His Blood and Our Testimony

Posted by Dion Todd October 6th, 2019 6,045 Views 0 Comments

His Blood and Our Testimony from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Today I want to talk about what Jesus has done for us, and what we are expected to do for Him. Let’s start by examining Revelation 12:10:

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Revelation 12:10–11 NKJV

The “kingdom of our God” and “the power of His Christ” came when Jesus was crucified and resurrected. The “accuser of our brethren” is satan, who lost a battle in the heavenlies and was thrown out. “They overcame him” refers to us overcoming satan here on the Earth. “The blood of the Lamb” is the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross. He is our passover lamb, and His blood separates us from the world, marks us as His, washes away all of our sins. The “word of their testimony” and “did not love their lives to the death” refer to us, and what we are to do while here.

Jesus has done His part, satan is doing his part, and in order to overcome, we have to do our part. Let’s break that down and start at the beginning:

Satan’s power is in accusing people. Throughout scripture he accuses people of sin, of not being who God thinks they are. God allows satan to exist in order to test and filter His people, he is merely a tool. There is an interesting conversation in the book of Job, chapter 1:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:6–12 NASB). 

Here we can see that God called Job righteous, but satan said he was not, and implied that Job merely loved God because of His wealth. Satan told God “touch what he has and he will curse You to Your face.” That “curse You to Your face” line kept coming up, apparently that was satan’s task, to get Job to curse at God.

So God gave satan permission to test Job by taking away his possessions, but did not allow him to lay his hands on his body. It was a controlled test with limits set in place. Job firmly held onto his testimony and passed the test beautifully with “Though He slay me, I will trust Him” (Job 13:15). So the next time satan came back to God, he asked for more access to Job. He had taken his wealth, now he wanted his health:

Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” So the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. (Job 2:4–7 NASB). 

This time satan accused Job of loving his health more than God. Take that away and he will curse You to Your face! Again, there were limits set for he was not allowed to kill Job. Again, Job passed the test, and at the end of the book, God gave Job double of everything that satan had taken from him.

It is a bit like satan being an evil prosecutor in a court room. He accuses us and presses charges against us, many of which he is probably right about. In Zechariah, Joshua the high priest was standing before Jesus, with satan standing beside him to accuse him. Jesus defended him. Satan accused him:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. (Zechariah 3:1 NASB). 

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, His blood covers the sins of believers. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). There is nothing for satan to accuse us of, providing that we do our part. Now we come to the most important part of this message: our testimony, our confession. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:

“if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9–10 NASB). 

That is our testimony, that Jesus Christ is our Lord. We are to hold on to that testimony faithfully, like Job did, regardless of what comes our way. All the Apostles except John were martyred because of their testimony, but they kept the faith to the end. They did not love their lives more than Jesus. That is our part in overcoming.

In Exodus 12:22, when the passover lamb was killed, the Israelites were instructed to take a leafy branch from a hyssop plant, dip it in the blood and brush it on the lintel and door posts of their homes. This would mark their houses and prevent the death angel from visiting them that night. That blood separated the Hebrews from the Egyptians. If they did not apply the blood, then they were treated the same as the Egyptians.

Jesus is our passover Lamb. He shed His blood on the cross. We are to apply it to our life, and our tongue is the hyssop branch that we are to use. Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 10:

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32–33 NASB). 

A quick summary:

1. satan’s power is accusing people of sin (like Job).

2. Jesus shed His blood on the cross that covers every sin.

3. Our testimony is what applies His blood to our life.

That is our part of the agreement. His Blood. Our Testimony. That is how we overcome. So never be ashamed of being a Christian. Never deny knowing Jesus. Even when your back is to the wall, say it with a smile: “I don’t know how this will work out, but Yes! Jesus Christ is my Lord.”

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I choose You! I am Yours, Lord. Please strengthen me, guide me, open my mind to understand Your word and give me a clear vision for my life. I want to be an overcomer. Come and be a part of my life today, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.