Mike Bickle emphasizes the message of Zechariah chapter 3, which reveals God's desire to silence the voice of the accuser in the lives of His people. He shares a prophetic dream that highlighted the importance of overcoming accusations that hinder God's blessings and destinies for individuals and spiritual families. Bickle explains that despite our weaknesses and failures, God offers grace, cleansing, and renewal, allowing us to walk confidently in our calling. He encourages the congregation to take authority over accusations and to embrace the blessings God has promised. The sermon culminates in a prayer for healing and restoration, affirming God's commitment to His people.

Zechariah chapter 3. It's a passage that's well known to a number of you, but to some of you it might be new. And so I'll describe it a little bit to you. And why Zechariah chapter 3 this morning? Well, last Tuesday, so about a week ago, I had a very powerful prophetic dream. And in this dream, the truth of Zechariah chapter 3 was emphasized that the Lord wants to release this blessing upon this spiritual family. And the message of Zechariah 3 is that the Lord wants to silence the voice of the accuser in the lives of His people because the voice of accusation, the accuser, hinders the blessing of God in a number of ways. So Zechariah 3, the bottom line takeaway message, the Lord has promised blessing. He's promised to break in in His grace in the lives of His people. He's ordained a destiny for every believer and then collectively for spiritual families. But the enemy comes to hinder that blessing, to interrupt it, to distract us from it. Well, in this dream, last Tuesday, I was speaking over various ones in the congregation here. And I was saying, in the name of Jesus, I take authority over Satan. I cancel the assignment of Satan was the idea of the prayer. And I was sitting around a fellowship table with different ones in the congregation. And as I'm praying this, you know, in the dream, I'm extending my hand and saying, in the name of Jesus, I take authority over this. And so it's about two o'clock in the morning and I wake up and now I'm not in the dream, but my hand is extended and I'm finishing the sentence awake that I started in the dream. Wow, that's unusual. Then I think on it for a little while and go back to sleep. And then maybe an hour later, I have the same kind of dream and I'm sitting around the table with different ones in the congregation and I'm speaking in the name of Jesus. And I wake up again and my finger is extended and I'm finishing the sentence awake. And I went, wow, that happened twice in one night. Well, it happens a third time, the same thing. Well, by then, you know, it's time, almost time to get up. I've got to do the 6 a.m. prayer meeting that morning. And so I just go ahead and get up and just say, Lord, what is this? It's the truth of Zechariah chapter three. And you'll see in a moment where the accuser is rebuked by the Lord Himself and the blessing of God is restored, the blessing that was hindered. And the Lord was speaking clearly to me Tuesday, this is what I want to release in the midst of this spiritual family. Now this truth is even more pronounced for today, I mean for this season in our spiritual family because a week earlier. So go back a week. I had the dream a week ago. Go back two weeks. It's Monday, January 26th. Our friendship group is meeting and the Lord highlights in a very specific way, Zechariah three in this friendship group. And the way that He highlights it is there's several components to it, which I won't go into all those details right now, but He highlights it in a very, very clear way. But the most significant part of it was a 14 years ago, Deborah Hebert, who is one of our senior leaders and one that helped start IHOP 15 years ago. Deborah Hebert was, had a dream 14 years ago. And in that dream, the Lord showed her that on January 26th, on January 26th, God was going to release a dimension of blessing related to Zechariah chapter three. It's 14 years ago. So the next year on January 26th, she's thinking, Lord, this is it. You're going to do something that where you're going to an unusual way and emphasize this. Well, nothing happened January 26th. And the next year, the next year, the next year, the next year, 14 years in a row. Lord, is this the day? Well, this year, 2015, January 26th, our friendship group was meeting on a Monday. Me and Diane are still on vacation in Florida, enjoying ourselves, having a great time thinking of you, but glad to be there, anxious to get home. At the end, we were missing our family and wanting to get back, but we got a bunch of emails of, oh my goodness, the Lord here on January 26th emphasized in the group and in several different ways, but very, very clearly Zechariah chapter three, that the voice of the accuser is to be silenced in several different ways and blessing is to be released and on and on. So that was two weeks ago in the friendship group. One week ago, I have a dream and I am pronouncing this blessing and taking authority over the work of the enemy in the lives of people. And the Lord is saying from that two weeks ago, and then one week ago, when I had the dream two weeks ago, the friendship group 14 years ago, the dream that it would be confirmed on January 26th, which was two weeks ago. It was. And so I believe that we're in that season right now as a spiritual family. And I believe there's a corporate dimension to that word, but there's also a personal and a family dimension. And so I'm going to share a little bit about Zechariah three, what the story is, the context. And then at the end, we're going to take some time and we're going to take authority over Satan's accusations in our life and the hindrance of blessing. And I believe that we're going to see a shift in the lives of individuals, family units, and even us as a spiritual family and as a ministry together. And so I'm just want to kind of fill you in, kind of get your mind connected to what happened in Zechariah three. Again, some of you are very familiar with this passage, but just by way of remembrance, we're going to go through it again. So let's look at the context. Paragraph A, God had promised great blessing to the nation of Israel. This is about 500 years BC, about 500 years before Christ, a little bit longer. Zechariah the prophet received eight visions in one night. I mean, that's the most remarkable day of his life, undoubtedly, to receive eight visions powerful from the throne of God in one night. And in those first visions in that night, God spoke about the blessing and the destiny over the nation of Israel. But the problem was that in that very context, in that very time frame, Israel was living in compromise. So how does the blessing of God, the destiny of God for our lives, how do we interpret that when we're living in weakness and failure and compromise? So the question arises, how can a weak people, how can a weak people have confidence? How can they hope for the promises of God when they know their weakness and their failures? They're so pronounced. They look at their life and they go, it's not what I want to be. They look at their resources. There's not enough. But Lord, your promises are so sure and so clear. Well, Zechariah had eight visions on that one night. The first three visions, promise, blessing, destiny, promise, blessing, destiny. But the next two visions on that very same night, the Lord answers the question, how is it that he can speak blessing over a people that are in such profound weakness and failure? And we find those two visions in Zechariah three and Zechariah four. We're only going to look at Zechariah three and ever so briefly this morning. Paragraph B, but for those, I'll say this, that are interested more in this is that on the website, I have a far more extensive notes on Zechariah three and four. If you're interested, you say, Hey, I'm unfamiliar with this passage and I like a little bit more on it. I've got quite a bit on it. I taught a seminar on Zechariah a couple of years ago and caught quite a, you know, 10, 15 pages of notes on each one of these chapters. If I remember right, it's quite a bit of notes on it. If you want more on this subject, well, paragraph B, Zechariah three and Zechariah four, they go together. God's answering how he can be so committed. How's he going to fulfill his commitments of great blessing, great promise to people that are so weak, that lacks so much resource. Paragraph C, well, the two main obstacles that are obvious. The Lord addresses both of them. Our sin. Lord, what about our sin? What do you do about our sin? The Lord provides cleansing and renewal and forgiveness and grace. Okay, second obstacle about our destiny and our promises, lack of resource. Lord says, I promise you supernatural provision. I'll break through. I'll make a way where there is no way. So the message is clear. Paragraph D, he says, I'll cleanse your hearts, even your greatest sins. I'll give you a new beginning. I'll provide for you and I'll use your work, even your weakest and smallest labors. Because see, we look at our individual labors and we say, Lord, it's so weak. It's so little. And the Lord says, even if you give somebody a cup of cold water in my name and obedience, I will use that and I will remember it and I will multiply that which I've put into your hands. So paragraph E, just to say it again in a different way. The first obstacle is the lie that we fail too much. Beloved, that's a lie. The failures are too great. They're too consistent. I have failed too much to be used by God. The second obstacle that we have to overcome is the lie, we lack too much. We don't have enough resource. There's not enough open doors. There's not enough, it's not going to happen. And the Lord says, you wait and see what I do. Let's look at Roman numeral two on the notes. Zechariah chapter three. Let's read verse, start with verse one. We'll look at a few of the verses and then we'll go into a time of prayer and ministry. It starts off in verse one, Zechariah the prophet, he sees Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord. Now the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, many Bible scholars believe that's a pre-incarnate visitation of Christ, of Christ himself appearing in the Old Testament. And so what happens? The prophet Zechariah is having an open vision. He sees Joshua. Now Joshua's one of the primary spiritual leaders of the whole nation of Israel. Again Israel's in a time of compromise, spiritual lethargy, where they're not following through on the things God promised them, commanded them to do, all these things, and they're coming up short. So one of the primary spiritual leaders, Joshua, he's the high priest. He sees him standing before the Lord. He goes, I know him. He's one of the main leaders of our nation. The prophet sees him in an open vision. But it's a very unusual situation because Satan appears in this vision and he accuses Joshua before the Lord. Joshua's disqualified. You can't use this man. And we go on to find in the vision, we'll look at a minute later, his garments are dirty. He's got failure in his life. He's disqualified. And so the law, so the devil is presenting his case to the Lord against Joshua. Why Joshua can't be used. Why Joshua can't believe for the promises that were given. Remember the eight visions Zechariah had, the first three were all promises of glory in Zechariah 1 and 2. But here in Zechariah 3, the devil's saying you can't release promises like that in a man's life that has this kind of failure. His garments are dirty Lord, and you can't deny they're dirty. Well the problem is that Joshua's guilty as charged. He had failures in his life. He would in the natural, in the human sense, be disqualified. It's not a question about it. So Satan is accusing the Lord. Now when Satan accuses a believer or a people, that accusation Satan makes to the Lord, but his demonic emissaries, demons are whispering or inspiring those thoughts into the minds of the individual believers. And the enemy is inspiring those thoughts in the minds of people around those believers. So the accusation is going night and day before God by Satan. But in Satan's hierarchy, his demonic emissaries, demons, believers all over the earth are constantly being hit with accusation in their own thinking. I'm disqualified. It's not worth it. The Lord isn't even, His favor is not on me. I have failed too much. I have too little resource. I'm not trained enough. There's not enough opportunity. Nobody knows. Nobody cares about me. I've forgotten. It's not worth it. Those are all different types of accusing thoughts that enter into our mind. And we know that the father of lies, Satan himself, he is the source of those, and again the whole demonic ranks under him are carrying these messages, inspiring these dark thoughts in believers about their own lives. And the enemy stirs them up in the people around us. So it's very common that in a marriage, one spouse is accusing the other, giving voice to the enemy's accusations. Or in a family, parents and children, children and parents, siblings one to another, and on and on. In a work relationship, in a church ministry and family, the voice of accusation must be silenced and cut off because that power of accusation hinders the release of God's blessing in people's lives. Well let's read the verse. Zechariah 3 verse 1. Then he showed me Joshua. Again, the prophet's having an open vision. And Joshua, who's one of the top spiritual leaders of the nation, the high priest, he's standing before the angel of the Lord. And Satan is at his right hand, and Satan is accusing Joshua. He's disqualified. You can't use him. He's failed too much over and over. Paragraph B. Now the name or the word Satan, it's both a name and just a normal word, it means accuser. That's what it means in Hebrew. One of Satan's primary names is the accuser. Look at Revelation 12 verse 10. He accuses night and day. Unrelenting. Why is he unrelenting? Because accusation is so effective. It's so effective. It doesn't move God, but Satan knows that his demonic emissaries inspire those thoughts in individual believers about their own life and about one another. He knows it will hinder the blessing of God. So Satan is unrelenting night and day, day and night, night and day, because he knows this strategy is so effective. It gets believers to draw back from the Lord and give up and give in to their despair. And Lord, I'm too broken. I'm too weak. I'm unqualified. There's not enough resource. Nobody pays attention. I'm not appreciated. Lord, you're not helping me. It's not worth it anyway. That voice of accusation, it just fills the earth all through the body of Christ. Paragraph C. Well, we find out good news. Glorious. We see the Lord's response to the accusation and he doesn't like it. He doesn't tolerate it at all. Here's what happens in the court of heaven, in the father's court. Verse two, and again, the prophet Zechariah has seen this. He's watching this drama play out, but it's real. It's a real exchange happening in the spirit realm that has implications and impact on our lives in the natural realm. Verse two, and the Lord said to Satan, he hears this charge again. The problem with the charge is Josh was guilty. He does have dirty garments. He did fail numerous times. And the Lord says to Satan, verse two, the Lord rebuke you. He goes on and says it again a little differently. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, he rebuke you. And the Lord adds one more phrase. Is this not pointing at Joshua? Again, one of the top spiritual leaders of the nation, the high priest. Isn't he like a branch plucked from a bonfire, saved from total destruction. Didn't I save his life from destruction, not to destroy him now, Satan. I have found ways of recovery, of restoration and renewal. That's what's in my heart. Not looking for ways to destroy him. I've already delivered him from destruction. Let's read this verse again. This is the Lord's answer. Number one, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. Again, Satan means accuser. The Lord rebuke you, you accuser. I know your accusations. And then the Lord goes on. And again, he identifies himself because I want you to understand Satan, the nature in which I'm rebuking you as the God who has chosen Jerusalem. Now, the reason God is rebuking Satan's charge, the charges were true. He's not rebuking him because Satan was lying at that particular time. Joshua was guilty. But God's rebuking him because God is the God of grace, the God of his sovereign choice. And even points to Jerusalem. Let's go to top of page two, paragraph D. He says he, God identifies himself as the God who chose Jerusalem. Why is that a significant phrase while God's rebuking Satan? Well, Jerusalem is one of the most wicked cities in history. The Lord himself through the prophets many times calls Jerusalem the sinful city, the city, the harlot city. Jesus said, you're the city that killed the prophets. It was the city that killed the Messiah. There was a city that worshiped demons and cast off the God of Israel who loved them. A city many times through the generations full of bloodshed and immorality and adultery and occult activity and murdering the prophets. The Lord says, I know what Jerusalem is like. I'm the God that can see the end from the beginning. So God chose Jerusalem. He says, but I chose Jerusalem. And God has ordained that Jerusalem be an illustration throughout all of history to all the nations of how extreme the grace of God is. How far God's willing to go. When individuals or even nations begin to say it's, we've gone too far. There's no hope. God says, look at Jerusalem. They murdered the prophets. They killed my son. They worshiped demons. City full of murder and adultery and occult activity. But my choice is sure and the blessing is coming. I'm the God that chose Jerusalem. Take courage. That's the message that he's saying. I'm the God of grace. I'm the God of sovereign choice. I know what I'm doing. Beloved, what an answer that God gives Satan in his accusations. He goes, you think your accusations will prevail on me? And I'm the God that chose Jerusalem. And I just spoke blessing in Zechariah 1 and Zechariah 2, the earlier visions of that night. I just spoke blessing over Jerusalem and you think I can't restore Joshua and cover him after what I just said about Jerusalem? Of course, undoubtedly Satan's reeling under this powerful declaration of the Lord. Paragraph E and he says, and as for Joshua, let's look at him now. He goes, isn't he a brand or like a branch plucked from a bonfire? So picture this big bonfire and they throw a branch in and the branch is catching on fire. I mean about, it's soon to be completely destroyed. Now, Joshua had just been delivered from the Babylonian captivity. I mean, he almost was destroyed and the nation of Israel was nearly snuffed out in the 70 years of Babylonian captivity they just came out of. So that's part of the application of this statement. He goes, I saved his life there, not to destroy it now. And Joshua had failures and sins and compromises that in his life and the Lord says, I've delivered him from the destruction he surely deserves. I delivered him from Babylon and the natural and I've covered him up to this point in time. Beloved, how many of us, I mean all of us, we're like a burning stick snatched from a fire by the grace of God. Except the grace of God, we would have no future at all is the message. This is how the Lord silenced the accusation of Satan. He says, I'm not going to destroy Jerusalem or Joshua or any of my, that's not what I'm about. Now, God's people do have to say yes to him. This isn't about, hey, since the grace of God is so great, let's just cast off God's leadership because Joshua was in a season of his life where he was coming to the Lord and he was saying, Lord, I'm renouncing this and I'm committing myself to your ways, but my record is not great and my history is spotted with failure. That's a wrong interpretation to read this passage and saying, well, boys will be boys. The grace of God is so great, just keep on sinning. This isn't spoken to people who are content to stay in compromise. This is spoken to people they've set their heart to obey, but the failures are still there. They're not agreeing with the failures. They stumble in them and the failures are in their track record, but they've set their heart. They say, Lord, we want your grace. We want your leadership. We want to do it your way, but we're weak. We're broken, and we believe you, and he's the God who gives mercy new day after day after day. Lamentations 3 says his mercies are new every single morning. Lamentations chapter 3 verse 22 to 25. Look at paragraph F. The Lord delights in mercy. He says to Micah the prophet, Micah 7. He goes, I enjoy giving mercy. I mean, can you imagine this? The devil comes and tells us that we've exhausted the mercy of God. After we've repented, we've come back, and the devil says, you've exhausted it. It's too late. You've gone too far. You're just going to fail again. Why presume on the mercy of God? And the Lord's answer is, I delight in mercy. I love giving mercy, and it gives my people confidence to stand before me in their weakness. It gives them courage to begin again in a heart of full obedience. After a track record of failure, they have courage to sign up again to be totally the Lord's. Yes, they'll stumble again, but that delight of God in giving mercy, it gives us such courage and confidence. Gratitude as well fills our heart with gratitude. I have here in paragraph F Psalm 18 verse 35, David said, I love this, your gentleness has made me great Lord. David had significant failures in his life, but he said, you dealt with me in gentleness, and because you dealt gently with me and didn't cast me off, you're not finished with me. It wasn't the end of the story, my failures, but you dealt gently with me. Therefore, you've made me great, which means you've given me opportunity to recover. You've given me an opportunity to go on and fulfill my destiny because you didn't cancel me out when I deserve to be canceled out. Your gentleness has made me great. Beloved, I have good news. The Lord knew what he was getting into when he chose you. I mean, we knew we were a mess, but then we give our heart to the Lord and, you know, five years go by, 10 years go by, more years, we find out we're a bigger mess than we knew when we first got saved. I mean, we knew when we got saved we were a mess, but we find out here we are in the family of God, under the covenant of God, recipients of the mercy, and still we see troubles, failures, and compromises, and the Lord says, I knew what I was getting into when I called your name. I'm the God that chose sinful Jerusalem, and I refuse to give up. You wait and see. I'm the God that plucked Joshua like a burning branch out of the fires of destruction. You wait, I'll do it again and again and again. Paragraph G, Romans chapter 8, we find this same principle of Zechariah 3. Paul emphasizes and elaborates on this principle in Romans chapter 8. Let's read Romans 8 verse 33 to 34. Paul says, who can bring a charge against God's elect? It's God who justifies. Who is he who condemns in the presence of God? It's Jesus at the right hand who's interceding. He's presenting our case as to why we should receive the favor of God. What a glorious statement. This is, again, Paul's elaboration of the truth of Zechariah chapter 3. Let's read this verse again. Verse 33, who will bring a charge against us, against God's elect? Now here's the, here's the question. I mean, anybody can accuse us, but what Paul's saying, who has the authority to enforce a charge in God's court against God's people? What demon, what person can charge you in a way that will have authority in God's court, that where the charge sticks, the charge actually has consequences? And the answer is nobody can. No man has authority in God's court to evaluate you except for one man. And that man, Christ, at the right hand of the Father, he's interceding for you. He's presenting your case, showing nail-scarred hands, present the presentation of his blood. The debt has been paid, and his own intercession, Father, I paid the price for this one. Father, they are the beloved of your heart. Father, this is my eternal companion, my bride forever. Father, my blood is sufficient. They have my righteousness. Father, and he's interceding and presenting our cause and his own blood before the Father. Beloved, who can prevail? Every demon in hell can present their case. Let's read in verse 34, who is he who condemns? And the idea is Satan can accuse, but he doesn't have the authority to bring God's condemnation or God's judgment on you. He didn't have the authority to release the judgment of God. He has no power to condemn us. He can accuse, he can present a case, but beloved, if we don't agree with that case, that case has no power. The problem is many of God's people agree with the case. They don't do it on purpose, and in our just our unrenewed thinking, we give voice to Satan's voice against ourselves. We give voice to Satan's voice against our spouse, our siblings, our children, our parents, our friends, our co-workers. The Lord says, I don't agree with what you say. Again, the accusation isn't just I'm guilty and disqualified. It's more insidious than that. What I'm doing doesn't matter to God. That's an accusation. I have no hope anyway. I mean, I've gone this many years. It's too late. I've gone too far. The Lord's not even paying attention to me. It's not worth it anymore to press in. Beloved, that's an accusation. The devil is very, very subtle, but I have good news for you. First John 2 verse 1, you have an advocate. You have a lawyer. You have a man presenting your case in the presence of Satan's accusations, and of course, that's what we find in Zechariah 3, paragraph 8. Let's go back to the passage. We're back at the vision. Zechariah, remember he had eight visions at night. I mean, most remarkable. I don't think any prophet has ever had eight visions in one night. Anyway, any prophet that's recorded them in the Bible, the most dramatic night of visions, the first three visions were blessing, destiny, glory, blessing, destiny, glory, and then the question is, how can you give this destiny and blessing to people in this kind of weakness? So Zechariah 3 comes, and Satan, he stands before the court and says, you can't bless this man like you said in those earlier visions. You can't. You can't. And the Lord says, Satan, the Lord rebuke you. I'm the God that chose wicked Jerusalem, and I will cause her to recover and be the city of righteousness. You wait and see my plan of restoration, the power of my grace, the tenacity of my love and commitment to that city. Well, let's continue in the vision. Paragraph 8, Zechariah 3, verse 3. There's Joshua, verse 3, covered with filthy garments. He is guilty. I mean, the filthy garments are clearly an indication of the failure and the weakness in his life. More than just generic weakness, there's failures in his history. But we know that Joshua is in a place of giving himself to the Lord in humility and repentance, and he's sincere. Didn't have the victory yet, but the sincerity has touched his heart. The victory's in his heart, but it hadn't fully manifest. And beloved, when we are sincere about obeying, and the enemy comes and tells us our track record as early as yesterday, what we did or said back, but our heart is not in agreement. We're not wanting to live that way. We're declaring war. We're calling sin, sin. We're renouncing it. We're declaring war on it. We're not casual about our sin. Beloved, our sin costs Jesus his life. Our sin is serious. He paid for it. He wants us freed from it. It's the opposite of everything that we're about. So verse three, Joshua was clothed in dirty garments. There he is standing. Guilty as charged. That's not the end of the story. Our failures are not the end of the story. There's another word that is spoken. There's a blood, there's blood that speaks louder than any of the accusation of the enemy. Jesus's intercession for us is far more powerful than Satan's accusation, but we've got to take hold of it. We've got to speak what Jesus speaks over us, not what the enemy speaks. We have to speak what Jesus speaks over our family members, our spouse, our children, our friends. We got to speak what God speaks, not what the devil speaks. Verse four, the Lord answers, oh I can, I'm just, just imagine this thunderous voice of God. Verse four, take away the dirty garments. Yes, he's guilty. Yes, he's disqualified according to the flesh, but he's standing before me in the grace. Remove the charge against him in my court. Oh Lord, take away the filthy garments. Remove them, for I've chosen him, and he's chosen every one of us that have responded to him in the grace of God. It's what the New Testament makes clearly. We're all chosen if we're responding and saying yes, and here's what the Lord goes on. He says, but I want you to give a message to Joshua. He's telling Zechariah, when you go back, he goes, I want you to tell him this. He says, say this. This is the message Zechariah is to bring. See, Joshua, the Lord has removed your iniquity or your sin. See, Joshua, I've clothed you with the robes of righteousness. I've clothed you in the grace of God. Do you see that, Joshua? And that word see is so important. Just circle it a couple times, because the battle for our hearts, the battle for our life is waged on what we see. If we only see Satan's accusation against our family members, against our own life, the enemy has great access to our life. But if we see what God says, I have removed your iniquity. As far as the east is from the west, King David said, he's removed our sin. Psalm 103, as far as the east is from the west, he's removed our iniquity, forgiven us. In the presence of God, we are clothed with rich robes. So, the Lord exhorted Joshua, and the prophet was to go tell him this, you have to say what God says. You have to see what God sees. Let's go on and read verse 6 and 7, and bring this to an application of ministry for our own lives. Then the angel of the Lord, verse 6, he admonished Joshua. He said, if you walk in my ways, if you keep my command, you'll judge my house, you'll have charge over my courts, and I'll give you a place to walk among those who stand here. So, God's cleansing, God's renewal of Joshua's calling in life. But the Lord, verse 6, again, the Lord doesn't just, the Lord doesn't take sin lightly. He looks at Joshua, verse 6. He admonishes him. Admonishing is an exhortation with a tone of correction. Again, it's not, well, boys will be boys, brusque God versus grace. Let's just go walk in a little immorality. Let's just go walk in a little of this or a little bit of that. I mean, hey, you know, we're human. What's the big deal? No, the angel of the Lord says, don't despise the grace of God. Let the grace of God awaken such gratitude in you because of his outrageous extravagance in his commitment for you. So, he admonishes him. Again, that's an exhortation with a tone of correction. He gives him two exhortations. He says, number one, walk in my ways. That's about his own personal life. Those two or three issues where the Holy Spirit has his finger on in each of our lives. He's saying, I want even a greater yieldedness to my leadership in these areas. Beloved, that's what walking in his ways. It's about our personal life and character. But that's not the only exhortation. There's a second one. He says, if you'll keep my command. Now, the word command there in the New King James, the translation I'm using, can lead you to miss the meaning. Many translations use the phrase here, if you will perform my service. In other words, this second exhortation is not about his moral life. It's about his being faithful to obey and walk out the assignment God gave him. So, God has a command to Joshua. I want your life to be committed to my leadership and your character, but I also want you not to give up on your assignment. See, the Lord's given all of us assignments in different seasons of our life. When you're 18 years old, your assignment involves these two or three things. When you're 28 years old, your assignment has different dimensions. When you're 38 and 48 and 58, I mean, it's different seasons. The assignments are different. I mean, we have Bible school students. Their assignment is to study the word, grow in relationships, grow in ministry skills, develop some life skills in their life, and et cetera, et cetera. That's their assignment. But in a little bit down the road, their assignment's going to be different. And so, a lot of folks, they want a big, glorious, exciting assignment, but more often than not, individually, our assignments are very, they're small. Individually, collectively, they're big, but individually, they're small. We're to serve this way and serve that way, but we don't get that tension for it. Nobody's applauding us. It doesn't make a big, you know, a big splash. It's done very exciting. Yeah, I want you to serve in this way. Well, it's kind of like I'm out of the applause of people. No one appreciates it. The Lord goes, yeah, but it's your assignment. Like, oh, come on, Lord. I want something that's a little more dazzling than this. He goes, no, this is your assignment. And so, what He's telling them in two ways, I want your character to line up with my leadership to be committed, and I'll forgive you time and time again, but every time I forgive you, let it give you courage and confidence to be, and with this gratitude to be deeply recommitted to the Lord. But it's not just about character, beloved. It's about fulfilling our assignments, too. I mean, some folks, they're strong on morality, but they don't want to bother with serving in the kingdom because it's like, it's not, it's little, and it's hard. There's obstacles. Nobody appreciates it. I think I'll just kind of tune out of that, and the Lord tells Joshua, no, I want you to do both. And look at the promise in verse 7. He goes, you'll judge my house, you'll have charge of my courts. That's a statement, I'm going to reaffirm the leadership grace and calling on your life. That's what He's telling them. I'm going to give you responsibility in my house. Lord says, I do want you to respond. Our obedience doesn't earn the added responsibility, but our obedience equips us in unity with God's heart so we can actually walk out the kingdom responsibility. He goes, Joshua, I'm going to renew the calling. I'm going to renew the grace for leadership. I'm going to renew the ability to walk out what I've called you to do in my house. And then look at the final thing. He says, I'll give you places to walk among these who stand here. Now, remember, Zechariah the prophet's out in a vision, and around the court of God, he's seen the court of God, and Joshua, he sees Satan, he sees the angel of the Lord, the Lord speaking this word to Joshua in this vision. Those standing around were the multitude of angels. He says, go tell Joshua he's going to have access to a new nearness of communion with me. He's going to have access to the realm of the supernatural in a greater way, to the angelic realm. There's going to be a greater release of even the angelic activity in his life. Again, you don't earn it by obedience, but obedience lines us up where we're in agreement with his leadership and his ways. Now, I'm going to give one more passage just for 60 seconds. And I have this on the notes that's on the internet, but I don't have it on the ones that are in your hand. Ezra 5 and 6. Just write the natural things that take place in the natural, in the same time where this is happening in the spirit. In Joshua, I mean, in Zechariah 3, the passage we're looking at, Satan is accusing Joshua, and the Lord answers in the spirit. But at the very same time in the natural, the Persian empire was over Israel at this time. And the governor, the Gentile, unbelieving, pagan governor that's over Jerusalem, he's accusing Joshua in the natural. Satan's accusing Joshua in the spirit, and the governor, he's on the Persian hierarchy, he's saying, let's stop Joshua, let's stop his building of the temple and all the things that God told him. So, this Persian governor appeals to the king, the king of Persia, Darius, and says, Darius, I'm a governor over this region. This Jewish guy is doing stuff you need to shut down. It's not good for Persia. But what's happening in the spirit is the Lord is rebuking Satan, and what happens is the spirit, the Holy Spirit touches this pagan king, King Darius, and instead of supporting his governor, accusing Joshua, he says, very unexpected, he goes, I want you to support that Jewish guy. Don't accuse him, and the governor's going, what? Wait, I'm on your team, king. This guy is, he's a Jewish guy against what we're doing. He goes, no, you support him, and more than that, you finance him. The governor goes, financing? Where did that come from? You finance him, and you support him. So, what's happening as Jesus is rebuking the accuser in the spirit, as the Lord is rebuking the accuser in the spirit, Darius the king is rebuking that governor that's accusing Joshua, and there's an economic release that takes place in the natural, and when you read Ezra 5 carefully, it says it's happening at the very same time that this vision is taking place. So, we're going to take authority over the enemy right now, and I believe that as we rebuke the accuser, and as you in your own life agree with the Word of God, of course, you already have been doing that, but let's do it in a more, in a more, uh, intentional way. This is a Zechariah 3 moment for our spiritual family. I believe that even in the natural, I mean, it was an unbelieving pagan king that changed his mind, and his view, and he supported Joshua. I mean, that was so surprising, and money flowed, and the authority structure gave favor to Joshua. That, that unbelieving Gentile governor was probably so perplexed. He goes, what? This is turning out bad. I wanted you to judge that Jewish guy, not support him. The case is no, because the Spirit of the Lord is touching that king related to what Cyrus's decree was. Let's stand. Now, I'm going to pray like what I saw in that dream three times. I mean, again, my hand was extended forward, and I was just, and it's not, this isn't the prayer. This is, uh, this isn't the, the big prayer right now. That's not what's going on. It's, that was just a token, just activating our faith to, we're all engaging in this. So, here's what I want to do. It's going to take five minutes. I would like you, we're not going to embarrass anybody, don't worry, to get in groups of about seven or eight in just a moment. Here's what we're going to do. I want one or two of you in the group to just self-appoint. You're the leader of the group, and I'm going to pray from the microphone, but I want a hand laid on the shoulder of every single person for at least 10 seconds. So, you're going to lay hands. So, if you're new here, you don't have to say anything, but they're going to lay your hand on you, and I'm going to pray, and they're going to agree with me. And so, I want to make sure everybody gets a 10-second prayer because this is for this entire spiritual family here. Then others of you in this group are seven or eight. You don't have to, you don't have to, uh, say anything if you don't want, but others of you, maybe a Bible verse will come to your, your mind. Speak that Bible verse over them, or maybe a Bible truth. Maybe you don't know the exact verse. It doesn't matter. It might be something as simple as, you know, they're praying for 10 seconds for this guy, and 10 seconds for this lady, and 10 seconds. Maybe one of them, you say, hey, God loves you. The Lord loves you. You say, well, that's pretty obvious. Every page of the Bible, but what you don't know is that earlier in the day, that guy said, God, I know you love me, but just have somebody say it today because nobody's actually said it to me in a direct way. And your little phrases, you don't have to try to make them prophetic. Just say a Bible truth that comes to you. Just spray it over them. And about half of them will be like prophetic arrows that strike them. You don't even have to try. So we're going to get group seven or eight. I'm going to lead out in prayer. One or two of you just kind of take the leadership and make sure everyone gets 10 seconds. The others of you just throw in a statement or two if you want to. And we're just going to do this for a few minutes. And I believe we're going to see a shift. We're going to see some, even some unbelieving authority figures going to change their view and take a stand. And this power of accusation will be broken. I believe there's going to be some economic shifts. There are going to be some circumstances, some family dynamics changing, marriages changing, children and parents, friendships changing in this. So let's, let's get in groups seven or eight. The reason I'm doing seven or eight is just so, it's not so small that maybe you're uncomfortable and you don't want somebody zeroing in on you in a real specific way. So look around, anybody, go ahead and stand in the aisles. You can come up front if you want. Take seven or eight if you come up front if you want to. And I know you know the people around you, but don't be so familiar with them that this is just agree with the prayer. I'm going to do what I saw in that dream a week ago in the name of Jesus. The Lord rebuke you, Satan. Remember, make sure you don't have to hold hands if you don't want to. Some people don't like to hold hands. Make sure everybody gets 10 seconds of a hand on their shoulder. The laying out of hands the Bible teaches. The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord rebuke you, Satan, your lies. The Lord rebuke your accusations about their failures that are true. But God says, I've given them clean garments, a new beginning, a new leadership, a new assignment, a renewing of that which was old even. But I ask you for a shift in the natural, for even authority figures to show favor where they were hostile before. I could answer five, for money to be released, for relationships to be restored. I take authority over the spirit of accusation operating in marriages and families and ministries and businesses in people's individual spiritual life. I just make sure everybody gets a 10-second prayer release. One of you take leadership. And any of you that want to add in a phrase or two, throw it in if you want. Feel free to walk around the room and pray for anybody you want to. Let's go. We rebuke the accusation of the evil. The accusation. We rebuke the accusation now. Release blessing, God. Blessing, God, over your people. We release blessing now, Lord. Release blessing. It's your grace. It's your grace, God. We say no to the voice of accusation. We say it's gone. Restore families. Restore marriages, Lord. Restoration. This is a Zachariah 3 moment. Restoration. Judge in my house, I will give you responsibility. You access among the angelic realm. The activity of the angelic will be released in your life. When I called you, I see it. I see the end from the beginning. I know you better than when I chose you. I have a plan for you. I will supply. I will give you resources to fulfill my plan. You complete it.