Sermon by: Dr. Todd Morris
Text: Zechariah 3:1-7
Title: A Sinner in God’s Courtroom
Date: August 5, 2001
Introduction: This morning we find a sinner having faced physical death, and as Hebrews 9:27 states, “…and after this the judgment.” The sinner has come to a place to which we will all come; he has kept his appointment with the Almighty. Today we find the sinner standing in the True Supreme Court, the court from which there is no appeal.
This court is different from any other court the world has ever known, for there is no guarantee of an attorney, and there is no jury. There is no case and there is no debate. There is simply a judge, a prosecutor and a defendant. That is unless you qualify for a defense attorney, and as I said not everyone does.
Yet there is something even stranger, for you see if you do qualify for a defense attorney is will be none other than the judge himself! Now that raises the question, will I qualify? What does one have to do to qualify?
In our text we find the sinner’s case on trial, so lets enter the courtroom and observe the trial, and see if we can determine what it takes to qualify one for a defense attorney. Let’s see how this sinner fares at his trial.
I THE GUILT OF THE SINNER
A. In our text we find ourselves in the Supreme Court of the Universe. God is the Judge, Joshua, the high Priest is the defendant, and Satan is the prosecutor. Satan is bringing his case against Joshua before God. We are told in verse 1 that he is standing at Joshua’s right hand opposing Joshua. Satan will oppose anything you do except sin. The only time Satan is on your side is when you are against God.
B. Joshua is on trial here, but the story would be the same fro any other sinner.
C. The Bible tells us that Satan is the accuser of the Brethren. He is serving as prosecutor. Now we know that there is coming a day described in Revelation 12:10 when Stan will no longer have access to God’s throne, but at the present time he is standing before God day and night accusing God’s children.
D. Satan has no mercy and he does not fight fair. He doesn’t play by the rules. His only rule is, there are no rules. He not only loves to get us to sin, but he loves to point out our sin after we have committed them.
E. Notice that Satan has an airtight case against Joshua. He has the goods on him. Verse 3 tells us that Joshua has on filthy garments.
F. Notice that Joshua has nothing he can say in his defense, because he is guilty of all Satan accuses him of. Satan has brought Joshua to this hour in order to accuse him before God.
1. Satan tempts us.
2. Satan trips us to cause us to fall in the mud.
3. Satan traps us in the mud until we are covered.
4. Satan trounces on us while we are in the mud and accuses us.
5. When we get out of the mud and get cleaned off Satan continues to remind us of the fact that we have been dirty.
G. Joshua had no defense before God, because everything Satan said about him was true.
H. We cannot defend ourselves when we know that we are guilty, for we stand ashamed before God.
II THE GRACE OF THE SAVIOR
A. Notice that while Joshua could say nothing, it was the Judge Himself who rebuked Satan. Look at verse 2. You see when we receive our heart transplant, when we are Born Again into the kingdom of God the battle with Satan is no longer ours to fight, but God’s for we have been cleansed by His blood, and Satan’s real claim is that we are not clean, so he is claiming that the blood of Christ is not strong enough to cleanse us. HIS REAL ACCUSATION IS AGAINST GOD!
B. Listen; there is a wonderful lesson to be learned here. GOD WILL NEVER DEFEND THE SINS OF HIS CHILDREN, BUT HE WILL ALWAYS DEFEND HIS CHILDREN!
C. You talk about a case fixed from the start, this is it brother! This case was decided the day that Joshua got his heart transplant and was born into the kingdom of God. Since the day that Dr. Law performed the heart transplant and Dr. Law declared his diagnosis satisfied Satan has been fighting a losing battle.
D. The Bible says that “Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us.” That means that ever hour of every day and every hour of every night Jesus, our high Priest is standing before God the Father making intercession for us, and therefore my beloved Satan’s accusations while true will be ruled without merit in the heavenly court!
E. Remember that I told you that the Judge and the Defense Attorney was the same person, that is true, but they are two personalities of the same person. The Judge is God the Father and the Defense Attorney is God the Son. When God the Son raises His nail pierced hands to God the Father and says, “in the name of my wounds set him free,” the righteous Judge sets the sinner free and three wonderful things happen:
1. He is cleansed – that word “filthy” in verse 3 in the Hebrew has a very poignant meaning, “covered in human excrement.” Sin is repulsive to God, but in verse 4 God says, “take away the garments. He didn’t say take the sinner away, but take the filthy garments from him. In other words remove the sin and leave the saint.
2. He is clothed – in the last part of verse 4 He says to the sinner that He has removed his iniquity and “…I will clothe you with rich robes.”
3. He is crowned – look at verse 5; “Let them put a turban on his head.” The turban is the headdress of the high priest, and Exodus 38:26 tells us that on the front of that headdress is written, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” The headdress is symbolic of the fact that the sinner, whether it be Joshua, or Todd Morris is back in fellowship with God!
F. When God brings His gavel down and says, NOT GUILTY, it matters not what anyone else says!
III THE GLORY OF THE SAINT
A. Notice that the sinner is not put on probation. He was put back to work, put back to serving God. God does not hold a grudge; He received Joshua, not only received him, but in actuality reclaimed him, and restored the two things that his sin had cost him.
1. Authority with God (verses 6&7)
2. Access to God (7b)
Conclusion: You may be a guilty sinner or a backslidden saint. Either way you have an advocate in heaven. But you must ask before He takes your case, and remember; He has never and will never lose a case.
No matter what you have done, if you will bring your guilt and your sin to this great advocate, He will take your case, plead your case, win your case, and commute your sentence from death to life.
