And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the ACCUSER of our brethren is cast down, which ACCUSED them before our God day and night.

Revelation 12:10

Although the devil is commonly known as the accuser of the brethren, he is actually the accuser in the midst of the brethren.

In your leadership experience, you will meet different kinds of people. Perhaps one of the most daunting enemies you will ever encounter is “the accuser in the midst of the brethren”.

Problems come in different levels but one of the highest problems is to encounter an accuser in the midst of the brethren.

At the highest point of your ministry, you will struggle with the accuser. Accusation is Satan’s topmost strategy for dealing with an unconquerable enemy.

Satan’s Best Weapon

Satan has different formats by which he operates. He may come to you in the form of a tempter, a liar, a murderer or a deceiver. However, if he takes you on as an accuser, the battle has been lifted to the highest possible level.

This principle is played out in the life of Jesus Christ. Initially, the devil came to him in the form of a tempter. Jesus Christ was tempted in the wilderness for forty days. Satan lied to Him in the wilderness and desperately tried to deceive Him.

Throughout his ministry, the Lord was attacked by the devil in the form of a murderer. “He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). On several occasions, Satan tried to kill Jesus through mob action but He would escape.

And they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

But passing through their midst, He went His way.

Luke 4:29-30, NASB

On another occasion, the devil tried to drown Jesus in the Sea of Galilee but he was not successful because Jesus rebuked the storm. It was not God who brought the storm; otherwise, Jesus rebuked God’s wisdom by rebuking the storm.

But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

Luke 8:23-24

Coming in the Garb of an Accuser

However, Jesus’ ministry was finally brought to an end when Satan put on the garb of an accuser. Jesus endured one week of intense accusations, which brought His ministry to an end. This week of intensive accusations, started from Palm Sunday until He was crucified. In Matthew 21:1-17, you will see how He entered Jerusalem triumphantly and cleansed the temple. You will notice how the questions and accusations started from the day after He arrived in Jerusalem (Matthew 21:23).

This time Satan pulled out his deadliest weapon and unleashed it against the Lord. The weapon of accusation was finally deployed. For a whole week before the Passover, the Lord was in the temple being questioned and examined (accused) by the Pharisees.

Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ENTANGLE HIM in his talk.

And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.

Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

But Jesus perceived their WICKEDNESS, and said, Why TEMPT ye me, ye hypocrites?

Matthew 22:15-18

The Lord was questioned about every aspect of His life and ministry.

For several days, the Lord endured the wickedness and hypocrisy of those who questioned Him in the temple. In the last twenty-four hours of His life, He was also accused in the palace of the high priest, in Pilate’s court and also in Herod’s palace.

Jesus met this series of high-level accusations with a variety of responses. He answered the temple questions succinctly and made fools out of His accusers.

When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

Matthew 22:22

They had never heard anything like that before.

The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

John 7:46

However, when in the court of Pilate and other heathen rulers, He answered nothing to the questions that were levelled at Him.

And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

Matthew 27:14

As you can see, Satan has different guises under which he attacks. In this section of the book, we will be dealing with the accusers who are used by the devil to intimidate you. Perhaps you suffer from a plague of accusations in the ministry. Often you do not understand what is happening to you. By the time you finish this book, God will give you wisdom to fight the enemy.

What Is an Accusation?

An accusation is a charge or allegation made against someone. It puts blame and points fingers at a person. An accusation is a statement saying that you think someone is guilty of doing something wrong, especially of committing a crime.

These statements, which are directed at a person, constantly minister a withering and weakening guilt. Only very strong-hearted people can live with persistent accusations for a long time. Even though accusations come out of human mouths, they are anointed by the accuser of the brethren himself. Satan is the accuser in the midst of the brethren.

Who Are the People Commonly Employed as Accusers?

In my country, some people are commonly employed as security guards. There are also people who are commonly employed as butchers and khebab sellers. Similarly, there are some people whom Satan commonly employs as accusers. These people fall into the category I call “familiar friends” of the accused.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted uphis heel against me.

Psalm 41:9

Familiar friends are the familiar people of your life: friends, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, beloveds, associate pastors, church members, journalists, classmates etc. For accusations to have any impact, they must be channelled through someone close.

Why Not Simply Brush off Accusations?

Are accusations not statements that are true or false? If they are not true, why don’t you just ignore them? But it is never as easy as that.

Accusations are anointed from Hell. Accusations are spiritual things. Accusations are tiny arrows loaded with satanic poison. As soon as the poison enters your blood, it spreads through your whole being, attacking your heart. Like some fast-spreading natural poison, you are greatly affected by a seemingly little dart.

I have seen mighty giants of God totally ruffled by unfounded accusations which looked insignificant to the bystander. Such is the power of accusation. It is a puzzling weapon and its effects are mysterious. Truly, accusations are spiritual weapons.

The Pointing of the Finger

Then YOUR LIGHT WILL BREAK OUT LIKE THE DAWN, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; You will cry, and He will say, “Here I am.” IF YOU REMOVE the yoke from your midst, THE POINTING OF THE FINGER and speaking wickedness,

Isaiah 58:8-9, NASB

Accusations are also called “the pointing of the finger”. Such is the evil released by the pointing of the finger, that the light in your life and ministry will actually grow dim from it. Your light will break forth like the dawn and there will be recovery if you put away the pointing of the finger!

Ministries cannot prosper once a finger-pointing person is allowed to flourish nearby. Much of the darkness in the body of Christ is as a result of the incessant accusations made by brother against brother, sister against sister, husband against wife, and so on.

You must know the people around you who are used to accuse you. Every good leader must understand the principles of accusation. You can wither and weaken in ministry through diverse accusations! Your ministry can actually be misdirected by accusations. I have experienced that myself. Perhaps this is the most important section of this book and I pray you will study it seriously.

The book of Revelation shows how God dealt decisively with the accuser of the brethren. It reveals four amazing benefits of silencing accusations. In these four benefits, we see everything that we desire from God – strength, salvation, power and the kingdom of God. Oh, how much power and strength will be released into your life if the pointing of the finger was not there.

Most ordinary people do not feel that they are qualified to serve God. Most of the people I have trained in the ministry were discouraged and accused by the devil. But I simply encouraged them constantly to serve God and become priests in spite of their shortcomings.

This encouragement was completely contrary to the voice of the accuser in their lives. That voice told them they were not good enough! But my constant encouragement to serve God and to trust Him silenced the voice of the accuser. Suddenly, weak and incapable people received salvation, power and strength to do God’s work.

The Benefits of Dealing with the Accuser

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come SALVATION, and STRENGTH, and the KINGDOM OF OUR GOD, and the POWER OF HIS CHRIST: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which ACCUSED them before our God day and night.

Revelation 12:10

This Scripture shows four clear blessings of dealing with accusers:

1. Salvation is the first benefit of silencing accusers in your midst.

2. Strength is the next important benefit for eliminating accusers from your little fellowship.

3. The kingdom of our God will come when the accuser of the brethren is cast down.

4. Finally, the power of Christ is released when the accuser is dealt with.

All these benefits are clearly outlined in the Scripture as being things that happen when the accuser is silenced.

If you allow an associate minister to point fingers at you, you will be weakened and the power of God in your life will be reduced. The salvation and the coming of God’s kingdom are dependent on you dealing with the accuser.

by Dag Heward-Mills