Accuser of the Brethren
Thinking on this point, we find quite a nice selection sprinkled throughout Scripture, but who is an accuser, well Satan is the leader in this whispering campaign, but anybody who “Gossips,” is also directly and indirectly, smearing, inferring, or accusing others of some perceived failing or activity. 1 Peter 5:7-11 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, is as a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle [you]. To him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Satan wants so much to gobble you up, and to spit out the pips [your bones,] or to scare the daylights out of you, making you weak, powerless, and glued to the floor you stand on, inactive, then he can sneak up on you, and easily devour you, whenever he feel like it.
Those who make it to Heaven, have this written of them from Revelation 14:5 “And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Question; If the redeemed have no guile in their mouths in Heaven, then you will then find no Guile in their mouths while they live here on Earth. Guile in the Dictionary has this to say, “Craftiness or deviousness.” Quote; “The apostle sought to teach the believers how important it is to keep the mind from wandering to forbidden themes or from spending its energies on trifling subjects. Those who would not fall a prey to Satan’s devices, must guard well the avenues of the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts. The mind must not be left to dwell at random upon every subject that the enemy of souls may suggest. The heart must be faithfully sentineled, or evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will wander in darkness. “Gird up the loins of your mind,” Peter wrote, “be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; . . . not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” {AA 518}
Quote; “Satan is constantly urging men to accept his principles, and thus he is seeking to counterwork the work of God. He is constantly representing the chosen people of God as a deluded people. He is an accuser of the brethren, and his accusing power he is constantly using against those who work righteousness. The Lord desires through His people to answer Satan’s charges by showing the result of obedience to right principles… They are to give character to the work which must be carried forward in these last days in restoring man through a reformation of the habits, appetites, and passions.” {CME 34}
We have this in Zechariah 3:1 “And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.” The NIV has slightly different language to help us, Zechariah 3:1-2 NIV “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan[a] standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” The NIV puts it in the language that God has snatched Joshua out of “Hell Fire,” and Satan is not too pleased to have lost a stick that he was determined to destroy, and he wants his burning stick back to complete Joshua’s destruction, but God has way more glorious plans for Joshua, that is for Joshua to live in heaven along with God. God has plans to rescue you from the fire, but Satan is accusing God of taking “you” (his stick, he claims) out from destruction, and he wants his stick back, but God rebukes Satan, for you actually really belong to God in the first place, and it was Satan that actually stole you from God, and Satan still wants you in his fire of complete destruction.
Oh how so easy it is to fall into the trap of being an “Accuser of the Brethren,” but we need to instead give heed Jesus advice in Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Grandma use to say this, “People in Glass Houses don’t throw stones.” Think of the damage, especially in wet and windy weather, to have stones thrown at you, glass ceiling breakage, and wind and water pouring into your home, so do not throw stones, so that none will be thrown back at you. Christians represent Jesus Christ and Heaven, so you should never find then “throwing stones,” or being an “Accuser of the Brethren,” so if you find them on Satan’s side, then they certainly are not Christian in any shape of form. Here is what God says on the subject of Gossip and the like, Exodus 20:16 “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
If we look at Joshua as a “Burning Stick,” and play with that concept, then the quickest way to put out the fire, is to dunk it in water, and in the Christian concept, the quickest way to “Get Dunked,” is to “Repent and to be Baptized.” This is the message of Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus and the Disciples, and should always be our message, put out the fire by a Baptism. So I guess the question is simply this, “Do you want Satan, the Accuser of the Brethren, to burn you up, or do you want to be saved by repentance and Baptism, to “Dunk Out” the fires of destruction in your life?”
