Answers For The Accuser

“Answers for the Accuser”

Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Introduction: I’ve had this topic on my heart for a long time and have given this text a good deal of thought.

I. The Antagonist We Face

a. The troubler

There are many names for this person, and make no mistake about it, he is a person and he goes by many names in the Bible. He is Satan, the Devil, the Evil One, and in our text he is the “accuser of the brethren.” Notice in our text that this tactic is employed by Satan “day and night,” which indicates that He makes these accusations regularly and often. It is a principle tool.

b. The target

Notice the target of Stan’s efforts. He is accusing the “brethren.” Satan spends a great amount of time and effort seeking to damage and if possible destroy God’s children. We have a perfect example of his efforts in the book of Job. Satan makes the accusation that the only reason that Job serves God is because of the blessings he receives from the hand of Jehovah; remove the blessings and Job will curse his benefactor.

c. The tactic

Even the Lord himself was not immune from this hellish activity. He endured it many times throughout his life. He was called “a child of fornication,” “ a winebibber,” and “a Sabbath breaker.”

Luke 6:7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.

II. The Accusation in Focus

a. The power of an accusation

We are seeing the power of an accusation in our culture today. In March 2006 three members of the Duke University lacrosse team were accused of rape. The prosecutor assumed that the accusations were true and charged these three young men with rape. Subsequent events proved that the young woman in question had lied about the assault and they were exonerated. Duke University canceled the men’s lacrosse program and the lives of these young men were ruined, by an accusation.

More recently in recent months, calls for Paige Patterson to step down from his post as Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary president have emerged in reaction to a clip of an old interview he did with the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood that was posted on a blog. In the interview, he appeared to discourage a woman from leaving her abusive husband and counseled her to pray for him. Others have issued statements of support for Patterson and the SWBTS president maintains he has never condoned abuse of any kind even as he believes in the permanence of marriage.” Make no mistake these old accusations have been resurrected for a purpose, to discredit and to destroy one of the “brethren.” Tom Nettles of Founders Ministries writes, “I have no way of knowing how accurate the variety of accusations against Paige were; God knows and he will make all things clear on the day he judges the secrets of men’s hearts. But one thing is crystal clear to those (including the ones who felt that they had to get out) who were active in Southern Baptist work and churches before the Conservative Resurgence, a great change has taken place. Our observation, and lament, of “How the mighty have fallen” must be set in the context of a realization of the spiritual benefits that came to us all because he knew that inerrancy was the issue and he threw himself into an unknown future on the strength of saying, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever” (Psalm 119:160). Today we are seeing a perfect example of the power of an accusation in action in the confirmation of Judge Bret Kavanagh. Accusations have been leveled at him that cannot be refuted because they happened when he was a teenager but the damage is done. In the climate that exists today an accusation can destroy a reputation, and there the damage can be irreparable.

b. The purpose of accusations

Ultimately the purpose of an accusation is to stop the work of the Lord. Satan will do anything, including accusations to accomplish this goal. We see it all throughout the Bible. The enemies of the Israelite remnant who sought to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore the Temple and its worship met with this kind of opposition.

Ezra 4:6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.