Will The Defendant Please Rise

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.