This series feeds our appetite for a good courtroom drama. It concludes with one of the most shocking plot twists you will ever encounter! The characters are real, and any representation of their true nature is intentional. The stage has been set. You are on trial. You stand accused. And so do I.

Every trial scene includes witnesses. On the other side of the court room, the prosecutor (Satan) has plenty of help, a huge supply of witnesses for the prosecution. The list of witnesses can be categorized into three buckets:

First, judgmental people. We all have those people in our lives somewhere that just cannot see the good in us. Anytime we start to make progress, they find a way to tear us down. All too often, they are just stuck in the past, helping us to remember our mistakes, our failures, the times we’ve fallen short. But sometimes they also point out our current shortcomings, which is even more painful. The enemy loves disunity and dissension. He’ll use it to keep you out of the game, depressed and certain you’ll never measure up. But he also uses it to keep those that are casting judgments toward us from living the life God has in mind for them. Judgmental and critical people make for a win/win situation for the prosecution.

The next group of witnesses for the prosecution are even more formidable. They are referred to in scripture as principalities and powers of darkness. We find them referred to in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12

We are told in scripture that Satan, then known as Lucifer, was cast out of heaven and that one third of the angels were cast out with him as they joined in his rebellion. These spiritual forces of evil are at his beck and call, wreaking havoc in our lives, whispering lies into our minds, and hurling insults and accusations toward all beings that come to our defense. The prosecutor and his minions are so good at what they do that they even twist God’s words to make us guilty, as seen in the garden of Eden with Eve. Satan tried this on our defense lawyer while he was walking as a human on the earth. We see recorded in Matthew 4 the temptation of Jesus while he fasted for forty days and nights. Satan used scripture to tempt Jesus to make a power grab and avoid the pain and suffering that God the Father was asking of him. He twisted the words of God, which ironically Jesus had a hand in recording, but Jesus knew his mission and knew the truth so completely that he successfully fended off the attack.

Finally, we, the defendants, are potentially the worst witnesses of all on behalf of the prosecution. It is best if we do not take the stand. Why? As I admitted earlier to you, I’m guilty. I would have to perjure myself on the stand, I would be the one telling lies, if I declared my innocence. No, my best chance – and yours – is to allow our defense attorney to do his work on our behalf.

Coming up next in this drama, we’ll see that he has quite an impressive list of witnesses to call.