DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR
 
 
Christians, whether we are Pastors or lay persons, seem to have a deep  
seated sense of self-depreciation. Over & over we hear people say,  
“I’m not as important, I’m not qualified, I’m no good. All too often  
Christians become paralyzed in their witness and how they see themselves  
by thoughts and feelings of inferiority and worthlessness.
 
Next to temptation, perhaps the most frequent attack from Satan to which  
we are vulnerable is accusation. By faith we have entered into a eternal  
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we are dead to sin and  
alive to God, and now we sit with Christ in the heavenlies.  In Christ we  
are important, we are qualified, we are good. Satan can do absolutely  
nothing to alter our position in Christ and our worth to God. But he can  
render us virtually inoperative if he can deceive us into listening to and  
believing lies accusing us of being little value to God or other people.
 
Satan uses temptation and accusation as a brutal one-two punch. He  
comes along and says, “Why don’t you try it? Everybody does it. Besides,  
you can get away with it. Who’s going to know? Then as soon as we fall  
for his tempting line, he changes his tune to accusation: “What kind of  
a Christian are you to do such a thing? You’re a poor excuse for a child  
of God. You’ll never get away with it. You might as well give up because  
God has already given up on you.”
Satan is called,
“the accuser of the brethren….who accuses them before our  
God day and night.”  (Revelation 12:10).  
 
We have all heard his lying, hateful voice in our hearts and consciences.  
He never seems to let up on us. Many Christians, far too many Christians,  
live defeated and discouraged lives because they listen to his persistent  
lies about them. Those lies may come from some of the closest people in  
our lives – families, friends, - but make no mistake they are lies that  
originate from Satan himself.  He will use any means he can to influence  
you away from who you are in Christ. Those who give in to his accusations  
end up robbed of the freedom  that God intends His people to enjoy.
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and  
to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might  
have it more abundantly.   (John 10:10)
 
Listen to these words from one defeated Christian:
 
“My old feelings that life isn’t worth the trouble keep  
coming back. I’m scared, lonely, confused, and very  
desperate. I know deep down that God can overcome  
this, but I can’t get past this block.  I can’t even pray.  
When I try, things get in my way.  When I’m feeling  
good and I begin putting into action what I know God  
wants me to do, I’m stopped dead in my tracks by those  
voices and thoughts and a force so strong I can’t continue.  
I’m so close to giving in to those voices and thoughts that  
I almost can’t fight them anymore. I just want some peace.”
 
 
PUTTING THE ACCUSER IN HIS PLACE
 
The good news is that we don’t have to listen to Satan’s accusations  
and live in despair and defeat. Zechariah 3:1-10 provides the essential  
truth we need in order to stand by faith against Satan’s accusations  
and to live righteously in the service of God.
 
The Lord revealed to the prophet Zechariah a heavenly scene in  
which Satan’s accusations of God’s people are put into proper  
perspective:
 
“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing  
before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to  
accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan!  
Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a  
brand plucked from the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy  
garments and standing before the angel”(Zechariah 3:1-3)
 
 
 
THE LORD REBUKES SATAN
 
 
Look at the cast of characters in this scene which resembles a  
heavenly courtroom. The judge is God the Father. The prosecuting  
attorney is Satan. The defense attorney is Jesus. And the accused  
defendant is Joshua the high priest who represents all of God’s  
people, including me and you.
 
Historically, when the high priest entered God’s presence in the  
holy of holies each year, it was a very solemn occasion. The priest  
had to perform elaborate purification rites, and ceremonial  
cleansings before entering, because if somehow he wasn’t just  
right before God he could be struck dead on the spot. The priest  
wore bells on the hem of his robe so those outside of the holy of  
holies could tell if he was still alive and moving. A rope was  
tied around his ankle so he could be dragged out of the inner  
sanctuary if he died in God’s presence.
 
So here is a high priest named Joshua standing in God’s presence  
with filthy garments representing the sins of Israel. Bad news!  
Satan the accuser says, “Look at him, God. He’s filthy. He deserves t
o be struck dead.” But God rebukes the accuser and puts him in his  
place. “You’re not the judge, and you cannot pass sentence on my  
people,” God seems to say in His rebuke of Satan. “I have rescued J
oshua from the flames of judgment, and your accusations are groundless.”
 
This courtroom scene continues night and day for every child of God.  
Satan persists in pointing out our faults and weaknesses to God and  
demands that He zap us for being less than perfect. But our defense  
attorney in heaven is Jesus Christ, and He has never lost a case  
before God the judge. Satan can’t make his charges stick because  
Jesus Christ has justified us and lives to intercede for us.
 
“Who will bring any charge against those whom God  
has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns Christ  
Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the  
right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:33-34).
 
At the same time, Satan accuses us before God, and his emissaries  
also accuse us personally by bombarding our minds  with false thoughts  
of unworthiness and unrighteousness in God’s sight: “How could you  
do that and be a Christian? You’re not really a child of God.” But Satan  
is not your judge: he is merely your accuser. Yet if you listen to him  
and believe him, you will begin to live out these accusations as it they  
were a sentence you must serve.
 
Now while I’m on this subject be wary of other Christians or other  
people who will love to throw Scripture your way and make judgments  
or pronouncements about you and what you do. Don’t let there words  
drag you down. Don’t let what they say about you take your eyes  
away from what Scripture says. You are a child of God, and the evil  
one can’t touch you, and for that matter neither will the words that  
others use against you drag you down if you know who you belong  
to.  
 
When Satan’s accusations of unworthiness attack you, don’ pay  
attention to them. Instead respond, “Satan, I have put my trust in  
Christ, and I am a child of God in Him. Like Joshua the high priest,
 I have been rescued by God from the fire of judgment, and He  
has declared me righteous. You cannot determine a verdict or  
pronounce a sentence. All you can do is accuse me – and I don’t  
buy it.”
 
 
THE LORD REMOVES OUR FILTHY GARMENTS
 
 
The reason Satan’s accusations are groundless is because God has  
solved the problem of our filthy garments taken your iniquity away  
from you. Zechariah’s description of the heavenly scene continues:
 
“And he spoke and said to those who were standing before him  
saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to  
him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe  
you with  festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban  
on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed  
him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.”  
(Zechariah 3:4-5)
 
God has not only declared us righteous, but he has removed our filthy  
garments of unrighteousness and clothed us with Hi righteousness.  
Notice that the change of wardrobe is something that God does, not  
we ourselves. In ourselves we don’t have any garments of righteousness  
to put on that will satisfy God. He must change us in response to our  
submission to Him in truth.
 
 
 
THE LORD ADMONISHES US TO RESPOND
 
Having rebuked Satan and provided our righteousness, the Lord  
calls for a response of obedience:
 
“If you will walk in My ways, and if you will perform My service,  
then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My  
courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are s
tanding here.” (Zechariah 3:7).
 
God’s condition here has nothing to do with your relationship with  
Him or your standing of righteousness, since they are already secure.  
And these admonitions have nothing to do with Satan’s defeat,  
since he is already defeated. They have to do with your daily  
victory. In calling us to walk in His way and perform His service,  
the Lord is simply calling us to live out our identity in Christ through  
our practical expressions of obedience. This means living by faith  
instead of fear. It means crucifying the flesh on a daily basis and  
walking according to the Spirit. It means talking every thought  
captive to the obedience of Christ and being transformed by the  
renewing  of our minds.
 
In response to our daily ministry to Him through obedience, God  
promises that we will govern His house and have charge of His courts.  
This means that we will share in His authority in the spiritual world,  
able to live victoriously over Satan and sin. He also promises us  
free access in the in the heavenlies. As we operate in His authority  
and live in fellowship and harmony with Him, our daily victory and  
fruitfulness are assured.