Andrew Murray says of the precious blood, “I know of no word in the Bible or in human speech that contains such mysteries! In it are concentrated the mysteries of the incarnation, in which our God took flesh and blood; of the obedience unto death, in which the blood was shed: of the love that passeth knowledge that purchased us with His own blood; of the victory over every enemy and the everlasting redemption; of the resurrection and the entrance into Heaven; of the atonement and the reconciliation and the justification that came through it; of the cleansing and perfecting of the conscience; of the sprinkling of the heart and the sanctifying of the people.”
There is no limit to the power of the blood of the Lamb. The church has a right to claim all the fruits of’ the victory which Christ has won for her on Calvary. Is there any limit His victory? If there is, it is altogether on our side and is due to unbelief and to our unwillingness to ” … follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth… ” (Revelation 14:4).
The great enemy of the church has so paralyzed her will and deadened her sense of responsibility, that ripening harvest fields are still waiting for labourers and funds, and the means required for the ingathering of precious souls are refused by the members of the church. Such is the work the devil is accomplishing, and yet the eyes of many are closed to the fact.
If the church will enter into possession of what the Lord Jesus has won through His sacrifice on the cross, she will be able to claim that all the powers of the enemy directed against her shall be utterly broken. Also, by virtue of the precious blood, there shall be loosed, for the glory of God and the need of the world, men and money and all else that is required for the prosecution of victorious missionary enterprise. Calvary is the Lord’s call to the church to be loosed from her graveclothes and to enter into the most aggressive warfare possible against the strongholds of evil. Calvary is II is cull to her to receive the fullest supply of the Holy Spirit and to put on her beautiful garments in anticipation of the coming of her Lord and the dawning of the day of victory.
PURCHASED BY THE BLOOD
” … thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). This will be the song of the translated church as she looks back on her earthly journey. It is now the song of every believer who knows his debt of sin is paid.
CLEANSED BY THE BLOOD
” … they … have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7: 14). What the blood purchases, it possesses in order to keep it safe. ” … the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Thank God the cleansing is a continuous act, for that is what we need. ” … Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments … ” (Revelation 16:15).
CONQUERING THROUGH THE BLOOD
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb … ” (Revelation 12:11). The Greek word for overcome means to conquer. In a court of law, it is to win the case; in conflict, to knock the weapon out of the adversary’s hand.
By that blood the accuser is silenced and put out of court (Revelation 12:10). Victory over him, at every point, is grounded on and is a consequence of the blood which has been shed.
The Holy Spirit has come to teach us all that it means and to lead us into personal experience of its powers, so that in every conflict with evil it is the weapon with which we meet the enemy and find victory and perfect peace. The Holy Spirit has an ample supply for us in the struggle. What He requires is that we shall be yielded to Him, receptive of what He offers, obedient to His orders, and active in daily service for the hour of the Victor of Calvary, to the glory of God the Father.