Will the defendant please rise is the instruction given to a defendant (or one who is on trial) at the end of a trial right before judgment is handed down. Judgment is a final ruling or decision made in a court of law. We have, according to the constitution, the right to a fair trial. Facts must be brought out in a trial so that a fair judgment can be made as to whether the defendant is innocent or guilty and what sort of punishment they should receive if any at all.
Let me give you a brief overview of the participants of a criminal trial. First, there is the defendant, this is the person who is charged with perpetrating some crime or offense. The defense counsel is the defendant’s attorney who helps the defendant disprove or justify the charges brought against them. The prosecuting attorney is the one who tries to prove that the defendant did indeed commit the crime and tries to get the defendant convicted. Let me stick a pen right here. This is exactly what Satan does to Christians. He goes in and out of the earth...he walks to and fro...and then he goes into the heavenly courts of God, accusing the brethren. Then there is the judge. The judge is the one who passes the judgment or the ruling. And last, but not least,the jury is comprised of a group of witnesses that the facts are established before. The jury merely states whether or not the case has been proven. Now the jury by no means passes judgment. They only deliberate, or discuss the facts and decide whether the case against the defendant has been proven. The jury is made up of your peers, peers meaning equals. The jury is not supposed to have a biased deliberation. They are only supposed to consider admissible evidence. Now let’s bring the trial and judgment into a spiritual perspective.
As a Christian, you are constantly put on trial by the prosecuting attorney, Satan himself. He accuses Christians of their crimes (sins) and tries to build a strong enough case to get us convicted. He doesn’t abide by the protocol of the judicial system God has given us from his heavenly courts. He does things like jury tampering (getting into the minds of the jurors, bribing them, and contaminating them.) Now the jury’s job is to determine whether or not the evidence in the case prove facts, but by no means pass judgment. Satan tries to get the jury to pass judgment on you. First let’s look at how Satan affects the jury.
As I stated earlier, the job of the jury is to decide whether or not the evidence in the case prove the facts. They by no means are authorized to pass any sort of judgment. However hard it may be to deliberate or decide the virtue of a case without thinking towards what sort of suffering or punishment the defendant should receive, they still cannot pass judgment. Now I need every one to use their sanctified imagination. The jury, being made up of your peers consists of your family, friends, co-workers, and in the church, your fellow laborers in Christ. The devil accuses you to them to try to get them to rule against you. He tries to get the jury on your job to pass judgment. He gets into the minds of your co-workers and even your boss. He tells them to not look at how well you perform your tasks on your job, but that you make them look bad. The next thing you know, they are passing a judgment on you, trying to get you fired, saying you should not be able to keep your job. He gets into the minds of the jury at home. He tells your husband that you nag too much, that you never listen. He tries to get him to pass a judgment that you should be cast off to the side while husband gets a mistress, or get knocked around whenever you do something he doesn’t like. He tells your wife that you work to many hours. He puts into her mind that you don’t spend enough time at home. He tells her to not look at the provisions you make, but at what you don’t make. He puts into her mind that she should not look at the fact that you work hard to provide for your family, but that you’re not there. He tries to get her to pass judgment by splitting up your family, taking your kids out of your home, and filing for a divorce. He gets into the minds of your children. He tells them that you are wrong to discipline them. He tells them that you don’t know what’s best for them. He tries to get them to pass judgment by having you up all night Saturday and at the altar all morning Sunday. He gets them to pass a judgment that your rules and regulations should not be followed.
Satan especially likes to build his case against the saints in the church. The jury in the church is a distinct jury, different from the secular world. The jury of the church is what I call the spiritual jury. He piles up as much evidence as possible against you to bring to your spiritual jury. He does this because he knows what potential work can be done through ministry and wants to put a stop to it. It’s just the devil trying to build a case when people are jealous of you because God is putting and placing and replacing and moving. He wants them to pass judgment on you by trying to keep you from working when the Lord has given you the talent to work. He is trying to get them to pass a judgment of your not being worthy for what God has anointed you to do. He tells the jury that you used to be a crack head. He tells the jury you used to be a whoremonger. He tells the jury that you were once a homosexual. He tells the jury that you used to be a fighter. He tells the jury you used to be an alcoholic, a weed head, and a mean-spirited person. He tells them that you once were a murderer, a thief, and a liar. He tells them to forget the fact that the very life you used to live is not much different from the one they once lived. He tells them that there is no possible way that you could have been delivered. He tells them that they have a right to pass judgment on you. He tries tears you down with the judgment of the spiritual jury because he knows that if he can get judgment passed on you by the spiritual jury, he can weaken your effect in God’s ministry. He wants to stifle your work in kingdom building and edification of the body of Christ. He tries to tell the jury that when you lift your hands in praise, you’re faking it, or when you speak in tongues that it’s just vain babbling for you to get attention. He tries to get the jury to pass a judgment that you should not be allowed to preach because you’re not saying what they want to hear. He tries to get judgment passed that says you can’t preach if you’re a woman. He wants the jury to pass judgment to not let you work in the church. And the reason he tries to use the spiritual jury is because he knows that no matter how hard you work, how saved you are, no matter if you are bible toting and scripture quoting, feeding the homeless, sing in the choir, on the mission, director of the dance team, director of the drama team, captain of the drill team, openly confessed minister, missionary, ministry of helps, it doesn’t matter what you do, you will feel the need to justify and explain yourself so that you can work among those who are trying to pass judgment on you. But the devil knows that you cannot justify yourself. The only thing you can do is live saved by God’s grace through your faith in Jesus Christ. Because the bible tells is that the only means of Justification is through Jesus.
So don’t think that God is going to sit by and let the jury pass judgment on you. God is the only one who can pass judgment. And the devil knows this. And in my sanctified imagination I can see Satan going to God with his case against you. And Satan says, “Well God, the defendant has whored around in his lifetime, and the defendant has talked about folks, the defendant has lied, the defendant was a thief and a murderer, too. The defendant has disrespected every commandment that you wrote. I motion that a judgment is passed, God, for you said in your word, that the wages of sin is death.” And the devil thinks his case is strong, but in walks your spiritual defense attorney, J-E-S-U-S spiritual attorney at law. And Jesus says, “Father, I’d like to stop this charade here and have my clients case thrown out. For you see father, it may be true that my client did whore around, lie, cheat, and steal, too. But I have one reason why my client should be acquitted on all charges against him. My client shouldn’t receive the death penalty because I came down from glory to gory; I carried my own cross up Calvary hill. And I hung on that cross with the heavy burden of the sins and shames of my client. So you see father, the sins are justified through me.” But the devil interrupts and says, “Oh no!!!! But wait God!! If I can show you the sins, and lay them before you, can I get a judgment against the defendant.” And God says, “Yes! Only if you can show me the sins.” So Satan takes God to the grave where Jesus once lay and says “Right there. Look right there, there are all the sins.” And God says, “I don’t see them, Satan, I can’t see them.” And the devil says, “God, look closely now, they’re right there, I need you to look real good.” And God says, “Where? I don’t see the sins, I can’t see the sins!” And the devil says, “I know you’re not blind God, you’re supposed to be omniscient! There are the sins, underneath the blood of Jesus!” And God says, “Now Satan, I am omniscient, I even see things before they happen, But I tell you this, I can’t see through the blood! You can’t show me the sins, because they’re covered by the blood!” Will the defendant please rise! You are justified by the blood of Jesus. Will the defendant please rise! You are acquitted of all charges brought against you. Will the defendant please rise! All of your sins are forgiven. Will the defendant please rise! You can rise! You can rise! Because Jesus rose…with all power in his hand. All power in his hand!
