WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.200 Our theme this evening from Proverbs, we've been looking at Proverbs and this is probably the first time we've read a chapter in Proverbs 00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:09.439 that is 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:12.880 typical of Proverbs, you know full of individual short 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:15.560 statements, all 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:22.280 not really linked, but we do find references to justice in this 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:27.199 chapter, I'm going to mention them, but also towards the end. I'm just going to 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:29.839 go quickly through some of the other 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:34.519 individual Proverbs, very quickly just for your reference that mentioned 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:43.719 justice. It's a huge area biblically, a really central and crucial area biblically is justice and I undoubtedly 00:00:44.120 --> 00:00:47.879 will disappoint many people tonight. I know that 00:00:49.480 --> 00:00:55.879 justice is such a huge theme and people of their own particular interest in different areas of justice 00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:02.480 and it can have a great deal to do with social activism or with global concerns or 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:10.120 political pressures and all these things are valid when we think about justice. They're all important, they all come into our thinking 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:17.520 when we consider justice. But what I want to do this evening is focus a little bit more on the personal application of justice 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:23.359 biblically in your life and in my life as we go from day to day and I hope 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:25.760 that that in itself would encourage 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.280 a wider understanding and a wider interest in some of these 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:37.079 geopolitical issues or whatever it might be that takes your interest in your thinking. 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:40.319 But can I ask you to keep in mind just for a short time, 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:43.840 as we look at this this evening, the theme 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:50.120 or not so much a theme but the background towards Proverbs, we know the theme is God's wisdom 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:58.000 but the background is very much that it was written in ancient Near East, written from a king 00:01:58.800 --> 00:02:03.920 to children, to his children, to children of the king and it's 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:06.640 seeking to inculcate into them 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:12.520 the ways of wisdom and the path of wisdom and we know that much of it for us 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:17.400 with the whole of the Bible points forward to the wisdom that's found in Jesus Christ 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:25.080 and his person. So I'm going to do a broad, very broad brief biblical sweep and I'm going to end up in 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:29.599 Proverbs so it's not a very conventional type sermon. I'm going to speak about four kings. 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:35.759 Well, I'm going to speak about kind of three and a half kings maybe the last one isn't maybe a king, 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:39.000 children of the king, first three are kings, okay? 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:42.680 And I'm going to speak brief, I'm going to tell you a story briefly, firstly, 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:46.920 it's one you know well, if you know your Bible you know it, if you don't know your Bible you might not know it 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.759 but it's I'm going to speak briefly about King David 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:55.919 from 2 Samuel chapter 11 and 12 and it's relevant because he was a king and it's 00:02:57.119 --> 00:03:00.000 Proverbs of Solomon that we come through David's son 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:06.439 but David was a great king and as a king in the ancient Near East he would have been one who ought to have gone to 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:13.359 war with his people at the time when they go to war. They went to war and the king was to lead them 00:03:13.359 --> 00:03:15.799 but he should have been leading his troops, but he 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:21.000 for whatever reason he chose not to lead his troops and he stayed back in Jerusalem and he was 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:28.000 slobbing about on the top of his palace roof one day one evening and as he did so he saw a beautiful woman bathing. 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:30.840 You know the story most of you I hope 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:35.560 and he really wanted her, he really wanted Bathsheba 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.400 for himself and he said look I'm the king. 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:45.480 I determined what's right and wrong and so he summoned her and he slept with her and 00:03:45.920 --> 00:03:49.240 she became pregnant and her husband was at war 00:03:49.920 --> 00:03:51.920 where David should have been. 00:03:52.439 --> 00:04:00.159 So he summoned Eriah Bathsheba's husband home in the hope that he would go home to her and sleep with her 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:04.120 but he had his own moral code and he said not while 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:07.200 my people are fighting and 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:15.479 my fellow soldiers are fighting I will not enjoy such luxury so he slept at the steps of the palace. 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:23.079 The second night David tried to get him drunk so that he would go home and do what he hoped he would do to cover up 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:25.199 for what David had done 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:27.519 and he wouldn't do it. 00:04:27.599 --> 00:04:35.199 So David spoke to Joab the other commander in chief and said when you put Eriah back into the battle put him into the front line 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:40.079 put him where the war and the fighting is the hottest then withdraw from him. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:43.560 Can you imagine that? 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:45.560 Withdraw your troops from him and 00:04:46.599 --> 00:04:51.480 he fell in battle so the problem was dealt with. 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:54.360 He no longer had a problem with 00:04:55.599 --> 00:05:00.800 Bathsheba's husband and he took Bathsheba back into the palace to be his wife. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:05.319 Now then of course you know what happened was that Nathan the prophet 00:05:05.960 --> 00:05:12.160 eventually came to David and told him the story as the king and he had to speak to David as the king and said 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.160 I've got this 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:16.160 matter that you need to deal with. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:18.160 There's this very poor man 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:21.160 who has only one lamb 00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:26.519 in his household and he loves that lamb and he's brought up that lamb in his house. 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:28.519 I mean it's a very touching story 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:32.519 his children played with the lamb. He almost regarded it like a daughter. 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:36.159 This little lamb that was brought in the house the only lamb he had. 00:05:36.159 --> 00:05:40.959 And his neighbour was a rich man who had hundreds of sheep and thousands of lambs 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:45.719 and when the rich man had a visitor instead of taking a lamb from his own flock 00:05:46.719 --> 00:05:50.919 to kill and to use in the feast. 00:05:50.919 --> 00:05:54.799 He takes this poor man's one lamb. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:56.800 This poor man's one lamb. 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.800 His only lamb. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:06.800 And he takes it to be used in the feast. 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:11.800 I mean David hears this. He's raged at the injustice. 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:14.800 He's outraged that anything should happen like that. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:18.800 And the king, as the king he says this man needs to be called to account. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:23.800 He needs to be judged. He needs to be brought to the place of judgment. 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:27.800 And he should lose his life for what he's done. 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:31.800 And you know what Nathan says, don't you? 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:33.800 You're the man. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:36.800 You're the man. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:38.800 You're the one who did that. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:42.800 So Nathan's using this delightful parable, this story, 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:47.800 to bring David to his senses and see what he had done 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:52.800 to help him to see the injustice of what he had done 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:57.800 that he was abusing his position, that he had misused the justice 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:02.800 that he should have been dealing as the king and as the representative of God. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:05.800 And he is the one who is guilty. 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:08.800 And there's various appeals to justice in this story, isn't there? 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:15.800 And we see difference, appeals to right and wrong, 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:17.800 welling up in ourselves when we hear that story 00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:20.800 and when we think about what has happened. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:26.800 And it's a reminder to us we all sense a need for fairness 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:30.800 and justice and right and wrong. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.800 But often it's on our own terms. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:37.800 David had, for whatever reason, he had allowed his conscience to be seared 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:42.800 and we do believe from various of Psalms that are connected with the account 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:46.800 that he actually knew he was guilty of what he had done. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.800 He recognized it and he just silenced his conscience. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:55.800 He kept his conscience quiet and his conscience was seared. 00:07:55.800 --> 00:08:00.800 But nonetheless there's all different kinds of justice revealed in that story. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:05.800 And what is important is when God brings David to recognize 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.800 that it is against God that the great injustice has been done. 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.800 Not to say the injustice against Bathsheba and against Uriah 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.800 and against Joab and against his people is meaningless. 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:18.800 But as David goes on to say himself, 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.800 it's against you, you only have a sin. 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:28.800 And that is the whole direction that the story goes in. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:34.799 But we all have that sense of right and wrong, don't we? 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:42.799 We all recognize that wrongdoing of whatever level deserves punishment, don't we? 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:48.799 Or do we feel that nothing deserves punishment in our lives? 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:56.799 Possibly, until something wrong and unjust and unfair is meted out on us. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:00.799 Until we're the object of the injustice, 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:02.799 then we have this great sense from deep within us 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.799 that something ought to be done about that, 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:08.799 that there is right and wrong. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:12.799 And we recognize that. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.799 We recognize that in our DNA, in our very beings, 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:20.799 there is this right and wrong and the sense of right and wrong, 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:24.799 even though we recognize as believers from God's Word 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:30.799 that it's a broken and incomplete sense of right and wrong. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:32.799 But we must consider that. 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:39.799 And I think much of our challenge for people and for society, 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:41.799 people who aren't believers, 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:45.799 our challenge is the thing about where this conscience comes from. 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:48.799 Not consciousness, but where does conscience come from? 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:51.799 Where does the concept of right and wrong come from? 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:52.799 Where is it? 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:55.799 It's tremendously important to follow that through 00:09:55.799 --> 00:10:01.799 and to recognize that it is real and it does have a genesis 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:07.799 and that justice is something that matters greatly. 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:11.799 And through the Bible, we recognize that His justice 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:17.799 is the only justice and the only hope that we have in this world. 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:21.799 But we, like David, I think in our lives, 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:28.799 need to be shocked into recognizing that we are the ones often 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:32.799 and that people who aren't believers need to come to the place 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:36.799 where they recognize that it is not everyone else's failure 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.799 and everyone else is wrongdoing against them, 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:43.799 but it is that place where we find ourselves falling short 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.799 of the justice and the goodness of God. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.799 So we have King David and then we have the Divine King Himself. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:56.799 In this chapter 29 of Proverbs, at the end of the chapter verse 26, 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:59.799 we have many seek the face of a ruler, 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.799 but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:07.799 So there's this immediate recognition that the genesis, 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:11.799 the very beginning of justice comes from the character 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:13.799 and the person of God Himself. 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:17.799 Isaiah 30 verse 18, you can flick that up on the screen. 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:19.799 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:22.799 therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you, 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.799 for the Lord is a God of justice. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:26.799 Blessed are all those who wait on Him. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.799 And that's the revelation that we have in the Bible 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:30.799 of the character of God, God is love, 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.799 but also God is just and is justice. 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:35.799 He's the standard. 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:38.799 He is the person who is righteous. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:42.799 He is the beginning and end of justice. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:48.799 He is the author, the source, the measuring line for all of us 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.799 so that God is justice in Himself 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:54.799 and He is the author of justice. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:12:00.799 So we recognize that this God in whose image we are made 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:05.799 is the one who is just to whom we are accountable. 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:11.799 But the rebellion of our hearts is from day one, 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:15.799 has been to say, no God, you aren't just. 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:17.799 You are unjust. 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:21.799 I'm right, you're wrong. 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:25.799 You're in the judgment seat, not me. 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:29.799 And we see that in our hearts often and in society. 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:31.799 We blame Him. 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:33.799 We find fault with Him. 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:35.799 We say it's not fair what you're doing. 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:37.799 You're wrong. 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:39.799 We are right. 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:43.799 We have judged Him guilty for being God. 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:45.799 He is God. 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:49.799 And we point the finger at Him and He's guilty. 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:53.799 He is guilty for what He has done. 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.799 He's guilty for being authoritative. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:58.799 He's guilty for being sovereign. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:00.799 He's wrong about me. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:02.799 He's wrong about my heart. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:04.799 He's wrong about my motives. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:08.799 And my standard of goodness is good enough. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:10.799 He's wrong. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:13.799 God deserves to die. 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:15.799 Not me. 00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:17.799 God deserves to be put in the dock. 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:19.799 God deserves to be annihilated. 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:21.799 Not me. 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.799 And that is in a sense what David was doing. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.799 He was crushing and silencing God and saying, 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:32.799 God, I don't want to be judging me for what I'm doing here. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:35.799 But it's often what we see, isn't it, in our own lives, 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:39.799 when we feel God is unfair and unjust. 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:42.799 We think He's the one who deserves to die. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:48.799 And we're intolerant and illiberal in our thinking about God. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:52.799 I guess in some ways we've seen it politically over this last week 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:55.799 with the resignation of Tim Farron, 00:13:55.799 --> 00:14:02.799 the liberal democrat leader who is a Christian. 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:09.799 And he has fallen very far short of the standard of the liberal elite. 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:13.799 And they are saying, we're the ones who are right. 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:17.799 We're the ones by whom you and others must be judged. 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:25.799 And God and everyone else has fallen short of our standard. 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:29.799 But the challenge for us, and the challenge for us as we share our faith 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:31.799 and the challenge for us in our own lives, 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:35.799 is the recognition that before God He is right. 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:42.799 Because if He's wrong, if He's unjust, then we are in a hell. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:45.799 There is no hope. 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:48.799 We might not always understand His justice. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:51.799 And we might not feel that we deserve to die. 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:57.799 We certainly might not feel guilty or estranged from Him by our nature. 00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:01.799 But we live in a world where death reigns 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:10.799 and where God is rejected, where justice is a reality, 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:17.799 but a broken reality, and where often He becomes the one who is blamed. 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:21.799 So the Bible makes clear that God is a just God, 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:24.799 and we have fallen short of His justice 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:32.799 by choosing to replace Him and stand or sit in His place. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:36.799 But that takes us to the third king, who is King Jesus. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:41.799 In Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 1 says, 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:43.799 and prophesies of this Jesus, 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:45.799 behold my servant whom I uphold, 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:47.799 my chosen in whom my soul delights, 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:49.799 I put my spirit on him, 00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:51.799 he will bring justice to the nations. 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.799 Or Psalm 85 verse 10, which says, 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:56.799 steadfast love and faithfulness meet, 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:59.799 righteousness and peace kiss together. 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:02.799 So we often take that and apply it to the cross of Jesus, 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.799 where His mercy or His love and His faithfulness 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:09.799 or His righteousness or His justice came together. 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:13.799 They both blended together at the cross. 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:16.799 They kissed each other on the cross. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:20.799 Or Acts 33 and verse 13, speaking of Jesus. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:23.799 No, I don't have that, okay. 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:26.799 Where it speaks, I can just look that up, 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:29.799 because it just speaks, it's quite a... 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:32.799 Sorry, did I say Acts 33? 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.799 I hope you all noticed that there's not such a thing as Acts 33. 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:36.799 Acts 8, 33. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:40.799 In this humiliation justice was denied Him. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:43.799 It's June, it's the end of the year, I'm tired. 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:45.799 Who can describe His generous, 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:47.799 for His life is taken away from the earth? 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:50.799 In this humiliation justice was denied. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:54.799 So you see, at the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:57.799 the prophesying of Him and the reality of Him 00:16:57.799 --> 00:16:59.799 and in the description of Him in Acts, 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:02.799 justice is at the very core of it. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.799 And if we fall short of God's glory 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.799 and if death is the spiritual death 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:12.799 and separation of the strangeness as the result of that, 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:17.799 humanity, what hope is there for us? 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.799 And the hope is in Jesus Christ. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:25.799 Not that we believe in a gospel where we say, 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:28.799 ah, it's fine, Jesus, I'll just forgive you anyway. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.799 It doesn't matter. 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:38.799 Because could you ever trust a God who didn't execute justice? 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:44.799 Could you ever trust a leader or a political movement 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:50.799 or the lawmakers of the world if they didn't execute justice, 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:52.799 if they just let people off? 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.799 Justice is core to us. 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.799 And we know the importance of it. 00:17:57.799 --> 00:17:59.799 And so when we speak about Jesus, 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:02.799 we're not saying that justice was just ignored, 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:06.799 but we are recognizing that something very important 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:09.799 about God's character is revealed 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:15.799 when justice and mercy kissed on the cross. 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:17.799 Now, when we speak about the cross, 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.799 we often speak about God's mercy and God's love 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:24.799 and God's commitment and friendship to us, 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.799 who, you know, what greater love has any man in this city 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:29.799 lay down his life with his friends. 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:31.799 And that's tremendous. 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:34.799 It's so important that that is the motivation 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:36.799 between what He has done for us. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.799 But we're also saying that Jesus Christ, 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:47.799 the only innocent one, denies Himself the justice 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:53.799 of being set free and being regarded as innocent 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:55.799 and takes the punishment of death, 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:58.799 freely giving Himself over to death, 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:01.799 condemned as unrighteous, 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:06.799 condemned as guilty, condemned as dark. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:10.799 So that sin is judged, wrongdoing is judged. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:15.799 Justice is meted out, but it's not on us 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:17.799 if we put our trust in Him. 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:19.799 It's in Him. 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:24.799 Can you see that really important piece of truth 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:28.799 that love and justice are both dealt with on the cross? 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:33.799 His death on the cross and His separation from the Father 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:38.799 means we are not any longer estranged from the Father 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.799 or forsaken as we trust in Him. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.799 And so the cross does speak of justice. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.799 It speaks of guilt being dealt with 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:54.799 and forgiveness being offered, 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:59.799 and it reminds us that He comes back one day 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:04.799 and we will all be accountable to Him because He is the standard. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:06.799 And justice will be meted out. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:10.799 We spend a lot of our time as Christians just flinging up our hands 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:14.799 and saying, how long or what's going on or where is God? 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:15.799 What's happening? 00:20:15.799 --> 00:20:17.799 Why is this like this? 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:19.799 Isn't it supposed, what about the promises of God? 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:22.799 And we do struggle with many things, 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.799 but we trust that justice will be worked out 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:30.799 and He will return and He will make sure 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:37.799 that nothing unjust is allowed to go and punished in our world. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:42.799 So lastly and very briefly, 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:47.799 we speak about King Jesus and the Divine King and King David. 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:49.799 And as believers, we've mentioned this before 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:51.799 when we've looked at Proverbs. 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:54.799 We are children of the King. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.799 We are adopted into the family of God. 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:00.799 We become believers. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:02.799 And as children of the King, 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:07.799 the Proverbs that were originally written to the children of the King 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:13.799 and that contain God's own wisdom remain relevant and important for us. 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:18.799 And there's much in them that speak about the ethics of our Christian lives 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:24.799 and how we live as a royal priesthood born into the family of God. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:28.799 And there's two things very briefly, and with this I'm going to finish. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:32.799 The first is that Proverbs, and there's many, 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.799 there's lots of verses that speak of justice 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.799 and I'm going to finish with just quickly going through some of them 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:39.799 because they're very practical. 00:21:39.799 --> 00:21:44.799 But the justice that's spoken of has a common relevance in the world. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:47.799 The Bible speaks so much, and Proverbs especially, 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:49.799 about the importance of justice. 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:53.799 At a government level, at a law court level, 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:56.799 it speaks of honesty, no bribery, 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.799 punishing evil, protecting the poor and the disadvantaged. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.799 It speaks against extortion, favoritism of the rich, 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.799 fairness of wages, pursuing peace, despising oppression, 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.799 protecting the fatherless and the foreigner. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.799 And these are great truths about justice that Proverbs speaks of, 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:18.799 and they're good for everyone. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.799 And when we think about our leaders and when we pray for them 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:27.799 and when we encourage them, we want them to stand up for these common truths of justice 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:33.799 because they're important just in society as part of God's common grace in our lives. 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:37.799 But for every Christian, justice is important, 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:41.799 not just from a spiritual point of view, not just from the cross, 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:45.799 not just because we are guilty and forgiven by God, 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.799 not just because He is the author of justice, 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:53.799 but because we reflect Him and seek to reflect Him in our lives. 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:57.799 And can I say, especially in leadership, 00:22:57.799 --> 00:23:01.799 justice is a very important aspect in church leadership, 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:04.799 political leadership, and every other kind of leadership. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:11.799 But all of us should recognize and value the importance of justice in our lives 00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:12.799 and how we live. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:16.799 It does matter how we live, and I'm going to finish with this, 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:20.799 because it's about knowing the Lord and knowing His will 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:22.799 and knowing the kind of God He is. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:28.799 If He's a just God, He wants you and I to be just people in our everyday living 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.799 and how we live and how we think. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:35.799 So I'm going to very quickly flash up 10 of the Proverbs that speak about justice 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:38.799 and just leave them with you, because they're very practical 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:43.799 and they're very everyday for us as believers who understand 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:47.799 that the cross is about mercy and justice, 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:51.799 and that justice matters because who God is, 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:54.799 because He is right and He is righteous. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:56.799 Proverbs 2 verse 9, 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.799 and you will understand righteousness and justice and equity and every good path, 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:03.799 and that's part of the chapter that's speaking about the fear of the Lord 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:05.799 or the wisdom of God. 00:24:05.799 --> 00:24:09.799 So we recognize that as we trust in God and as we follow Him, 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:14.799 it helps us understand righteousness and justice and equity. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:16.799 These are important principles, 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:20.799 and it comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:25.799 Sometimes we're a bit kind of faffy about our relationship with Christ. 00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:27.799 It's a bit pie in the sky. 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:28.799 It's a bit ethereal. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:32.799 It's a bit vague and vain and emotional. 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:35.799 I'm not saying it shouldn't be some of these things, 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:39.799 but there's some real grit and justice about our day-to-day living 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:42.799 that we should apply because we're Christians. 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:44.799 Proverbs 8, 20, 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:48.799 I walk in the way of righteousness in the paths of justice. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:52.799 So when it speaks about your walk, it speaks about your whole life. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:56.799 So in your tax returns, in your work ethic, 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.799 and our concern for the needy, 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:05.799 in our honest conversations, we're to be the kind of people that Jesus was 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:07.799 when He walked this earth, 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:09.799 and we need the Holy Spirit in our hearts 00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:12.799 and a prayerful dependence on God to do that. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:14.799 Proverbs 17, 23, 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:19.799 the wicked accept a bride in secret to pervert the ways of justice. 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:22.799 So bribery and corruption, 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.799 that's not the way you live as a Christian. 00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:30.799 It's not the way that I should live in our businesses, in our finance, 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:31.799 in all that we are. 00:25:31.799 --> 00:25:33.799 We are not to be cheating, 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:36.799 and we're not to be doing things that are defrauding others 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:39.799 because justice matters. 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:41.799 Proverbs 18, 5, 00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:43.799 it's not good to be partial to the wicked 00:25:43.799 --> 00:25:46.799 or to deprive the righteous of justice. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:50.799 We're to discern the difference between right and wrong, 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:54.799 and we're not just to be partial to one 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:58.799 because possibly it may be advantageous for us to do so. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:01.799 Proverbs 19, 28, 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:04.799 a worthless witness mocks at justice, 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:07.799 and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity. 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:13.799 So the whole idea of being trustworthy and reliable 00:26:13.799 --> 00:26:22.799 and not being attracted to a path that is deviating from that, 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.799 the importance of our words being truthful 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:29.799 and what we say being trustworthy 00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:33.799 so that we're known as people in our families and in our lives, 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:35.799 in our workplace, in our community, 00:26:35.799 --> 00:26:38.799 not as gossips and not as untrustworthy, not as liars, 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:40.799 not as people who just make up things 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.799 as we go along in order to cover our own backs. 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:47.799 But we are people who care about justice. 00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:51.799 Proverbs 21, verse 3, 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:56.799 to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:01.799 So we move from a place of talking a good religious game 00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:04.799 to being people who have transformed hearts 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:07.799 and who do righteousness and justice 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:10.799 because we know the God of righteousness and justice 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.799 and we seek to follow Him. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:18.799 And therefore all our religious sacrifices and efforts can be empty 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:23.799 and we go out from singing His praises and worshiping Him 00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:26.799 and not living out our lives. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:28.799 Proverbs 21, verse 15, 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.799 when justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous 00:27:31.799 --> 00:27:34.799 but a terror to evildoers. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:39.799 So as we live a straight life and seek justice 00:27:39.799 --> 00:27:42.799 and depend on God in our lives as Christians, 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:47.799 it brings us a joy to our lives. 00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:50.799 But sometimes a terror to other people 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:55.799 because it is so different and should be so different 00:27:55.799 --> 00:28:00.799 from so much of what we see and experience in life. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:02.799 Proverbs 28, verse 5, 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:04.799 evil men do not understand justice 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:07.799 but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. 00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:13.799 Spiritual insight, it makes perfect sense. 00:28:13.799 --> 00:28:16.799 It makes perfect sense to follow God. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.799 The blindness has been lifted from us. 00:28:19.799 --> 00:28:23.799 It's not easy but it's definitely beautiful 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:25.799 and it makes sense. 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:27.799 The cross makes sense. 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:33.799 Righteousness and mercy, kissing at the cross makes sense. 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:39.799 God's love and God's justice being met in that act makes sense 00:28:39.799 --> 00:28:43.799 and we see it and it is important to us. 00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:46.799 Proverbs 29, verse 4, 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:48.799 by justice a king builds up the land 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:51.799 but you exact gifts tears it down. 00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:54.799 Again, honesty in our family and in our society 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.799 that brings us stability 00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:01.799 whereas greed is ugly and destructive. 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:04.799 And lastly, Proverbs 29, verse 26, 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:06.799 many seek the face of a ruler 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:09.799 but it is from the Lord that a man gets justice. 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:11.799 So where do we find our ethics? 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:13.799 Where do we choose them? 00:29:13.799 --> 00:29:15.799 Where do we decide what's right and wrong? 00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:17.799 Is it just from ourselves? 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:20.799 Is it simply the welling up of our own conscience? 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:24.799 Which sometimes is, as we know, hugely unreliable. 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.799 Is it from others? Is it from society? 00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:30.799 Where are we gaining our thoughts 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:34.799 and our ethics and our thinking about how to live? 00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:36.799 Where are we looking? Where's our heart? 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:39.799 Where's our eyes? Where's our ears? 00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:41.799 And we believe as Christians, 00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:43.799 it's from the Lord that we get that, 00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:47.799 from understanding Him as a sovereign Creator 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:50.799 and the great redeemer and the source 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:53.799 and the beginning and the end of justice. 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:56.799 That is where we find our ethics. 00:29:56.799 --> 00:29:58.799 That's where we find our morality. 00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:00.799 And it's unchanging. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:02.799 It is not fluid. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:06.799 It is clear as the one who has made us 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:11.799 we are to dig and search out for His justice through it all. 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:15.799 And we can only do that through Jesus Christ. 00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:19.799 And I think, Corey mentioned a couple of times in his prayer, 00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:24.799 that great requirement by grace that God asks for us. 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:28.799 As you go out tomorrow, as I go out tomorrow, 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:31.799 he says, what is it that he requires? 00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.799 Under Christ, he says, to do justice, to love mercy 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:38.799 and to walk humbly before our God. 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:41.799 It's very easy. We can all do that. 00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:44.799 Not. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.799 Unless we're reliant on the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:49.799 but it's great, isn't it? It is simple. 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:54.799 It's not easy to do justice, to love mercy 00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:56.799 and to walk humbly before our God. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.799 That's what God loves. 00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:02.799 And by His grace, let us strive to do that 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:07.799 and seek to share His character and His mercy 00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:13.799 and His justice with a world that genuinely 00:31:13.799 --> 00:31:17.799 often just can't see it 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:21.799 and needs to hear, you're the man, you're the woman, 00:31:21.799 --> 00:31:23.799 from God's own hand. 00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:25.799 Let's bow our heads and pray. 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:28.799 Father God, we pray that you would help us 00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:33.799 to recognize that in the myriad of mistakes we make 00:31:33.799 --> 00:31:38.799 and the injustice that we meet 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:41.799 upon other people, 00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:45.799 the things we do wrong and say wrong and think wrong, 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.799 remind us that while we do hurt people 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:53.799 and we do break confidences and we do break promises 00:31:53.799 --> 00:31:57.799 and we do damage with people around us, 00:31:57.799 --> 00:32:02.799 remind us that ultimately there is a greater standard 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:07.799 and there is a greater judgment because we are created by you 00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:10.799 and you are the author of justice 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:17.799 and you are standard, your law of a jealous love for you 00:32:17.799 --> 00:32:21.799 and a sacrificial love for other people 00:32:21.799 --> 00:32:24.799 is one that we fall short of, we fail, 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:27.799 we ignore, we reject by nature 00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:37.799 and it is only in Christ who has in voluntarily taken, 00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:42.799 in justice taken our sin, 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:46.799 that we can be free and we can be forgiven 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:49.799 and we can know justice. 00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:53.799 So enable us to live by you and for you 00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:59.799 and to love, mercy, to do justice 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:02.799 and to be humble in our walk before you. 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:24.799 For Jesus' sake, amen.