These are notes on the sermon, Draw the Blood Line of Protection, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 19 August 2018, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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Find out how you and your family can experience God’s protection in a world that’s getting darker and darker.
We hope these notes will help you understand:
In this sermon, Pastor Prince reveals God’s heart for your family to be saved and safe, and talks about the importance of pleading the blood of Jesus over yourself and your loved ones.
This generation is growing up in dark times. The devil doesn’t think they’re too young to introduce them to pornography or to violence.
So we shouldn’t think our children are too young to receive the things of God. They’re not too young to experience the Holy Spirit.
God is raising the the Joshua generation—a generation born in the atmosphere of miracles. They saw the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They saw the presence of God. They saw manna, the bread from heaven, fall. They saw God bring water out of the flinty rock.
They were a generation not born in Egypt. Not born in slavery, but born in an atmosphere of miracles. They don’t know what “impossible” means. They believe that with God, all things are possible.
Do you see a new strain of disease? God is bringing a new wave of healing.
What is visible (what the enemy does) is temporal (see 2 Cor. 4:18). But what God does is eternal. The devil can see it, and he tries to play catch-up. He tries to come against it in the realm of the visible.
But in the midst of the darkness he brings, we are not left without instruction from the Word of God. We are not left without hope.
“For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.”
— Isaiah 60:2 NKJV
“He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.”
— Psalms 1:3 NKJV
“Planted” — A tree “planted” and a tree “growing” are 2 different things. Planted = someone is tending to you; someone cares.
“Planted by the rivers of water” — Doesn’t matter if there’s a heat wave. You are still watered.
“That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither” — You will be healthy and strong, not susceptible to ageing.
“And whatever he does shall prosper” — God never exaggerates. Whatever we do prospers, even our mistakes.
Pastor Prince’s personal testimony
Pastor Prince shares about how his son Justin has memorized the line “whatever I do prospers,” and and keeps saying it. Recently, Pastor and Justin went prawning and Pastor didn’t catch anything until Justin touched the rod and repeated, “Whatever I do prospers!” That’s when they caught a giant prawn!
We should be coveting the things of God. Young people should get to experience Jesus.
Pastor Prince invites people to New Creation Church’s Youth Rally (31 Aug, 7pm or 1 Sep, 5.30pm at the Star PAC). He encourages everyone to invite the young people they know to this rally where they will encounter Jesus.
“Jesus is reaching out to our young people. He is coming back soon.”
A blessing that God has for you and your family during dark times:
“For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.”
— Isaiah 60:2 NKJV
We are in a time of moral darkness. People have no more moral compass. Every man does what is right in his own eyes.
With all the moral progress the world thinks they are making in this day and age, it is actually getting more into bondage.
The only real freedom is this:
If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed (see John 8:36).
God cares for our families, and He has an answer for us at such a time as this—when we find ourselves in a world that is getting darker and darker.
Look at the times of darkness in the Bible. There was a time when the leader of Israel, Saul, fell. He was oppressed by an evil spirit. Israel was struggling to defend their land.
In the midst of that, God said, “I have provided Myself a king” (1 Sam. 16:1).
That king was David. During that time of darkness, when Israel’s enemies were gaining ground, when Israel was trying to defend herself, when the king was oppressed by an evil spirit, God provided someone who breathed in the atmosphere of heaven.
And the Bible says that David served his generation (see Acts 13:36).
We will be like David. We will serve our generation.
Today, God is raising many Davids. Many Esthers. Many Ruths.
A story of God’s protection upon His people and their families at a time when sin seemed to reign: the children of Israel about to enter Jericho.
Context
Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit from the rest of the 12 spies sent in to scout out Canaan, the promised land. They saw the giants in the land as bread.
“Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
— Numbers 14:9 NKJV
The rest of the 12 spies were terrified.
How do you see your problems? As something that eats you, or something for you to eat?
That’s how Joshua and Caleb saw problems. They had a different spirit and they were the ones who entered the promised land.
Even at 85 years old, Caleb asked for a mountain full of giants. He went in with his army and conquered them. At 85 years old, he was as strong as he had been the day Moses sent him as a spy (see Josh. 14:11–14).
40 years after Joshua and Caleb were first sent as spies into Canaan
Joshua is leading Israel into the promised land and he is standing in front of the city of Jericho.
He sends 2 spies, who find refuge in Rahab the harlot’s house.
Rahab said to them: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”
— Joshua 2:9–11 NKJV
All the inhabitants were terrified of Israel. For 40 years, Israel was afraid of an enemy that was afraid of them.
If you’ve ever wanted to pray for people to receive healing, but heard a voice that told you that if you prayed for the person, the disease would come on you, know that that disease is more afraid of you than you are of it. It’s afraid you’re coming to cast it out.
You are a city on a hill that can’t be hidden (see Matt. 5:14).
Evil spirits are afraid of you long before you get near them.
In Rahab’s recounting of the miracles that God did for Israel (see Josh. 2:9–11), we can see that grace won her heart. Greater than all of Joshua’s conquests is grace’s conquest of a prostitute's heart.
When the 2 spies returned to Joshua, they didn’t report typical spy intel. Their intel was to repeat her words and marvel at how her people were actually afraid of the children of Israel and in awe of their God. They believed Rahab’s testimony. They saw the work of grace in her heart.
When the wall of Jericho collapsed, the house of Rahab still stood.
God cut a covenant with us through his Son—not with us directly. If the covenant were between God and us, we would surely break it. So God cut a covenant with Jesus, who represents us. The covenant today is cut between 2 immutable forces: God, the divine force, and Jesus, the God-man.
Today, we have a foolproof covenant that will keep on keeping on in our lives and the lives of our families.
When Rahab saw the protection of God over His people, she became a believer.
“And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness (hesed), that you also will show kindness (hesed) to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
— Joshua 2:11–13 NKJV
“He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” — Rahab became a believer.
“since I have shown you kindness (hesed), that you also will show kindness (hesed) to my father’s house” — She spoke of hesed, which is grace.
Jericho was the most wicked city in ancient times. The strongest part of Jericho was its wall. And it was on the wall that Rahab built her house. Grace conquered the strongest part of the most wicked city.
Rahab, becoming a believer, depended on grace. She asked for grace to be shown to her. She asked for “a true token” that would spare her and her house.
“A true token” — See the Hebrew letters that make up the word “token” in slide 4.
The Hebrew letters for “token” are “aleph, vav, tav.”
So the word “token” in Hebrew gives us a picture of the sacrifice nailed to the cross. It is a symbol of Jesus.
Rahab was asking for a “true token,” or a true sign, and that sign was the cross.
Your family will be blessed, saved, and protected because of the cross.
God told Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household” (Gen. 7:1).
God said “come,” not “go” — For Him to say “come” means that He’s already there. He’s actually saying, “The ark is safe, I know because I’ve been in it.”
And when it was safe to leave the ark, God said, “Go forth from the ark.” He was behind them. He’s the first one in, last out. That’s what a hero does.
God cares about your family.
Because of the cross, He will turn things around for you. He will turn things around for your husband who has backslidden. For your teenage son who has gone astray.
The Passover:
“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
— Exodus 12:13 NKJV
Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Why is the cross so powerful? Because Jesus shed His blood.
That’s why we can be protected today. That’s why God says, “I won’t allow the plague or this disease to destroy you.”
2 things we need to understand about the blood of Jesus:
1. The blood of Jesus cries out for our forgiveness
Blood has a voice. When Cain killed Abel, Abel’s blood cried out (see Gen. 4:10).
The blood of Jesus “speaks better things than that of Abel” (Heb. 12:24).
Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance.
Jesus’ blood cries out for forgiveness. And with forgiveness, protection.
2. There is protection in the blood of Jesus
Pastor Prince’s personal testimony
When Pastor Prince was 18 years old, he was a relief teacher in a primary school. One of his students, a 10-year-old girl was absent for class one day and Pastor felt impressed to pray for her and cover her with the blood of Jesus. Every time he thought about her, he would plead the blood of Jesus over her. This wasn’t a normal thing for him to do, but he felt led to do it. It was later found out that the girl was kidnapped by an occultic group that sacrificed children as part of their rituals. They would sexually assault children and drink their blood. But this little girl in Pastor’s class was released because she was “rejected” by this occultic group.
The blood of Jesus is powerful!
Rahab in Jericho would have suffered the fate of Jericho, but she had faith in God. And she asked for her family to be saved.
“... spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
— Joshua 2:13 NKJV
God’s heart is for your family.
The spies’ answer to Rahab:
“So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly (hesed) and truly (emet) with you.”
— Joshua 2:14 NKJV
“we will deal kindly (hesed) and truly (emet) with you” — The Hebrew words “hesed” and “emet” mean “grace and truth.”
John 1:17 says, “... grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” We receive grace and truth through Jesus.
Rahab’s story represents the times we live in.
Rahab was a Gentile; she represents us.
In the book of Hebrews, Rahab’s faith is mentioned in her letting the spies into her house (see Heb. 11:31). She let them in through her door. In the book of James, Rahab’s good works are mentioned in her receiving the spies and letting them out (see James 2:25). She let them out through her window.
Both faith (before God) and good works (before man) are important.
When Rahab let the spies out through the window, she was looking out the window too.
Window = perspective or outlook
She was looking out the window with her back turned against the city. When she looked out the window, she saw the glory cloud—God’s presence. She saw the ark of the covenant. She saw God’s people. Behind her, darkness reigned. But her eyes were on God.
In front of her, light and glory.
Behind her, darkness and moral degradation.
How Israel’s infiltration and taking of Jericho speak of the 2 comings of Jesus Christ:
1. Israel’s infiltration of Jericho—the first coming of Christ
When Rahab first received the spies through the door, she hid them. It was a discreet matter.
Similarly, when Jesus first came down to earth, He came as a man. Lowly. He entered Jerusalem on a donkey. His lowliness and humility hid His kingliness.
When He first came, it seemed like He didn’t conquer the earth. That’s because He first came to conquer our hearts. He won us by love.
He didn’t come to establish His kingdom immediately.
We are still living in this time…
There are countries where Christians meet in secret. We are still in a world where we don’t see Christianity in the mainstream. It seems like the darkness in the world is winning.
But this is only a picture of the two spies hiding in Rahab’s house.
2. Israel’s taking of Jericho—the second coming of Christ
The second time the spies came into Jericho, they came in triumphant. No more hiding.
They came in with the ark of the covenant, the presence of Jesus. They came in with their leader Joshua, whose name in Hebrew means “Jesus.”
Similarly, when Jesus comes again in the second coming, He will be triumphant. There will be a trumpet sound. Jesus will be riding on a white horse. The same head that wore the crown of thorns will be wearing a royal crown. He’s coming back in glory and power!
In His first coming, He came to save. In His second coming, He’s coming to establish God’s right to the earth. He’s coming to judge.
—
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God…”
— Isaiah 61:1–2 NKJV
When Jesus was on earth, He read Isaiah 61:1–2 out loud but stopped before, “And the day of vengeance of our God.” Because vengeance is reserved for the second coming.
Yes, God will judge, but His heart is a heart of compassion.
That’s why He consulted Abraham about Sodom and Gomorrah (see Gen. 18:16–33). He allowed Abraham to ask for mercy and intercede for them.
He wants us to pray for others. Plead the blood of Jesus over them.
Sometimes, we start to take protection for granted. We can’t do that.
Pastor Prince’s personal testimony
Pastor shares about how a few weeks ago, he was in a rush leaving the house with his family and he forgot to pray for protection. On that day, he got into an accident. A lorry crashed into his car. No one was hurt, but he remembered that that day, he forgot to pray for protection.
The next day, Pastor’s daughter Jessica got into a cab to go to school. She felt impressed to pray for protection, so she did. At a junction, a truck smashed into the passenger side of the cab where she was sitting. But Jessica came out unscathed.
So Pastor has made it a point to pray for protection and plead the blood of Jesus over his family every single day.
“So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home.””
— Joshua 2:17–18 NKJV
“this line of scarlet cord” — The word “line” is the Hebrew word “tiqvah,” which has 2 meanings: “rope” and “hope.” So the scarlet cord is the rope of hope. It’s scarlet, red, representing the blood of Jesus.
It was the scarlet cord that saved Rahab and her whole house.
How to get your family saved? Speak the blood of Jesus over them. They need to come under the blood, then they’ll be saved.
When Joshua shouted and the walls of Jericho fell, he said, “Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared” (Josh. 6:16–17). That’s the power of the blood.
Today, we can believe that we will be protected because of the blood of Jesus. Psalm 91 gives us a picture of protection:
“A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.”
— Psalms 91:7–11 NKJV
The enemy wants your children. When Israel was about to be delivered out of Egypt, Pharaoh tried to negotiate with Moses and get him to compromise. There were 4 compromises.
One of the compromises was to leave the children in Egypt.
“And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” Then he said to them, “The LORD had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the LORD, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.”
— Exodus 10:9–11 NKJV
Pharaoh only wanted to let the men go and have the children stay in Egypt.
Why do we care more for their studies, their intellect, their material well-being, even their health than we care about their inner man? When Jesus comes back, we’ll have a new body. Everything outward will be taken care of.
What’s on the inside is more important than what’s on the outside.
Care for the real person—their souls.
Pray for their salvation.
Care for what they watch and what they listen to.
Plead the blood of Jesus over them.
Give them a taste of Jesus.
Bring them to church.
There is a promise in God’s Word that He will fight for your children and save them.
“Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?
But thus says the LORD:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.”
— Isaiah 49:24–25 NKJV
Pastor Prince talks about how this coming Youth Rally is part of the answer. Young people will come and encounter the saving grace of God.
The world can make fun of us for being Christians, but our backs are turned against them. Just like Rahab’s back was turned against Jericho when she was looking out the window to see Israel.
“Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
— Proverbs 22:6 NKJV
“in the way he should go” — The word “go” in Hebrew is “peh,” which means “mouth.” The mouth speaks of taste.
We should give our children a taste of Jesus. Give them a taste for spiritual things. Give them a taste of the anointing of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, sweet worship, the Word of God.
When you give them a taste of Jesus, they’ll look back and remember that taste. Even if they stray, they’ll remember that things were better in God’s house.
God didn’t just save Rahab and her family. This prostitute of Jericho became the great-great-grandmother of King David, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ.
She married Salmon, the son of the leader of Judah. Judah was the tribe that was always the first one in. The tribe that led the rest. Their son was Boaz. Boaz married Ruth, and they had Obed, who had Jesse, who had David.
Rahab was honored by God and included in the genealogy of Jesus.
A few days ago, there was a 2-year-old boy in Osaka who got lost for 3 days. There was a heatwave over Japan. Eventually, someone found the boy in the forest, and they found him by a river of water. He survived by drinking from the stream. Instinct in the little boy told him to do that.
There’s an instinct even in children that tells them that in order to survive, they need water.
Jesus said:
“… whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
— John 4:13–14 NKJV
Let your children drink of Jesus.
They are not just yours to be educated. Not just to be fed.
Pray with them. Share the Word with them. Talk to them about what they’re watching.
Don’t just care for the outward things and ignore the inward things. Be jealous for them to experience the same sweetness of Jesus that you have experienced.
It just takes a moment for them to taste the things of God, and they will keep returning to it. They will come back to it.
God can restore the years that have been lost.
—
Closing prayer
“Father in Heaven, I thank you for everyone under the sound of my voice. I thank you for every family represented here, Lord. Be it the loved one who has gone astray, be it the loved one who has never heard the name of Jesus being proclaimed in such a way as to be born again. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that because that person is represented here today, I pray that the blood of Jesus be applied. The blood of Jesus be sprinkled upon every person under the sound of my voice and upon their loved ones, those who are in the house and outside the house. I plead the blood of Jesus over every one of them. And throughout this week, I cover you with the precious blood of Jesus and all that you have. In the name of Jesus, no evil will befall you, and God will see to it that no plague comes in to destroy you, you and yours. And grant to us, Lord, Your hesed wisdom to know how to parent our children God's way. In the ways of the kingdom and not in the ways of Jericho. In Jesus name, and all the people say, Amen.”
—
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2018
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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