “the right words”, made a noise and returned home.

Goliath came out to confront them, issuing all kinds of threats, but also did nothing.
All he had to do was walk down the hill and into the Israeli camp and it was all over, but he did not.

There is a reason and it is something that applies to us today. He had been doing that for 39 days and David arrived on the 40th day just as Goliath came out. The number 40 speaks of testing, probation, trial, and chastisement—but not judgment. David cried out, “Is there not a cause?” I wish that there were more men of God who would stand forth and also say that. We do have a cause. There is a time for judgment—righteous judgment and we are the ones to do it.

They assembled for war at ʾě·p̄ěs dǎm·mîm. That word means edge of blood. A blood line had been drawn.

That was why no one from either side could cross over to the other side. The enemy either would not or could not cross over.

We who are born again are marked people. We often say that we have been washed in that blood and that sounds like a good description. In fact, I have often said that I want to be bathed and immersed in the blood and saturated with it. This is not being flippant in any way, but is a mark of utmost respect to the one who purchased me.

It “identifies” me as a believer and follower of the Lord.

We are being watched saints. According to Hebrews twelve, we are being observed by a great cloud of witnesses and I for one want them to see something special—not a frail and ordinary man, but a real disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ who is covered in His blood. In Acts nineteen, certain religious folk had observed all that Paul did and said and tried to do the same. They did not have any relationship with the Lord at all and when they tried to cast out certain evil spirits, those things knew it. They spoke it out. “We know Jesus and we know Paul, but do not know you”.

If God said that He was looking for the blood at Passover, it suggests to me that it can be seen in the spirit dimension.

Its presence of absence determines who is saved and who is not and the angels and other entities know it. Goliath and his four brothers saw that blood line and could not cross it.

They did not have a covenant with God and David knew it. He had one. That makes the difference.

David had that covenant with God and he had the word of God and he also had a testimony. We do have a testimony.

Goliath spewed out his evil towards God’s people as David approached him. David chose five smooth stones from the brook.
The number five speaks of grace and favor.
When we have such a covenant relationship, we can legitimately expect the grace and favor of God to be on our lives.
I believe that the stones were smooth by the rolling and tumbling effect of the running water in the brook.
This speaks to me of the washing of water by the word and it was fresh running water, not water from a still, stagnant pond.

He chose five stones, because Goliath had four brothers, just like him. David did not do that “just in case he missed” but because he was prepared to deal with all five. He was not going to settle for a partial victory!

As they drew closer, David ran towards the enemy. That speaks for itself.
When people know who they are and their position in Christ, they do not need to run from the enemy. An analysis of the Armour of God reveals that there is no covering for the back!
We do not hide behind the shield when the enemy shoots his fiery darts at us—we actively quench them.
That shield certainly protects us, but it can also be used as a weapon.
David knew that he had a covenant relationship with God and that Goliath did not. Based on that knowledge, he was able to declare, “I am coming against you in the name of the living God, who you blasphemed”.

When we Know God, not about God and have such a covenant relationship we can make such bold declarations.
Saying the Name of Jesus is not a magic formula. What “works” is having the delegated authority to act in that name.
For example, Jesus sent additional 70 disciples on ministry assignments in Luke 10, giving specific instructions on what to do.
They were “authorized” to act on His behalf and so “went in His name”. That—is what it really means. If I choose to go out and do something without such specific authorization, I may not be “going in His name”.

This sounds complex and it is somewhat of a conundrum because we all have “the great commission” to fulfill, but we are also not to attempt certain things unless He authorizes us. In Matthew 7, Jesus told certain people who were actually doing what they claimed, “in His name” but He told them to get away from Him—because they did not have intimacy of relationship and He had not authorized them to do what they claimed.

There is only one God, but He has many names, each one representing part of His nature and power. I recommend you visit my web site to read the page, “I Am...the covenant names of God” where you will find a comprehensive list of the various Names of God, the Names of Jesus and the Names of the Holy Spirit.
One thing to consider is how to “make proper use” of His name on a given occasion for a specific purpose. When we need peace, we can turn to Judges 6:24 that uses the Name Jehovah-shalom. If physical healing is required, the name we may better use is Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who heals as seen in Exodus 15:26.

Therefore, “using the name of Jesus” loosely may not be wise. Please check this out.
We thus have the blood that covers us and deals with the sin issue as seen last time. The power of the blood as we are reading now and the Name of God is part of our inheritance by covenant relationship.

I recommend you visit the relevant pages for more informtion on the following:

You  may have heard of the Fifth Amendment. This is part of the United States Constitution creating several constitutional rights that are part of the Bill of Rights. In simple terms it means that certain court proceedings must follow prescribed guidelines. Another provision is called the Double Jeopardy Clause, that states that defendants have the right to be tried only once in federal court for the same offense. There is a Self-Incrimination clause that provides various protections against self-incrimination, including the right of an individual not to serve as a witness in a criminal case in which he or she is a defendant.

You may have heard the term when someone says, “I pleads the Fifth”.  That is what they refer to.

Witnesses can decline to answer questions where the answers might incriminate them.

Sometimes we face situations when “silence is golden”. It is often best not to say one word when the accuser of the brethren lays a charge against us. It is also best to remain silent when considering taking some form of activity, such as a ministry endeavour. For example, the Lord may tell us that He wants us to go to a certain place, but that is all He says at that time. The vision can be “progressive”, in that it unfolds one step at a time. God may indeed have given us a vision or assignment, but not necessarily all the details. As I have discovered, He may tell us to go to a certain place, but not tell us when or why or how to get there until some time later. Many prophecies are like that,but we attempt to put definite dates on them according to our calendars. As Habakkuk said, there is “The Appointed Time”.

In our excitement, we may want to tell everything what we thing us great news and forget that those we speak with may not see what we see, or have some kind of reaction such as jealousy. Joseph had to learn that lesson. The green eyed monster is in churches. People do get such attitudes of  jealousy, envy and even spite, so be careful in who you share with or sharing prematurely.

We might “telegraph our moves” to the enemy. Imagine the Allies telling Hitler on D-day that they were going to land at Normandy, so please do not do anything. The devil loves advance news so that he can try to prevent things from happening.

“Pleading the blood”

When someone “pleads the fifth amendment”, they go to the highest court in the land. There is no other.

We have a much higher judge and His Name is a covenant name. I understand and tend to agree with those who “plead the blood” but not when it is said in a defensive manner. The phrase can be a little misleading if used that way. Nevertheless, we have that blood line and have a covering of that blood as a shield of protection—but it has to be personally applied, just as the blood had to be applied on that Passover night.

Jesus told us that He was sending us out into a mission field and sometimes that mission field is dangerous, because the enemy is there. God never promised immunity from problems, but He has assured us that He is there with us, provided we stay under the umbrella of His protection.

We can pray for something that we already have, but not be aware we have it!

During the Gulf War, a platoon of US Marines was cut off from their comrades and the enemy surrounded them. The Americans were born again believers and chose to believe that God’s word, such as Psalm 91 actually works. It is a provisional Psalm.
It states that He who dwells... They were dwellers in the shadow of the almighty and knew it and when the Arabs attacked, they (the Arabs) fired their weapons over the heads of the Marines and emptied them, threw them down and surrendered.
The Americans asked them why they missed and the Arabs explained that they were not shooting at them—they were firing at “the big men dressed in white suits standing behind them”.

I met a man in the early 1970’s who had been with a few others in a very primitive native part of a certain country and were sleeping in a hut. He said that a man entered into the hut, grabbed him by the foot, shook him awake, told him to run and disappeared. They did and were chased by natives armed with spears whose intent was to obviously kill them.
They arrived at a river, ran into the water and kept going. The missionary said that he could feel the river stones under his feet and that the water only came up to ankle height. The natives stopped and did not follow them.
He later found out that the river at that point was 40 feet deep!

You have at least one of God’s angels who is always with you. You (hopefully) have the word of God in your heart and mind and in your mouth. You should be continually wearing  the whole armour of God—all of it as it is a one piece custom made suit designed just for you. You have the Holy Spirit residing inside you and you have the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ to never leave you or forsake you.

If you consider such things, do we  really need to “plead the blood” for some kind of protection? I say, “No”, but carefully. If I am correct, then what does this mean?

Our relationship is God is based on covenant that is an expression of His love for us and on the basis of His word.
In that light, we could regard it as a matter of legality. I conducted a study of “the judge of all the earth” and was surprized at the results. There are many! I have shared about the covenant God made with Abraham that affects us today and will refer to Genesis 18:17 now where God said that He would not hide what He intended doing from the man. When we are in a covenant relationship, God often “takes us into His confidence”. Jesus said that He no longer calls us servants but His friends, but it is provisional in that we obey Him! Friends share things!

In that account, three men visited Abraham. He invited them to rest and washed their feet. He asked them to have a meal and they waited whilst the meal was being prepared. Abraham took a calf and slaughtered it. Blood was shed. Abraham’s servant dressed it. Sarah kneaded some bread and baked it. That takes time and God waited.

We often say that we are waiting on God, but on most occasions, I feel that He is waiting for us!

Verse twenty-two reveals something very interesting. The three men were preparing to go to Sodom, but Abraham stepped in front of them! He did what I am trying to convey to you—he pleaded something. Based on a covenant relationship in which blood had been shed, He appealed to the righteous judge of all the earth. He pleaded a case.

God listened.

In this series, we have looked at sin. We have seen how the remedy is blood.

We have seen that Jesus’ blood deals with the sin issue and completely eradicates those sins, judging them as if they never existed.
We did not go into great detail, but I mentioned that we can come to God afterwards if we do fall into sin again.

Now that the slate has been wiped clean, we now have a legal footing to present our case to God for a ruling on the matter.

We are in right standing and can make sure we remain there, so if and when the enemy opposes us, we can draw the line, declare no more, lay claim to the numerous covenant promises of God that apply in that instance.

We can specifically mention His covenant name/s then and stand before the Judge of all the earth to plead our case.
The latter is possibly different to what you thought before of “pleading the blood”.

I trust that this has laid a foundation for you to dig a little deeper into the things God has done for us and where you stand before Him.

Robert