The Precious Blood of Jesus

Kenneth E. Hagin

Contents

1 The Cleansing Blood

2 Come to God by the Blood

3 Pleading the Blood

A Sinner's Prayer to Receive Jesus as Savior

Chapter 1

The Cleansing Blood

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation [your manner of life or conduct] received by tradition from your fathers; But with THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot . . . .

—1 Peter 1:18,19

Circumstances make things precious.

I don't know whether or not you can realize how precious health is until you get sick. I don't know whether or not you can realize how precious it is to live without pain until you suffer pain. I don't know whether or not you can realize how precious food is until you suffer hunger.

Hunger makes food precious; thirst makes water precious; and poverty makes riches precious.

Sin makes the blood of Jesus Christ precious.

The blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its REDEEMING power.

The Bible teaches that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Heb. 9:22). As we saw in our text, the Word of God teaches that the blood of Christ is precious. It is precious because of its redeeming power. We were not redeemed with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.

Paul, in giving his farewell message to the elders (or pastors) of the Church at Ephesus, said:

ACTS 20:28

28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, WHICH HE HATH PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD.

The blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its CLEANSING power.

First John 1:7 says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN. "

We used to sing songs about the blood—and we need to sing them again. One went, "What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Notice that the verse from First John said the blood " CLEANSETH us from all sin. "

In Revelation 1:5 we read, "... Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."

The Word of God teaches us that we have a better covenant, established on better promises (Heb. 8:6). Under the Old Testament law, the blood of innocent animals was shed. These animals were a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, for our text speaks of Him as being "a lamb without blemish and without spot. "

However, the blood of these sacrificial animals only covered the people's sins; it didn't cleanse the sins. That's why the Jews had to repeat these sacrifices at regularly stated intervals: Their sins were merely covered, not cleansed.

For example, if I were to spill some black ink on a black leather Bible cover, the ink might blend in so well you couldn't see it, yet the spot still would be there. So it was under the Old Covenant: The sin nature was still in man. Their sins were only covered!

Thank God, one thing that makes our New Covenant so much better than the Old is that He has washed us—cleansed us—from all sin in His own blood!

We will look at this again, but let us go next to the Book of Hebrews.

HEBREWS 8:7-9

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

Now skip back to the seventh chapter and notice something the Lord said about that covenant:

HEBREWS 7:25-27

25 Wherefore he is able [He is talking about Jesus under the New Covenant who has shed His blood and become our High Priest] also to 10

save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests [under the Old Covenant], to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: FOR THIS HE DID ONCE, when he offered up himself.

As Hebrews 8:6 says, Jesus obtained "a more excellent ministry." Now let's go over to the ninth chapter of Hebrews and see something further about Jesus' redemption of us:

HEBREWS 9:11-14

11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in ONCE into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 HOW MUCH MORE SHALL THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, PURGE YOUR CONSCIENCE from dead works to serve the living God?

Notice again that the blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its cleansing power.

1 JOHN 1:7

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son CLEANSETH us from all sin.

John isn't writing to sinners here. We often quote this verse to sinners, but it belongs to Christians. John didn't write this letter to the world; he wrote it to the Church, because he said, "If we walk in the light.... " Sinners are not walking in the light. That's the reason they need to come to Jesus, be born again, and get in the light.

I want to emphasize that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. If you're out of fellowship with your brother, you're not walking in the light. ( And the Lord infers in Scripture that there is no cleansing of your sin until you get back to walking in the light!) Don't get off into one of those little

"bless me" groups that don't fellowship with anybody else. Their leaders say, "No, we forbid you—we forbid you—to fellowship."

Think about that! My God! Some pastor is forbidding Christians to fellowship with fellow Christians—their brothers and sisters! A lot of that is going on right now in the church world.

What would you think of a father or a mother who told one of their children, "Don't have anything to do with your brother or sister"? It's exactly the same thing when these leaders say, "Don't have anything to do with them. Don't you fellowship with any other Christians.

There's nobody but us. You just stay with us!" They're out of fellowship with the Body of Christ!

They claim everybody else is out of fellowship, but they're the ones who are out of fellowship. They need to get right with God.

Because I pastored intelligent, spiritual people for nearly 12 years, I never forbade them to go to other services.

During World War II, I was pastoring a Full Gospel church in East Texas. Three miles on either side of my church were churches of the same denomination. All three churches were on the same highway that went through that town.

A fellow who wasn't of our persuasion came along and put up a tent between me and one of the other churches. (I think he had an ulterior motive, but that's between him and God; I'm not a judge.)

One of the pastors asked me, "What are you going to do about it?"

I said, "Not a thing in the world."

"Well, I'm going to forbid my people to go," he said.

I replied, "You're foolish. Just as sure as you tell them not to go, they'll go."

That pastor said, "I think that fellow is wrong, and I'm going to forbid my people to go."

I said, "I agree he's wrong in some of his teachings, but he's right in much of them, too." (I knew you could be wrong in your head and right in your heart.)

"I'm not going to mention the meeting,"

I said. "I'm not even going to mention he's there."

The pastor replied, "Well, he's just as close to you as he is to me. I think he's going to start a church."

I said, "He probably is—I don't know whether or not he is—but there are plenty of people around here, praise God."

"Yeah, but he's liable to get some of our members!"

I said, "He's no threat to me. What threat is a mule barn to a grocery store?"

(That's exactly what I said to him.) I added, "I'm feeding my people, glory to God!"

Well, that pastor forbade his people to go to the tent meeting, and he lost seven of the best families in his church. In fact, he almost lost his church property as well, because he no longer had the support of the most prosperous members.

I didn't mention that the tent preacher was there at first. Then people kept after me until I finally decided I had to make a public announcement.

So one Sunday morning I said, "I'm going to make one statement, and that's all I'm going to make. We have services here Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. When we have services, I expect you to be here. The rest of the time you go wherever you want to. You're intelligent people, but wherever you go, have as much sense as an old cow: Eat the hay and leave the sticks and come on back and let's worship God."

I never lost a member. Actually, in 12 years of pastoral work I never lost any members to other churches. Never.

At least once every three months—and sometimes more often—I would make this announcement to my people: "I want you folks to know that I love you. I have your interests at heart. If there's any other church in town or near here where you can get better fed, grow faster spiritually, and win more souls to Jesus, I insist you go, because I have your welfare at heart." And I meant every word of it.

You see, we ought to be out for the kingdom of God, not for our own kingdom.

What does that have to do with my subject?

"If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another." Those exclusive little "bless me" clubs are out of fellowship with the rest of the Body of Christ. The people involved don't go anywhere but there.

But, thank God, if we walk in the light as He's in the light, we have fellowship.

With a few? With those whom I select? No, with one another. One another! And if we walk in the light as He is in the light, the BLOOD, hallelujah, of Jesus Christ His Son CLEANSETH us from all sin.

We all make mistakes—that's just human nature. This body is not redeemed yet (but, thank God, it's going to be one of these days). No one is perfect. There are imperfections in all of us. All of us miss it—we all make mistakes.

You see, as long as you walk in the light—even though you may miss it— there's A CONTINUAL CLEANSING of sin. When you know you've missed it, of course you confess it to the Lord, and He's faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

Sometimes, however, we miss it and don't even realize it. This happened to me in the early days of my ministry. I pastored various churches nearly 12 years. When I left each of those pastorates I thought I had done a magnificent job of pastoring. But after I would be away from that church for a time, I'd grow up a little more spiritually, and realize I'd done a poor job. I was so embarrassed I was ashamed to go back and face the people.

But because I had been walking in all the light I had at the time, the Lord cleansed me from my mistakes, faults, failures, and shortcomings.

Chapter 2

Come to God by the Blood

The blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its PACIFYING power.

COLOSSIANS 1:20

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

First, the blood of Christ pacifies the broken law—we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Through the blood of Jesus' cross, God has made peace, reconciling all things to Himself. God did it!

Second, the blood of Christ pacifies the guilty conscience.

I think one of the reasons so many Christians go around feeling so guilty is because we have not magnified the blood of Jesus as we ought. If believers only knew about the power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, they would no longer have a guilty conscience.

Let's go back to Hebrews 10 and pick up the thought that the Holy Spirit was explaining to the Hebrew Christians:

HEBREWS 10:1-22

1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can NEVER with those sacrifices [under the Old Covenant] which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

In other words, if the Old Covenant sacrifices had been totally effective, the people wouldn't have had a guilty conscience—a consciousness of sin.

3 But in those sacrifices [under the Old Covenant] there is a remembrance again made of sins 21 every year.

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

5 Wherefore when he [Jesus] cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.

11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins FOREVER [oh, glory!], sat down on the right hand of God;

13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

14 For by one offering he hath perfected FOREVER them that are sanctified [glory to God!].

15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

18 Now where remission of these is, there is NO MORE OFFERING for sin.

19 Having therefore, brethren, BOLDNESS to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God;

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water [hallelujah!].

So Jesus' blood is precious because of its pacifying power; it pacifies not only the broken law, but also a guilty conscience.

The blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its RECONCILING power.

Ephesians 2:13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." No, you didn't do it; He did it. It's His blood!

Hallelujah!

The blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its EMBOLDENING power.

Now let's examine Hebrews 10:19.

"Having therefore, brethren, BOLDNESS to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . . " No, you don't come by your own name, and you don't come by your own righteousness. I don't care how many good works or how much right conduct you have

—you still have to come by the blood of Jesus.

Many people want to get healed because they're good Christians. Well, thank God, we ought to. be good Christians, but you're not going to be healed because you're a good (or bad) Christian. You're going to get healed because you believe in Jesus and His blood!

This is one of the most difficult concepts to get over to people. I know, because I've been preaching healing for half a century.

I was holding a revival meeting in a certain church and the pastor said, "Brother Hagin, you're a faith and healing preacher.

I've got a question for you." He looked so serious I braced myself for the $64,000 question—something very difficult.

He told me a story about a man who didn't belong to his church but who sent word asking him to come pray for him. The pastor said, "I went. The fellow had had a stroke and couldn't talk. I didn't know whether he was a Christian or not, but evidently he must have believed in divine healing, because he was looking for somebody to pray for him."

The pastor anointed him with oil and prayed. He decided to return later when the man wasn't so heavily sedated, thinking he might be able to talk to him then and get him saved and healed.

The pastor told me, "Two or three days later, I was back in the part of town where this man lived, so I went by his house and saw his wife raking leaves in the yard. I stopped my car, got out, and asked, 'Well, how is Mr. So-and-so?' She said, 'Well, he's working.'"

The pastor was astonished. Working!

The man had had a stroke. His left arm and leg were paralyzed. The doctor had said he'd never work another day in his life, and he was 67.

The pastor hurried off to find the man.

He was a carpenter and was shingling a house. The pastor recalled, "His helper was gone, and I saw him climb down the ladder from the roof, take a bundle of shingles in the arm that had been paralyzed three days before, lift the bundle of shingles on his shoulder, and climb up the ladder with it. I sat there and marveled."

"Well, brother," I said, "you haven't asked me anything; you've told me something."

"Wait a minute," he replied. "I'm going to get around to it. You know Sister So-and-so?"

I said, "Yes, I know her." She and her husband were members of his church. They once had been members of a church I had pastored.

The pastor said, "Sister So-and-so is the most dedicated, consecrated Christian I've ever pastored. Now she has a tumor. You prayed for her while you were here last year, and you prayed for her twice in this revival, but she is worse instead of better.

Now she's facing major surgery.

"Why did God heal that man whose spiritual condition we don't know, and here's such a good Christian and she didn't get healed?"

"Aw," I said, "I thought you were going to ask me something hard! That's the easiest thing in the world. I don't know anything about the man except that he got healed. But I'm sure of this: Even if he wasn't where he was supposed to be spiritually, he probably was like the publican in the Bible story of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14).

"The Pharisee said, 'I want to thank You, God, that I'm not like other men—I'm better than they are!' He went on to brag about all his good works. The poor publican smote himself on the breast and said, 'God be merciful to me a sinner!' The Bible says that he, not the Pharisee, was justified in the sight of God.

"So I'm sure that the man you prayed for, no matter what his spiritual status was, threw himself over on the mercy of God and received not only forgiveness of sins (if he needed it), but also healing for his body.

"Now, since you've asked me, let me add this: When I laid hands on Sister So-and-so, I heard her say, 'Now, Lord, You know I'm the best Christian in this church.' "

You can't come bragging on yourself, even if you are the best Christian in the church, and receive from God. It's ALL by the blood!

In fact, when I held healing services in churches, I used to have the people sing the song "Just As I Am, Without One Plea," a song normally sung for an altar call.

I don't care how many good works you've done. I don't care if you are the best Christian in the church. When you come to God, come boldly by the blood of Jesus Christ, not by your good works.

We've heard so much preached on the other side of the issue that people seem to want to brag on themselves. Well, we haven't got anything to brag about, no matter how good a Christian we are.

Just throw yourself over upon His mercy.

We saw that Hebrews 10:19 says,

"Having therefore, brethren, BOLDNESS to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . . " Why do I have the boldness?

Because I'm somebody big? Because I'm a bold or brave person? No, the boldness is produced because I know about the blood of Jesus, hallelujah! I come washed in His blood! I come robed in HIS righteousness, glory to God. Not mine, but His!

The next three verses go on to say, "By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience [and you know your heart is your spirit].... "

Remember, the Lord said in Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." If He doesn't remember them, why do you want to remember them?

Of course, as long as the devil can keep you thinking of past mistakes, past failures, and past shortcomings, he has you at a disadvantage.

Thank God, what can wash away my sin? NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!

What can make me whole again?

NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!

There is power, power, wonder-working POWER IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB!

Hallelujah!

The blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its OVERCOMING power.

Now notice Revelation 12:11. Do you have your shouting clothes on?

REVELATION 12:11

11 And they overcame him [that's talking about the devil] BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

"The word of their testimony" would be their right confession. We've preached a lot about faith confessions, and a lot of people have made a lot of confessions. But I don't think they know as much as they should about the blood of the Lamb. The Lord didn't just say, "They overcame by the word of their testimony" or "the word of their confession," did He? No, they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

I like another translation that uses the word "because" in this verse: "They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony."

This verse tells us they overcame.

Thank God, there is overcoming power in the blood of Jesus: power to overcome the world; power to overcome the fear of death; power to overcome the power of the devil; power to overcome all evil. Power in the blood ... the blood ... the precious blood! Can you see why it's so precious?

Chapter 3

3

Pleading the Blood

I once heard a speaker who had been a spiritualist pastor for nearly 20 years before he was saved. The man said he was sincere and honest; he just didn't know about Jesus.

He said they had all of the gifts of the Spirit in counterfeit in his church. (If the devil was going to set up a counterfeit church, naturally he'd pattern it after God's genuine church.)

"We sang the same songs you sing in Christian churches," the man said, "but there was one thing that bothered me. We could sing about the blood of Jesus or the Name of Jesus, but when we began to sing,

'There's power in the blood, ' those spirits got agitated."

Yes, Jesus said, "In my Name they'll cast out devils," but did you ever stop to think that the power behind it is all based on the blood? You must take the whole Word of God, not just part of it, to rightly divide the Word about this truth.

When I came into Full Gospel circles, I remember they were always talking about

"pleading the blood." I didn't know what they were talking about until I began to examine the Scriptures on the subject. And I noticed one thing in particular: What they did got results, and you can't argue with success!

About this same time I read a testimony published in a Full Gospel periodical. The author was a woman missionary who had been left behind in a native village to take care of the church while the other missionaries were away.

She went to the main part of that village and was examining some goods when a scorpion stung her. She was out on the street when it fastened itself to her hand, so many of the people saw this.

She said, "I just shook it off and said, 'In the Name of Jesus, I plead the blood!' "

(Did you ever stop to think that the Name of Jesus wouldn't work if it weren't for the blood? It all goes together.) The missionary noticed that everyone was watching her, waiting for her to die, because no one had ever survived the sting of that kind of scorpion. There was no antidote for it, either.

But the missionary just went her way, walking back toward the little mission church. The whole village followed, still waiting for her to fall over dead. But nothing happened.

She went inside the church, and the villagers thronged after her. In fact, they couldn't all fit in the church. Since the church was full, the missionary decided to hold a service, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. She was never affected by the scorpion's sting.

She had said, "In the Name of Jesus, I plead the blood against this!" You see, her understanding of the blood was a little different from most people's.

So I picked up that phrase, "In the Name of Jesus, I plead the blood" from those Pentecostals, and all through these years I've always pled the blood in the Name of Jesus. There's power in the blood, glory to God! It's worked quite well for me, and it'll work for you, too.

"And they overcame him [the devil] by [or because of] the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony [confess i o n ] . . . .

The blood of Jesus Christ is precious because of its SONG-INSPIRING power.

REVELATION 5:9

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God BY THY BLOOD [glory to God] out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ....

This is a new song for new souls in a new sphere.

Let us look once again at Revelation 1:5, 37 " . . . U n t o him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for thy precious holy Word. Thank You for the blood. Redeemed! Not with corruptible things, such as silver or gold, but by the blood of the Lamb of God—Jesus!

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the fellowship we have with You. We have fellowship with the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit. We have fellowship one with another because we're walking in the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

I'm clean—I'm clean—I'm CLEAN

because the blood of Jesus Christ has made me clean. He hath put away sin, thank God, by the sacrifice of Himself!

A Sinner's Prayer to Receive Jesus as Savior

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come to You in the Name of Jesus.

Your Word says, "... him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37), so I know You won't cast me out, but You take me in and I thank You for it.

You said in Your Word, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13). I am calling on Your Name, so I know You have saved me now.

You also said "... if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:9-10). I believe in my heart Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that He was raised from the dead for my justification, and I confess Him now as my Lord.

Because Your Word says, "... with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ..." and I do believe with my heart, I have now become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21)... And I am saved!

Thank You, Lord!

Signed _________________________________

Date ___________________________________

Table of Contents

The Cleansing Blood.

Come to God by the Blood.

Pleading the Blood.

A Sinner's Prayer to Receive Jesus as

Table of Contents

The Cleansing Blood.

Come to God by the Blood.

Pleading the Blood.

A Sinner's Prayer to Receive Jesus as