A Visit to Court
Read Zechariah 3:1-5
The prophet Zechariah ministered tot he Jewish remnant that returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. They were “a poor lot” and Satan did all he could to frustrate their plans. The vision the prophet saw revealed the sinfulness of the people; for, in God’s sight, the high priest’s garments were covered with filth. As Joshua the high priest stood before the Lord, he symbolized his wayward people.
Satan was also there. What was he doing? He was accusing the people before God and asking that a just God condemn them for their sins. As the accuser of the brethren, Satan accuses us before God night and day (Rev. 12:7-12).
But Christ is also there! If Satan is the accuser, then Christ is the Advocate, the heavenly Lawyer who represents us before the throne of God. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” states 1 John 2:1. He stands there, still bearing the wounds of the cross. It is because of Him and his shed blood that the sinning saint can claim the promise of forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
Listen to the accuser and you will get discouraged and you will quit. But turn to your Advocate in confession and God will change your clothes! “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34).
(Copyright, Warren W. Wiersbe. First appeared in Thoughts for Men on the Move. May not be copied or reproduced without express written permission of the author.)
Dr. Warren Wiersbe (1929-2019) was an internationally known Bible teacher, author, and conference speaker. He graduated in 1953 from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. While attending seminary, he was ordained as pastor of Central Baptist Church in 1951 and served until 1957. From September 1957 to 1961, Wiersbe served as Director of The Literature Division for Youth for Christ International. From 1961 to 1971 he pastored Calvary Baptist Church of Covington, Kentucky south of Cincinnati, Ohio. His sermons were broadcast as the “Calvary Hour” on a local Cincinnati radio station. From 1971 to 1978, He served as the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago 1971 to 1978. While at Moody Church he continued in radio ministry. Between August 1979 and March 1982, he wrote bi-weekly for Christianity Today as “Eutychus X”, taught practical theology classes at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and wrote the course material and taught a Doctor of Ministry course at Trinity and Dallas Seminary. In 1980 he transitioned to Back to the Bible radio broadcasting network where he worked until 1990. Dr. Wiersbe became Writer in Residence at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. In his lifetime, Dr. Wiersbe wrote over 170 books—including the popular Be series, which has sold over four million copies. Dr. Wiersbe was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).
