The Accuser

"...for the accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night....and when the dragon saw that he was cast down unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child." - Revelation 12:10b, 13

Jesus calls us to labor for the kingdom and to be His arms of love, reaching out to a hurting world. We are soldiers dressed for battle, and one of our weapons is the shield of faith, through which we “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one (Ephesians 6:16).” The devil is the enemy who comes to steal, kill, destroy, and condemn us all before God. His schemes today are not new. It began with Adam who failed to acknowledge his own sin before God, but blamed God for “the woman whom thou gavest to be with me (Genesis 3:12).” The first sin led to the first accusations of blame. We often judge others based on their actions and justify ourselves based on our motives. Paul pointed this out in Romans 2:1, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself for thou that judgest doest the same things."The fiery darts are words of accusations against both us and others.

Satan knows that we become ineffective and feel defeated when we begin to look down on or judge another. I've noticed a pattern in my life during times where I am walking confidently for the kingdom, then Satan points out someone's faults to me. I think, “I can't believe they did that. They call themselves Christians....” Before too long, I find myself caught up in sin and then feel condemnation. The moment I judge someone for their actions, I forget that I'm standing on faith and by God’s grace.

Nothing good dwells in my flesh, so when I judge another for their failures, I simply expose my own. Nowhere does the Bible say that we are to give judgement to another, yet too often we judge based on our own struggles and God-given victories. We fail to acknowledge others' temptations because we don't suffer in the same way and fail to give credit to God for our victories over sin.

We think, “Why don't they simply stop using drugs?”, “How could they view pornography?”, or “They're just drunkards with no self-control.” There is no sliding scale for sin. “There is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10).” We are not called to judge because we are all both fallen and are servants of the One who will judge us all. Mercy will be given unto those who are merciful (cf. Matthew. 18:21-35). Instead, we are called to encourage. “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works … exhorting one another (Hebrews 10:24-25).”

Paul goes further and says that we are to, “Let no unwholesome rotten word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29).” It is easy to judge others for what they have done and say, “Do you know what Mike did?”, or “I can't believe that Stephen was in prison. He can't come to our church!” We too often forget what we were like before Christ transformed us, so we judge ourselves based on our view of others instead of God's standard. That is the accuser firing darts. We think that we are shooting at others, but they sink into our own flesh and make us unfit for battle. Division in the ranks allows the enemy to win the battle. It is only when we carry our wounded brothers that we can fight as one and defeat the enemy who has crept within our ranks unaware. God has given us the shield of faith, for when our trust is in Him, we shall stand strong to carry and love each other.