Justice Comes Out Perverted

Introduction

Would we have suit shall we seek me seek me more souls in our seat to sing our seeker?

Well, it’s not a record crowd of a week ago, but it is a good crowd nonetheless. And we have a number of visitors in our audience, and we want to welcome all of you. I do need to mention Trevor’s parents being here, Trevor and Julia, our newest members. And I just disconnected, I guess, where Trevor. I knew Trevor was from the Dallas Irving area, but I did not realize I knew his family so well as I do. And his mother, Marva is Ricky Jenkins’ sister. That would be, that would make you Ricky’s nephew. And Jess Jenkins, your grandfather. We’re gonna get some preaching out of you, boy. It’s good to have them with us. And with Trevor and Julia coming, that meant one more in the oven for this group.

So actually we did have 160, as we pointed out last week if we counted the unborn. And we’re gonna do that since that has since that has something to do with my message this morning. The last two Sunday mornings we’ve been studying the auditorium, the book of Habakkuk. That can’t be said in a lot of places. In fact, I had never taught Habakkuk until a few years ago. When I was in Auburn, I wrote the material to study these tiny minor prophets, and I fell in love with them, and particularly the tiny story of Habakkuk, and the last two classes are the reason why. I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed the study. We’ve not gotten nearly far enough, as is usually the case here with this group.

But I want you to study all the way through the end of Habakkuk, because I don’t think we’ve gotten to the best part yet. The last few verses of the book of Habakkuk. And hopefully we can begin treading our way there next Lord’s day, Lord willing. And I’m even going to begin the sermon this morning in Habakkuk, a verse that we looked at last week and mentioned briefly this morning, as Habakkuk expresses the sentiment that we sometimes feel in our culture in our times of the evil all around him among those who should know better. When he says in Habakkuk 1 in verse 4, therefore the law is ignored, and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous.

1. Justice Comes Out Perverted

Sermons generally on current events. But I felt like this particular one might have some good lessons for us, particularly as we have studied the message of Habakkuk and this particular phrase, which is the title of my sermon this morning. Yes, I can preach without slides. Well, you’ll be the judge of that. The title of this morning’s lesson, Justice Comes Out Perverted. Or the King James Version says, wrong judgment proceedeth. I just want to say that again. Wrong judgment proceedeth. I just had to say that twice. Justice comes out perverted. Casey Anthony. The story of her trial has been in the media for several weeks now. Honestly, I knew nothing about the case. I just saw a little, I don’t watch Fox News regularly. I just saw a little snippet about it a couple of weeks ago, and oh, well, okay, and I heard a few things about it, and really didn’t try to get to the heart of it until the end of this week when I decided I was going to preach on it.

And I wanted to know more about it, because most of America, it seems, believes that she was guilty of killing her young toddler Cayley. And they were aghast at the innocent verdict. Though she was convicted on four counts of lying to investigators, and so I guess she didn’t get off scot-free, though she may be released a week from today, having served the time according to those guilty verdicts and time off for good behavior. And so she may be free. Well, the reason why I delved into this further is because there was a lot of reaction on Facebook by Christians to this particular trial. And I want to look at two things that brothers said and make some points about those. One is made by Matthew William Bassford.

He’s a friend of mine on Facebook. He wrote the song Exalted that we sing. And he is a preacher of the gospel to the North. And he said, I find it ironic that so many Christians express so much concern about the murder of a little girl whom they cannot help, whom they will not be held accountable for, and yet express so little concern about the spiritually dead in their churches and communities whom they can help, whom they will be held accountable for. Well, that’s an interesting insight. I would say, though, in regard to the reaction to the trial, I get it. I mean, I understand it. I understand why Christians would post things about outrage on Facebook. I understand it because it goes all over our sense of justice.

Somebody’s responsible for this little girl’s death. And whether Casey Anthony did this as a result of premeditated murder, which I have a hard time believing, or it was a simple case of neglect, a mistake, something that was never intended, perhaps manslaughter. I don’t know for sure what the situation was. Still, somebody should have to own up to the death of this innocent little girl. But I get it because it’s the same response we had to the O.J. Simpson trial. In fact, there’s been a lot of comparisons between the O.J. Simpson trial and this particular trial when everybody thought O.J. Simpson was guilty and still do. Oprah Winfrey said she would interview O.J. Simpson if he would admit to doing it on her show. Of course, I guess her show’s over now.

But this has been in the media. And we are alarmed when we see justice perverted. Or when we think people are getting off when they should be punished for what they have done. And something that received this much media attention that was in the limelight of the media, we’re going to react to. But we must not forget. This is just one of a multitude of spiritual atrocities that occur all the time. One person responded below Bassford’s statement, or they show no mercy on the thousands of unborn that are murdered every day.

I immediately thought of not only young little toddler Cayley, but all the babies that are murdered and aborted in this country every year. I have another whole sermon I’m going to preach about this around an election time sometime called God Bless America that I will go into more detail about this. But let me just say, don’t be too alarmed. Abortions are on the decrease in our country. Last year, or actually 2008 was the last number that we have, only one point two one million babies were aborted. Yes, be alarmed. One point two one million. Since the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, from 1973 to 2005, 45 million legalized abortions have taken place in the United States of America. That is then an estimated well over 50 million innocent slaughtered.

2. The Danger of Decrying the Error Everywhere Else

I think of Psalm 72, verses 1 through 4. A psalm of Solomon, incidentally, the king, when he says in verse 1, give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness to the king’s son. May he judge thy people with righteousness and thine afflicted with justice. Let the mountains bring peace to the people and the hills in righteousness, and may he vindicate the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. But I want to go back to the Bassford quote and talk about the danger of decrying the error everywhere else and missing the personal responsibility that we all have. Because I’ve seen this before. And yes, we are alarmed at justice when it comes out perverted when wrong judgment proceedeth.

Yes, that bothers us, and yes, we should be outraged, but there’s a not, there’s not a lot I can do about that. But there is a lot that I can do. There are a lot of things that I can affect, and it reminds me of preaching that I’ve heard in the past, where the concentrations seem to be continually what people are doing out there, what preachers are saying over there, and what churches are doing over there. And I’ll tell you there’s a time and a place for that. And there’s a time to talk about men who have perverted the gospel and teach error that influence other people. And we do talk about that. But we can’t spend all of our time focused on that. Because at the end of the day, I can’t stop brother so and so from teaching evil.

And I can’t correct the leaven in other churches abroad, as we’ve talked about in our study on Wednesday nights. I can’t keep them from going the wrong direction. At least I can do very little about that. But what I can do is affect where I stand and where we stand as a local church of God’s people. I can affect what happens in my life and in the lives of those that I come into contact with. It is very comforting at times and easier at times to think about where everybody else has gone wrong. The errors that they’ve taught, the things that they’re doing that are not consistent with the Word of God, and we can shake our heads and talk about how awful it is. And it is awful.

3. What About Us? Are We Bearing Our Cross?

But what about us? A lot of times this kind of preaching and teaching is done in a church by at least all that I can observe. It’s pretty much dead. What about us? Christ for the world, we see.

Those who are by restless passions tossed. But we want them with us the cross to bear. And maybe that’s the question. Instead of just throwing up our arms in outrage about the errors of others and that justice comes at perverted at times. Are we bearing our cross? You know, that’s what I can control. The one who comes after me must bear his cross, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 24. And what does that mean? That means daily in my life, I have to remove whatever obstacle stands in my way and follow the dictates of Christ’s will for me. And that involves carrying my cross. There’s going to be some difficulty to that. There’s going to be some challenge to that. And the devil doesn’t want it to happen.

That means some things about my speech. If a man does not bridle his tongue, James says this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows, to take care of those who have no advocate, to visit the fatherless and the widows, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. You know, I can’t keep everybody else unstained by the world. And in reality, all I can do is plead and encourage you. You’re responsible for that. And I’m responsible for that. And that’s a part of me carrying my cross. And if I allow stains and blemishes to go unchecked in my life, and yet I stand in outrage when justice comes out perverted, am I any better off?

You see, it’s so much easier and so less painful to compare myself to others and say, I’m not like that. I would never consider an abortion. It’s so much easier to look at ourselves and say, I’m better. Than to do the work of being imitators of God as beloved children. And walking in love just as Christ did, who was a sacrifice for us according to Ephesians chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about my preaching. I don’t let any of us get off scot-free. I’m going to try to say something every week to you. And it’s amazing how appealing it is that we actually grow when this kind of teaching is done. But it says a lot about the people who are coming to hear the teaching.

4. Bridle the Tongue and the Whole Body

But I’m not just going to get up here and preach some Sunday about what’s going wrong in the world, at least exclusively, I’m going to bring it back here and say, what are we doing? How are we doing? Because I think we constantly need to be challenged. And the reason why I think we constantly need to be challenged is because I constantly need to be challenged. You know, it just rolls off the tongue. If a man does not bridle his tongue, his religion is vain. Pure and undefiled religion is to keep oneself unstained by the world. Well, it may roll off the tongue, but putting it to practice in our lives can sometimes be a much different matter. As he would go on to expound in James chapter 3, the tongue can no man tame.

In verse 8. And if a man is able to control or bridle his tongue, he is able to control or bridle the whole body as well. And we need to bridle both of those. What kind of attention are we giving to? Controlling our behavior. I’ve always said one of the more difficult things that believers are called to do on a daily basis is simply to exercise that one particular fruit of the Spirit, self-control. And remember, that was part of the message that Paul preached to Felix that caused him to tremble. The need for self-control and to live right, righteousness, and judgment to come. So I’ll tell you, it would be a lot easier on Sundays if the preacher would just stay off my case. Instead of telling me that I have to esteem others better than myself.

And to do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. Are there verses in the Bible that you wish you could just skip over or not have to observe because they’re hard? That one’s hard. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but esteem others as better than yourself. Not merely looking upon your own interests. You know, I’m pretty good at that. I’ve got some interests. And I look out after. Got to pay the bills. Got to take care of this issue and that issue. I got to get all my ducks in a row. And I’m really bad about trying to get those ducks in a row, just ask Sherry. But he says, not merely looking out upon your own interests, but also the interests of others. That’s part of burying my cross, too.

Christ for the world. We see.

5. When It Comes to Sin, We All Are Guilty

Another quote from Terry Francis, who preaches for the East Shelby Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where I held a meeting earlier this spring. I have a lot of respect and regard for Terry. He said, the morning after, that’s how he started it, the morning after, dot. The morning after what? Casey Anthony. I hope our outrage against justice and someone we think is guilty will bring about reflection in our own life. One day we will face perfect judgment that will not fail. And if we are guilty, we will not walk free. And yet, I am guilty.

But I do know I am guilty. But by the grace of God, I have been made clean again. And I’m so thankful. Can you imagine what it would be like to be on trial as Casey Anthony was? I wonder what she thought the verdict was going to be. I think she was concerned. I could tell by the not guilty verdict and the reaction. She was concerned. Can you imagine being on trial and awaiting the verdict of the jurors? Especially if you were guilty. I can’t imagine even being on trial. When I go to a courtroom to serve as a juror, of course I never get to, they always dismiss the preacher. But even when I go in the courtroom, I look at the person who’s going to undergo this trial, and I can’t imagine being him.

Usually it’s a him, it’s her in this case. Can you imagine that being that person? These people are going to decide the fate for your life. And a lot of people, by the time they get to that point, if they haven’t struck a deal, you know, usually, we’re talking usually about a person who’s guilty of something. Usually.

And you’re guilty. Because the fact is, when it comes to sin, we all are guilty. And God says, You’ve been set free. The only difference is we have to acknowledge our guilt. And we have to meet his terms of pardon. But that brings it home, doesn’t it? We have been guilty more than once of transgressing his holy will, and yet he has said, I’m going to set you free by the blood of my son. And so when I think of Casey Anthony and what may or may not have happened, she can be forgiven. If she acknowledges her guilt and meets God’s terms of pardon. Jeffrey Dahmer. Despicable atrocities and acts committed. Was ultimately murdered in prison. But I am told that he studied with a gospel preacher and obeyed the gospel some time prior to his murder.

Who knows? God will judge. Even Casey Anthony can be forgiven. And I’ll just look at it this way. If I can be forgiven, Casey Anthony can be forgiven. Sin is sin. We need to acknowledge our guilt and seek God’s terms of pardon. I want to call out Jared. It was an excellent. If you don’t come on Wednesday night, you miss stuff. You miss seeing a young person like Jared get up here and fight his nerves. He’s done it several times and give an invitation. And it was excellent. He was talking about change and some questioning whether change can happen overnight. And he said, Well, let’s remove change from the equation. Let’s talk about repentance. And he was right. Repentance is a simple decision. I’m going to not go this way.

I’m going to go this way. Godly sorrow works or produces repentance. And yes, the beginnings of change can happen immediately. It comes from a decision. I’m not gonna do this anymore. This is damaging, this is hurtful, and I’m gonna go a different direction, and then you have to be determined to stay the course. And if there are some hiccups along the way, you’ve got to get back on the course. That’s what Christianity is all about.

6. God Knows What People Have Done

And that’s what bearing your cross is about. God knows what people have done. I want you to look at Jeremiah 23. A couple of verses, and we’ll be done this morning. Jeremiah 23. Casey Anthony’s guilt or innocence. But in Jeremiah 23 and 23, God declares to his people, Am I a God who is near? declares the Lord, and not a God far off. Can a man hide himself in hiding places so that I do not see him? declares the Lord. Do I not, do I not fill the heavens and the earth? Remember when he says these things of the prophet Jeremiah. Things in Jerusalem are so bad. Babylonian, the Chaldeans are about to sweep through and destroy Jerusalem. You think I don’t see what’s going on in Judah?

What about Ezekiel? He’s already in captivity. What does God say to Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 8? He said, Son of man, I want you to see the abominations that are being committed down in the dark and down in the basement where they are worshiping creeping things and detestable things. And there’s idols all around. I want you to see this Son of Man. And then he says in verse 12 of Ezekiel chapter 8, do you see what the elders, the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images, for they say, The Lord does not see us. The Lord has forsaken the land. The Lord, he’s become distant and unattached, he’s not noticing all of this.

And he shows Ezekiel, oh yes, I see it. And finally, in Luke chapter 12, we have this assurance regarding the judgment of God. And yes, this is a passage of assurance in Luke chapter 12, verse 2, there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light. And what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. Nobody gets away with it. Casey Anthony, if she’s guilty, not going to get away with it, not ultimately. Maybe in this life, unless she repents.

Conclusion

Is a God every hypocrite, every insincere person will ultimately be revealed for who and what they are. The Lord misses nothing. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15 and verse 3. What does he see in you? Christ for the world, we see.

Thirsty soul near the well come ’tis a fountain for all there’s a living stream with the Christ coming from the ground like now it flows while the walls roll at the weary soul near the freely will you come to the mountain free? Will you come? Tis for you and me. Thirsty soul, thirsty soul near the welcome, ’tis a fountain open for all.

So let me not water share.

Will you come? Will you come to the mountain free?

Thirsty soul. Thirsty soul near the well come, tis a fountain.