The Advocate and the Accuser — Zac Poonen

Jesus as the Righteous Advocate

So, I thought I would continue a little on what we heard at the beginning of the advocate and the accuser. We must remember that in heaven there is an advocate for us, that's in the third heaven, in the immediate presence of God, and that's Jesus.

He's called, in 1 John, in chapter 2, a righteous advocate. On earth, there are many advocates or attorneys who would tell lies for us, to defend us, but Jesus would never do that. That's one thing I remember.

He's not going to support me in something which is wrong, because he's a righteous advocate. It's very clear, it says here that in 1 John 2, 1, I'm writing these things to you that you should not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he can righteously plead on our behalf, because he died for us, and his blood is always available to cleanse our sin.

Walking in the Light and Confessing Sin

There's only one thing that he requires of us as a righteous advocate, and that is what we see earlier. If you ignore all these chapter divisions, that we walk in the light, 1 John 1, 7, as he is in the light.

So there must not be, when in our conversation with Jesus, there must not be any darkness. We must be absolutely honest with God about thoughts, motives. The moment we try to justify ourselves and say, no, no, no, it was not like that, it's because that the Lord is not going to defend us.

He's a righteous advocate, but if you walk in the light, it doesn't matter what sin it is. Lord, that was my fault, that I was wrong, and I'll tell you, it's not easy to say that. When there's misunderstanding between a husband and wife, you ask yourself whether it's easy to acknowledge that you were totally to blame there.

You'd always like to attribute a little bit of blame to somebody else, but that's not our business. The advocate deals with that. We have to acknowledge what we did wrong, and we don't have to confess the sin of another.

Satan the Accuser and the Believer's Testimony

No. So Jesus is our advocate, and the devil has been cast out of the third heaven when he sinned, and he was cast down to the second heaven. There are three heavens, the Bible says. Paul was caught up to the third heaven, he says in 2 Corinthians 12, the first heaven is this universe that we see, but between this universe that we see in the third heaven where paradise is, where God dwells, there is a second heaven where the devil is, and he has no access to, he doesn't come down to the earth yet until much later, just before the end of time.

But from that second heaven, he's also speaking to God, and just like in the third heaven, Jesus speaks on our behalf. In Revelation 12, we read that Satan accuses us before God, in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 10, day and night.

He's a full-time worker, 24 -7. There is no full-time worker as full-time as he is, and his only job before God is to accuse us. Now, you know, he can't tell lies to God. On earth, people accuse others of something that never happened, but the devil doesn't do that.

He can't play the fool there, because God knows everything. What he accuses is the truth, what we actually did, or something he doesn't, he cannot read our thoughts, but sometimes he can assess, without knowing our thoughts, the motive with which we did something, and he's always trying to find some fault in us.

And it says here that people who were, who did this wrong, were able to overcome that accusation by the blood of the Lamb. That's what it says in verse 11. And by the word of their testimony to Satan, this is not testimony in the church, it's testimony to Satan saying, you cannot accuse me because I have been honest, I've been 100 honest about my sin and my failure with my advocate and my savior, and so you cannot accuse me.

We must always be in that position, that Satan has nothing to accuse us of. I believe it's God's will that we should always live like that. Paul once said in 1 Corinthians 4, I know nothing against myself.

I believe he lived like that. And I believe that should be our goal at all times, to say those words ourselves, which Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4. I'm conscious of nothing against myself. Every moment of the day, every day, that should be my testimony.

I am conscious of nothing wrong in my life. Not that I never did anything wrong, but I walked in the light and it was cleansed away immediately in the blood of Christ. I didn't wait five minutes to confess it.

So I didn't even wait one minute. As soon as he was aware that he did something wrong, he went up to the advocate and walked in the light and that was it. It was over. Dear brothers and sisters, seek to live like this, where every single moment of your life you should be able to say, 1 Corinthians 4, I'm conscious of nothing against myself.

But that does not mean he says that I'm perfect because the one who examines me is the Lord. In other words, there are a whole lot of other areas that I'm unconscious of. What he's talking about is what I'm conscious of.

God never holds us responsible for what we are unconscious of. And when we realize that in our own spiritual growth, spiritual growth is basically part of the unconscious becoming conscious. That's spiritual growth.

That means something I never knew in my life was un-Christlike or some attitude. Suddenly I get light on it. That is un-Christlike. And I should not have that attitude. So I remember many years ago, you probably heard me say this before, how God gave me light on one area.

Learning to Receive Conviction About Hidden Motives

And he's been giving me light on many, many areas through the years. But I think of one particular, I mentioned it for the benefit of those who never heard me say this before. Way back in the beginning, in the early days of CFC, we had a brother, very fine brother, who from a non, his parents were not believers.

And he would come and we treated him like one of our children. And he was with us all frequently. He was often sleeping in our house after the meetings which were held in our house. And we helped him in numerous ways.

And he did well. And he got a job and he went away to another place. And then we never heard from him. And I wondered how is this possible? We who have done so much for him in all the years he was with us, that he doesn't even bother to drop us a line to tell us how things are going on.

I mean, shouldn't he at least express his gratitude to us for what we had done for him? And that's when the Lord showed me that it was I who was in error at that point. And I said, Lord, what did I do wrong?

I mean, we did everything possible for him. And the Lord said that you're expecting gratitude from him was an un-Christlike attitude. It's all right for Jesus to expect us to give thanks to him. You know, he said, the nine lepers were cleansed.

Where are the nine? He said, only one has come back to give thanks. The Lord has every right to expect gratitude from us. And if we don't come back in gratitude, he can question it. But we don't have that right.

We are sinners saved by grace. And I never want to forget that to the end of my life. And the Lord said to me from the example of the, you know, in the final day, it says the Lord gathers together all the nations.

And he will say to some, I was sick and you visited me and I was hungry and you fed me. You know that passage. And they asked him, Lord, when was that? And the Lord said, in that you did it to the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.

So the Lord thanked them for feeding him, clothing him, taking care of them, because they cared for one of his brothers, one of his children. So what the Lord said to me was, whatever you do for the least, the word they used is the least of these, my brethren.

What the Lord said to me then was what you do for the least of my brothers. Remember that you're not doing it to them. You're doing it to me. And if I did and if I was doing it to the Lord, then it's the Lord who should thank me, not that brother.

That's the light I got that day. When I did that to that brother, I thought that I did it for him, but the Lord said no. In as much as you did it to the least of my these, my brethren, you did it to me.

Then who should you expect thanks from? From me, the Lord said, not from him. So I learned that day never, never to expect thanks from anybody for anything I did for them. Because it was done unto the Lord.

Serving Without Seeking Human Gratitude

And it's a very good thing to ask ourselves. Sometimes we may not say it, but inwardly we can think, why is that guy not grateful to me for all that I've done for him? Brother, you did not do it for him.

Or if you did it for him, you were wrong. You should have done it unto the Lord. Everything we do for one another must be done as unto the Lord. And if we really cleanse ourselves from, we don't see this as a sin.

You know, it's one of the areas where I said, what is unconscious becomes conscious. So before that, I was not sinning. No, I was not sinning when I was expecting him to thank me because it was not a conscious area.

But once I got light, it became sin. So now if I expect thanks from people, it is a sin for me, but it may not be a sin for you. But probably it will be from today onwards because you heard the truth.

But until now, it was not because it was unconscious. It's a great relief to me to know the difference between this conscious and unconscious. So the devil may try to accuse you about a whole lot of things.

We must live always free from accusation. We overcome that accusation by the blood of the Lamb. And that should be our attitude towards one another also. In the story of the, you see the example of this accuser and the advocate in two places in scripture.

Jesus' Compassion in the Face of Accusation

I'll just mention it briefly. One is in Zechariah chapter 3. But before I go there, I said, let me go to John chapter 8. Where we have a clear example of someone who's committed something wrong, seriously wrong.

A woman committing adultery. Completely wrong. And the Old Testament law said that she must be stoned to death. And the Pharisees who wanted to catch Jesus, they knew that Jesus was a very compassionate person.

Especially towards sinners. They had seen that for a long, long time. And they'd like to see what he'd do with the sinner. Let us ruin his reputation because we hold him to the law of Moses. And he's always proclaiming that not a jot or the tittle from the law of Moses will be broken.

At the same time, we know he's a compassionate person. Let's see how he deals with this situation. They were trying to trap him. And when they brought this woman to him, they didn't realize that that command to stone women caught in adultery was given by Jesus himself.

He only gave it to Moses from heaven 1 ,500 years earlier. And he's the one who made that law. It was the way in which the Lord taught the Jews to take adultery seriously. And they didn't know that. But he knew it.

Jesus knew it. This is the law I gave Moses 1 ,500 years ago. And he said not a jot or a tittle from the law must be broken. So how shall we do this? Here's the accuser operating through people. You know, the devil is an accuser.

Let me say this in passing that the devil wants coworkers just like Jesus wants coworkers. And if the devil is an accuser, he wants help in that, that you will help him to accuse some of his children.

Say something negative about that person or look at that person closely and don't bother about the positive things. Ignore that. But try and find if there's one little speck there that you can find to find fault in that person and join me in accusing him to somebody else.

And believers all over the world are holding hands with the devil, saying this brother did this and that brother did that and the other thing. And what they say is true. For that matter, the devil himself, what he accuses people about to God is true.

Refusing to Condemn and Waiting for the Father's Word

But Jesus, it says here he sat on the ground and he was scribbling on the ground. He was just doodling there waiting for a word from the father. It really challenges me that as he came as a man, he had the limitations of man and he did not know what to say at that moment.

I thank God for that, that he was like me, that at times you don't know what to say and he didn't say anything. He waited. He also had to wait. That's why you have to pray sometimes. And that's why when they said, what do you say?

John 8 5. He didn't say anything. He waited. And then he got a word from the father. Tell them. He was without sin, cast the first stone. And he said that. And as you know, they all went away. But there was one person left there without sin.

And that was Jesus. And Jesus said, the one who's without sin, let him throw the first stone. But he wouldn't do it. He was so free from the spirit of trying to condemn somebody or accuse somebody. He came to earth.

God did not send his son to the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And we must always remember that. And that's the spirit that is with us. Now we go to Zechariah chapter 3.

Zechariah 3 and the Ministry of Making Others Glorious

Let me see a picture again. Just like we saw in John 8. The accuser and the advocate. Just like we saw in 1 John 2 and Revelation 12. The accuser and the advocate. Here is the accuser and the advocate again.

Zechariah 3, we find Satan standing at the right hand of Joshua, the high priest. Now that's a picture of you and me. Joshua there. And Satan is standing there to accuse him. And this is one of the few places in the Old Testament where Satan comes.

He comes in Genesis and then he comes again in Zechariah. Otherwise he's almost never found in the Old Testament except once it says that he prompted David to commit something wrong. But he doesn't figure in the Old Testament.

God did not allow Satan to have such free access because he had not yet been defeated on the cross. Once he was defeated on the cross, once Jesus came, Satan was very active. But here's one of those rare occasions where we see him coming up in Scripture.

And he's an accuser there too. And when he accused Joshua because his garments were dirty, the Lord is the one who defended Satan. Joshua didn't have to say anything. There was an advocate there saying, the Lord rebuked you, Satan, because I plucked this band from the burning.

It's a beautiful picture. This is a picture you must have in your mind when Satan accuses you before God. The Lord says, no, I plucked him as a brand from the fire. And the Lord says, remove the filthy garments and put new festal robes on him.

That is, I'm going to take away that filth. I'm clothing him with the righteousness of Christ. The beautiful part here is Zechariah, the young man, saw this in verse five of Zechariah chapter three. And he says, Lord, not just righteous garments, but to put a clean turban on his head as well.

He joined hands with the advocate, not with the accuser. That's our calling. I call this the ministry of making our brother glorious. The ministry of making our sister glorious. Even though a few moments ago he was clothed with filthy garments, even though there was weakness there.

It's a wonderful ministry to have. Lord, put a turban on his head also. Forgive him that and help him to come into a glorious ministry, Lord. I know he's got weaknesses, but you've cleansed him. You've forgiven him.

He's not a hypocrite. So it's a wonderful thing to see these examples, and we have to be very, very careful. The Bible says the devil accuses, I told you he's a full-time worker, accuses the saints day and night.

Joining Christ's Intercession Instead of Satan's Accusation

And we are told in Hebrews 7 .25 that Jesus intercedes as an advocate day and night. It's a 24-hour job going on in the heavenlies. We may not be aware of it, but the Bible tells us that 24-hour accusation going on and 24-hour intercession going on.

Like we saw in Zachariah, we have the opportunity like Zachariah to join one of these two sides. I'll tell you, unfortunately, most believers and many, many I've heard or I've met, they join the wrong side.

They join the accuser to find some fault in the other. They're not seeking to make their brother glorious. Sometimes they're seeking to make their brother more dirty or their sister more dirty than she actually is.

We all have the poison in our flesh, which came into Adam. The very first thing he told God after he sinned was this woman. It's a picture I have of Adam pointing his finger at his wife and saying this woman.

That's where accusation began. So you see how quickly the poison of Satan came into Adam. And we've all inherited it. This person, this woman, sometimes it's your own wife, you. Whenever you see that pointing finger that you pointed your wife or your husband, remember, that's what Adam did.

And that's why he got thrown out of paradise. And that's why you can get thrown out of paradise, too. And remember, it is Satan who helps you to point that finger. That's why very often our prayers are not heard.

We don't just say when a prayer is not heard, that was not God's will. That's a very pious thing to say. Sometimes it may be because God doesn't listen to your prayer. In closing, Isaiah 58. It says here.

Removing the Pointing Finger to Receive Answered Prayer

And Isaiah 58 verse nine answered prayer. Then you will call and the Lord will answer you. You will cry and you will say, here I am. When you remove the last part, the pointing of the finger. You stop accusing people.

Of imaginary or real thoughts. And. You call and the Lord will hear you. May the Lord help us. Amen.