No Unsettled Claims: How Your Testimony Applies the Blood of Jesus

Sermon outline

We overcome Satan when we testify personally to what the word of God says the blood of Jesus has done for us: redeemed, forgiven, cleansed and set apart to God.

1. Why we share communion

   He gives seven reasons: proclamation, remembrance, anticipation of Christ's return, recognition of what was done for us, participation, sharing, and separation from sin and the world unto God. Communion tells principalities, powers and people that we belong to the body of Christ, while we still respect people of other faiths. He then leads viewers at home through the bread and the cup.

   “We are separated from a life of sin. We're separated from a life of the world. We're separated unto God.”

   • 1 Corinthians 11:24-26
   • Matthew 26:26-28

2. Satan was defeated at the cross, and the weapons are in our hands

   There is a conflict between the kingdom of God and a rival kingdom whose aim is to steal, kill and destroy. At the cross Jesus defeated Satan in two ways: he made forgiveness possible for past sins, and righteousness possible by faith without observing the law. That took away Satan's chief weapon, guilt. God now supplies weapons that are divinely powerful, so believers are not on the defensive but on the attack, with their confidence in God and not in themselves.

   Illustration: Scripture pictures the devil as a dragon, a serpent, a murderer, a thief and a liar.

   “We are not on the defensive in our battle with the enemy.”

   • John 10:10
   • Romans 3:23
   • John 8:36
   • 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
   • Proverbs 28:1
   • 1 Corinthians 1:27-28

3. We overcome by the blood, the word and our testimony

   From Revelation 12:11, which he calls one of his favourite verses, he names three weapons: the blood of Jesus, the word of God and our testimony. To use them properly we must know what the word says the blood has done. That is why the church is taught to make confessions and declarations.

   “We overcome Satan when we testify personally to what the word of God says the blood of Jesus has done for us.”

   • Revelation 12:10-11

4. Redemption and forgiveness: Christ the Passover Lamb

   We were redeemed, bought back, not with silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ, and our sins are forgiven. These provisions become effective when we open our mouths and say so. Confession moves the power of the blood from potential into practical daily living, over your family, your car, your possessions and your business.

   Illustration: Israel used hyssop to put the blood on the lintels and doorposts so that the angel of death had to pass over. In the new covenant, he says, the hyssop is our testimony.

   “You apply the blood of Jesus by the word of your testimony.”

   • 1 Peter 1:18-19
   • Exodus 12:22-23
   • Psalm 107:2

5. Cleansing as we walk in the light

   Walking in the light brings two results: fellowship with one another and cleansing by the blood. Walking, having fellowship and being cleansed are all in the continuous present tense. There are two tests of walking in the light: obedience to the word, and relating to fellow believers in truth and in love. When both are met, the blood cleanses us daily and even cleanses the spiritual atmosphere around us.

   “The blood of Jesus does not cleanse in the dark, but only as we walk in the light.”

   • 1 John 1:7
   • Psalm 119:105
   • Ephesians 4:15
   • Romans 5:5

6. Sanctification: set apart to God

   To sanctify means to make holy, to set something or someone apart to God. The Passover shows it: there is a clear distinction between God's people and those who do not belong to him, and God himself protects his own.

   Illustration: Jesus was crucified outside the city to cleanse us on the inside.

   “This distinction is made by the applied blood of the Lamb.”

   • Hebrews 13:12
   • Exodus 11:4-7