BY REV. GREG WILBANKS
Every spiritual blessing we possess, including victory over Satan, is based on Jesus and His triumph at the cross. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11).
An old-time preacher, Carl Roos said, “Make much of the blood; and the blood will make much of you.” The more we plead the blood of Jesus the greater the blood works for us.
Satan, always seeking our demise, never rests. It does not matter who we are in God’s Kingdom, Satan desires our failure just as Jesus desires our success. Since Satan is vigilant in his pursuit of us, we
must “be sober, be vigilant; because [our] adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking Rev Greg Wilbanks whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). The word vigilant in this verse means watch.
Pleading the blood sets up a blood-watch in our lives.
The Israelites established, by the direction of the Lord through Moses, a blood line of protection. They established a blood watch. They applied the blood to the door post of their houses. Because of the
blood, they overcame the death plague. Since Calvary, we apply the blood of the Lamb of God by faith in Jesus in obedience to His plan of complete salvation. Salvation through the blood of Jesus brings us
protection against the wages of sin, which is death.
The second part of Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by … the word of their testimony.” The word of our testimony needs to include pleading the blood of Jesus. The psalmist said, “Let the
redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:2). Pleading the blood sets up a blood-watch against the enemy of our soul. When we are pleading the blood of Jesus we are establishing a boundary. Pleading the blood draws a line in the sand which Satan cannot cross.
Pleading the blood has nothing to do with begging. It has nothing to do with the mechanical repetition of empty words. The word plead in scripture is a legal word. The picture is of a courtroom with man in
need of a mediator to come to his defense. When we plead the blood we are letting Satan know that: 1. the blood has been applied in our lives; 2. we are proclaiming by the word of our testimony that Jesus’
blood is still our defense against anything Satan tries against us. The word of our testimony says, I trust the blood of Jesus against Satan. Pleading the blood brings God on the case and to our defense against
the enemy. Satan has no legal case–no answer–to the blood of Jesus.
We don’t overcome Satan by our tenacity, nor by our good works. We don’t overcome him by our holiness or righteousness. Nor by our mental ability or agility. We overcome Satan by the blood of Jesus and by the word of our testimony, period.
THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY THE APOSTOLIC WORLD REPORT, JANUARY-MARCH 1999, PAGE 14. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
