In this piece, we will be observing something that I believe is so dear in the heart of the Holy Spirit for us. It is something that He wants us to consider and look at so that we can actually maximize our lives in the kingdom. How do we maximize our lives in the kingdom of God? Having been born again, how do we maximize our relationship with God? How do we maximize the privileges that we have obtained in Christ Jesus? What we would be looking at this article will open us up to this, and I believe that in the time that we have the Holy Spirit will give grace to comprehend in the name of Jesus.

 

What exactly are we looking at? We are considering: The Court of God: The Process and the Actors. So, we want to look at the court of God, we will do a little bit of helping us to understand that by the Scriptures, then we will look at the process. What happens in the court of God? When people are there before the court of God, what takes place there, and the major actors? Who are the people you will find actively engaging in the court of God? We are going to start our observation this morning from the book of Daniel chapter 7 and we will read verse 10. We are looking at the court of God, the process, we will do a little bit of definition of what the court of God is, the process, the definition of the actors.

 

This was a vision that Daniel saw; for clarity I will love us to read from verse 9-10. The Bible says:

 

“I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire;¹⁰ A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand, thousand ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.”

 

Now this particular Scripture will be our emphasis but we are going to unbundle it because by just reading this we might not understand clearly what that court means. But from the reading of verse 9 to 10, of Daniel chapter 7, we can see that the court was seated, we can see that the books were opened. Meaning that the court that was seated was the court of the ancient of days. Because He said and I saw thrones put in place and the ancient of days was seated. There is no one greater than Him, so if the court was seated, meaning the court that was seated was the court of the ancient of days, the court of God. We are going to leave that place and flip to Job 1, so that we will understand the beginning of the story.  We will read verse 6-12. Then we will move to Job 2 then we will read verse 1-7.

 

Job 1:6-12.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷ And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So, Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” ⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” ⁹ So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” ¹² And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So, Satan went out of the presence of the Lord.

 

Now if you look at this reading in Job chapter 1 verse 6-12, the Bible says on a particular day the sons of God came to present. What did they come to present? They came to present their case, they came to present their petition, they came to present their request. These are the sons of God; they came to present. And in the concluding verse, verse 12 that we read, it said and so Satan went from the presence of the Lord. Meaning that the presence of the Lord was where Satan actually came, and what did he come to do in the presence of the Lord? What happens in the presence of the Lord? The presence of the Lord is not just anyhow presence, if you go back to that Daniel 7 verse 9 to 10 that we read, it said in His presence goes forth a fiery stream, another translation puts it like a stream of fire. And he said 10 thousand times 10 thousand ministered to Him and thousand stood. It talks about the presence of the Lord.

 

The presence of the Lord is synonymous to the court of God; the court of God is the presence of God. So, when we use it interchangeably in this sermon understand that we are still talking about the court of God. Because our focus is what happens there-the process. What happens in the presence of the Lord? So that we can have a picture of what goes on in heaven on our behalf. And we can know that we should not be ignorant of the activities of the heavenlies. Because life is spiritual, the spiritual controls the physical. For Job, Job was not in this conversation, Job did not know what was happening, the transactions, the process that was taking place in heaven. But Job was a subject in that conversation. But he was not aware.

 

So, decisions were made about his life in his absence. If you look at the conversation here, you don't see anybody speaking for Job. The only person that was speaking for Job was God; and we will understand the importance of that, God said have you considered? When God seats in His court, we are talking about God the Father, He does not sit in any other position than the judge. So, God does not play advocate for anyone. If the devil has a case God will hear it. So that we understand, so that we don't get robbed of our inheritance and we don't take light of certain things that go on in the spiritual realm on our behalf. So that when we want to engage, we know how to engage in the heavenlies. I have gone ahead of myself a little bit. But let's go to Job chapter 2 verse 1 to 7, this is another picture. So that we will understand. We are looking at the process and the actors in the court of God.

 

“Again, there was a day.” Remember in verse 1 of chapter 6 it says and there was another day. This is another day different from that day “when the sons of God came to present.” This time we are going to slow down on the process. Now what happens in the presence of the Lord? There is always a time or times that the sons of God will come and present, they will come before the Lord, before the judge of the universe, before the ancient of days and they will make presentation. Let us look at an average court setting naturally speaking, when you enter a court of law, you will see a judge seated, then there is always a case. You don't come to court if there is no case. There must be a case. So, you come and present a case. So once the case is accepted or adopted by the court there will be a sitting.

 

When the sitting takes place, there is the defense counsel and the prosecuting counsel. The prosecuting counsel is an accuser, saying in this case this person must be guilty that is why I am here. The prosecuting counsel did not come to vindicate or justify the person that the case is against. But you see the defense counsel is there in that court to justify. Because why we are using these words in the Scripture, because many of the words in the Scripture are legal terms. When we talk about justification, it's the same justification. And we must understand that the one that justifies us justified us not because He just feels like justifying us but because of His position.

 

When He appears in court for you, He is not a prosecuting counsel, He is a defense counsel, so when He appears in court for you, He is making sure that you leave that court room discharged and acquitted. He is coming to make sure that you win the case. That is why He is there. Then you have in some very high court a group called the jury. And what is the work of the jury? The jury are those that examine. These are people of different works of life, usually they draw jury from the group of people that has similar experiences or a knowledge of the case at hand.

 

So, if it's a medical case for example, they will draw jury from people that understand the medical practice. So, you understand that there is a jury. What is the work of the jury? The jury will examine the facts of the case and look at it professionally and give an opinion. They don't decide the case; they give an opinion. What they do is to help the judge make an informed decision.

 

That's the work of the jury. Then you will now have the audience, people that came to view the case, then you have people that attends to the judge. You have the clerk, you have the police person, different individuals that attend to the judge. Now looking at that imperfect scenario, we want to look at a perfect scenario that affect you and I. A perfect scenario in the kingdom that affects you and I. So, let us go back to that Job 2 and we are reading verse 1 to 7. We want to look at the process, then we will start talking about the actors. “Again there was a day. When the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to present himself.” Did we see that? "To present himself before the Lord. “And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” ³ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him”

 

I want us to read Scripture with our eyes open by the help of the Holy Spirit. See what God said to Satan, although you incited me against him, meaning that God heart what Satan said. And He took a decision. He said I give you power to go, all these things you have said; Job loves you, is it that he loves you for nothing? Is it not because you have made a hedge around him? Go and try that hedge, go and investigate, go and gather your facts and evidence and bring it. It said even though you incited me against him to destroy him without cause, meaning you don't have evidence. Imagine if there is a cause. When cases are presented, God is not a biased judge, He is just, He is so just that He hears the devil. So, if there is a cause God would have actually been successfully incited against Job.

 

Verse 4. “So, Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.” He said God see I told you where I am coming from, I have been going to and fro, back and forth on the earth I have seen men. Men, Lord, they will rubbish you for their lives. It said what we took was his possession we have not taken his life, God let us press further. What was the devil doing? Inciting God, the more concerning Job. Verse 5. “But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh” Are you seeing the inciting going on? Stretch out your hand now, touch his bone and his flesh and he will surely curse you to your face.

 

Verse 6, and the Lord said to Satan behold he is in your hand now but spare his life. Are we seeing what is going on? Are we seeing the process? But in all these did we see anybody speak for Job? Nobody! Verse 7; So, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Did we see that? This was a man on the earth not aware of the activities in heaven. That his case was been presented in the court of the Lord, that Satan was inciting God against him, he did not know. All he was seeing was a product or a judged case, they just bring the ruling, what he is seeing in His life is the ruling. Why should God rule against me? Why should God rule that the devil should destroy me? When we understand this; we will truly understand how to maximize our spiritual identity. Nothing happens here by accident, the spiritual controls the physical.

 

Job’s belongings and possessions could not get missing until there was a ruling. The body of Job was preserved until there was a ruling.  We must understand that in the process of the court of God, God is a just God. So, let’s go into the actors; because while we are speaking about the actors we will understand the process. Because we will understand their roles and responsibilities in the court. The actors in the court of the Lord. We are going to spend a little bit of time in these two then I will mention the rest.

 

Number One: The Accuser. Revelations 12, we have read a little bit about the accuser but I want us to see it again in Revelations 12 and verse 10 to 11. “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser [of Job? Is that what is in the Bible?] the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God Day and night, has been cast down. The number one actor in the court of the Lord, the accuser. What is his role? To accuse the brethren. He accuses everyone that is born of God, and he does not rest. He accuses them before God, day and night. So much so that the angels could celebrate because they always see him, he is always coming, and there is only one job that he comes to do in the court, and his job is to prosecute, to accuse.

 

So, any day the devil comes into the court of the Lord, His assignment is to accuse, it’s to prosecute. So, the number one actor is the accuser. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 11. ¹¹ lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. Now if you read from verse 10 it said; Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ. We do these things lest Satan; why Satan? The accuser, lest he accuses us. That’s why when we are living our lives in this kingdom, we can’t live a carefree life. We have to live an intentional life because there is one called the accuser. Lest he takes advantage; why? He will come with his devices; it says for we are not ignorant. Why are we looking at the court of God this morning? So that we are not ignorant of His devices.

 

So that Satan will not incite God against us, lest we become ignorant of the devices of the accuser. Have you been in the court room before that the prosecuting counsel is asking a question, he uses fear as a strategy to put fear into the heart of the person so that the person becomes paralyzed? And when the person becomes paralyzed, the person will give in. You know there is a judge seated hearing and he is just. Sometimes when the devil comes with his craftiness, all he needs you to do is to say something contrary to what God has said concerning your life. So that there will be a cause. What he is looking for is hard evidence, that’s why the Bible says for every word you say, you will give account. Account where? In the court of God.

 

Because the accuser will bring those words against you. He will say God why do you want to heal him, see what he said at 11:59, on so and so day, he said this sickness will kill him. So, why do you want to heal him? He wants to die. God is just and the books will be open, and they will play it, where you said it, and it’s really you and God will be like why should you say that? I am a just judge, if what you say said is that this sickness will kill you, I don’t have a choice, the devil has to have that power. Are we understanding it this morning? God is not weak, but God is principled, He is a God of order, He sits as a judge, and he is not biased, He is just.  When there is evidence, have you been to a court before and you say but this person is not guilty but the judge says based on the evidence, presented before me I sentence this person. Why? Because of evidence. May the devil not have evidence in our lives in the name of Jesus.

 

Zechariah 3:1-2. Interesting story, I am sure we are familiar with this story, but I want us to read it because it shows clearly how the devil accuses. “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing where? at his right hand to love him? To do what? oppose him. To stand against him, to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” If the Lord did not rebuke Satan, he was standing there. He said Joshua you will not go, we are here.

 

What we don’t understand is that Satan served God, he knows Him, Satan was one of the covering cherubs before he fell. So, his proximity to the throne was so close, and he knew who God is, and he knew that he is a just God. So, when Satan started his operation as a fallen angel, he was also keying into his understanding and knowledge of God. Satan is cunny, he is not powerful, but Satan is not foolish. Believers need to understand this. Satan will not go to a place if he feels there is nothing he will get there. Because what he uses is craftiness. When he appeared in Matthew 4 tempting Jesus. what did he say? He knew there was something, this man was hungry, he did not show up until he was hungry. Why didn’t he show up on the first day of the fast? He waited for forty days and forty nights and he showed up. Why? Bible says and Jesus was hungry. There was a situation, and when the situation came Satan came.

 

He said if you know you are the son of God I have heard many people say that, turn this stone into bread because I know you are hungry, and Jesus replied Him, man must not live by bread alone, but by every word. Do you know what Satan wanted to do? If Jesus had fallen for that temptation, that’s hard evidence. God the one you sent that parades himself as your son on the earth, he has turned stone to bread, this what he has come to live for, turning stone into bread. And God will say is that why I sent Him? God will consider it, why? Its evidence. He is a judge, judges consider evidence. That’s who God is.

 

Number Two: The Advocate. Who is the advocate? He is our second actor in the court of God. Hebrews 9:24. “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are ^[k]copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Who is Christ? Christ is our advocate. He has entered into heaven itself, all along before Christ came, men were interceding for other men. Before Christ came as our advocate, men will petition God on behalf of other men, so all the do is in the earthly realm. So, God wants to destroy the children of Israel, Moses will rise up as an intercessor, God wants to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Abraham will rise up as an intercessor, these were men interceding on the earth. There was no advocate in heaven. That was why that 24 made us to understand the importance of our advocate. He is not the one that is advocating in this realm, the Bible says He entered heaven himself where the court is seated, it is not angels taking the petition to God, He himself entered heaven and what is He doing there? The Bible says to appear, to appear as what? The advocate. He appears in the court of the Lord, the presence of the Lord for us. Remember every time we see the presence of the Lord; it is the court of God. He appears in the presence of God for us. Jesus is our advocate.

 

1 John 2:1 to 2. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father.” If anyone sins don’t allow the devil come and stand and appear before God condemning you, making sure that you accept that you are guilty. It said we have an advocate with who? The Father. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Can you say that to yourself? I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That’s your advocate, He entered heaven itself, He appears for us.  The devil gets paralyzed when your advocate stands up from the right side of the throne of God and walks to stand in defense, it cripples the case. The son of God seated at the right hand of God. If you are not born again and you are listening this message, that’s why you need Jesus, there is no one that will stand for you if you are not born again.

 

When you become born again, the advocate son of the living God, will stand and defend you. Why? Because there is a mark on you, there is a seal of the Holy Spirit in you, you are identified in heaven. His blood speaks. Immediately you appear they know you have an appearance in this court. When you are born again you can’t speak for yourself because you are not there. Job was not there, but the Bible says you and I, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. so, wherever Jesus is, we appear. That’s why we appear in the spiritual realm. The Bible says we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places far above principalities and powers.

 

There is no time your case is being mentioned that spiritually your case is not being represented. Why? You are born again, you are in Christ, those that are in Christ are a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. They are new. So, He stands and appears. Did we see that? He stands and appears for us. We are reading that Hebrews 7 verse 25. What does He do for us? Therefore He is also able to save ^[h]to the uttermost those who come-did you see it? those who come  to God through Him, since He always lives-He is not dead, He always lives to make intercession for them. who are the them? those that come to God through Him. Have you come to God? Through whom have you come? If you have come to God through Christ Jesus, He always lives making intercession for you. He is your advocate.

 

Hebrews 12:24, because we need to understand this, “To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” A mediator is an advocate. He mediates, He brings peace between you and the judge, He brings favor between you and the judge. When the judge looks at you, He sees His Son. Can He sentence His Son? And when He sees His Son, He is not seeing a condemned Son, He is seeing a righteous Son. That’s why it’s called Jesus Christ the righteous. So, you are righteousness in Him. So, when you stand, He shows up for you and say Father remember the blood, I shed the blood for him, so he stands justified in the court, why? He has Jesus. The reason why you will stand justified in the court of God is because you have Jesus. not because you can speak for yourself, sometimes you don’t understand that it’s a rare privilege to have Jesus.

 

What can you say for yourself? In that Zechariah that we read, when the devil stood beside Joshua the high priest what could he say for himself? What can you say for yourself? That’s why you need Jesus as your advocate. Matthew chapter 10, this is where we are going to really spend time because we will gloss through the others. We must understand what Jesus is doing for us. Matthew 10 we will read verse 32 and verse 33. “Therefore, whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.” So, because you confess me before men on the earth, I will confess you before my Father in heaven, and say Father that is the carrier of our name, that’s a carrier of our life, I stand for him. When Jesus stands for you, it doesn’t mean that you are perfect, He is your perfection. The Father does not see you; He sees Him. Verse 33, But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Jesus knows those who are His. When cases are presented and you are not in Christ Jesus, He is not partial, He won’t stand.  See why Jesus is a treasure to us, Jesus is our advocate.

 

In rounding up we will see the other actors in the court like we mentioned, the example that we gave about a natural court, we have the jury called the cloud of witnesses. Let’s see Hebrews 12:22-24, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. It says you have come to the spirits of just men, because they are spirits. The spirits of just men made perfect are cloud of witnesses. It says are we not surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. Who are those clouds of witnesses? The saints that their spirit has returned back to God. Paul, Peter and the likes, they are the clouds of witnesses.

 

They have lived this life. Angels are not in the cloud of witnesses; they are the saints.  So they stand and say yes, and they are so excited for us, because they know before Jesus came nobody could stand in the court defending them. and that’s why the Bible says that they longed to see this day. This day that you and I are living in and are taking it with levity, the saints longed to see this day. The day that men are represented in the court of God, where Jesus is standing for men in the court of God. they longed to see this day, Abraham didn’t have it, John the Baptist didn’t have it. that’s why Jesus said; of all of the old, John the Baptist was the greatest but the least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist because there is an advocate standing for him.

 

John the Baptist didn’t have Him, when they brought a case against John the Baptist, he had to be beheaded. And that was why John the Baptist was offended, Jesus you have come and you could not stop them from beheading me, and Jesus sent a message back I didn’t come so that they won’t behead you, you have to go. I came for these ones, the lost sheep, I came to stand for them. it says there’s no one that needs a physician except that one that is seek. There is no one that needs an advocate in the court of God except that one that is not represented. After Adam fell there was no representation for man, but now, this day, these are the days of glory. That’s why nothing can stop your manifestation, you are the only one that can stop your manifestation. That’s why the Bible says the earnest expectation of creations are waiting eagerly, earnestly for the manifestation of the sons of God. Why? They can see the glory.

 

Another actor in the court of God is the angels. The angels attend to the judge, and that’s why if you go to Daniel chapter 7 verse 10, you will see where the Bible makes us to understand that when the thrones were seated and the ancient of days was seated, it said 10 thousand times 10 thousand attended to Him. And thousands upon thousands upon thousands stood before Him.  So, the angels also witness these things. No wonder they were asking God; God, what is man that you are mindful of him? They witness these things. Nor son of man that you visit him. These things are a glimpse in the Scripture, these things are more beautiful to behold than what I am saying.

 

If you believe the word that the Lord is saying to you this morning, and you live your life understanding the process and the actors in the court of God and how that you are so represented, and you live your life in honor of Christ, that’s why the Bible says God has exalted Him and has given Him a name that is above every other name, that at the mention of the name of Jesus every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. The devil confesses at the name of Jesus, your Lord is appearing on behalf of somebody, what do you have to say? This is so true, this is not to make us feel excited, this is the truth of God’s word. We are represented by an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. He makes intercession, and how do we understand that He makes intercession for us? if you go to Romans 8 verse 26 to 27, the Spirit makes intercession for us, that’s why when He was going, He said I am not going to leave you as orphans, howbeit the helper the Father will send in my name and He will lead you into all truth.

 

The Bible says the Spirit makes intercession. We don’t know how we ought to pray, we don’t know how we ought to present our case. If you ever think you know how to present your case, even though you are a lawyer, a SAN, in heaven you will not know how you ought to present your case. When the books are opened, you will be speechless. The Bible says He makes intercession for us with groaning that cannot be uttered in words.  Because when the Holy Spirit takes you over, He will take you into the very heart of the judge, and you will start speaking things that will get the attention of Jesus and when He gets the attention because He is the Spirit of Christ, Jesus will take over and He will represent you.

 

Write down Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25; it says He is able to save to the uttermost, completely. We have read that before, He is able to save, Jesus is able to save to the uttermost, He won’t just save you for a time, and for the rest of the time He will leave you to yourself, no! He is able to save to the uttermost. And He is living to make petitions for God and intervene on our behalf. I am going to close with Hebrews 4:16, “therefore, let us with privilege haven understood the court system of God and the actors and the role of our advocate, let us with privilege, not with an entitlement mentality, but with privilege, approach the throne of grace, the throne of Gods unmerited favor to us sinners, that we may receive mercy. We should be judged but Jesus says mercy said no! on this one has mercy. We receive mercy for our failures and find grace to help in good times for every need appropriate help and well-timed help coming just when we need it. [Amp.]

 

The help coming just when we need it, not after the boils have come, not after the possessions have been taken away, but just when we need it, at the nick of time. Are you not excited that you have an advocate? Celebrate the Lord.

Thanks for the gift of your time, We are Lara Gboyega Adedeji and Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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