OVERCOMING THE ACCUSER

Series:         Spiritual warfare

Aim:           

Message:      OVERCOMING THE ACCUSER

Text:            Zechariah 3:1

BACKGROUND OF ZECHARIAH

The name Zechariah means Yahweh remembers or to put it in another way; He is faithful. Zechariah was a younger contemporary of a prophet Haggai. He was both a prophet and a member of the priestly family like Jeremiah.

In 538 B.C. together with Prophet Haggai, he was among the about fifty thousand Jews who returned to Jerusalem led by Zerubabel after Cyrus the King of Persia had issued a decree to the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

Coupled with rebuke for lethargy (extreme lack of energy or vitality, sluggishness), his chief purpose was to encourage and motivate the people of Judah to complete the rebuilding of the Temple (Zechariah 4:8 - 10) along  with reaching spiritual renewal. In this book he records eight prophetic visions called apocalyptic (revolutionary) literature of encouragement to God’s people (Zechariah 1:7-6:8).

The book of Zechariah also teaches the sovereignty and future. Our text is a record of the fourth vision and it appeals of Israel’s cleansing and restoration as a priestly nation. “…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant then you shall be my own possession among all the people for  all you be my  own possession  among all the people  for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priest which acknowledges or admits the truth of God or King.” (1 Peter 2:5,9, Rev. 1:6 Isaiah  61:6, Revelation 20:6; 5:10). The temple in Jerusalem was by divine choice epitome of earthly worship. Housing an alter which was the most pronounced gate between the earth and heaven it represented a major system for the fulfillment of God’s purposes on the earth.

The scriptures in 1 Corinthians says “…do you not know (realize, recognize, understand, perceive, have full knowledge) that your (singular) body is a temple (sanctuary, shrine) of the Holy Spirit who is in you….you are not your own”. You are consecrated or set apart for God. Your body is sacred and the Holy Spirit therefore helps you to be like a holy life void of sin as you surrender yourself more and to Him. This aspect of belonging to the Lord makes you immune and therefore answerable to any external satanic accusation because you long ceased to be responsible over you, more or less like a slave and his master.

Pursue God, work towards raising divine structures and possess an heavenly attitude like or father of faith Abraham who “looked forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God (Hebrew 11:10). Be wise and build your life a round God now.

FORGIVENESS VERSUS ACCUSATION  

“Then he (the angel of the Lord) showed me Joshua the High Priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “I the Lord reject your accusations, Satan. Yes the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire” (Zechariah 3:1-2) Yes, indeed that is who we are, burning sticks that have been snatched from the fire before they are completely consumed by fire through God’s mercy. Any suggestion therefore returning us back to the fire through satanic accusations are countered and overcome through the breath of God’s mercy and forgiveness towards those who believe in Him. It is actually Satan the accuser who will ultimately be destroyed (Revelation 12:10) while every believer is sacred like in Joshua’s case. Ask God to remove your clothing of sin by grace and dress you up with His Holiness and righteousness even as you personally abandon the attitude of accusation on others and embrace forgiveness towards all who offend or who will ever offend you. Don’t ever forget that God through His grace and unfathomable love and mercy has chosen to forgive you. Do not be like Satan the accuser who takes great delight in accusing God’s people before God.

Joshua in Aramaic (a Hebrew language which Jesus Christ spoke) is Jehsua and in Greek is Jesus. It means the Lord saves. He is symbolic to the Messiah and stands for God’s people and their sins. A lot goes on in the spiritual realm in order to effect the salvation of God’s people. It is in this realm that we must vehemently contend with God for the well being of mankind and accordance with the will of God. Like Jeshua or Daniel (in Daniel 9:4-19) practice identification repentance for the sins of God’s people and speak divine destiny over them in the power of your intercession. Unlike in the law where a sinner died without compassion (Hebrews 10:28), our hearts must be tender and compassionate towards each other (Philippians 2:1). As our heavenly father, we must be merciful (compassionate, sympathetic, full of tender mercies, Luke 6:36) because it is the ground on which we ourselves stand as we present our bodies (which is) our reasonable service (Romans 12:1). “God chose you to be the Holy people He loves; you must clothe yourselves with tender mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forage you, so you must forgive others. (Colossians 3:12, 13). Like the Lord Jesus Christ, put others before yourself, even if it means with your own life. You will not be the first to do that, Jesus Christ has already done it for you! God’s children are His inheritance so do not attempt to relegate them to another realm if you want to avoid a divine rebuke.

WHY GOD ABHORS (HATES0 AN ACCUSING SPIRIT

God pronounces a rebuke on an accuser since He (God) who had the moral authority or right to accuse us has instead chosen to have mercy and forgive us. A rebuke is another word for ‘you fool’. A person driven by an accusing spirit exhibits a lack of good judgment and understanding plus one who is easily deceived (by the deceiver). Below are few reasons why God detests an accuser.

1. You will always harvest what you saw.

The only perfect man who ever walked on the surface of this earth is the Lord Jesus Christ, the rest of us even the best of us is still prone to myriads of errors.  This means that if we accuse and condemn our fellow humans, the same will surely be vested on us hence the folly of this attitude. “Do not be deceived, God (system of justice) is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” Galatians 6:7). The Greek word for ‘he’ in the above scripture is ‘Anthropos’ which means human being, person or humankind, hence is not limited to a male adult but to all humans as it is used in its generic or general sense. “Do not judge others and you will not be judged, do not condemn others and it will come back against you. Forgive others and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37; Mark 11:25, 26)

2. An Accusing Spirit Diverts Destiny

Sanctification is the process by which we as Christians are purified in heart and mind by the Holy Spirit. In it, a justified sinner is graciously and continuously delivered from the pollution of sin, renewed nature wise into the image of God into performing good works (see Thessalonians 4:3,7, 5:23). Unlike justification it is not instantaneous. We however must all cooperate with God, the Holy Spirit for its realization in us and in our neighbours life. Because we are our brother’s keeper and stewards of God, we must purpose to work with God towards the sanctification of all believers, not against it as does the spirit of accusation and condemnation.  

To condemn is hand over to destruction, throw into a dirt bin or pit, to declare not fit for life and so cast into the fire. Sad to say, this is what many have done to the would be precious and lustrous pure jewels if only we had been more understanding, forgiving, merciful, tender hearted, kind, gentle, humble  and patient. When you get to heaven you will not be recognized and rewarded for the souls you condemned through your irresponsible accusations, slander and negative attitude and sent to hell instead it will be for those strong souls that you helped find their way on this pilgrimage way into heaven, so be wise and do the right thing. “Those who have insight (wise) will shine as bright as the expanse of heaven (sky), and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like stars forever. (Daniel 12:3). To accuse is to be mean, legalistic, self righteous and phoney (or fake) faithwise.      

3. To Accuse And Condemn Is Proof Of The Lack Of God’s  Love

When you don’t love others it is an express indicator that you are not only hate God but yourself too. This disposition

4. The Accusation Strategy

The strategy behind satanic accusations is to make Christ’s blood of no effect on man. Satan effects accusation by the exploitation (or taking advantage) of God’s nature of justice. With lies or the distortion of the truth and manipulation coupled with threats, he introduces the dimension of unbelief and persuades man out of the cover of divine grace, away from Christ’s love and mercy into the world of accusation, condemnation, cruelty, revenge, legalism, and hypocrisy. After that it now becomes easy for him to control man through the spirit of fear and self imposed righteousness to do his bidding of accusation and counter accusation. This way the devil effectively sets up man to destroy his fellow man and the process is then quickly spreads through the multiplying effect with little or no effort from Satan, having enlisted man into his service of accusing others.

Declare thus: You satanic spirit of accusation, unforgiveness and condemnation, I denounce you forthwith. Release me and all God’s people to serve God and His purpose with a heart of love and discernment in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen!

GOD’S RESPONSE TO MAN’S SINFUL NATURE (JOHN 3:10)

The Lord Jesus Christ did not judge nor condemn personalities. He instead struck directly and deep into the root cause of the problem – the spirit in the man. “For God did not send His son into the world to judge (condemn) the world, but that the world should be saved through Him” (John 3:17) Romans 6:23, states that; “For the wages (pay, stipend, ratio/portion) of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” With His own blood (and not that of goats nor calves which can only cover or blot out but not remove sin) the Lord Jesus Christ entered the most holy place and once for all secured  our redemption (ransom, paid the full price  for the debt of our sin) thus freeing us from the bondage of sin forever. All sin whether ‘big’ or ‘small’ cuts us  off from the Holy God  as  stated in Romans 3:23; “For all have sinned and fallen  short of  God’s glorious  standard”

Christ through His death has freed usrom and of the bondage of the mind, will and spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ has paid for it with His own blood (Ephesians 1:7) and released us into the freedom of serving Him with a glad and freed heart. Don’t however misuse this freedom.

Declare thus:         Through Christ’s’ redeeming blood I am free from all wickedness, the grip of sin, the old life, the curse of the law, the bondage of the law, death and hell – there is now no condemnation over me, for I being to Christ, the Power of life giving spirit has freed me from the power of sin and death because God has declared an end to sin’s control over me by giving His son as a sacrifice for me. Amen! (Romans 8:1-3)  

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Having introduced the above message, on 1^st may 2011, 8^th May 2011 bulletins, we today tackle the topics on accusation

ACCUSATION

The opposite of an accuser is a defender. The scripture in Mathew 18:23-35 speaking of a debt of slave who through compassion forgiven and released from having to pay ten thousand talents (about Kshs, 8,000,000/=) which he owed his master. This same slave however could not reciprocate and also forgive a fellow slave who owed him only one hundred denary (about Kshs 500/=), throwing him into prison till he pay up in spite of the victim’s pleas to be given more time to pay. Word soon got round to the master of the ruthless slave who with anger in turn handed the unforgiving slave to the torturers until he pays what he owed him. God’s word says; “so shall my heavenly father also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from the heart” (Mathew 18:35). God through Christ Jesus’ death has forgiven the debt of sin which we could never ever pay being sinners. We must also truly forgive those who do wrong to us no matter the magnitude of the offence in order for us to qualify our salvation. An accusing heart is also an unforgiving heart upon which God applies the same harsh judgment of eternal damnation.

Make a deliberate and informed choice to forgive others and so become an agent of life, not death. The spirit of unforgiveness is Satan’s strategy against the blood of Christ to make it of no effect. He effects this strategy by instigating (inciting) doubts, fear, threats and manipulation based on lies in order to get someone away from God’s love and cover of protection effected through Christ’s shed blood.

Satan takes undue advantage of the divine attribute of justice to instill unbelief on Christ’s finished work, drawing the undiscerning heart into the uncouth (ill mannered) world of accusation, counter accusation and judgment ultimately thus making you an agent of death. Be wiser and never allow yourself to fall into his trap. Learn to believe, do and say the right things about yourself and others always.  Scripture says, “And they overcame him (Satan, dragon, the accuser) because of the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their testimonies (‘marturia’ – report, record, evidence given which is judicial in nature, witness) and they did not love their life even to death”. (Revelation 12:11) We must know what God says about us, stand on it by faith, speak it forth loud and clear as the true account a record of who we are before all and sundry, foe included.

As written, we must stand firm (on God’s word or report) to see the salvation of the of the Lord or to overcome.  (2 Chronicles 20:17)

CONVICTION AND GUILT

Be able to distinguish between conviction (which leads to repentance) and guilt (which leads to judgment, condemnation and ultimately death). Whereas guilt draws from the law or letter that kills, Holy Spirit Conviction draws from life-giving grace of God, which is a firm and sincere belief in Christ’s salvation that leads to repentance and acquittal (2 Corinthians 3:6) Guilt for a child of God is self imposed condemnation that illegitimately puts the laws (an order which you died to when you received Christ) against you (Galatians 2:19; 5:18). Maintaining an attitude of guilt as a child of God is being out of order and certainly not the right way to go. It is imperative that a spiritual warrior lead an ordered life. Whereas Ephesians 6:11 says we “put on the whole armour of God” guilt fools you into lowering your spiritual armour thus exposing  you and making you an open target to the ruthless kingdom of darkness.   

Declare thus: By the grace of God, I apply the blood of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on me. Its cleansing power cleanses me from all sins. I receive my forgiveness and take on my position as a child of God to reign with Christ in high places as join heir. I am forever free from satanic accusation because my debt of sin is fully settled in Christ Jesus. Today I condemn that judgment, condemning and unforgiving spirit, get behind me and release the heart of all God’s children so that they may serve God with a heart void of condemnation and filled with the love of God; Amen!

“For God did no send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him” (John 3:17). In this dispensation of grace be an active divine agent of life both to yourself and others.

THE EXPLOITS OF CHRIST’S REDEMPTION.

To redeem means to set someone free from captivity or slavery by the paying of the ransom (full freedom price) – 1 Timothy 2:6

Christ’s redemption death therefore freed us from:-

(i)           All wickedness (Titus 2:14)

(ii)         The grip of sin (Romans 6:18,22)

(iii)       Old life which was corrupt and deprived in nature (1 Peter 1:18)

(iv)        Curse of the law (Galatians 3:13)

(v)          Bondage of the law (Galatians 4:5)

(vi)        Death (Job 5:20)

(vii)      Hell (Psalms 49:15)

This freedom is effected in the real of the mind, will and spirit. We must therefore now consciously and deliberately commensurate effect it by actively acting our freedom out by doing the will of our redeemer with glad hearts and never allow ourselves into the trap of misusing this great and invaluable freedom.

Declare thus: Through the Lord Jesus Christ’s redeeming blood; I am now free from all wickedness, the grip of sin, the old life, the curse of the law, the bondage of the law, death and hell. I am no longer under condemnation for the power of the life-giving spirit has freed me from the power of sin and death. I am now completely free and I will do the will of God with a glad heart all my life. Amen!