Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
When Satan makes accusations against the people of God, their Defense Attorney is standing by.
Wednesday, October 8, 2003
While the Devil persecutes believers on earth, he prosecutes believers in heaven.
Cases of satanic accusation of prosecution in the court of heaven are recorded in JOB 1:6-12; JOB 2:1-6; ZEC 3:1-2.
He objected on the basis that they were unworthy of the honor about to be bestowed upon them – as if Satan had been worthy of the honor God had given him.
PSA 109:6 And let an accuser stand at his right hand.
TLJC had nothing to say about Joshua being a successful believer and worthy to be praised and honored, but instead focuses in on the fact that Joshua is to be pitied.
MAT 12:20 “A battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out, Until He leads justice to victory.”
LUK 18:13 “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!”
Joshua appears as one polluted, but he is in reality purified because of TLJC.
He reconciles himself to the sinner, but not to the sin.
When God forgives our sins, He causes them to pass away from us, that they may not appear against us, to condemn us; He passes them from us as far as the east is from the west.
Joshua was powerless to correct the condition; he could do nothing to cleanse himself.
Joshua was like most of us, he only saw himself as he appeared before men.
Our vision is what the word of God has to say about our position in Christ.
COL 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach –
EPH 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
EPH 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
Who and what you really are is as God sees you, not as what you appear in the eyes of the world.
Joshua was in danger of being dismissed from his office; but, instead of that, he is reinstalled and established in his office.
GEN 50:20 And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
Whether you know it or not, the moment you accepted Christ as Savior, you retained the services of the greatest barrister or lawyer on retainer of all time, our Lord Jesus Christ.
All of the sins of the world, all of our personal sins, past, present and future, were never imputed to us for judgment, only Adam’s sin was.
Tetelestai – it is finished – dramatic perfect tense = it has been finished in the past, with the result that it stands finished forever.
TIT 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
And again, as many, many, many times before, Satan is thrown out of court, and then whatever your sins or failures are, they become a family matter for discipline and punishment as God in His grace sees fit.
2CO 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Under the law of double jeopardy then these sins cannot be retried in heaven, they cannot be re-judged in heaven, they have already been judged on the cross, ROM 6:10.
Once Satan is thrown out of heaven, these accusations will no longer be possible, so it is all persecution of the believer in the last half of the Tribulation.
The Doctrine of Advocacy.
Point 1. The believer continues to sin after salvation, 1JO 1:8,10.
Point 2. Satan accumulates a sin file on every believer and periodically accuses the believer in heaven. The information is collected through demons,
JOB 1:6-11; ZEC 3:1-2;
REV 12:9-10.
Point 3. Jesus Christ is retained as the believer’s defense attorney in the court of heaven and He defends every case.
Point 4. The basis for our Lord’s defense is the fact that all our sins were judged at the cross in Him by God the Father,
2CO 5:21; 1PE 2:24.
Point 5. Under the law of double jeopardy, those sins cannot be judged again, ROM 6:10.
Point 6. Every case is thrown out of court by God the Father,
ZEC 3:1-2.
Point 7. The sins of the believer then become not a court matter but a family matter for the imputation of divine discipline, HEB 12:6.
Point 8. An advocate is one who undertakes the cause of another. In its Biblical meaning, advocacy represents divine enablement and assistance.
The New Testament word for advocate is parakletos, JOH 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:17.
Point 9. Two persons of the Trinity are recognized as advocates: the Son and the Spirit.
Point 10. As a legal representative in the court of heaven, Christ now functions as the believer’s advocate,
1JO 2:1.
Point 11. The advocacy of the Spirit is one of intercession and direct aiding, ROM 8:26-27.
Point 12. Advocate:
1. A legal advocate, which Christ is now in heaven.
2. An intercession agent, which Christ and the Spirit are now.
3. A general helper, which Christ was on earth and the Spirit is throughout the C.A.