This is “The Secrets of the Covenant”.

♪ ♪

>> Welcome to

Kingdom Connection.

Thank you for joining us.

I really believe you’re

gonna be blessed today.

I don’t think it’s by chance

that you’ve tuned in

because I believe God

is going to speak to you.

The question is,

are we listening?

And I hope that you will

just let the Holy Spirit

open your ears,

open your heart,

lean in to today’s message.

It was preached right here

at our church, Free Chapel.

Let’s go into the service today

and let’s believe that

God’s gonna speak to you.

♪ ♪

>> Look with me

in 1 Samuel 18:3,

“Then Jonathan and David

made a covenant,

because he loved him

as his own soul.

And Jonathan took off the robe

that was on him,

and gave it to David,

and he gave him his armor,

even to his sword

and his bow and his belt.

And David went out

wherever Saul sent him,

and behaved wisely,

and set him over the men of war,

and he was accepted

in the sight of all the people,

also in the sight

of Saul’s servants.”

There are several covenants,

but perhaps the most

powerful covenant

of all in the Bible is what

is known as the Blood Covenant.

The word covenant in Hebrew

means to cut.

It means to cut, to shed blood.

Isn’t that interesting that

the word covenant means to cut?

The blood is the main

subject of the Bible.

The Old and the New Testament

are really the Old Covenant

and the New Covenant,

and they were provided,

both of them by blood.

The Old Covenant

by the blood of animals.

The New Covenant

or New Testament was provided

by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

The story that E.W. Kenyon

tells is one of David Livingston

who was a missionary,

very famous

in Christian history,

and how that he went to Africa,

and he wanted to reach people

who had never heard the Gospel.

And in order to go into regions

that were dangerous

and have protection,

he had to make an agreement

with the main chief

over those regions.

He was a very powerful man.

He went to him,

and he said through

an interpreter,

“I want to make

an agreement with you,”

and the chief took a knife,

true story, and cut his wrist.

And then, David Livingston,

whose body is buried

in Westminster Chapel

in England,

he, in order to reach souls,

cut himself and blood began

to pour from his vein,

and they mixed the two together,

and the people started rejoicing

and screaming, the natives,

and a celebration broke out,

and then before

David Livingston left,

there was the second part

of the blood covenant.

First was the cutting,

the shedding of blood,

the mixing of the blood;

they became blood brothers.

And then, there would

be the exchange of gifts.

And the chief looked down,

and he looked through all

the possessions that

David Livingston had,

and he had one thing that

the chief wanted.

He wanted his goat.

He had a pet goat.

That was all he cared about.

He could care less if he took

his tent or his gun

or something else.

He just wanted that goat.

And the very thing that he loved

the most was the thing,

according to Livingston,

that the chief demanded,

and he handed over that goat.

And then the chief reached

in and took a staff that had

his emblem carved in it

and handed it

to David Livingston,

and he then set out with his

guides into treacherous

jungles of Africa.

And to this day, the miracles.

You know, just a quick thing

it’s interesting that

when David Livingston died,

England sent a whole force

over to retrieve his body

and bring it back to be buried

in West minister

but when they got there,

his heart had been cut out

and the natives said,

“You can have his body, but his

heart belong to Africa.”

And they buried his heart

in the dirt of Africa because

he had such a heart for

the souls of the Nation

of Africa.

And what was amazing

is when this man,

David Livingston,

got out into the deep, thick

of the jungle, and at one place

he tells of being surrounded

by hostile people who were ready

with bows pulled and spears

ready to throw.

And suddenly, he reached in

and he held up that staff that

had the emblem of the king

and when he did,

they saw that wound,

that scar that was forever

there on his wrist where he had

cut a covenant with the king,

and they knew if we harm him,

we’re harming the king.

If we attack him,

we’re attacking the king

and all of his mighty forces.

And so they instantly,

when they saw the mark,

the scar, and they saw

the emblem of the king,

they dropped to their knees,

dropped their weapons

and let him got through,

and he changed the Nation

of Africa with the Gospel

of Jesus Christ.

What a beautiful picture

of a Blood Covenant.

Jesus said when he entered

into the Upper Room with His

disciples for the Last Supper,

he said in Luke 23, He said,

“This cup is the cup

of the new covenant

of my blood which

is shed for you.”

Do you understand what

He was saying?

He was saying we’re entering

into a Blood Covenant,

and the Old Covenant

is the Old Testament,

and it’s been all about

the keeping of the law

and the rituals and legalism,

and you had to earn it,

and you had to work for it,

and you had to deserve it,

and if you messed up,

you could take the blood

of an animal,

and the blood of an animal would

never take away your failure.

It would just roll

it over to a new year.

But Jesus said this time

on this cross, this day,

this is the cup of the new

covenant in my Blood

which is shed for you.

And we just read over that,

and we don’t understand.

He was saying to them.

They fully understood

blood covenants,

and He said, “I’m entering in.

This cup is my Blood,

this bread is my Body,

and I’m entering to this.”

And what I want you to see

is simply this.

In this story there’s something

remarkable that I read.

I chose the fact to tell you

today and start out in 1 Samuel

because we see something

beautiful and powerful

in the covenant that Jonathan,

the king’s son, made with David.

The Bible said that Jonathan

said to David

and David said to Jonathan,

“Let’s make a covenant.”

And they entered into a blood

covenant and when they did,

’cause the word covenant

means cut, watch this,

Jonathan does something strange.

He takes his robe off,

and he hands it to David

and then he takes his garment

off it says in another

place if you keep reading.

It says he took his garment off

and he handed it to David.

Possessions.

And in another place it said

he took his sword, his weapons,

and he gave them to David.

It’s really a powerful thing

when you understand

what that really is about

because the robe spoke.

It was not just a garment,

regular clothing.

It identified Jonathan

as the king’s son.

It was one that wherever he went

people would look and see that

particular robe

and it meant royalty

and it spoke of his position.

It spoke of who he was.

It spoke of the power

and authority that he had,

and really, what Jonathan

was saying is,

“I am the rightful heir.

My father soul is king

of Israel, but I want you

to take my position.

I want you to take the authority

and the position that I have.

I’m giving you my robe.”

And that came through

a blood covenant.

That’s what Jesus Christ

has done for you and me.

He says when the King’s Son,

the King of King’s Son,

Jesus Christ, went to the cross

the first thing He did

is He traded positions

and he said,

“I’m giving you this place

of position so that you

don’t come before the throne

as a beggar,

but you come as a child

of the King.

You come as a daughter

of the King,

a son of the King.

You come clothed

in my righteousness.

You come with boldness

and authority because

of what the Blood has done.

Not only that, but he said

I’m giving you my garment,

and that speaks of possessions.

That speaks of meeting

the needs.

The Blood Covenant not

only changes your position,

the Blood Covenant

not only gives you authority

to walk boldly into the throne

of grace because

of the shed Blood,

but it also says that

He will supply your needs,

that the possessions that

I have through the cross —

what are those possessions?

Through the cross,

through the Blood Covenant

there is healing.

Through the Blood Covenant there

is deliverance for the mind.

There is peace.

There is joy.

There is healing for broken

places in our life.

All of these possessions,

they come through

the riches of the cross.

They come because Jesus gives

us His righteousness

and gives us a position that

we can receive freely,

the grace and the forgiveness

and the healing

and the miracle of God.

He gives us all

of His possessions.

“In my name you

can heal the sick.

In my name you can recover.

In my name you can

see miracles.”

And then, as if that

wasn’t enough,

He takes his sword,

Jonathan did,

and he gave it to David

making the Blood Covenant.

What a picture.

What a picture.

What he was really saying was,

“From this day forward,

since we’ve entered into

this sacred Blood Covenant,

I give you my sword.”

It means this:

that whoever fights you,

fights me.

Whoever comes against you

and tries to destroy you,

they’re trying to destroy me.

And just like they attack you,

I will come,

and I will fight with you,

and I will fight for you because

the battle is not yours alone,

but I’m gonna fight it with you.

And the Blood Covenant says

I not only give you position,

I not only give you royal

position and possessions.

I supply all of your needs:

healing, health, blessings,

success, goodness, joy,

all that you need,

but the Blood Covenant says

through the giving of the sword,

it simply says I give

you my power.

I give you my name.

I give you the Holy Spirit.

I give you the Blood,

and I give you my sword.

I give you my word.

And when you speak it

and when you enforce it,

the Blood Covenant

stands behind it.

And if that’s not enough,

there’s the personhood

that the Blood Covenant

not only says, see,

the devil want you to fight

in your own position,

in your own righteousness,

in your own possessions

and what you have.

He wants you to fight

and use that,

that if you get in a battle

you have to fight with

your possessions and your sword

and all of your positioning

that you can earn,

but that’s not want

a blood covenant is.

The Blood Covenant says

you don’t earn any of this;

I freely give it to you.

I freely give it to you.

So, David,

David becomes king.

Saul dies.

Jonathan tragically dies,

but he made a covenant.

He made a Blood Covenant

with David.

And now David is sitting

on the throne,

and as David is sitting

on the throne,

he asks a question.

I don’t what made him

think about it,

but he was just sitting

there probably in the palace

thinking of the faithfulness

and goodness of God,

and one day,

he reaches to grab his cup

and when he does,

he sees that scar.

He remembers that he made

a blood covenant with

the king’s son,

and he asks a powerful,

powerful question.

2 Samuel 9, “Is there anyone

in the house of Saul that

I might show kindness to Him,”

listen to these words,

“for Jonathan’s sake?”

He said is there any family

left of King Saul that

I can show kindness.

Listen.

That’s a covenant word,

show kindness to for

Jonathan’s sake.

Who is Jonathan?

The one he made

a blood covenant with.

Really, what all the people

in the palace thought

is this is revenge time

because in Bible days,

the first thing a king would do

if he had an overthrow

and took over a kingdom,

is he would hunt out anyone

who would be the rightful heir,

and he would kill all the seed,

royal.

He would kill all the children.

He would kill all the sons

who could potentially down

the road cause him a problem.

He’d just go kill them all.

And so, when he asked this

question is there anyone

in the house of Saul that

I might show kindness

to for Jonathan’s sake,

they’re all like, yeah, right.

Here comes the purge.

This is gonna be like those

shows on National Geographic

when the new lion comes in

and kills the old lion.

Y’all know what

I’m talking about,

and y’all know what he does?

He then goes and kills all

the little cubs because

he didn’t want any problems.

That’s what they think

is about to happen.

Listen now, and somebody

spoke up and said there’s only

one left of Jonathan’s house,

and his name is Mephibosheth.

It’s a tragic story.

When Saul was killed

and you were crowned

and the people were bringing

you back to the throne,

the nurse picked Mephibosheth,

the baby up,

and was running out

of the nursery for her life

knowing the child was in danger,

and she tripped and fell

on the baby and crushed it,

and the child is crippled.

And now, he lives in a place

called Lo Debar which means

barren, dry pastures.

He’s out in the middle

of the nowhere,

and it’s fruitless.

It’s a barren place.

It’s dark and gray,

and he lives in a shack,

and he eats out of a tin can,

and it’s pitiful.

He crawls around all day

in the dirt hut

that he lives in.

And David says to his mighty men

take chariots and horses

and go and fetch him out.

I like that word, fetch him out.

And here comes, here comes

the mighty men rolling up

in chariots and horses

and power and strength,

and I could see.

I could see Mephibosheth,

poor thing,

crawling on that dirt floor,

that old hut,

and pulls himself up

to the windowpane and looks out,

and he sees these

mighty soldiers,

and he thinks to himself because

all he had ever been told

was be afraid of David.

Hate David.

He’s your enemy.

He’s gonna hurt you.

He’s gonna get you.

One of these days,

He’s gonna try to wipe you out

and give you what you deserve.

So he was trembling

and he thought, this is it.

They take him and put him

in the chariot and bring

him back, but when he gets

there they don’t take him

to a prison;

they take him to a palace.

He walks in, and they say,

“Your highness, would you like

your bath hot or lukewarm?

We have all of your

new clothes laid out:

Versace, Gucci,

whatever you want.

We have it all here.

And by the way,

dinner will be served

in the main dining room

of the presidential palace,

and you are the honored guest

at the king’s table.

And they bathe him

and they clothe him

and they help him

and carry him down

and they sit him

at the table right

beside the king.

And he’s sitting there

wondering why, “Why am I here?

Look at this food.

I’ve never seen such food.

Oh, my God, look at this place.”

And the king says,

“Do you like your new home,

son?”

“I love it.

I love it,” he says.

“You know, you’re never

gonna leave here.

You’ll eat here continually

at my table.

You know you belong here.”

And he’s thinking,

“Why, why, why?”

And all of a sudden,

Mephibosheth sees it.

He sees the scar,

and he realizes,

“The only reason I’m here

is because dad,

my father Jonathan,

made a blood covenant,

and that’s why I’m here.

And Jesus says

to every person here,

“I know you.

I know your name,

and I give you a new position.

I give you

the possessions you need.

I give you the power

and the weapons that you need,

and I give you my personhood

through the power

of the Holy Spirit,

and I make a covenant with you:

the Blood Covenant.

And the secret of the Lord

is with them that fear the Lord,

and He will show

them His covenant.”

♪ ♪

>> ♪ It reaches ♪

♪ To the highest mountain ♪

♪ Oh, and it flows ♪

♪ To the lowest valley ♪

♪ The blood ♪

♪ That gives me strength ♪

♪ From day to day ♪

♪ It will never lose its power ♪

♪ ♪

>> Sing it just one more time.

♪ It reaches ♪

♪ To the highest mountain ♪

>> Lord, we thank you

for the Blood Covenant today.

♪ It flows ♪

♪ To the lowest valley ♪

♪ The blood ♪

♪ That gives me strength ♪

♪ From day to day ♪

♪ It will never lose its power ♪

♪ It will never lose its power ♪

♪ It will never lose its power ♪

♪ ♪

>> It never ceases to amaze

me how the Holy Spirit

can speak to each one of us.

I can preach a message

and we’ll get letters

and we’ll get emails and people,

you know, I may be preaching

and thinking one way

when I’m communicating it,

but the Holy Spirit knows

exactly how to take that point

and drive it home to somebody

right where they’re speaking.

That’s when you know

the Lord is speaking.

And if you heard his voice

speaking to you today like that,

and you wanna make Jesus

Lord of your life,

the Bible says in Romans 10,

this is God’s word,

“whosoever shall call

on the name of the Lord

shall be saved.”

You’re the whosoever!

That’s all you have to do.

Simply call on the name

of Jesus.

Do it right now.

Say Jesus, save me.

Jesus, cleanse me.

Jesus, help me.

Jesus, set me free.

Jesus, I’ve come to an end

of myself.

I need a change.

I need a turnaround.

I need help.

I need mercy.

I need grace.

Jesus, save me.

You know he’s never turned

one person away who

said that sincerely from

their heart in faith to Him?

He heard you.

I can guarantee you,

wherever His name is mentioned,

all of Heaven stands

at attention.

What an amazing gift you

have just received from God,

his grace, his mercy.

When you really meet

and encounter Jesus,

you’ve gotta tell somebody.

So call somebody in your family,

call us.

You can go online,

there’s a number on the screen.

We absolutely are here

to encourage you.

And it is the sole reason

we do this broadcast,

to reach people with the gospel,

the good news

and the love of Jesus Christ.

We really look forward

to hearing from you.

I’m sure that many of you,

like me, have been watching

the news and the images

from the Ukraine are desperate.

I’ve actually been to several

cities that you see in the news.

Many times I’ve preached

the gospel in those cities

of the Ukraine.

I’ve preached there

on multiple occasions.

And that’s why when

this war began,

we immediately went to work

to help those in need.

Through a ministry partner,

we were able to send $300,000

in immediate supplies for

food, water, emergency supplies

and first aid.

We established

the Central Warehouse Ukraine

to distribute right away

to those in harms ways.

We’ve also sent an additional

support to over 80 Christian

churches in the Ukraine.

These are people that I know,

these are friends, pastors,

some of them I know,

some of them I don’t.

But I have had

the opportunity to preach

to them through the years.

So there is an affiliation.

80 churches in the Ukraine

that are helping

refugees right now.

We’ve been seeing

an overwhelming response

from around the world

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Thank you for holding

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God bless you.

Thank you for joining

us on Kingdom Connection.

♪ ♪

>> God, I need your help.

>> Are you the old pro?

>> I am old.

How do you see yourself?

Not just in God,

but your whole existence,

your life.

>> I have a son who hates me

and my wife and I have been

separated for about 5 years.

>> Sounds like your game

could use a mulligan.

Sometimes God uses bad

things for good.

>> Ladies and gentlemen,

make your tee time.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

>> We hope you’ve enjoyed this

teaching by Jentezen Franklin

and thank you for your

continued support

of this ministry.

For more information

about this message

and other ministry resources,

visit us online at

JentezenFranklin.tv.

♪ ♪