Hi everyone, this was based on (John 14: 15-21). Having an inner critic or dealing with the enemy is quite well documented. I like this ministers take on this being in a court room style of an opponent and a defender which is the Holy Spirit. The New Testament makes mention also of there being an evil conscience as well. Ones conscience can lead one too feel excessively guilty over things and it can affect you (Hebrews 10:22). "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Some Christians will have an exaggerated sense of their sin which can be distressing to some at times. With repentance especially early in your journey or under going change-you may have a heightened sense of your wrong doing. This is normal, try and move on and remember scripture tells us not to look back too much in (Philippians 3:13). Some feelings of repentance is normal though. (Philippians 3:13).“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before". Sometimes we can act like our own accuser.
Satan no longer can condemn Christian believers to God in Heaven . Jesus overcame Satan on earth when he came in the flesh. We are not alone with coping with Satan on earth.
Still, you may have an inner critic voice and you can use the Holy Spirit and scripture to help you to overcome this. You may also have difficult behaviour at times or endure afflictions caused by Satan on earth or caused by complications of past behaviour, which to needs the help of the Holy Spirit to help you to stand firm.
When you are going through accusations take care of yourself to. Also remember who are you and what you stand for if you are wrongfully accused and remember that to God you are more precious and if you made mistakes they do not define you. So the world tells you there is no place for you-there is a place for you with Chris. t People usually care about you and the accusing voice can be strong and tell you lies. Get help at times if you need to from other support to help you to stand firm. I have somewhat experienced this. I had an accusing voices at times going with me for 2 days that I was not a very good person and it was lies because of a need to come to terms with past events which were not my doing. I came through. Christ overcame this for me with the Holy Spirit. Try to stop ruminating on past events if you do.
Some people may act in an accusing manner about the faith when you speak about the faith. They may tell you readily that you that you do not measure up as a Christian. Consider what Christ said- (Matthew 10:14) "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet." There also may be a report button that you can use if available if this took place online and you do not like the content you have received and want to take action on it.
Two lessons from Job is how we can endure in times of difficulty and how we should not behave as an unjust accuser to others.
I want to share this short extract of sermon with you for education purposes- I liked it, it is short. See what you think of the sermon.
The sermon-
We live in a democratic world which is a world of accusation. It's always been a world of accusation. That's the cost of democracy. Horrible to live in a country where accusation is suppressed totalitarian regimes. But the world of accusation also has its problems. And I think with the rise of social media, the voice of accusation in politics is getting shriller and shriller and shriller.
So the world of politics is a kind of courtroom where the person who is in power all the time is always found guilty. John's gospel is also a courtroom. The world judgement comes into John's gospel a lot Jesus says that I have come into the world for judgement and then at another time he says that he's not a judge so it's very confusing but just consider the courtroom of politics the courtroom of John's gospel and the courtroom of our lives.
In this courtroom, there is a prosecuting council and the prosecuting council has a name and his name is Satan. And Satan is simply the Hebrew word for the prosecuting council. And in the book of Job, Satan isn't this horrible devil with horns. is simply in the accusing prosecutor role. And the Greek word which means exactly the same thing the diabolos the devil is also the prosecutor.
There is also the council for the defence. Thank God. And the council for the defence literally is the Paraclete. The one who is called to the defence or in Latin the word is advocate.
The Holy Spirit is the council for the defence. So the accusing voice is there in Jesus's world and it's also there in our souls. You don't have to be a charismatic to be defended by the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is keep faith. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. to pay loving attention to your own life and the lives of those around you. And the advocate, the Holy Spirit, will just turn up.
He may turn up in your life as an angel. Somebody or something that came to your help exactly when you needed it. And that person who turned up as an angel may not even have known that they were helping you, but they were. God sent them. They may turn up as grace. Grace being that I don't even know what it is, but it just comes into our lives and everything is all right again. Just when you are at the end of your tether.
Don't go searching too hard for God.
Listen to the words of a great Swiss mystic theologian Maurice Zundell who died in 1975. He wrote, "There is something in me greater than me. Anyone who knows this has no need that anyone should show him the existence of God." Don't worry if you don't even know whether God exists. God is the light and when a person pays attention to his own life, he will bump into this marvellous invisible presence. Whatever name we give it, it is an infinite presence which exceeds us infinitely and is closer to us than we are to ourselves.
You see, when we surrender to this greater and more intimate presence, the voice of accusation will cease. and be replaced by the voice of peace.
