The Complete Testimony

I’ll commence my talk today by turning once more to a verse that I’ve quoted several times, Revelation 12:11.

“They overcame him.”

They, the believers; him, Satan. Direct person-to-person conflict between believers and Satan.

“They overcame him.”

Then the weapons, “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” You remember the three weapons there shown to us: the blood of the Lamb, that’s Jesus, the Word of God, and our personal testimony. And then I explained to you how we bring those three weapons into operation. I explained it this way: We overcome Satan when we testify personally to what the Word of God says the blood of Jesus does for us. You see there are the three weapons: the blood, the word, our testimony. And our testimony is the key that releases the other two weapons.

Our testimony is like the hyssop in the ceremony of the Passover in the Old Testament. The blood was provided in the basin. Potentially, complete redemption was available, but to make it actual, to make it effective, the blood had to be transferred from the basin to the place where the Israelite family was living, to their home. It had to be sprinkled on the outside of the home where it could be seen. And the means to do that was this humble little bunch of hyssop. And although it was such a humble, everyday thing, it was essential for the preservation of Israel. Without the hyssop, they would have all suffered the judgment of God. And in the new covenant, in the New Testament, our hyssop is our personal testimony. That’s what transfers the blood of Jesus to the place where we live, to our lives. That’s what provides us with the protection which is potentially available, but has to be actualized by our personal testimony.

In past days this week, I’ve directed you to various passages of scripture that reveal what has been provided for us through the blood of Jesus. I’m going to go over those again. If you haven’t already done so, make a note of them. The first one, Ephesians 1:7,

“In him”—that’s Jesus—“we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Notice the two provisions there: redemption and forgiveness of sins. And then in 1 John 1:7,

“But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

I pointed out that all the verbs there are in the continuing present tense. If we continually walk in the light, we continually have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all sin. We live in an evil, sin-polluted world. It’s very easy to become polluted with sin, even without knowing it or desiring it. In order to remain pure, we have to be continually cleansed by the blood of Jesus. And the condition is that we walk in the light and have fellowship one with another.

Then in Romans 5:9,

“Since we have now been justified by his blood”—that’s the blood of Jesus—“how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”

The provision there is justification. Do you remember that I explained that to justify means, literally, to make righteous? And since we are made righteous, not with our own righteousness, but with the righteousness of God, which has never known sin, we can say, when we realize that we’ve been justified, ‘I’m justified, made righteous, just as if I’d never sinned.’ I hope you’ll lay hold of that definition of justified. Let me give it to you once more. ‘I’m justified, made righteous with Christ’s righteousness, just as if I’d never sinned.’ No room for guilt, no place for Satan’s accusation.

And then in Hebrews 13:12,

“Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

The provision there is sanctification. And I explained that to sanctify means to make holy and, practically, to set apart to God. That which is sanctified is set apart to God. In a special way, it belongs to God; it’s under God’s protection.

Now, on the basis of the past, all that I’ve been speaking about this week, I’m going to recapitulate the complete series of testimonies through which we appropriate each one of these provisions for ourselves, like dipping the hyssop in the blood and then sprinkling it where we need it. I’m going to say them first, and then I’m going to invite you to repeat them after me. All right, the first one is forgiveness. The testimony is this: ‘Through the blood of Jesus, all my sins are forgiven.’

The next one is redemption. ‘Through the blood of Jesus, I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil.’ The next one is cleansing. ‘As I walk in the light, the blood of Jesus is cleansing me now and continually from all sin.’ The next one is justification. ‘Through the blood of Jesus, I am justified, made righteous, just as if I’d never sinned.’ The next one is sanctification. ‘Through the blood of Jesus, I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God.’