First the Blood, Then the Power!

Leviticus 14:14-18

“And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord : And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord.”

For Several days now the Holy Spirit has been impressing on my heart the importance and the power of the blood of Jesus. I sense that the Holy Spirit is serving notice on the church to get back to the blood, not just in our thinking, but in our speaking and in our living.

In Joshua chapter two Rahab the harlot saved herself and her entire family from destruction when she hung a scarlet thread from her window. That scarlet thread represented the blood. In Exodus Chapter twelve the children of Israel saved their household from the death angel when they applied the blood of the lamb to the top and the sides of their door posts.

The text in Leviticus deals with the cleansing of the leper (leprosy in the old testament was a type for sin). What this text reveals to us is that the leper was not considered clean until the blood was applied and after the leper was pronounced clean by the application of the blood, then the priest would apply the oil right on top of the blood. The oil was only applied where the blood was present.

What is the significance of this to you and me? The anointing of the Holy Ghost only comes after the blood has been applied to our lives. The Holy Ghost answers to the blood, witnesses to the blood, honors the blood, testifies to the blood, and waits for the blood. First comes the blood, and then the anointing.

Without the blood, there is no salvation, no justification, no deliverance, and no sanctification – no blood, no anointing! No blood, no peace, no power, no anointing, no authority, no joy, and no protection. That’s why the Holy Spirit is trying to bring the church back under the blood.

Hebrews 9:19-22

19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

There is no Pentecost without a Passover: Passover is when the death angel had to pass over the homes with the blood on the doorposts. There was a spirit of death that looked at every home, Egyptian and Israelite, and the only safe homes were the homes under the blood.

There is no fire without Blood. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost came to the upper room and baptized a 120 men and women in supernatural fire, but you must go to Calvary before you can get to the upper room. You must die to yourself to receive the live offered through the blood of Jesus. The pathway to God’s power is soaked in blood.

Colossians 2:11-12

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

It is through baptism in the name of Jesus that the blood is applied to our lives and we are washed clean, it is through baptism in the name of Jesus that our sins are remitted. It is through baptism in the name of Jesus that we are prepared for the power of the baptism and anointing of the Holy Ghost. If you want to walk in power with the Lion of the tribe of Judah, you first must be covered in the blood of the lamb!

There’s something that happens in my spirit when I talk about the blood. Something stands up on the inside of me. I feel my spirit wake up! I feel an anointing stirring up! I feel the power of the Holy Ghost come alive in me. I thank God for the blood!

I know we’re all modern today and we’ve got access to the libraries of the world at our fingertips. We’ve got the bible on our tablets, our iPads, and iPhones. We can study the Hebrew and the Greek meaning of biblical words right from our phones. We are in a hear it all, see it all, and know it all Generation. But for all our technology and for all our intelligence and know how, I am concerned that we have lost something.

Our Elders didn’t have access to all the modern conveniences and technology we have today, but they had something many have lost in our modern high-tech church age; they understood the importance of living under the blood of Jesus! Those old timers would do something you rarely hear the younger generation do today. If they had a problem, sickness, financial, marital, sin issues, they would plead the blood of Jesus over it. They would plead the blood on everything: The house, the car, the cat, the dog, the chickens, the hogs, the garden, everything was covered with the blood.

They might not have understood it, but the word ‘plead’ is a legal term. It was an answer to a judgment. The judge would say, you have been charged with such and such a crime, how do you plead/ That means that the Judge was asking: What is your defense to this and the accused would answer I ‘plead’ guilty, or not guilty by reason of insanity, or I plead the fifth.

Well that legal proceeding carries over into the spiritual realm. When the devil comes around saying you have been accused sin, and the devil says you have come short of the glory of God, what is your defense? That is when you look the devil in the eye and you square your shoulders back and you say, ‘I plead the blood!’ The blood is my defense! The blood of Jesus speaks for me!

You may have a pretty church, you may have a pretty pulpit, you may have talent and skill, you may have knowledge, and you may have position, but without the Blood You have no Power! Without the blood you are dead! I don't care how big, how muscular, or how pretty the body may be, without the blood, the body is dead!

God woke me up this morning to tell His church a truth that many have forgotten. Jesus don't care how big or how beautiful your church may be, without the blood it's dead! You may have great choir, you may have great enthusiasm, and you may even have educated preachers, but if you don't have the blood, you're nothing but a pretty corpse. Just like a dead body dressed up by the undertaker to look good for a funeral, but drained of the blood, you’re still dead.

The church today on a large scale has become zombies. Zombies are the walking dead. That’s what any church, any Christian without the blood is, they are the walking dead. Any church any preacher, any pastor, any believer who does not exercise the blood is nothing but a Spiritual Zombie. There's no such thing as a Christian without the blood. Jesus said, ‘Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you.'

This gospel is bloody, Calvary was bloody, the cross was bloody, Jesus blood poured out of his body, Jesus carried his own blood into the holy place and offered it upon the mercy seat in heaven. God accepted Jesus blood as an offering for sin. And it is by and because of that same blood that we are saved today.

We are washed by that blood, sanctified by that blood, justified by that blood, redeemed by that blood, protected by that blood, and we are delivered by that blood. Our conscience is cleansed by the blood of Jesus, and we are healed by the blood of Jesus. No wonder the song writer was moved to pen the words:

“There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins and sinners plunged beneath the flood lose all their guilty stains.”

And another songwriter wrote these words:

“Come ye sinners lost and lonely Jesus blood can make you clean, for he saved the worst among you when he saved a wretch like me. And I know, yes, I know Jesus blood can make the vilest sinner clean, and I know yes I know Jesus blood can make the vilest sinner clean.”

I really am not trying to be mean or hurt people’s feelings today, but I believe this message could be the difference between heaven and hell for someone. You may finally be able to quit smoking or drinking or some other habit that has you bound, plead the blood of Jesus over it right now! You may finally be able to quit slipping and sliding peeking and hiding - you dress up and carry a bible and sing on perfect pitch, you look good, smell good, and feel good, but if you haven't been to Calvary you're lost. Stop playing games with God, receive the blood of Jesus! ‘Repent every one of you and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and then you shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost (Acts 2:38).

If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and you have not had your sins washed away by his blood, then you are lost and if you die that way you will go to hell. God is going to hold preachers responsible that don't tell the truth. The most important thing in your life is not a new car, a new house, a new wife, or a new self-esteem, the most important thing is your soul.

“Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you daily trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?”

Friends, I believe the Holy Spirit is saying to some of you today, “Lay aside those garments that are stained with sin and be washed in the blood of the lamb. There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean O be washed in the blood of the lamb.

Friend get under the blood, Church family get under the blood, and when we get back under the blood we'll get back under the power. First, it's blood, then it's glory. First, it's Passover, then it's Pentecost. First, it's blood, then it's power. Blood on the right ear, blood on the right thumb, blood on the big toe of the right foot, THEN OIL.

After the blood was applied the priest dumped the rest of the oil on the cleansed lepers head. The head is representative of the whole body: When the Head is anointed the body is anointed. Somebody lift your voice right now and tell God: "Anoint my head with oil"

FIRST, IT'S CLEANSING, THEN IT'S POWER!