Joseph Prince - Protected By The Blood Of Jesus
Ready for God's Word? Okay, look at this, Matthew 26. "Then Jesus took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.'" Now, when you take the cup, when you partake of the Lord's Supper, the Lord wants you to discern the Lord's body. Every time you look at the Lord's body, not just the the body of Jesus being striped and all that, but discern the body. His body was never sick. Jesus was never sick, never fatigued, never, never, never, you know, coming to place. Normal tiredness, yes, but fatigue where you have this chronic fatigue and all that, that's not good, amen. We don't want that in our lives as well. But if you're suffering from that, when you partake of that, remember this, there's life, there's health in the body of Jesus Christ, amen.
So, the more you partake, release your faith to believe you're partaking of his healthy body. Yeah, nonetheless, he was scourged but was still healthy. It's a healthy body that carried our diseases and sicknesses, amen? Praise the name of Jesus. And the Bible says when you discern that, your body will become strong and healthy. Unfortunately, people take the Communion, and they don't release their faith to believe that.
Today we talk about the cup, which is vital, very important, because the Bible says almost all things in the law are purged with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, without the shedding of blood. The first person to shed blood, to cover, to so to speak, kill the victim, the sinless victim, to cover the guilty one, is God himself. When Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible says, poof, all right, the glory of God that was their clothing. They never had kind of clothing that you think that we have. Today we wear clothing, but actually, Adam and Eve wasn't naked in that sense. They had, the Bible says they had the glory of God. God crowned man and the word atar in Hebrew is God surround man with a golden light. He wasn't naked-naked.
When the Bible says they were naked, it meant they had no clothing, but they were not ashamed. They had the glory of God. But when they sinned, poof, it disappeared, and then they realized they were naked. God covered man, after he sinned, with coats of skin, read your Bible, coats of skin. That means God killed the first lamb, amen, a picture of his Son. Okay, the innocent for the guilty, and God covered with his blood everywhere. And God was showing and indicating to man that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, amen? Jesus says his blood was shed for the remission of sins, see that?
Now, it is not shed when you come to Communion for the consciousness of sins. When someone has paid your debt, your financial debt, and in his presence, you act like he hasn't paid, you act like your conscience still has that debt on it, you are insulting the one who paid your debt. It is not a time of consciousness of sin, it's a time of remission of sins. I said it's a time of remission of sins. And we covered last two weeks that Communion is a celebratory thing. It is eucharistic in nature. The word eucharistic come from giving thanks. Jesus gave thanks, amen? Instead it becomes a somber time, you know, a time of heaviness. It's not meant to be that. It's a time of celebration, what the Lord has done for us. Can I have a good amen?
Then Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel, and the Bible says that both came, and it doesn't mention where it was, but I believe it was at the East of Eden when God, when the angel, all right, the cherubim, drove them out at the East of Eden. The Bible says that's where God's Shekinah glory dwelt, and that's where Adam and Eve would bring their sacrifices from then on, their blood sacrifice. Obviously, they taught their sons to do so, but for some reason, one of the sons, Cain, refused to come to God's prescribed way.
Today there are many Cains. People don't want to come to God acknowledging the blood of Jesus. They come and they want God to accept their good works which should never come to the standard of God. They want God to accept their works, their doings, their feelings, their worship, their style of doing things. God says, "No, you want to come, you come my way. My way is by blood. I know it might sound gross to you", God says, "but it's for you to remember that sin is serious". It takes innocent blood, it takes the blood of the innocent to wash away guilty blood. When you acknowledge God's way, you are saying, "I'm a sinner, and I need the blood to cover me". Can I have a good amen?
So, Cain did not do that. Cain brought vegetable offering that has no blood, and something happened, we're not told what it was, but it was God showed his disfavor, probably a strong wind or whatever blew all his offering away from the altar, whereas his brother Abel, when he offered a lamb, a picture of God's Son, Jesus Christ that will come and die for our sins, amen, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. All these animal sacrifices, they are just like your Visa card. They are not actually payment, they are actually credit. You know, you cover, cover, cover, cover, and atone means cover, atone, cover, cover, until the real payment is made.
You know, right, your Visa card is not a payment, guys, amen. You still gotta pay. All right, so all the payments of the Old Testament came right to the crux, to the culmination of the cross when Jesus paid it all. And because he's outside time, God is outside time, he also paid for all of us in the future who are bound in time. There is no past and present for God. All our sins are paid for. Can I have a good amen? And that's why the Bible says in Ephesians 1:7, "In Christ, we have redemption". The word redemption means to buy with a price, to buy, to buy you out from slavery with a price, and the price is blood. Through his blood, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. And the idea also redemption is also forgiveness of sins.
Notice the word plural, sins, all right? Forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. The word, "In him we have" in the Greek is in the present active tense, which means people possess it, possess it. Now, Paul in this verse did not use the word confess. Paul says possess it, declare you have it. I believe in confession of sins, but I don't believe to confess in order to. I believe confess because you are forgiven of your sins. He says possess it. We have forgiveness of sins.
"Pastor Prince, on the way to church and all that, my wife and I, we had a little tiff and all that. Now she's not talking to me". Possess your forgiveness and then you will forgive her. We love because he first loved us. What is love? Forgiving as well. And we forgive because he first forgive us. If you don't possess your forgiveness from God, you will not forgive others. This is the house to forgive others. Because of a lack of preaching on this part, we have a lack of demonstration on this area, okay? And all the people said?
Okay, go back to Cain and Abel. So, the Bible says when Cain saw that God approved of his brother's sacrifice, probably fire came down, consumed the sacrifice. That means when he does that, it's actually favor for you. Judgment on your sacrifice, the fire comes, consume the sacrifice, but then you are spared. The fire didn't come on you. We have instances in the Bible where the fire came on people, amen? And God's holy judicial fire, no one is just like God is.
All right, we can use our puny brain that he gave us and try to reason him into a place like he's unjust. But let me tell this, there's no such thing as a God ever being unjust. God is perfect goodness, God is love, and God is just, or else his whole universe will collapse if God is not just. God keeps his Word. I mean, God says the soul that sins must die, all right, the soul that sins must die. Even though God doesn't want man to die, God has to punish sin. So, how can a just God who is also love, amen, spare us all? He did it at a great cost, he sent his own Son, because his Word must be kept, the soul that sins must die, his Son died, and because his Son is worth more than billions and billions of people who ever lived or who will ever live in the future, one Jesus is worth more than all that, worth more than all the angels. And if there are galaxies and planets beyond us, it's worth more than all that.
God kept his Word, and yet saved us. Oh, the wisdom of our God, amen? How unsearching are his judgments and his ways? We think we know, we know this part, but there's so much more to know. Amen, people? So, he was jealous of his brother, and one fine day, he murdered his brother. He thought no one knew about it. Then God came to him, and God says, "Where's your brother"? He says: "What, am I my brother's keeper"? And God says in Genesis 4, God said, "What have you done"? The voice... say the voice. "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground".
Now, even though this is not the first time blood is mentioned, I mean, sorry, blood is shed, it is the first time in the Bible blood is mentioned. And every time blood or any subject is mentioned for the first time, it behooves us to look at it, all right, and because there's something significant that God wants us to learn from there. It's called the law of first mention of Bible interpretation, when it's mentioned the first time. So, even though God shed blood, all right, to cover Adam and Eve, we know that. Blood, the word blood is not mentioned there. All right, here it's mentioned, amen. So, the first time it's mentioned, the Bible says it has a voice. Blood has a voice. Blood has a voice.
Of course, modern science says, "It has a voice", you know, we can trace the murderer's blood on the crime scene, even though it's not there. We can tell who did it by the DNA and all that, but I think it goes beyond that. Blood is blood, though it's physically manifested, it's spiritual. The Bible says when someone is dead, he still speaks if his blood is still there. So, blood has a voice. Watch this now in Hebrews 12. The Bible says that we are come to Jesus. All right, the whole idea there is coming to, instead of coming to Mount Sinai, the place of trembling that even Moses said, "I exceedingly fear and tremble".
We are not come to that Mount of Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments and God came down in great darkness, there was lightning, and the whole earth shook. We're not come to that mountain. We are come to grace because of Jesus. We are come to Jesus, the mediator, the new covenant, and to the blood. Interesting, Jesus is mentioned, but his blood is mentioned separately, as if it's something God wants us to learn. It deserves a place by itself. We are come to Jesus, the mediator, the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. The blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Abel, amen?
So, what do you suppose the blood of Abel cried? Vengeance, vengeance on my murderer, vengeance on the one who spilled my blood. And by the way, God's answer to Cain when he says, "Am I my brother's keeper"? God says the voice of your brother's blood, you know, keep on reading. God says, "From now on, the ground will not yield its strength to you". And the thing is this, no matter how politically correct we become, all right, sin is sin, blood is blood, eternal life is eternal life, and Jesus is coming back, amen? Set this world right, amen, and the world will acknowledge it's one great King. And the Bible says his dominion, his scepter is a scepter of righteousness. What a world to live in when the one running it.
All kings have tried here and there, but they're all invariably, even dictators, they try, you know, they stop an attempt of a coup or whatever and become a famous hero, military general. Later on become a dictator, all right? People fail. There's only one that cannot fail, it's Jesus, and we are looking forward to his coming. And all the people said? Amen, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. So, Jesus's blood on the cross, five bleeding wounds is more than that, his head and all that, his back, all right, his hands, his side. But there's a song that says five bleeding wounds cry out to God, five bleeding...
And what do you suppose the blood of Jesus that speaks better things than the blood of Abel? It cries out mercy, it cries out to all sinners forgiveness. It cries out reconciliation. It cries out blessings on your family. It cries out healing for your body. It cries out peace for your mind. It cries out freedom from oppression, freedom from addiction. It cries out salvation, spirit, soul, and body. It cries out reconciliation with God, that's the best part. It calls out, it cries out to God to rain upon you blessings, and God answers to the blood. The Spirit of God always answers to the blood. His blood cries out forgiveness. What you need today? His blood, it's in his blood. I say the blood, the blood, the blood I'm sprinkling on you. The blood, the blood, the blood. When blood touches you, I'm telling you, nothing of the curse, nothing of the fall, nothing of evil will touch you.
"How do you know that, Pastor Prince"? Because Colossians tells us... oh, by the way, you must look, go back again. You must see this. God says, The blood that speaks better things, "See that you don't refuse Him who speaks". The context must be seen. If you refuse the grace, the goodness, it's a sin against grace. This verse says, "If they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth", referring to Mount Sinai at that time, "Much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven". Once God spoke from earth, Mount Sinai, but his words were law, and people were afraid, amen. And those who rebelled died, amen.
But the thing is this, today God speaks from heaven, and it's not law, it is grace. Law demands, grace supplies. Law says, "I'll by no means clear the guilty to the third and fourth generation". Grace says, "I'll not remember your sins anymore", why? Because the Holy God has gone soft? No, because the true thrice Holy God saw all your sins and mine in the body of Jesus Christ. When God unleashed his judicial wroth and judgment on the body of Jesus Christ on your behalf and mine, when Jesus said, "Finished", he finished all of God's judgment for you and me. Therefore, God who is holy cannot punish, cannot, cannot punish, cannot punish the same sin twice. That will make him unholy. The courts of law have a term, the law of double jeopardy, right? The same crime cannot be tried twice.
Okay, don't refuse the voice of grace. There are people today refusing the voice of grace, and it sounds to me that if you refuse the voice of grace, the penalty is greater. To reject Jesus Christ, or to reject grace is worse than what happened under law when they rejected the law. Are you listening, people? Amen. Let's go on. Okay, let's go to... where was I going just now? Bring me there. Okay, Colossians. By him to reconcile all things, Jesus died on the cross to reconcile all things to himself. Say things. I want to settle this once and for all, because there are people watching who think that everybody is saved, you know, when Jesus shed his blood, everybody is saved, and they try to use this verse.
And I've already established a few weeks ago that universalism cannot stand the test of Scripture, amen? The verses they take out of context, all right? You look at the verses in context, you find that you still have to believe. Can I have a good amen? So, here is where they say, you see, he reconciled all things to himself, but things, people, things. In the Greek the gender there is neuter, which means things. Remember, we learned that a bit last few weeks? Jesus came to his own things, neuter, but his own people did not accept him. The things of the earth acknowledge its creator. He passed by the water, the water blushed and became wine, amen? He stepped on the ocean, the ocean became solid for him, the creator. His things, his created things acknowledge him, an agenda for he came to his own things is neuter gender in the Greek, but his own there is masculine, referring to the people.
When it's people, it's always masculine, masculine gender. Here it's not masculine. It's not reconciling all people. They say that, you know, everybody is saved, God reconcile all things. All right, but God reconciled all things, things, amen, to himself by him, whether things on earth, or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. The blood reconcile all things. So, in other words, if certain part of your body is hurting you, all right, and you ask Jesus's blood to cover that area, you ask, "Father in Jesus, I cover that area with the blood of Jesus", you know something? That area is reconciled. When it's reconciled to God, all right, it functions in the perfection in which God created it to function. Are you listening, people?
When blood cover your car with the blood of Jesus and accidents will be far from you, why? Because accidents, it all came as part of the curse when Adam sinned. It's part of the fall, but the blood redeems and reconcile everything. People say things, is it scriptural to cover things with the blood of Jesus? Yes, things, see, go back to Colossians again. Through the blood of his cross to reconcile things through the blood of his cross, almost all things by the law are purged with blood. Even the book, when Moses opened up, it's not this kind of book but a scroll. You know, when he opened up the book, he will sprinkle the book with blood, amen.
You can cover when you read the Bible, you can cover it. You can say, "I sprinkled the blood of Jesus on it". By the way, sprinkle, the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things, blood of sprinkling. As long as the blood is shed, doesn't mean automatically it's sprinkled. Sprinkle has the idea of applied, all right? And the Passover night when God says to put the blood on the doorposts and on the lintel, you see the cross, right? And God says, "When I see the blood", not when I see your good works or when I see that you are Jews, no. "When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. The judgment won't come into your house to destroy your firstborn, when I see the blood", right? But you know what's at the doorposts right below? A pail of, a bucket of blood. That's the one they use, and they put it there.
As long it's there, the blood is shed, and it's not put on the doorposts, not applied, is there any value to it? It's gotta be applied. You know what they used to apply it? Hyssop, hyssop. Hyssop is like a line of, you know, you can dip it in hyssop. You have seen hyssop in Israel. That's why when you go to Israel, you learn all these things, you know, about can I see the hyssop? You know, in the biblical garden, you can see the hyssop, and they will put the hyssop in the pail of water, and then they strike, literally strike the doorposts and the top and just sprinkling blood. You don't have to cover everything, we say cover the person with the blood, just sprinkle the blood, and the devil cannot come in, or the angel of death cannot come in. It stops death in its tracks.
"So, is this scriptural, Pastor Prince, you know, because we teach the blood is for forgiveness of sins"? I just showed you just now, blood is for forgiveness of sins, number one reason. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Blood on the doorposts of the Israeli house for the angel of death means, okay, there's a death here already. There's a death here already. There's no need for me to kill the firstborn. That means the blood covers, all right? And in Leviticus it says, God says, "I've given blood to be an atonement for your souls". It covers your soul. Today we are not covered, we are washed. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Revelations 1:5. He washed us from our sins in his own blood, hallelujah.
Are you washed in the blood, in the soul-cleansing blood of the lamb? Then you're whiter than snow in God's eyes, amen? One drop of his blood, I'm telling you, this is not the blood of mere man that has sinned that's contaminated. Doctors want to see the state of your health, they take your blood, your blood will show the impurities, the blood will show the deformities, or the blood will show whatever. It shows up in the blood, in the blood work, or the blood of Jesus is the blood of life of God. In the blood is the life. The Book of Leviticus, which is 3,500 years ago when God gave it to Moses says, "The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I've given it to you as an atonement for your souls".
So, you can use blood to cover things. You can use blood to... have you covered your car with the blood of Jesus? Have you covered your children when they go to school? When you go to work, you cover yourself, you cover your children when they go to school with the blood of Jesus. Amen, I'm telling you, the blood will stop terror, it will stop diseases, it will stop infection. It will stop even death. Like the Passover night, how much more the blood of Christ? How do I apply it? They use hyssop. Hyssop today is our tongue. You apply with your tongue. Hyssop is very small. It's compared, wisdom of Solomon is compared to the smallest to the greatest, right, from Hyssop to the cedar, the Bible says, from hyssop. It's a small member in your tongue, it's your tongue.
You apply it when you say, "The blood of Jesus covers me". When you go to work, "I cover my son, I cover my daughter with the blood of Jesus. I cover my spouse with the blood of Jesus". Cover your things. When you travel, "I cover this plane". You know, when you see me, okay, if you are as a pilot, or you're a stewardess here, and there are a number of them in our church, and you see me when I step in, I touched the plane, okay, that's what I'm doing. I cover the plane with the blood of Jesus. That's it, or I just say blood of Jesus, that's it.
All right, for you, if you find that, "Oh, that is strange, Pastor Prince, this is very foreign to me", and all that, I'm telling you, church, yes, there are those who will say that applying the blood is not scriptural and all that, don't listen to them. Most of them are people who don't even believe in speaking in tongues. They don't even believe in healing today, amen. I'm telling you first and foremost the blood is shed for the remission of sins. Didn't I tell you that? Didn't I preach a lot on this already? Let me tell you a personal story.
When I was 18, waiting for my A-level results, I did some relief teaching, okay, in Clementi, 'cause I lived in Clementi at that time. There was a new school there, and it just opened up, so I went to that school, and I did relief teaching. Now, I was just doing it because I didn't wanna be doing nothing, waiting for my results, okay, but I fell in love with the kids there, all right? I was teaching primary four, about ten years old. I remember it was 1981, and (I found you doing your calculations right now), and one popular student was absent.
Now, let me tell you this: I prayed myself being a good teacher and all that, even in those short months, but I don't pray for my students. You understand? I prayed for other things. In those days, I was very gung-ho for praying for a lot of things and all that, and I pray for my class in a very broad way, you know, in a general way. Students are absent all the time, right? Teachers know that. They are absent all the time. Even if you're a Christian teacher, you don't pray for your students who were absent. You know they'll be back, right? So, but this particular girl was absent. The very first day she was absent (it was a morning school), I went back home, and during my time of prayer, I wasn't even thinking about my class, but, "bang", she came to my mind, that was the afternoon.
And I started praying for her. And this is what I prayed. I still remember. "Father, I pray, I cover her with the blood of Jesus. Father, I cover her with the blood of Jesus. I cover her with the blood of Jesus", as if something is happening. So I don't know. I can tell you her name. In fact, Deacon Jeffrey knows her, all right? He met her, and they have talked. I don't know whether she's in the same line of work, but they have met. He told me the other day, "Hey, you know that girl and all? I met her, and she still remember you", okay? Even though it's a few years ago, but I prayed for this girl. It was such a burden. And she was the only one that I prayed for that afternoon. Just prayed for her. I remember thinking, "The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus covers her. The blood of Jesus covers her".
Okay, the next day, she didn't come back. She was still absent. But on the third day, there was some commotion outside my class when I walked in, all right, in the morning. So I said, "What's happening"? And the teachers were there, and some policemen were there. And I asked, "What happened"? She was caught. Then someone came to me, another teacher, and says, "She was caught by Adrian Lim". So in case you don't know who's Adrian Lim, Adrian Lim, in 1981, he's known as "the serial murderer". He has killed two children, all right? Accosted, sexually accosted one of them before killing her, and he and his wife and his mistress, you know, they have done all kind of occultic rituals, and they're involved in satanic worship and all kinds of rituals, okay? And the whole idea of, and even drank the blood of the boy that they killed. It's to receive supernatural power from "you know who".
So I asked the girl later on in the class, I said, "But why did you follow"? She said she was playing downstairs. And I even know where her block is. It's not too far away from mine, Clementi also. And I asked her "Why do you follow them"? You know, the girl followed her. She said, "The girl came and talked to me". Said, "Why did you follow her"? "I don't know. I smelled something in her mouth, and I followed her". So this is witchcraft. This is satanic. This is demonic. And they're involved in killing children. So I said, "Why did they let you go"? They caught her in the late morning, all right, or just, I forgot, afternoon or whatever. And just right after that, I was praying for her. I was praying for her. She told me that "They were doing things. They were knocking things. They were making some sort of noise, a lot of noise, and there were all kind of lights down there and, you know, smell, kind of, and, all of a sudden, this man turn around, look at me and said the gods don't want me". And it was the same time I was asking the Father to cover her with the blood of Jesus. I said, "I cover her with the blood of Jesus. I cover her with the blood of Jesus".
And so I was so glad when Deacon Jeffrey told me that he bumped into her. I think they're probably in the same line of work. I do not know, but he met her. She's now a mother, grown. I mean, I think a mother, and I believe that God sent me there for that purpose, amen? And you know, I really fell in love with the class and all that. During a break time, you know, like, you sit down there, you know, and storytelling, my stories are all Bible stories, amen? Many of those students still remember me, but when I left, they all cried. In fact, they held hands at the door, refused to let me go, you know? What a wonderful experience in that school.
But, church, you can cover someone, you can cover things with the blood of Jesus. Are you listening, people? The blood speaks better things to the Father. The blood speaks protection for that girl. Of course, the gods don't want her. The gods cannot. Those gods cannot have her, okay, because the blood of Jesus speaks protection over her. Can I have a good "amen"? All right, I'll tell you a story right now, another story, but it's from the Bible, and it used to puzzle me that, when David came to power, one of the things, you know, you hear this sermon, a lot of it, but the part I'm gonna share is something else that Spirit of God's been showing me, but I just wanna tell you this: When David was young, and you can find all this in Psalms 132. Write it down somewhere, Psalms 132. David says, "We heard of it in Ephrathah".
Now, David was from Bethlehem, Ephrathah. That was his hometown. "We heard of it". "It" there is the ark of the covenant. Show them the picture of the ark of the covenant. All right, this is the ark of the covenant. It's the holiest furniture in the tabernacle of Moses, okay? And it is the only furniture in the Holy of Holies. There's the holy place. There's the outer court. There's the holy place, and there's a Holy of Holies, and the only furniture there is the ark of the covenant. And what's inside? Three things, all right? By the way, every Day of Atonement, they sprinkle blood between the mercy seat, between the cherubim on the mercy seat, okay? Blood is sprinkled there. When blood is sprinkled there, the whole year, God covers the nation with the blood. The whole nation is covered. God protects them and all that.
So can you understand, Israel was not perfect, even before King Nebuchadnezzar came. But when they worshiped other gods, they stopped doing this, all right? It's a picture of the cross because the gold outside, actually, the cover is solid gold, and it's beaten out of one solid slab of gold. The cover is beaten out of one solid slab of gold, all right, by Bezalel and the man from Dan, and they start working together, and the oblong chest or box is made of acacia wood, which is imperishable wood. Picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. His impeccability. He cannot sin. And, by the way, his body cannot have disease. He's impeccable; fully man, but fully God. So the gold overlays the wood. You can't see the wood because it's overlaid with gold, so his gold is deity, divinity. He's 100% God, 100% man. Can I have a good, "amen"? He's probably the most good-looking person you'll ever meet because there's no trace of the fall on his face or his body. Can you imagine, you got no trace of the fall of man, no disfigurement.
"Pastor, the Bible says, 'There's no beauty in him we should desire him.'" Where do you find that? Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, the Bible says, "His visage was marred beyond that of any man". He was carrying our sins. He was carrying our diseases. No wonder the Bible says, "even his form beyond that of any man". But when he walk on earth, as a child, he was the most beautiful child. He grew up... can you imagine? Whoa, no wonder we wanna be like Jesus, amen? "Pastor, we are seeing him by faith", amen, amen. The Bible says, "Behold the glory of the Lord", amen?
So he's fully God, fully man, so it speaks of Jesus, and what does the mercy seat cover? Three items, okay? The Ten Commandments, the two tablets of stone; the rod of Aaron, the staff of Aaron; and then the golden pot of manna. All three speaks of man's rebellion. Why? They are incidents that brought them out was because of man's rebellion. Man murmured against God, and God rained manna, golden pot of manna. Man rejected God's appointed leadership, Aaron, the high priest, and it was Aaron's staff that budded to show God's appointed man. And then Ten Commandments, the golden calf. The rebellion there. All these items that remind God of man's sin, God says, "Put it under the mercy seat. When blood is on that, mercy rejoice over judgment".
We read that before in James: "Mercy rejoice over judgment". Grace is higher than the law. The law is inside. Grace is higher than the law. Mercy seat is higher than the law. Come on, church, it's something to get excited. No wonder, when you go back to the law, you fall from grace. Can you see that? "Whoever justified by the law", Galatians 5, "you fall from grace". Can you see that? Grace is higher. So what happened was that the ark was brought... it's a long story, okay? I wish, one day, I can do the journeys of the ark because it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ark speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. So, from now on, when you think of the ark, think of the person and the work, the mercy seat is the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Okay, so what happened is this is David, ever since he was young, he says, "I heard of it", it is ark of the covenant, "in Ephratha", which is where he was, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, all right? "And we found it in the fields of woods", Psalms 132. "We found it", where did they find it? "Fields of woods". By the way, I've been there. My pastors have been there. It's called Kiriath-Jearim. "Kiriath" means "city", and "Jearim" means "woods". That's where the ark was. It was placed there for 20 years, ever since it came back from the place of the Philistines who captured it from the battle when it was in Shiloh because of the sins of Eli and his sons.
That is another message altogether. But anyway, it came back, but the king then was Saul. He never resorted to it. He never had a heart for it. It speaks of leadership. They have no heart for the person of Jesus Christ. All the razzle-dazzle is there and all the governance is there, but there's no heart for the person and the work of Jesus Christ. So David, as young as he was, he said, "I want it. I will not give sleep to my eyes nor slumber to my eyelids", he said. That's all in Psalms 132. So he saw his passion ever since he was young. People ask the question, "What's the secret of David with God"? God says, "I found a man after my own heart". The only one that God said, "I found a man after my own heart".
Well, people always say, "He's quick to repent". That's fine. That's good. He did. But when God said it, it was before his sin, the Bathsheba one. God told Samuel, "I found a man after my own heart", and he was only 17 years old at that time. So what was it? He had a heart to bring Jesus. If you have a heart to glorify Jesus and put him center place in your life, God's favor is marking you. In your business, you wanna prosper because of God's kingdom to give to the Lord Jesus Christ for his purpose? God's favor is marking you. God is breathing favor towards you, amen? God would do anything to put his Son in the center. Are you listening?
'Cause one day his Son will be in the center. But now you put him in the center, and you prosper in your world, but one day, the whole world will have him in the center. When he says, "If two of you agree, there I am", "If two of you shall gather in my... there I am in the midst". He was crucified in the midst of two thieves. John saw him in the midst of the throne. So God always put him in the midst. God put him in the midst. If you wanna study a bit more, you can also see that woman caught in adultery, Jesus put her in the midst. Jesus was in the midst, but he dragged this woman, who don't deserve in the natural to be in the midst, Jesus brought her in the midst before he pronounced, "Neither do I condemn you". That's something powerful. Gave her his place.
Now back to this again. Are you all learning? Is this helping you? So David went to take the ark, and he was so excited, he was so happy, he consulted all the people of Israel. He consulted his advisers. He consulted the old men, the young men, the Levite. He consulted all of them, and said, "Let's go". The Bible used the word, "All Israel agreed with the king to bring the ark to Jerusalem", all right? So David says, "Let's go". The only person he didn't consult was God. Sometimes, when David fights, he will say, "Lord, shall I go"? God says, "No". Said, "Lord, shall I go"? "Now go". God will say, "No", "Yes". You find David is a man who inquires of the Lord, but this one time, he asked everybody but the Lord.
Are you like that sometimes? Be very careful before you make a major step, all right? You ask your friends, you ask your advisers, even Christian counselors and all that, but the end, must ask yourself a question: What is God saying about this? What is God saying? Oh, that's another message altogether. So David didn't ask God how to do it. So the last time the ark came back to Israel, in the city of Beit Shemesh, and we've been there also. Many of you, in your trip of Israel, you all have been there, Beit Shemesh, right? Where the ark returned from the land of the Philistines from the area of, like, you know, Gaza and all that. All right, they came back, and when it came back, it was put in the field of the woods. It's called "city of the woods", Kiriath-Jearim. It was there for 20 years. David went over there with his men, and they were rejoicing. They were praising God.
Now, praise and worship without the understanding of the blood is dangerous because, actually, you can put yourself in the center. Are you listening, people? So they rejoiced. There was no sacrifice. They rejoice. They rejoice. All right, now, all of a sudden, they did it the same way, by the way, the same way the Philistines brought the ark 20 years earlier. The Philistines don't know any better, so they put it on a bullock cart. Bullock cart. You know bullock cart? They put it on a bullock cart. You know the cows that pull the cart, all right? The way to do it in the book of Numbers is that the Levites, four of them will carry.
You see this ark? You can show a picture of the ark. See the poles? See the poles? It's for traveling. When they travel from place to place, all right, they will carry it. The Levites will carry it on their shoulders. That's the proper way. But the Philistines, who are not Jews (they are Gentiles), they don't know any better. They were afraid because the ark actually defended itself. The ark defended its glory, and they all suffered. They all had hemorrhoids. They all, you know, had tumors, and then they only carried of the ark. They don't know how, so they put it on a bullock cart. So God spared them for doing that because they did not know any better, but when David came, they didn't put it on a bullock cart. So God's people are not to follow the ways of the world. Are you listening? It's meant to be carried on the shoulder.
So the Bible says what happened was that they came, they were rejoicing, dancing, and all. David was happy. David was producing the music with his men and all that. Then the ox stumbled. Of course, the ox will always stumble. There's no favor, there's no grace. And the ark shifted and one guy called Uzzah, reached out and touched the ark. Bang, he dies. Now, Uzzah is probably the grandson of Abinadab whose house they took the ark from. There is the kind of familiarity that came in, and the Bible says clearly under the law no one is to touch the ark, all right? And the Bible says Uzzah died. By the way, his name, Uzzah, look at the type. Uzzah, Uzz like Uzi, the gun Uzi. It means strength, men's strength. If it's Uzziah, then it's the strength of Yahweh, strength of God. But it's not Uzziah, it's Uzzah. It's men's strength, his strength. He put up his strength.
God has no place for human strength in his kingdom. The world will celebrate the rich, the strong, the famous, the attractive. The heroes of Jesus's parables are the lost, the last, the least. There's room for all of us to win in the kingdom of heaven because very easy for us to be lost, last, least. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Very easy to be last. I'm always last, amen? My grace is sufficient, my strength made perfect in weakness. I got lots. Whoa, God's strength flows in me because his strength's made perfect, not in your strength but in your weakness, amen? So he put forth his hand, he died. David was afraid. The Bible says David says, "The ark can come to me". And this is a wrong fear of God.
We see it happening even among Christian leaders when they try to, you know, pretend to, like, defend God's holiness when actually, all right, in their own hearts they are not intimate with God. There's no understanding of the new covenant, the grace of God. So David had that slavish fear, and he's like, "Ark can't come to me". He put it in the house of a man called Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom. Let's follow the story here. By the way, there are two accounts of this, one in 2 Samuel 6:1 and 1 Chronicles 15. "The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite three months". So what happened to Obed-Edom for three months? "The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household", yo! All his household got blessed.
What do you think it was? Josephus tells us that when Obed-Edom received the, you know, some houses you, "Uh? Someone just died". "Can I put the ark in your house, in one of your rooms? Uzzah died, so we wanna put it in your house". But no, that wasn't his attitude. He knew how to handle the ark, I tell you. Then began my search on the secret of Obed-Edom. Anyway, "The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household". Josephus says that he was very poor to start off with, but at the end of three months he was very wealthy. So much so that people saw it. Not only that, his children, his family, his children, became transformed into mighty men, which I'll just show you presently, all right? Because all his household is blessed.
And it's obvious there is something tangible, something palpable, something visible for people to do this. Next verse. "Now it was told King David, saying, 'The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom". Someone came to David, "Hey, David. Hey, King. The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God". Because of the ark of God. Maybe instead of you and me, you know why the guy is so blessed? Because of Jesus. He will tell you it's because of Jesus, amen. The world may not even acknowledge Jesus, all right, or believe in him, but they will say, "Their God blessed them".
When D.L. Moody was preaching, one man who was a well-known atheist, he didn't believe in God... I forgot whether he was atheist but he's an unbeliever, well known in his business circle, he was found going to D.L. Moody's meetings. And then one of his colleagues say, "Hey, I didn't know that you believed". He said, "I don't". "Then why do you attend D.L. Moody's evangelistic meeting"? He says that, "Because he does. He believes", amen?
See, the world, they are looking for truth, and when someone believes it, it resonates with their spirit. Do you understand? So don't be afraid to share the gospel with your friends. It resonates in their spirit. They can argue with their head, but their hearts cannot resist truth. Truth resonates. Truth resonates. Don't go for their heads, go for their heart. Speak the truth. You don't know what else to say, just say, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten"... Say "I don't know about that. I can't reason that, I can't reason that. All I know is that once I was blind, now I see. And God loves you. God gave his Son". Those words are the words that God will use to speak to him, amen?
Okay, "So David went and brought up the ark of God", so David got a bit jealous. That's gonna happen in the last days. The blessings of God on you will cause people to be jealous. They want the same thing. David says, "Well, if that can bless him and his household, I'm gonna bring it to my backyard". He didn't say backyard but the City of David, all right? "So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep". He sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. Just six paces, he sacrificed oxen. We know seven oxen and seven rams. I'm gonna show you that.
Listen, people. For years I asked God, "What is the secret of Obed-Edom? Why did he get so blessed? I can't find any passage just say blessed. But what was his secret? How come he could handle the ark? How come he knew how to handle the ark"? And God answered me two ways. And I've shared that in my preaching, "The Secret of Obed-Edom", okay? And I've had this for many years now. It's in my first book even, "Destined to Reign". You see, Obed-Edom, you can't find it, the secret, 'cause it's in the name also. The first thing's in the name. Obed means serve, Edom means Edom. Know the name, Dom? Edom means red, the Edomites. Edom, also blood. When they talk about the blood of grapes, they say Edom. Edom is serving the blood. A man who serves the blood.
When David first brought the ark, there was no blood. There's only praise and worship. I'm okay for praise and worship, I'm all for it, but without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, all right? Another proof is that this time when David came to take it, "When those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, they sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep". Some people say every six pace, all the way from the ark, the house of Obed-Edom to City of David in Jerusalem. You know how far is it? Twelve miles. Twelve miles. About 19.3 kilometers. That's how far it is. And some people say every six pace he sacrificed. Whatever it was, David saw the same sacrificing. Verse 13: "When they had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep".
Let's go to 1 Chronicles 15 account. Same story. "So David, the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy. And so it was, when God". Now it's with joy. "When God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bulls and seven rams". What made David now have the revelation, amen, to offer seven bulls and seven rams? Because he learned it from Obed-Edom, the man who served the blood. In this name, give you the clue, that the way he handled the ark is that he honored the blood of sacrifice. Obed-Edom must have sacrificed an oxen, even though poor as he is, he tries his best, all right, to get a small, the poorest one can bring a dove or a pigeon. I just like to see it this way. He was very poor, Josephus says, when he started, so he brought a handful of meal.
Okay, there's no blood, but it's still an offering. It's called meal offering. The poorest will bring a pigeon, and that's easy to catch in Israel. Even the kids can catch it. So they caught a pigeon, all right, and the pigeon has some blood. Not much blood, not much blood, but a bit of blood, and God prospered him. Then he brings a ram. He brings a lamb. Then he brings an ox. Every day there's a sacrifice, and he became more and more wealthy. In other words, the bigger your revelation is of Jesus, you bring ox-sized offering. The smaller your revelation of Jesus, you bring sometimes no blood, just flour which is still an offering, or sometimes it's just a little pigeon that's killed, the blood is poured, that's it. But an ox, there's a lot of blood, oh, a lot of blood.
In other words, people with great revelation of the blood of Jesus, they offer the best. They are the most blessed. I should say, those who are wealthy in those days they offered bullock-sized. So, today it's the other way around. When you have a block-sized revelation of the blood, you have wealth. Of course, spiritual wealth, which translates also in other natural things that God, you know, has promised in his Word. Are you listening, people? I'm giving you the secret straightaway. It took me a long time. Obed-Edom, tried to read commentaries. They don't have commentaries on it. The most they tell you, like Josephus, how he's blessed. But no one told us or told me, I never heard any sermon preached on Obed-Edom. This came straight from God, and I just give it to you free because I wanna let you go fast and try to finish the series on the Communion for today, but does it confirm it?
The fact that David heard how Obed-Edom did it, and David brought seven rams and seven bulls. Seven bulls, seven rams. It's a lot of blood. Blood everywhere. It's not that you need to sacrifice, it's just that if you are sick, it won't just take one time, man. Take again and again and again, like, there's blood everywhere. But you don't take to make it happen. You take it to celebrate its happening. Have a bullock-sized revelation, friend. Don't have a pigeon-sized. I can just see our friend, day by day, flour. The next day, flour. The next day, pigeons start flying in. Pigeon. The next thing you know, someone gave him a ram, wow. And then God started prospering him, started prospering him. And David says, "That's the secret". Guys, don't go beyond six pace, six steps in Hebrew. Don't go beyond six, the seventh step, offer the seven bulls and seven rams. And some believe the 12 miles, he did it all the way. And pillars of smoke all the way to the City of David. What an appreciation of the blood. That's the secret of Obed-Edom.
Now, how did God bless Obed-Edom? By the way, did Obed-Edom stay in his house? No, Obed-Edom's like, "Hey, you're going, I'm going too". And he became the doorkeeper of the ark. Before I come to him in closing, I just wanna show you something in verse 26: "And so it was, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark". God helped the Levites who bore the ark. It's the first time we see Levites carrying now. They do it the proper way. Earlier in this chapter, David says, "We do not do it God's way. We breached the proper order", he says, and the order is that God says Levites must carry on his shoulders.
We must carry Jesus like, you know, you saw it at the palace, gold to go and all that. I mean, they're very famous footage. They carry him on the... remember that? That's how we should do for Jesus. Carry the ark. Lift him high, come on. Lift him high and all the enemies will scatter. Lift Jesus high, amen. And God loves for his people to do it, not a bullock, not an ox-cart, not a system of the world, amen. And naturally, you think that the bullock cart is stronger, because let me tell you this, why does it say God helped the Levites? Why does it say God helped them? In what way did God help the Levites? How? Because if you study the weight of the ark, people, the gold just now, that gold.
Show them the ark again. You know how heavy is it? We have one that we did not based on the weight. There's no weight in. Even that one, not real gold, is so heavy we need so many helpers and rollers and it's not even the exact weight. You know how heavy is this? 288 pounds, 131 kg. Four people cannot carry that all 12 miles. I'll tell you what happened. The Bible says, go back to the passage. "God helped the Levites". God helped the Levites. In other words, when the Levites put it on their shoulder, it carried the Levites. "Come unto me all you that labor", Jesus says, "Take my yoke on you. Come unto me, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke on you, and I will give you rest. You shall find rest".
Instead of him, they're carrying the ark, the ark carried them. They felt light. They felt light. God helped the Levites. Phew, wow. Do it God's way. So whatever God tells you to do, don't do it the world's way, even though the world's way has rollers, and we're having... do it God's way and the more you touch it, you obey God. You take the first step, God helps you. It's like the power steering. Those days, there's no power steering, right? But now it's like to move here, the power takes over in the power steering. So the moment you obey God, God helps you.
"Pastor Prince, I cannot pray for the sick, you know"? Your part is to lay hands. These are hands. Lay. God didn't say you provide the healing. The supply comes from him, amen? You just do the first part and God does the rest. Come on, people, come on, people, all right. "Pastor Prince, I don't have time. I don't have time to serve God in church. On Sunday, it's very precious for us". Yeah, you do it the natural way but those who serve the Lord, they find that God gives them more time. God gives them more energy. The moment they obey God, bang, the supply comes in. God will help. You'll be saying, "God helped Brother John. God helped Richard. God helped this person. God helped that person".
I have seen it myself. I know of people whose blood pressure normally is high on other days. On Sunday, is the lowest. Almost hypotension, any more lower. I can't explain it. It was the heaviest day for them, and yet it goes down. Explain that to me. Sometimes your inactivity is causing more problems. When David stayed at home, when kings go forth to battle, that's the problem. He fell into sin. Do what God tells you to do. The energy, the strength, will be there. God will keep you strong, God will keep you young. Can I have a good amen?
All right, let's finish. By the way, verse 20, I got another revelation but no time. Let's go right now to, I'm talking about the linen ephod, but never mind. Brought it all the way here. Never mind, it's okay. Okay, y'all come for midweek service, maybe, you know, next time we might have it. You want it? No, let's finish Obed-Edom blessing first. 1 Chronicles 26, all right? I'll let you go soon. "Moreover the sons". Okay, these are the blessings. Look, "The sons of Obed-Edom were, Shemaiah, the firstborn, Jehozabad the second", he was a bad dude, "Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethaneel the fifth. Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eighth", the eighth. So he had eight sons, "For God blessed him". No, having eight sons doesn't mean God blessed you, right?
But look at this. "Also unto Shemaiah", the firstborn son in verse 4, "his son were sons born, that ruled throughout the house of their father: they were mighty men of valor". Even the grandsons. Drop down. "The sons of Shemaiah; Othni, Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad", another bad dude, "whose brethren were strong men", strong men, "Elihu, and Semachiah. All these of the sons of Obed-edom: they and their sons and their brethren, able men for strength for the service", altogether, 62 of them from Obed-Edom's house. There's no greater blessing than family blessings. The doctors tell you you only have three months to live, you won't start thinking of, "I better go and close that deal. I better go and close the deal. I better go for that job interview".
No, you wanna spend time with your family, your loved ones. There's no greater blessing. Yeah, he became wealthy, yes, but look at this. God blessed him and his household and men of valor. Nothing thrills us than to have our children serve God. Yeah, you can send them to the best universities and all they're having, but if you lose them you lose them. My time is up. Give him praise. Thank you, Jesus, hallelujah. And listen, church, listen. The task of carrying Jesus on our shoulders is too heavy for anyone to bear. Even all of us collectively. The glory of Jesus is so heavy. And none of us can adequately lift him up as God helps us. But remember this, God wants us to glorify Jesus in our families, in our careers, in our ministries, most of all in our own personal lives. God wants... don't live a lifestyle that dishonors him.
Oh, don't do that. If you know right now you're in a relationship that's not supposed to be, stop it. If you know you're doing something that your own conscience condemns you for it, stop it. There's forgiveness in the blood, amen. There's reconciliation in the blood. Don't live a life that doesn't glorify him. Live a life that glorifies Jesus. Set aside childish things and let's mature. Let's grow up. Let's have a passion to live life for one purpose, to see Jesus Christ glorified and his church greatly edified, built up, amen? And I tell you, all the resources of heaven will back you up. He'll back you up, amen.
Every head bowed, every eye closed, all across this place. If you want this same Jesus that we have been talking about to be your own personal Savior and Lord, if you believe that he died on the cross for your sins and took your judgment and penalty and believe that God raised him from the dead and he is alive today at the Father's right hand, and he wants to give you that life that he lives by, pray this prayer with me right now.
Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and because of your perfect goodness and your great love, you sent him to die in my place. He died on that cross for all my sins. He bore my judgment and died in my stead. You raised him from the dead. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I believe all my sins, all my sins, are forgiven. I thank you, Father, that I can come to your presence at any time. The blood has reconciled us. You are my Father, and I am your child. Thank you, Father, I'm greatly blessed, in Jesus's name, and all the people said amen.
Have you been blessed? I don't know about you, but I'm blessed, man. Praise God. Lift your hands all across this place.
Father in heaven, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I sprinkle the blood of Jesus over every person listening right now, wherever they may be, Father, whichever location they're watching this right now. I sprinkle the blood of Jesus Christ upon them, upon their children, upon their marriage, upon their possessions, and upon everything that they have, Lord, that it might be said of them, "They are blessed and so is their household. The Lord has blessed them, because of the ark, because of Jesus". Let their lives be a testimony, Father, I pray, in Jesus's name. And throughout this week, thank you for protecting them from all harm, from terror, from trauma, from disease, from tragedies, in Jesus's name. Thank you, Father, for the blood of Jesus. Thank you for the blood of Jesus. Thank you for the blood of Jesus, in Jesus's name. And all the people said amen.