Latest / Millennial Mustard Seed / S5 159. ROOR - Anatomy of a Prayer - Part Five

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S5 159. ROOR - Anatomy of a Prayer - Part Five · Millennial Mustard Seed

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  God has provided us three main spiritual weapons, the word of
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  God, the name of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus.
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  We launch these weapons by these means, prayer, praise,
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  preaching, and testimony. Let's look at these briefly.
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  In Ephesians, Paul lists the spiritual armor that the
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  Christian soldiers need for spiritual conflict.
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  The first five items of armor are all defensive, girding our
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  waste with truth, putting on the breastplate of righteousness,
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  seeing that our feet are shot with the preparation of the
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  gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith and the helmet
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  of salvation. These protect the believer.
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  There is no weapon of offense or attack until we come to the 6th
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  item, which is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
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  God. Here is the great weapon of
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  attack. If you do not use the word of
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  God, you may be able to protect yourself, but you have nothing
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  to attack Satan with. If you want to put Satan to
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  flight, if you want to get him out of your way, out of your
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  home, out of your family, out of your business, if you do not
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  want just to tolerate him and hold him off, the weapon you
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  must use is the weapon of attack, the sword of the Spirit,
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  which is the Word of God. Note 2 that it is the sword of
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  the Holy Spirit. We can take God's Word in our
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  mouths, but it only achieves its full effect when it is the Holy
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  Spirit within us who actually wields it.
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  The perfect pattern of how to use the sword of the Spirit is
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  provided by Jesus as an encounter with Satan at the time
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  of his temptation in the wilderness.
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  Three times Satan approached Jesus with a temptation, and
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  each time Jesus drove him back with the same phrase It is
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  written. Jesus used no other weapon but
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  the spoken word of the Lord. God has made the same weapon
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  available to each Christian. It is important, however, to
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  bear two things in mind. First, Jesus had already been
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  filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit in Jesus
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  who directed him in the use of the sword.
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  And 2nd, Jesus, like every Jewish boy of his day, had
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  memorized long passages of Scripture.
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  When Satan confronted him, he did not need to consult the
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  concordance or go to a library. He had already stored up the
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  Scriptures in his memory. Surely we today need to do that
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  just as much as Jesus did. Another powerful weapon for us
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  to use is the name of Jesus. These two verses in Psalms 8
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  gives us a unique understanding. O Lord our Lord, how excellent
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  is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above
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  the heavens, out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants.
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  You have ordained strength because of your enemies, that
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  You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
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  The enemy and the avenger is Satan, and God has given us the
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  means to silence him. I hope you have connected the
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  name of the Avenger with the satanic institution.
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  Marvel. Your children are marveling over
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  The Avengers, the ones who come to earth to corrupt and destroy
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  you. So take up your weapon.
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  What is the weapon? It is the name of the Lord.
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  O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth.
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  The channel that launches the name is the human mouth out of
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  the mouth of babes and nursing infants.
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  Spiritual things find expression out of the mouth.
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  This is true for both good and evil.
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  Look at Revelation 16 verse 13 for instance.
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  John saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth
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  of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the
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  mouth of the false prophet. Why does the psalmist refer to
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  the mouth of babes as nursing infants?
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  To show that we do not have to be spiritual giants, God has
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  chosen the weak, the foolish, the things that are despised, to
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  bring to naughty all Satan's Kingdom in the heavenlies.
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  The devil is so busy trying to keep you from praising the Lord
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  when you effectively, perfectly, with your whole heart in unison
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  with one accord, praise the name of Jesus, it shuts the devil's
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  mouth. And if ever there was a thing he
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  does not like, it is to have his mouth shut.
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  He will do everything he can, religious pressure, social
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  pressure, fear of man, to keep you from turning loose in your
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  prayers and praising the name of Jesus.
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  The land and air around us can be purified through perfect
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  praise, the blood of Jesus. Revelation 12, verse 11.
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  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
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  their testimony. Who is they?
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  The believers on earth. Who is him?
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  Satan. What I want to emphasize is that
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  the final victory comes not to God's angels, but to the
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  believers. This passage describes war in
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  heaven. Michael and his angels are
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  fighting. Satan and his angels are
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  fighting. But the believers overcame him
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  by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
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  When you want to praise Jesus, or utter the word of God, or
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  testify to what the Lord has done for you, Satan will put a
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  barrier in front of your lips. Why?
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  Because you are casting down a stronghold.
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  The blood of Jesus is the ultimate weapon.
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  The whole issue of our battle against evil centers in one
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  thing, righteousness. Because of Jesus's
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  righteousness, God has made it possible that the devil will
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  have nothing to bring against us in heaven.
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  God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might
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  become the righteousness of God in him.
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  You can proffer the best Baptist lifestyle, you have the best
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  Methodist principles, the best Roman Catholic piety, and he can
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  tear it to shreds. But when you bring in the
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  righteousness of Jesus Christ, he is silent.
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  He has nothing more to say. You will find that you can
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  almost measure your spiritual progress by the extent to which
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  you accept and appropriate by faith the righteousness of Jesus
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  Christ on your own behalf. This is the great lesson that we
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  have to learn as children of God.
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  We are accepted in the Beloved, not for what we are, but for
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  what Jesus is. The words of Jesus in Matthew
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  633 are often misunderstood. Seek first the heaven of God and
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  His righteousness, in other words, not your own
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  righteousness. In Romans 10/3, Paul wrote that
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  the Jewish nation was attempting to establish its own
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  righteousness. They had not submitted
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  themselves to the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ.
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  It takes humility to accept Jesus righteousness because it
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  means first of all we have renounced every shred of our old
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  self righteousness. All our righteousness are like
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  filthy rags. Notice not our sins, but our
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  righteousness are nothing more than filthy rags in God's sight.
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  As long as we flaunt the filthy rags of our church membership,
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  our good deeds, our godly living, the devil will tear us
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  to shreds in the presence of God.
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  But when we come to the place where we are relying on nothing
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  but the blood of Jesus Christ and His righteousness, there is
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  nothing in us that the devil can put his finger on and bring up
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  by way of accusation before God. You might want to commit these
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  verses to memory. Forgiven in Christ.
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  Ephesians 17 tells us two things that we have when we are in
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  Christ. In Christ we have redemption
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  through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to
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  the riches of His grace. Remember when we are outside of
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  Christ, the blood does not avail.
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  Redemption means bought back by a ransom price that had to be
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  paid. Psalm one O 7 verse two.
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  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from
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  the hand of the enemy. This by the way is one of the
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  most powerful scriptures for teaching us the value testimony.
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  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so means to take the Word and
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  use it. Here then is my testimony on the
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  basis of Ephesians 17. Through the blood of Jesus I am
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  redeemed out of the hand of the devil.
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  This same scripture tells me that all my sins are forgiven.
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  So my next testimony is this, Through the blood of Jesus all
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  my sins are forgiven. Next is first John chapter one,
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  verse 7. If we walk in the light as Jesus
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  is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
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  the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.
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  These verbs are all continuing present tenses indicating an
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  ongoing process. If we walk in the light
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  continuously, we will have fellowship continuously, and the
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  blood will cleanse us continuously.
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  The cleansing by the blood of Jesus is not a single isolated
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  experience. It is ever present.
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  This is why we pray without ceasing that fellowship, and
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  prayer keeps us cleansed. If I am meeting the conditions,
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  if I am walking in the light, if I am in fellowship with my
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  fellow believers, then my testimony is this.
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  The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, continually cleanses me
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  from all sin. Romans 59 tells us that we are
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  justified by His blood. The word justified is not
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  understood by many present day believers.
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  Just and righteousness are interchangeable terms both in
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  Hebrew and in Greek, in the Old Testament and in the New.
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  So to be justified means to be made righteous.
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  Here is our next testimony. Through the blood of Jesus I am
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  justified, made righteous, just as if I'd never sinned.
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  Hebrews 1312 tells us that through the blood of Jesus we
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  are sanctified, that he might sanctify the people with his own
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  blood suffered outside the gate. The word sanctify is similar in
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  form to the word justify. To justify means to make just or
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  righteous. To sanctify means to make
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  saintly or holy. Here is our next testimony.
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  Through the blood of Jesus, I am sanctified, made holy, set apart
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  to God. The climax of our testimony is
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  found in First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19 and 20.
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  I want to look first, however, at two other verses from this
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  chapter in First Corinthians. Here is one.
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  Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord,
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  and the Lord for the body. And then we read, Do you not
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  know that your bodies are members of Christ?
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  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy
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  Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not
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  your own? For you were bought at a price.
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  Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
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  are gods. The Lord wants you for Himself.
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  He has paid the price of His precious blood.
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  If you want to hold on to your own life, you can.
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  But remember, in that case you have not been bought.
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  You cannot have it both ways. If you belong to God, you do not
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  belong to yourself. If you belong to yourself, you
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  do not belong to God. This is our next testimony.
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  My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed,
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  sanctified by the blood of Jesus.
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  Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me through the
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  blood of Jesus. Here then, is our testimony by
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  which we apply the blood to our lives.
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  The references precede each confession.
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  Through the blood of Jesus, I am redeemed out of the hand of the
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  devil. Through the blood of Jesus, all
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  my sins are forgiven. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
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  Son, cleanses me continually from all sin.
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  Through the blood of Jesus, I am justified, made righteous, just
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  as if I'd never sinned. Through the blood of Jesus, I am
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  sanctified, made holy, and set apart.
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  My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed,
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  sanctified by the blood of Jesus.
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  Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me through the
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  blood of Jesus. If you really believe those
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  words, the next thing to do is praise the Lord for it.
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  Here is a word of praise that you might use.
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  Thank you God for the precious blood of Jesus.
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  Thank you for the redemptive blood of Christ.
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  Thank you for the justifying, sanctifying, precious blood of
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  the Lamb of God. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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  I praise you, Jesus, for you paid the price of my redemption.
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  You shed your precious blood on the cross.
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  You are the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
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  And now, Lord, I have taken the blood from the basin and
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  transferred it to my own personal needs by the word of my
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  testimony. Amen.
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  Let me direct your attention to one more passage of Scripture
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  that is relevant to this type of prayer, speaking about Jesus.
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  The Word says this. This is he who came by the water
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  and blood, Jesus Christ, not only by water, but by water and
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  blood. And it is the Spirit who bears
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  witness, because the Spirit is truth.
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  There are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit,
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  the water and the blood, and these three agree as one.
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  There is nothing in the Christian life that is just a
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  set of rules. Salvation is not a technique.
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  Healing is not a technique. Deliverance from evil spirits is
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  not a technique. Anybody who tries to reduce any
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  of these things to a set of rules misses the point.
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  The purpose of it all is this. When we use the water of the
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  Word, when we use the blood in our testimony, and when the
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  Spirit bears witness, then heaven's floor drops out and
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  heaven comes to earth. Wherever God's people fast and
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  come together and praise, there always will be prophetic
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  revelation. Pathetic ministry comes out of
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  the fellowship of God's people earnestly seeking Him.
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  No religious games, no parlor tricks, no spiritual cocktail
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  parties, Just desperate hearts before God.
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  You minister to the Lord. He ministers to your problems.
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  If God's people could only see this.
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  Our weapons are mighty through God.
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  We reach up to God and we split that mid heaven of darkness
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  between us. God reaches down and touches
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  whatever problems we face as nations and individuals when we
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  use the spiritual weapons that God has given us.
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  God will be just as faithful to us today.
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  Matthew chapter 18 verse 19 and 20.
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  Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning
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  anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in
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  heaven. For where two or three are
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  gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.