If there is one area that I intend to grow in concerning spiritual warfare, it is in the need to remain aware that the enemy never stops talking to us. That also means that he never stops lying to us. At the back of our bible, in Revelation 12:10, Satan is titled “the accuser”. The primary target of his weaponized accusations is the people of God. In the garden of Eden, Satan accused God to Eve. She listened to him and she fell. In the book of Job, Satan accuses Job to God. God refused to listen to Satan, and the victory was granted to Job. In Zechariah 3 we behold that epic scene when Satan accuses Joshua to Joshua, in the presence of the Lord. Joshua is seen clothed in defiled garments, and he is forced to listen to Satan’s accusation and condemnation of him. It is an awesome moment when the Lord has heard to all that He is willing to endure, and He silences Satan with a fierce rebuke. It reads as a divine “Shut your face, Satan!”. God then testifies on Joshua’s behalf and removes his stained garment, replaces it with a spotless one, and crowns Joshua’s head with acceptance. The accuser is silenced.
“No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.” – Isaiah 54:17
Most of us know this powerhouse verse from Isaiah. What many of us do not know is that the verse is offered in the context of God defending Israel from national shame and slander. Israel had failed God, and God had to discipline His beloved. Yet, as He chastised those whom He loved, He also defended them. God would not allow for Israel’s enemies to have the final word. They hurled insults, taunts, and threats against Israel like flaming rocks from an ancient catapult. Their words burned and bruised, sliced and diced, carved and cut, temporarily wounding God’s people. Lest Israel be tempted to believe that their own God had committed to an adversarial position against them, the Lord declared to them that He would restore them to a place of strength and honor. He promised that the weapons they were enduring would never bring ultimate defeat to them. Accusation would eventually be slain by covenant. As a matter of fact, God even took care to tell them specifically, “If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from Me.” (Isaiah 54:15). In telling Israel that they would overcome, and that the words spoken against them did not find their source in Him, God was declaring to them, “Do not listen to your enemy. He is a liar.”
Constant accusation from Satan has proven to be an effective weapon in his hellish arsenal. There is a reason that he keeps utilizing it against us. He will never stop firing that cannon at the saints. Yet the Lord says above in Isaiah 54:17 that part of our heritage as believers is that we will not be conquered by this weapon of the enemy. Jesus Christ has made us righteous before the Lord. Like Joshua, our sin-stained history has been removed and replaced with a standing holy acceptance before God. Satan accuses us. Jesus rebukes Satan. We are not to listen to the devil, his demons, nor our fallen conscience which whispers the record of all the wrong we have done. The Lord has had enough of the enemy’s taunts and has removed his right to assign our identity to us. Yet the weapon of accusation only fails to prosper if we choose to reckon ourselves deaf to what it says. If we agree with the enemy, we light the fuse on the shame-bomb. When it explodes, we become a casualty. When we take authority over the devil and his accusing words, we are able to refuse and refute him with our strong confidence in covenant grace. We win by ignoring what he says and by filling our minds with what God says. It is a constant need for those who will emerge victorious from seasons of intense spiritual warfare.
You are not what the enemy says you are. His historical account of your past failures may be accurate, yet they are not the final word. Has he trained your conscience in perpetual guilt and shame? God has defused the weapon and is calling you to quit cringing and waiting for the explosion. God says that your present struggles are not greater than His eternal grace towards those who have been saved by His Son. The bible does not say that the weapons of your enemy will ceased to be fired in this lifetime. We are simply told that those weapons are not sufficient to bring us down.
So, stand in victory today. Stand in the affirmation of the King. Listen no more to the whispered accusations of the enemy. Listen with great joy and freedom to the enduring testimony of God over your life. You are His. Because of this, you have won.
Your message today has left me weeping with relief and thankfulness. Thank youfor posting it.