团契与门徒训练

2012.9.23 English worship

2012.09.23Kirk Bennett

Justice is not an abstract idea but a living person, Jesus Christ, who will establish justice on the earth. He calls His church to join Him by praying, speaking for the voiceless, and following Him to set captives free.

Christ will establish justice on the earth

Isaiah 42 speaks of the servant who will bring forth justice to the nations, and I understand it as a reference to the coming Christ. Between His first and second comings, the mandate to establish justice on the earth has not yet been fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled before He returns. I confess that I was dull to injustice for a long time. I treated it as a political matter and kept my faith and my concern for justice in separate boxes.

Abortion is a death spirit, not merely an issue

Around 1.6 million children are aborted each year in America, and globally about three babies are aborted every two seconds. Like the decrees of Pharaoh and Herod against the babies, this is a spirit trying to wipe out a generation. Where birth rates fall too low, a whole people can disappear, as South Korea's rate of 1.2 shows. We cannot stay silent, because one day we will stand before the Lord and give an account of what we did for the children who could not speak.

Counting the babies in the prayer room

When I stood in front of the Supreme Court with tape on my mouth, I had no words, and the Lord told me to count the babies. As I counted, I wept, because I love children and grandchildren. I began to see that justice does not start with a new ministry or a plan in a boardroom. It is birthed in the prayer room, in the heart of God, where He imparts His heart to us.

Justice is a man, not an abstract noun

Abortion, terrorism, and poverty are abstract nouns that we cannot simply eliminate, but justice in the kingdom of God is a person. Jesus is not a Republican, a Democrat, an American, a Korean, or even just a Christian. He is Christ, a living man who has not given up the leadership of His church. In Isaiah 59 the Lord looked for a man to stand in the gap, found none, and acted Himself. Now He invites us to deny ourselves and follow Him.

Following Jesus to the poor and the captives

If we want to find Jesus, we go to the poor, because He lives among them. In Johannesburg, a friend named Diane walks the dangerous streets at night and gives her phone number to prostitutes, and one of them later calls her from a locked room. With a police officer's help, our team prayed at a brothel, and the officer led a raid. We sang Amazing Grace with six women and the pimp, and one woman was walked out of slavery.

Apply to Life

  • Let us count the lives at stake and refuse to remain silent before the Lord.
  • Let us spend time in the prayer room so that our hearts are shaped by God's heart for justice.
  • Let us go to the poor and the vulnerable, because that is where Jesus lives.
  • Let us follow Jesus in obedience rather than demanding that He explain every step to us.
  • Let us support gospel media and mission work that carries God's word to places it cannot otherwise reach.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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