Bible References: John 3:16; Romans 6:32, 3:23-25, Luke 19:10; John 3:17; II Corinthians 5:17; Luke 13:27 and Matthew 25:41
Trial & Judgment date: The very near future
Scene: Heaven’s Courtroom
Judge: God
Prosecutor: Satan
Defense: Jesus Christ
Defendant: You
Law Books: The Books of Life & of Death
Now that you have passed from this life into the next by death or the rapture and all that was prophesized has been fulfilled; you now come to the day of your trial and judgement. This is the final step to eternal
life or eternal damnation. Which will it be? As you wait for your trial to begin, you nervously move about in your chair. A thousand thoughts are swirling about in your head and your life is flashing before you -
like a movie in fast forward mode. You cringe in your seat and fear has begun to well up inside you. You ask yourself - Am I truly worthy to be here with God Forever? Did I do all I could to help save God’s people
from eternal damnation? Was it enough? Should I have done more? Is there something I missed? On and on these thoughts rush about in your mind until you see the Judge enter the courtroom! The Judge is the Lord God Jehovah! You begin to tremble, when suddenly the door to the left of you opens up and in walks the prosecutor whose name is Satan! Now you really are trembling and shaking in utter fear! Satan looks at you and gloats, as he rubs his hands together with a self-satisfied look upon his face! He is thinking," By the time I get through here,I will have one more of God’s people with me in HELL!" HE laughs to himself and gloats over the fact that he thinks that he has God beat on this one! You aquirm a little more in your seat in the judgment box and wonder,"who is going to defend me?" when from the right side of the courtroom, Jesus Christ enters! Jesus walks over to you and smiles, then he sits down without saying a word. The Great Judge then speaks.
Judge (God): Are we ready to proceed?
Prosecutor (Satan) Yes, Your Honor!
Defense (Jesus) Yes, Father!
NOTE:
From this point on we will refer to them by their names, instead of their position and you will be referred to as the defendant.
God: Then we wll begin with the opening remarks. Satan
you begin.
Satan: Thank you - your Honor. In this trial I will
show you just how unworthy of redemption that
this person is and how he/she belongs to me! I
will present evidence that clearly shows that
this person has fulfilled all my desires and
wishes and has earned the right to be with me
in my kingdom! I will call for witnesses:
Lust, Adultery, Abuse, Lies, and hate who shall
prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this
person is truly worthy of my kingdom. Thank
you, your Honor.
God: (The Father looks lovingly at his son and smiles)
Jesus, you may make your opening remarks now.
Jesus: Thank you Father. How are you doing, today?
God: Fine and you?
Jesus: Ok. Father, I have no opening remarks at this
time. I will let the testimony speak for
itself. As for witnesses, there is only two
that I will call. One is the defendant and the
other is a surprise witness. Thank you.
Jesus Returns to His seat beside you and looks straight ahead, still not saying a word.
God: Satan you may call your first witness.
Satan: I call Lust to the stand. (Lust approaches the
witness stand and sits down.)
Satan: Lust, do you see that person over there? (Satan
points to the defendant)
Lust: Yes
Satan: Do you know this person?
Lust: Yes Sir! Very Well !
Satan: How did you meet this person?
Lust: I meet him/her in the back alleys, bars and
houses of prostitution.
Satan: And how long have you know this person?
Lust: For almost 40 years.
Satan: During that time you became fast friends. Is
that not correct?
Lust: Yes. We did many things together.It was
a "party" all the time !
Satan: In all that time together, did you have any
other friends?
Lust: Oh, yes sir! We had adultery, abuse, lies and
hate for friends.
Satan: No more questions of this witness, your Honor.
God: Jesus, would you like to question this withness?
Jesus: Not at this time, Father.
You are puzzled by this - Why didn’t he question this witness? He knows that you gave up Lust a long time ago.
God: Satan Call your next witness.
Satan: I call Adultery to the stand. (Adultery takes
the stand)
Adultery: Good morning.
Satan: Good Morning. Adultery, tell me the events that
lead up to you becoming a friend to the
defendant.
Adultery: Well, it started with him becoming friends
with drinking and with Lust.I invited myself
into that friendship and boy did his/her
spouse have a fit! I roared with laughter.
Satan: Tell me what the defendant did with you.
Adultery: We had a good time! We had sex as much as we
wanted and we didn’t give a second thought
to his/her spouse or the children. We were
having too much fun!
Satan: During this time, did the defendant show any
remorse for what he/she did?
Adultery: Well, no ...not at first. Later he/she did.
Satan: That is irrelevant. Your Honor, I ask that last
remark be stricken from the record.
God: You asked. The remark will remain as a matter of
record.
Satan: No more Questions.
God: Son, would you like to question this witness?
Jesus: No. I have no questions of this witness.
You begin to panic. "What is wrong with Him!", you think. "He knows that I took him into my heart ten years ago. Why isn’t He defending me?"
God: You may call your next witness, Satan.
Satan: I call Abuse to the stand. (Abuse takes the
stand) Do you know the defendant?
Abuse: I certainly do!
Satan: How did you meet?
Abuse: Well, it is funny how we meet.I ran into Lust
and Adultery and they introduce us; but we
didn’t become friends until much later.
Satan: What events took place that lead to this
becoming a friendship?
Abuse: Uh! Well, we became friends the first time
he/she hit his/her spouse. Then we went on to
beat on the children. Boy, were they the best!
The more he/she drank the more we beat on them.
That was best fun we ever had! We would sit on
a curb outside the house and just laugh
ourselves sick over how badly we had beaten
them and how pathetic they really looked and
were. We had a great time! Of course, we would
promise "not to do it again", but we always
did. We had our fingers crossed!
Satan :(Laughing along with abuse) It sure sounds like
you did! No more Questions of this witness,
your Honor.
God: Your turn, Son.
Jesus: No questions.
Now you really are panicking! It is beginning to look like you will be doomed to Hell of He doesn’t do something quick!
God: Call your next witness, Satan.
Satan: Your Honor, I would like permission to call two
witnesses at this time since they are Siamese
twins.
God: Any objections,Jesus?
Jesus: No, Father.
God: Go ahead, Satan.
Satan: I call lies and hate to the stand.(Lies and
hate take the stand) Tell me how you two meet
the defendant.
Lies & Hate: Oh, that’s easy! We meet through Abuse.
Satan: Tell us about your relationship with the
defendant.
Lies & Hate: We became fast friends, especially after
we meet up with a group that professed to
hate everyone but the "white folks"
Satan: What happened from there?
Lies and Hate: We told lies about others and created
hate among the people who we associated
with. We would paint Anti-Semitic signs
all over the place and burn crosses in
their yards! We would call them names
like "Nigger", "Jew-boy" or "Spik".
That was the most fun! We wish you
could have seen their faces! It was
priceless! The terror in their eyes was
absolutely beautiful!
Satan: I am sure it was. I have no more questions of
these witnesses
God: Any more witness for the prosecution?
Satan: No, and I rest my case, your Honor.
God: Son, do you have any questions of these witnesses?
Jesus: No, not at this time.
God: You may call your first witness.
Jesus: Thank-you Father. I call the defendant to the
stand. (You take the stand) Are you guilty of
all that has been said here up to this point?
Defendant:(With tears in your eyes and terror in your
heart) Yes and I am so sorry for them. I
wish I could change what I did, but I
cannot.
Jesus: Is all that has been said here the truth?
Defendant: Yes
Jesus: Give me a reason why this court should not
sentence you to eternal damnation.
Defendant: Because John 3:16 says,"For God so loved
the world that He gave his only begotten
son, that whomsoever believeth on Him
should not perish; but have everlasting
life." I believe in You and I accepted you
into my heart.
Jesus: Very Good. Now tell us what lead you to
believe that?
Defendant: Well, my friends persuaded me to go to a
Billy Graham Revival that was being held in
our area. At first, I didn’t want to
go; but they drove me nuts until I agreed
to go with them. I heard Mr.Graham speaking
but most of it wasn’t making any sense to
me, until one of my friends handed me a
book called the "Bible".
Jesus: What happened then?
Defendant: Mr. Graham was talking about all of us as
sinners and referred to the book of Romans,
Chapter 6, verse 23. One of my friends
helped me to find it. When I read it, it
was like I had just been slapped in the
face by my mother. She was a good and Godly
woman and I ignored all she taught me about
God.
Jesus: What did Romans 6: 23 say?
Defendant: It says,"For the wages of sin are death,
but the gift of God is eternal life.
through jesus Christ our Lord." But that
wasn’t all that "slapped me in the face"
with what my mother had taught me.
Jesus: What else did?
Defendant: It was when Mr.Graham said all of us were
sinners and then had us turn to Romans
3:23-25. It said,"For all have sinned and
come short of the Glory of God. Being
justified freely by his grace through
redemption that is in Jesus Christ.Whom God
hath set forth to be propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past through the forebearance of
God."
Jesus: What does that mean to you ?
Satan: Your Honor, I object! It is irrelevant and has
nothing to do with the issues at hand.
Jesus: Father. Your Honor, I say that it does. It
shows how his/her re-actions to what he/she was
hearing and the effect it had on him/her.
God: Objection over-ruled!
Satan: Your Honor!
God: Sit down Satan! You had your say and your
witnesses. Continue.
Jesus: Will you answer the question?
Defendant: It means that we are all sinners and the
only way that we can be saved is by the
blood that you shed on calvary for us and
our sins. It also means that the only
redemption from sin(s) for us, is through
that blood that you shed. It means that
because God loved us so much that instead
of destroying us forever, He sent his son
to die for us and our sin. That is what it
means.
Jesus: Thank you. You may step down. Father. Your
Honor, I would like to call my surprise
witness now.
God: Who is this surprise witness? (God is smiling
because he already knew)
Jesus: Father, I am the surprise witness !
Satan: I object ! (Satan is furious!) A defense
council can not call himself! This is a court
of law! This is Illegal!
God: Sit down Satan and be quiet or I will have to gag
you! This is my Court and My law. To be fair, I
will let you question my son.
Satan: Thank you, your honor (all the time cursing God
under his breath)
God: Son, Take the witness stand.(Jesus takes a seat
in the witness box.)
Satan: Now tell us Jesus, what makes you think that
this defendant is worth saving?
Jesus: Because I was sent as the supreme sacrifice for
his/her sin and when I was sent into the world;
I was sent to "seek and save that which is
lost." (Luke 19:10) My Father, created all
things and he created man out of love. He loves
His children and in that love, He finds them
all worthy to be saved even if they are the
worse sinner on planet earth! That is why this
Defendant is worth saving.
Satan: But all the defendant’s sin outweighs any good
he/she has done. How are you going to justify
that?
Jesus: I refer you back to Romans 3:23-25, where the
key word here is PAST! That means that all sin
up to the time of their redemption(Salvation)
is washed away and they are sin-free. There is
no more sin.
Satan: Okay! Okay ! I will give you that;but what of
the sin they commit after they have been (Satan
coughing and choking) "saved" ? They cannot be
redeemed again and again everytime they sin.
Jesus: That’s the beauty of it! Once they are saved,
my Father and I know that they are imperfect
beings in the flesh and will make mistakes,
they will fall and they will sin. But if they
are trying really hard not to sin; but do we
have a way for them to keep themselves sin-free
in their Book of Death and have their names
written in the Book of Life.
Satan: Oh Yeah!(says Satan sarcastically) And how is
that?
Jesus: It is called forgiveness. My father and I know
that until they come into the Kingdom, they
will be subjected to you, the temptations of
the world and the Human flesh. We know that it
will be hard to resist all things of the world
and you and the flesh all the time, but for
those times when they fall, even as the
defendant has done on many occassions, they
will be forgiven their sin, if they just ask
for it and try not to commit the same sin
again. It isn’t easy and it take many attempts
to overcome sin; but in the end they who trust
in us and let us lead and guide them, will
overcome.
By this time Satan begins to realize that he is losing his case against the defendant and has to come up with a good one. As he searches for a way to trick Jesus and to force the condemnation of the defendant, God
speaks up.
God: Satan, that is enough questions. You may sit down.
Satan: Your Honor! I am just getting started!
God: (Now quite perturbed with Satan, bellows) SIT
DOWN!
(Satan returns to his seat at the prosecutor’s table)
God: Son, I have one question for you. Why did I send
you into the world?
Jesus: "For God sent not His son into the world to
condemn the world but that the world through
him might be saved." (John 3:17)
God: Thank you Son!
Jesus: Your are welcome, Dad!
God: Do you have any more witnesses to call, son?
Jesus: No Sir. I rest my case.
God: We will begin with the "Closing Remarks" from
Satan, and them I will make my Judgment. You may
begin, Satan.
Satan: Your honor, members of the court, I believe
that I have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt
that the defendant over there is GUILTY!
GUILTY! GUILTY! He/She committed acts that go
completely against the laws of God and has
served me well. His/Her sins cannot be
denied and they outweigh the good that he/she
may have done. I ask that you return a verdict
of guilty and that the penalty be that he/she
is given over to me. Thank you.
(Next Jesus gets up and speaks.)
Jesus: Father, Your Honor, and members of the court.
It is true that the defendant has done all that
he/she has been accused of and is rightly
guilty of those sins. But let me remind you
that when I was sent into the world to take on
all the sins of the world...it did not exclude
the defendant or was not limited to one
exclusive race creed, color or national origin.
NO, in fact it was for all mankind in the world
that I came to die and be the ultimate
sacrifice for their sin and give them the gift
of Salvation through the blood I shed on the
cross for them. When they are washed in the
blood their sins are washed away. When they come
and seek pardon and mercy and ask for me to
come into their hearts, they receive that
Salvation and become new creations. (II
Corinthians 5:17) "Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature; old things are
passed away; behold all things are become new."
These are written in my Father’s word. I ask
that that you return a verdict of not guilty
and that he/she be allowed to enter into the
kingdom. Thank-you.
God: The Court will now recess to deliberate and go
over all the facts in the case. Court adjourned!
While the court is in adjournment. Satan is so sure that he will win that he is making plans on what to do with the defendant once he gets him into his realm. The defendant sits on a bench outside the courtroom
praying that he has done all that he could by the Laws of God to assure his/her enterance into the Father’s kingdom. He/she mulls over their life once more and seems to gain strength in knowing that for all their
sin and al their failings, they kept on trying and seeking forgiveness. Jesus, is calmly sitting on the floor near a pillar outside the courtroom, knowing that he has done all he can in defending his "client"
Michael, The Archangel approaches and tells them that Court is now back in session. All parties return to their seats and God begins to speak.
God: Having weighed all the evidence presented in this
court today,it is the verdict of this court that
the defendant is found "Not Guilty" and will be
allowed entrance into my kingdom and the kingdom
of my son where he/she will live forever in joy
and peace. Well Done son!
Satan: This is outrageous! The Defendant is as guilty
as sin! He/she belongs to me!
God: Wrong Satan, He/she was forgiven of sin and in
the Book of Death there is no sin recorded for
them. The pages are blank! Their names are
written in the Book of Life.
Satan: but what abou......
God: Michael, Gabriel, Please escort Satan back to the
pit until the next time we come to court.
The archangels, Michael and Gabriel take satan by each arm and escort him out of heaven amid all his protests and dropped him back into the pit of his realm. But what if this particular court scene had turned out
differently? What if the Judgment of God, was to hear Him say: "Depart from me,for I know you not." or "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,Depart from me you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."( Luke 13:27; Matthew 25:41)? There was nothing you could do. It is too late and you have already chosen your path. The result is that instead of entering the Kingdom of God; you instead would be taken to Satan’s realm - Hell and the Lake of Fire - where you will forever suffer torment and the gnashing of teeth. Is that what you really want to have happen to you? It is not too late to accept Jesus into your heart and life . Won’t you do it today so when you face your judgment..you will hear the words."Not guilty! This soul can enter into my kingdom."
