Testimony of Stuart Greaves
International House of Prayer – Kansas City
SECTION 1: PURSUING CHRIST-CENTERED SOCIAL JUSTICE
God first spoke to me on the subject of social justice in Mexico City. I had been seeking the Lord in a focused way concerning
the poor of the earth, and I felt directed by Him to go to Mexico to be among the poor. Through a series of events I ended
up with a group of young adults on a ministry trip. In between ministering to the poor, we talked with one another about
justice, the church and governments, among other things. One afternoon, after touring a small Franciscan monastery,
I took some time for reflection and prayer; that’s when He spoke:
The present social justice movement is preparing the poor of the earth to receive the Antichrist.
His words shook me to the core of my being and left me perplexed as I did not expect Him to say what He said; neither did
I even see the truth of what He spoke until I heard it from heaven. At first I was actually offended by that statement;
something in my spirit rose up and said, “What? How could helping the poor set them up for Satan worship?” But I could
not deny the fact that it was the voice of the Lord.
Afterwards I couldn’t stop thinking about Revelation chapter 13; the Holy Spirit was impressing it upon my heart. When I
read this chapter, I noticed for the first time that John specifically declared that all would take the mark of the beast,
including the poor.
That was the beginning of my understanding that a false justice movement is emerging in the earth that will seek to serve
the poor, but will end up seducing them with lies and leading them into eternal ruin. Multitudes of the poor of the earth will
bend the knee before a demonized man, and worship the devil. The very movement that claims to be motivated by
compassion to serve and liberate the poor is, in fact, preparing them to be swept up into the harlot religion and receive
the Antichrist, thus leading them into eternal damnation.
My own personal journey started years earlier when I began to explore various options and pursue different ideas, none
of which have materialized. One such idea was when Esther, my wife, and I moved to Kansas City in 1998: we had it in
our hearts to live among the poor in community with a group of young adults. As soon as we arrived in Kansas City we
began looking for houses but the Holy Spirit made it very clear that He did not want us to pursue that dream. When the
door to live among the poor was closed and another idea was shut down, my heart was filled with frustration and I even
began to wonder if what was in our heart was real.
Through a series of events, Jesus led Esther and I to become part of the International House Of Prayer in a full-time
capacity. Early in our involvement the Lord began to show us that it was in the context of night and day prayer that our
hearts would be safe in relation to His purpose for justice. Though we knew that the Lord was showing us this we didn’t
really understand what night and day prayer had to do with social justice or how they were even related. We thought that
prayer was simply what you did to get revival. We now understand that night and day prayer is the seed-bed for global
justice. The message and revelation of justice must be planted, watered and nurtured in the context of intercession.
Luke 18:1-8 is the passage that connects the call to persistent night and day prayer with the release of God’s spiritual
and social justice that accompanies His return to the earth. So the prayer movement is, at its foundation, a justice
movement.
However, there are two justice movements emerging in the earth. One is a false movement that has been growing over
the last hundred years, rooted in humanism and undermining the apostolic revelation of Jesus. This false movement will
be fully manifest in the one-world religion that the Bible calls the harlot of Babylon. It will be a counterfeit forerunner
movement for the Antichrist; by wearing down people’s ability to discern right from wrong and by undermining the true
gospel, the harlot Babylon will leave them susceptible to full-blown Satan worship under the leadership of the Antichrist.
It is important to realize that Satan worship does not spring up overnight. It is the product of years of baby steps away
from truth and into deception, one tiny compromise at a time, seeming very harmless at first. The global consciousness
of the nations is becoming increasingly more awakened to humanitarian needs through the real lessons of justice that
have been learned throughout history. Humanity has made progress by fighting oppression of the poor, addressing
racism, defeating totalitarian governments, resisting anti-Semitism, and confronting violent expressions of religious
fundamentalism. The current social justice movement will continue to address these issues.
However, while the list of injustices addressed by secular movements grows steadily more comprehensive, the core issue
of justice from heaven’s vantage point is entirely neglected. The face of evil is wearing the mask of “good” in that the
issues are being addressed but the apostolic requirement of faith in Christ is completely ignored. The false justice
movement will mature into a harlot religion with the outward appearance of good in its actions, but its leaders and
followers will have rage against Christ and His ways in their inner-man.
The good news is that while there is a false justice movement, the Holy Spirit is raising up the end-time justice prayer
movement, the true forerunner movement preparing the nations for the second coming of Jesus to the earth. I believe the
night and day prayer movement for justice prophesied in Luke 18:1-8 relates to justice and is prophesied and expounded
on in the prophecies of Isaiah 60-66 which Jesus will establish after He returns to the earth and sets up His kingdom.
1. Isa 60 – the fullness of justice is manifested
2. Isa 61 – Jesus’ anointed leadership to establish justice to the ends of the earth
3. Isa 62 – Intercessors partnering with Jesus day and night for the establishing of justice
4. Isa 63 – Jesus engages in a military battle during His second coming
5. Isa 64 – Intercession for an historic breakthrough for justice, shifting the whole of the planet
6. Isa 65 – The restoration of the created order
7. Isa 66 – Justice: Jesus reigns forever as the righteous are embraced by His love and the wicked consumed by His
jealousy
We are living in a critical hour of history, in the beginnings of a transitional generation marked by the emergence of a
global prayer movement. More than 2500 years ago, the prophet Isaiah prophesied that in the generation in which the
Lord would return, that the Holy Spirit would raise up prophetic intercessors who would give themselves to night and day
prayer contending for the fullness of God’s justice to be manifest in the earth. While there will be people of every age
in this movement, it will primarily be a young adult movement.
There is a growing awareness of justice in our nation, especially among young adults and on the college and university
campuses of America. There is an increased concern for the physical well-being of humans, i.e. world hunger, refugee
camps, human trafficking, children of war in Africa, oppression of women, abortion and other forms of human rights.
There are many in the entertainment world, in music, TV and the movie industry, who are leading the way by raising
awareness of these issues. The heightened awareness of the justice issues is itself a sign of the times. It is an indicator
that the Lord is preparing the nations for the speedy justice that will accompany His return in response to a global night
and day prayer movement.
Another sign pointing towards an emerging global prayer movement is the rapid increase of and insatiable desire for
worship, intercession and intimate communion with the Trinity across the nations of the earth. This global revolution of
prayer is a movement birthed from above that will culminate in the return of Jesus to this earth. He is coming to establish
His throne of glory in Jerusalem as the global seat of government from which He will reign during the Millennium, the
1000-year reign of Christ on earth, and on into eternity.
The end-time justice prayer movement will produce a praying church that proclaims the coming of Jesus with a forerunner
anointing, like John the Baptist did. The Church will walk in a mature bridal identity and in full unity with the Spirit, crying
out for Jesus to come back and fully manifest the justice of God in every sphere and arena of life. The subject of justice
lies at the very core of the apostolic gospel proclaimed by the Son of God and the apostles of the early church. There is
a vision in the heart of the Father to establish justice in the earth; it is central to the first and second comings of Jesus
Christ.
Jesus will use the great tribulation to expose the real nature of the counterfeit justice movement. The primary issue
before the Church today is the apostolic revelation of Jesus Christ; it is not about a new humanitarian method or program,
but the preaching of the apostolic gospel with power, through prayer and proclamation. In this hour we must give
ourselves to the revelation of who Jesus is: in His personality, in His power, and in His purpose. What is before the
church as it relates to the subject of justice is the apostolic ministry of intercession, giving ourselves to night and day
prayer; the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom through the revelation of Christ; contending for apostolic power
where the message is proclaimed; and confirmation by signs and wonders that flow out of apostolic lifestyles of holiness
and righteousness. The issue of apostolic power to the poor and oppressed is absolutely vital; they need a message in
this hour that will raise them out of the ash heaps of their personal depravity as well as their individual and corporate
oppression, according to the gospel of Jesus Christ as proclaimed by the apostles and prophets of old. The justice
movement as it exists right now has many seductive trappings; much of it is devoid of the preaching of the true gospel of
Christ, resulting in social activism with a different gospel and a different Jesus from that which was declared to us by the
apostles. This void of truth, if not filled with the love of truth, is causing (and will continue to cause) many to be seduced
by the message of a different Jesus and different gospel, fueled by doctrines of demons.
For the last 15 years, since I was in college, I have been on a personal journey with the Lord related to the subject of
justice and the poor. Ironically, my awareness was stirred by a group of students, who had unorthodox ideas about the
Word of God and its message to the world and the Church. In this context, my spirit was alerted to the subject of justice in
the Word of God. As I engaged my peers in dialogue, I found myself disagreeing with them. They had many ideas about
the knowledge of God, justice and morality based on lies rooted in humanism, devoid of the truth of Jesus Christ, but they
were also quoting Bible verses. As I began to consider various verses, passages and chapters in context, the Lord
arrested my heart: so began my journey related to justice and the poor.
One reason why the present social justice movement will prepare the poor for the Antichrist is that the awareness of
justice is fueled by human sentiment and an earthbound perspective, rather than being birthed from above, rooted in the
mystery of God’s divine counsel. Not only is the subject of justice fueled by much human sentiment, but it is also shaped
mostly by political and economic ideals such as capitalism, socialism, communism, etc, and false theological ideals of
liberal theology, social gospel, liberation theology etc. Most troubling of all are the false ideas about Jesus, denying the
deity of Christ, that are emerging in the earth in the context of the pursuit of justice. The message of justice and social
action must be fueled by the truth of the person and gospel of Christ.
There is deep and holy concern in God’s heart about injustice; His heart is saddened and broken. Justice and
righteousness are fundamental to the government of God. Isaiah 59:15 states that the Lord saw the injustices in the
earth and His holy heart was displeased. God beholds the decline in actions of righteousness, the lowering of moral and
ethical behaviors, the lack of truth, equity and integrity and it breaks His heart. God has profound feelings–deep, holy
and righteous emotions–on the issue of justice.
In Isaiah’s day there was a greater crisis than the injustices of his society: there was not one intercessor qualified to
establish justice in the earth. The prophet declares that God would eventually become the very intercessor that He was
looking for - Jesus. In the same way, there is a crisis of eternal consequences: an almost complete absence of the
preaching and apostolic revelation of Jesus Christ. There is emerging in the earth a false justice movement that is
devoid of the apostolic revelation of Jesus Christ; this is creating a context for the emergence of false messengers.
There are movements, both within the religious and the entertainment worlds, that are suggesting we should lay aside
our religious and theological differences and unite around the one mandate held in common by many religions, i.e. the
common good of humanity, especially the poor. These suggestions are no different than implying that Jesus would sit
around a table with demons suggesting heaven and hell lay aside their differences for the sake of peace on earth and
good will to men. This notion that all religions, including Christianity, come together for dialogue is suggesting that Christ
is conciliatory towards the very powers of darkness He came to defeat and destroy. The Holy Spirit is raising up
messengers who will speak up for the apostolic and biblical proclamation of the Son of God, the Just One. Christ Jesus
and His purposes are the real theme of prophetic preaching. Though the praying forerunner church is to stand against
the various issues of social injustice and participate in the establishment of justice in the earth (Mt. 5:13-16), the issue
that will separate us from all other religions, groups and political ideologies is our stance for Jesus: who He is and what
His purposes are.
Many injustices were committed by the ancient Roman Empire around the time of the early church, yet the apostles’
primary burden was the proclamation of the unsearchable riches of the Just One. In this hour there is a great need for
the apostolic preaching of the beauty and the splendor of the man Christ Jesus. As in the days of Samuel, the word of
the Lord is rare today, and there is little mention of the worth of Christ’s glory and His glorious purpose. The good news
is that we are approaching an hour in history when the Father is about to release His heart’s delight in an eschatological
unveiling of the beauty of Jesus Christ. The Father, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, longs to make Jesus known
by convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment to come, that they may turn to the splendor of the man Christ
Jesus. So, whilst there is a growing awakening for justice in the church, and, taking into account that justice is central to
God’s government, there is yet a more pressing issue that the Holy Spirit is putting before us in this hour: “Who do you
say that I am?” Grappling with this question will shift the church from being purely activist to becoming powerfully
apostolic, and from being political to becoming prophetic. The revelation and proclamation of Christ is foremost.
In the days when Jesus came to the earth the first time, He came during one of the most insidious and decadent periods
in human history - the reign of ancient Rome. The most horrific injustices took place in the Roman Empire. Rome
terrorized its subjects by the public lynching (crucifixion) of its criminals and those who resisted its rule. Rome’s treatment
of its prisoners of war surpassed the horrors of Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq: the Roman government made their prisoners
objects of entertainment, forcing them to perform as gladiators in their arenas. Rome was filled with public temples of
false gods that hosted all manner of immoral acts, while at the same time having governmental leaders who claimed to
be gods. This was the culture that Jesus entered when He came to earth. At Jesus’ baptism, the thunderous, audible
voice of the Lord was heard. When we consider the context in which Jesus came, and all the things God, in His perfect
wisdom, could have declared, it is wonderful that His words were: “This is my son; in whom I am well pleased.” There is
yet a more decadent and insidious hour of history that is upon us, “such as has not occurred since the beginning of the
world till now, nor ever will”, and the Father’s primary proclamation will again be, “Behold my Son in whom I am well
pleased”. Our hope in this hour is to return to our DNA of the apostolic gospel, the preaching of Christ, which is the true
message of justice to the governments and the nations of the earth, and to the poor and the oppressed.
One of the realities that must be confronted in the subject of justice is that there is not one person in the earth; there is
not one governmental system whether it be democratic, socialist or communist; there is not one social system, there is
not one political party whether democratic or republican or independent that is innocent before God. There is not a
culture, there is not a social status, there’s not a gender that is righteous. The whole human race outside of Christ Jesus
stands guilty before heaven. A great error in the present social justice movement is the sanctifying or the deifying of any
group where, by virtue of their position or status in society, they are assigned moral standing with God. One of the
greatest errors is that by virtue of social standing, political affiliation, or governmental expression, guilt or justification is
assigned before God. It is essential that we begin our theology of justice in the right place; that we start with the premise
that God is holy and righteous, and that humanity is the total opposite.
The issue of justice starts with humanity’s need for right-standing with the Godhead in Christ Jesus, our need to be
justified by faith through Christ by which we have peace with God and can stand in His presence and fellowship with Him.
Without this there is no justice. It is those who are true to the faith who will walk out the justice that God desires and
esteems (Hab 2:4). The day that humanity broke fellowship with God, injustice entered into the world.
The progression of injustice is important in that first, injustice has to do with our corporate guilt before God, as the whole
human race. The first mention of injustice in the court of heaven is that of humanity against God. We tend to start with
the injustices committed against us, and then go on and focus on the injustices of man against man. Both these
perspectives lead to the exaltation of self. The beginning point of injustice must be the rebellion of every human being
against God: “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. This is a very familiar Bible verse but rarely does
the truth it contains register in our souls. Jesus did not come to make good people better; rather, He came to rescue
those who committed high treason against the court of heaven and to offer them mercy if they would turn to Him from the
error of their ways. Understanding this truth of humanity’s condition before God will help us ask the right questions. Most
of today’s questions are profoundly disconnected from humanity’s injustice committed against God. One question related
to justice that is often asked is: How is it that a loving or just God can allow certain things to happen? Why would He allow
the death of innocent people, or even kill them? This is the completely wrong question. The question we need to ask is:
How can a just and a loving God allow us to continue living? That is a question that is rooted in reality and clear
perspective. “If God is just and God loves, then why does He cause the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous?”
That is the real question.
God’s primary controversy with humanity is our lack of response in bowing our mind, will and emotions to the leadership
of His Son Christ Jesus. Social injustice, though He is displeased with that, is not His primary controversy, knowing that
as the cup gets cleansed internally, it will overflow into the external dimensions of life. The burden of the Lord is stirred
first for the internal condition of the human race and secondly for the manifestation of that internal condition; both need
to be addressed. When the Lord judged the world in the days of Noah, man was judged because of his wickedness and
the fact that “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. If someone were to emerge and rid the
earth of every injustice i.e. abortion, human trafficking, racism, systemic oppression, corruption in government, world
hunger, etc, both the temporal and the eternal judgments of the book of Revelation would still happen because God has
a controversy with the nations of the earth which is the lack of response to His beloved Son and His ways.
One of the issues highlighted afresh in this hour is abortion. It is critical to understand that there is a blood that cries out
better things than the blood of Abel and, therefore, there is a blood that cries out better things than the blood of the
unborn. It is the blood of Christ and it speaks both in judgment and in mercy. The United States of America—the
inhabitants of this nation—must respond to the blood of Christ. The writer of Hebrews makes it very clear and states that
God will trample those who have treated the blood of His covenant as though it were a common thing, those who insulted
the spirit of grace by not responding to Jesus. So then, the progression in our thinking related to justice is important,
starting with our injustice committed against God, followed by the injustice that we have committed against others, then
the injustice of others against others, and finally we consider the injustice committed against ourselves.
SECTION 2: THE JUST ONE
Isaiah 42 contains one of the clearest statements on justice and how God is going to fully manifest His justice in all the
earth. In the first four verses the prophet calls the people to behold the Servant of the Lord, Christ Jesus. The whole
chapter starts with a call to set our gaze upon the Son of God. The primary emphasis and central theme of this chapter
is that we are called to set our sights on the Servant of the Lord and not to lose sight of who Jesus is. The apostolic
mandate that was given to Paul the apostle in Acts 22 was to behold the Just One. The Lord is putting the same mandate
upon the end-time justice movement: the praying forerunner church is to behold the Just One who will fully establish the
manifestation of justice in the whole earth when He returns.
The first prophetic word Paul received was from Ananias in Acts 22:14:
“Paul, the God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the just One, and hear the voice of
His mouth, for you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and what you have heard.”
There is an apostolic mandate from heaven in this hour, calling us back to experience the spirit of revelation, so we can
know, see and hear the Just One through the written word. It is the Father’s great and divine pleasure to reveal His son
in us. Justice begins with responding to the call of God to again turn our gaze to the Son of God, that the nations of the
earth might do the same, and usher in the Second Coming of Jesus.
In Isaiah 42:1-4, the Lord establishes a very clear outline of what is in His heart concerning the issue of justice. As
mentioned before, the central theme of the passage is the beauty of Jesus, the Servant of the Lord. It is as if God were
saying: I have a great and glorious plan for the ending of every form of social injustice and I want My people to partner
with me in the process. I want to end abortion, immorality, human trafficking, governmental corruption and oppression,
ethnic strife, poverty and war, but before we start I want to talk about my Son, my Servant.
Isaiah 42:1 is a call to the lovesick gaze of encountering the beauty and the personhood of Christ the Lamb. The prophet
Isaiah is calling the people of God to the apostolic determination to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. The cry to
behold is both an invitation to gaze as well as the primary point in the proclamation of the message of justice.
Isaiah 42 gives insight into seven aspects of Jesus, related to the release of justice in the earth.
First, Jesus is fully God and fully man, and the Father appointed Jesus as King to execute God’s plan for justice in the
earth; Christ is God’s chosen King to rule and reign over the kingdoms of this world. Jesus will establish the fullness of
God’s justice in the earth when He returns, taking over the governments of the earth and establishing God’s theocratic
government in their place.
“I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to
the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18
In beholding the Lord, we see first that the revelation of Jesus gives insight into Christ’s destiny as God’s appointed King.
There are several valid applications to the revelation of the hope of Jesus’ calling. One of the main interpretations is the
reality that God appointed this Man to be heir over all things. This speaks of Christ’s leadership that is manifested in part
before His Second Coming, but that will be revealed in full when He returns to the earth to establish His theocratic
kingdom. The Godhead already possesses all things (Ps. 24:1) but the inheritance here is God sharing His fullness with
the Man Christ Jesus. The divine appointment of Christ as heir of all things is in regard to His humanity. “The name ‘heir’
is attributed to Christ as manifest in the flesh,” says Calvin, “for in being made man and putting on the same nature as
us, He took on himself this heirship, in order to restore to us what we had lost in Adam.” One thing that was lost during
the rebellion of Adam was the mandate of dominion, the preservation of justice, as given in Genesis 1:26.
Secondly, we discover the Father’s deep and holy affections for His Son. In the beholding of the beauty of the Son of
God, we are called to discover, receive and proclaim the Father’s love for His Son. It is essential that we develop a
lovesick gaze that will keep us from being overly preoccupied by issues and help us rightly prioritize our message to the
nations of the earth. Issues cannot be and must not be our primary message. For instance the Lord could take the issue
of life, related to abortion, and drive it as a wedge in the nation, but there is yet a greater wedge to be driven – Jesus.
The proclamation of Jesus as King and Judge was driven as a wedge into the ancient world, often resulting in angry riots.
Jesus declares that the nations will hate the Church for His name’s sake. Many groups and religions are taking a stance
against various forms of social injustice, but what sets the church apart is our confession that Jesus is God and that He is
God’s appointed King over all the earth. The Lord is going to pour out the spirit of revelation concerning the beauty of
Jesus in an unprecedented way. He is going to raise up messengers of justice who will proclaim the wealth and the glory
of Christ with such an apostolic authority that it will shake the nations at the end of the age (Acts 17:5-6; Joel 2:1;
Rev. 8-9). The Father is saying to the nations: I have a Son; how will you respond to Him and His purposes? The call
to worship Jesus does not mean that we do not contend for social transformation and the changing of unrighteous laws.
Indeed, we are to take a stance in whatever way the political situation allows our voices to be heard. We give ourselves
to prayer for the changing of laws and the transformation of our society, all in the context of developing an adoring gaze
unto loving obedience for the Son of God and proclaiming who He is.
The third aspect we see in Jesus as we behold Him is the exceeding greatness of His power, in that the Father has
anointed Jesus with all the resources of heaven to accomplish the task at hand. The Father has put His Spirit upon His
Servant, meaning that God has given this man the supernatural ability to establish justice. One of the accusations
against God is whether or not He is powerful enough to do something about the injustice in the earth. The Father
declares that He has put the power of the Spirit upon Jesus. Isaiah chapter eleven gives the breakdown of the sevenfold
operation of the Holy Spirit on the Messiah that is given to Him to govern the earth forever. He is not powerless or
impotent in His ability to establish justice. The reality of the Holy Spirit being put upon Jesus speaks not only of Jesus’
God-given ability but also of heaven’s divine authorization to carry out the decrees of the Father and rule the nations.
The fourth aspect that is seen in Jesus the Just One, is the fact that He has a plan to establish justice in the earth. Isaiah
states that, “He will bring forth justice to the gentiles and He will do it for truth”. Jesus has an action plan for the
establishment of justice in the earth and He will do it in accordance with the principles (truth) of heaven rather than the
wisdom of man. The Father has an eternal plan to establish justice, and as we behold the Son of God through study and
meditation on the word of God, we begin to discover insight into His plan. The prophet Jeremiah declares that at the end
of the age the people of God will have mature understanding of the plans that are in God’s holy heart (Jer. 23:20).
Gaining insight into God’s plan to bring forth justice to the earth will bind our hearts to Jesus in a deep way, causing us to
grow in love towards Him and stand with Him in prayer, proclamation and lifestyle when He begins to more openly and fully
execute His end-time plan for justice. The revelation of His plan produces confidence in the hearts of the people of God,
giving them endurance to stay the course until that Day. Many times those who have a burden for justice, or who
themselves experience injustice, are tempted to grow impatient and hurry to find a solution that is less then excellent.
This is a very normal reaction in the human heart. However, the Lord has His plan; a plan that is accomplished according
to His own pleasure in all wisdom and prudence. There is not one detail that has not been considered, and there is not
one dimension of the Father’s ability that is withheld from the process of establishing His vision for justice in the earth.
As we gain insight into this divine plan, our hearts get filled with faith unto patience and humility as we see the brilliance
of the Father’s leadership. The unfolding of this plan is clearly laid out in the New Testament; it necessitated the Second
Person of the Trinity becoming a man, paying the price for sin, rising from the dead, and then being seated back at the
right hand of God the Father before this eternal plan would be declared to humanity (the redeemed). God gave the
mystery to the apostles who recorded it in the written Word of God to be passed down through the generations. The
culmination of the action plan is seen in the book of Revelation where the main theme is the return of Jesus to the earth
to establish His justice (Rev. 1:7).
In chapter 5 of Revelation we see Jesus commissioned by the Father to execute and bring forth justice in the earth.
Revelation 4 introduces the glory and majesty of the Father who holds a scroll in His right hand, a scroll containing the
action plan for the release of justice on the earth, a scroll that is the title deed to the earth. Jesus is the Elect One
(Isa. 42:1), the only one qualified to take the title deed from the Father’s hand in order to carry out the Father’s plan.
In Revelation 5, Jesus, as the Father’s elect, takes the title deed out of the Father’s hand (Rev. 5:8), thereby accepting
the responsibility to rid the earth of injustice. The Elect One has the ability and authority (Rev. 5:6) to go forth, establish
justice in the whole earth and give leadership over all the governments of the world.
A fifth dynamic that we discover in beholding the Servant of the Lord is the method He will use to establish justice in the
earth. Isaiah prophecies that Jesus would not cry out nor raise His voice or quarrel in the streets. Jesus would not march
or use natural methods i.e. boycotting, engaging in political debate but, rather, would give Himself to crying out in the
place of prayer and to the prophetic proclamation of the kingdom. Jesus was a revolutionary but He did not rally His
people to march and chant in the streets of Israel, neither did He raise up a physical army. Beholding Jesus the Servant
will give us insight into His method. The end-time justice movement is a prayer movement where we are called to lift our
voice and cry out in the place of prayer first, to proclaim the gospel and its forerunner dimensions in the context of living
lives filled with actions of justice. In response to this global worship movement, Jesus will come as a warrior and defeat
the perpetrators of injustice. Though Jesus did not raise up a physical army and neither will His servants before He
returns, during His Second Coming, Jesus will come as a warrior king who will wage war with a divinely anointed and
spiritual arsenal. There is a real warfare dimension in the spiritual realm and later, in the natural, related to the execution
of God’s vision for justice. The Servant of the Lord came to defeat Satan at the cross, to make a public spectacle of
powers and principalities, and to render the realms of darkness powerless. When Jesus returns, He will come and
engage in a battle in the realm of the natural – Armageddon. Commonly, the subject of warfare is limited to a battle
fought in the spirit. However, there is a battle to be fought at the end of natural history. There is a revelation of the
mystery of Christ, as the God-Man, the Warrior-King. The God-Man, who is a warrior, fights against demonic entities,
but He will fight a battle in the natural. Yet it will be consistent with the method for justice prescribed in Isaiah 42. Jesus
will wage the war for justice by the sword or the rod of His mouth, warring through the spoken word in prayer, worship
and prophetic decrees.
Jesus will establish justice by the Word and the Spirit. The Father gave Jesus, in His humanity, the fullness of the Spirit
and the Word by which He would establish justice in the earth. Justice will go forth through the power of the Spirit in
response to the Word of God; these are the two premiere weapons given to Jesus. The Spirit of God moves when there
is agreement with the word of God. As we behold the Lord and see His prescribed way to establish justice, our hearts
come into agreement with His, and we enter into partnership with Him. There are three ways we enter into agreement with
the Word: by praying the Word, proclaiming the Word and practicing the Word or obedience. These three realities make
up what the Scripture calls abiding. The Scripture says that when we abide in the Word, we will be able to declare things
and watch heaven respond. Jesus is the ultimate embodiment of this truth and it is the manner in which He will wage war
for justice.
“Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Receive, please, instruction from His
mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; you will remove iniquity far
from your tents. Then you will lay your gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. Yes, the
Almighty will be your gold And your precious silver; for then you will have your delight in the Almighty, and lift up your
face to God. You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, and you will pay your vows. You will also declare a thing,
and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.” Job 22:21-28
There are several examples in Scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments, of how humans spoke the word and the
Spirit moved on their behalf to confront everything that hindered the purposes of God. Some examples are: Elijah and the
two witnesses stopping the rain, the apostle Paul striking a man with blindness through a word, Elijah striking 50 men
with fire through the spoken word, the two witnesses striking their enemies with fire, Ananias and Sapphira dying at
Peter’s spoken word, sickness being removed through a word, armies resisted, and the two witnesses releasing plagues
through a word. At the battle of Armageddon Jesus will slay the nations with the word of His mouth. He will speak the
word and mountains will split, plagues and pestilences will be released; one-hundred pound hailstones, earthquakes,
confusion, madness, blindness, bloodshed, flooding, fire, brimstone—these will all be released when Jesus speaks the
word. At the end of the age the Lord is raising up a church that will function as He does; an end-time prayer movement
through which Jesus will establish justice in the earth. It will be a movement given to raising their voice before the throne
of God in the place of prayer, prophetic declaration and practical obedience according to the word of God.
The sixth component that we see in the Servant of the Lord is His tenderness and patience in bringing about justice in the
earth. Jesus has the fierce determination of a lion and the humility and tenderness of a servant. The face of Christ as
the Servant is the most stunning reality. He will lead with the strength of meekness, the might of humility, the relentless
power of His tenderness, and gentleness and meekness that is unwavering. “He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor
cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench. He will
bring forth justice for truth” (Isa. 42:2-3). In these verses, Isaiah is highlighting the patience of Christ. It takes
tremendous skill and wisdom not to break a bruised reed. Jesus will be gentle and merciful to those, whether oppressed
or oppressor, who turn to Him in truth. Though fierce, He will be most tender, even in His more severe dealings with the
earth at the end of the age to establish justice in the hearts of the nations of the earth. Christ’s patience is also evident
in that it has taken at least 2000 years before the fullness of the Day of the Lord is manifest. Jesus will not quench
smoking flax. This speaks of the gentle wisdom of Christ and His ability to take the heart of a person who has turned to
Him and whose heart is barely burning with the flames of love and justice, and to turn a responsive heart into a raging
bonfire. It takes gentleness and patience to turn a spark into a fire, and these two things are the first to go when we talk
about the subject of justice, being quickly replaced by harshness and impatience. It is as we cultivate the loving gaze,
beholding Jesus and pursuing justice with a devotional spirit, that we will receive an impartation of unwavering tenderness.
The seventh aspect that is unveiled as we behold the Elect One is the fierce determination of Jesus to accomplish the
task that He started. He will not rest until He has established the fullness of justice in the earth. In verse four, Isaiah
declares, “He will not fail nor be discouraged” . In other words, His plan will succeed and not one of His plans will be
thwarted. Though the heart of the Lord is displeased or broken over the injustice in the earth, Jesus is not and will not
be deterred by the present situation and condition of the nations and their governments. The prophet declares to us the
assurance of justice and Christ’s determination and zeal for justice. We are living in an hour where we must give
ourselves to beholding the Just One. The revelation of Jesus the Just One will serve as a source of encouragement to
those who desire to see the justice of God manifest in the earth.
SECTION 3: THE POLITICS OF JUSTICE
There are two basic camps among those who name the name of Jesus. One camp pursues holiness at the expense of
justice and the other camp pursues social activism at the expense of holiness. The first camp can lead to a pharisaical
and sectarian spirit while the second becomes a seed-bed of moral compromise. Justice that pleases the Lord is focused
on both holiness and the living out of justice in whatever society we are a part of.
Jesus told the leaders of His time that both the inside and the outside of the cup need to be clean, starting with the inside.
It is important that holiness of heart is pursued alongside justice being walked out amongst the people of God. We, as
the church of Jesus, are to pursue holiness of heart, contending to become an apostolic witness of justice in the way that
we treat the poor in our midst and those of other ethnic groups and cultures, in our view of women and their role in the
community of believers, in the just manner in which disputes are settled in the Church, and in every other aspect of our
daily lives. There are many ways that the church is to be an apostolic community of justice but it most be pursued in the
context of being clean on the inside, of holiness unto the Lord. Understanding will help shape our theology of justice in
truth and it will give us God’s perspective of the poor. The poor and the oppressed need first to be delivered from their
personal, internal depravity and, secondly, from the corporate oppression that comes against them from the societal and
governmental systems they live under. Both are important.
The second camp, the one that pursues social activism at the expense of holiness of heart, most accurately describes the
emerging justice movement in this nation and throughout the earth. The false emerging justice movement is slowly but
surely moving toward emphasizing external oppression at the expense of highlighting the need for transformation from
our internal depravity.
Part of what created this dichotomy has been the preaching of holiness at the expense of the justice mandate of the
apostolic church. Social action, divorced from holiness of heart, the living out of the gospel and the preaching of Christ,
distracts us from the injustices of our own souls. When inward transformation is not primary in the pursuit of justice, it will
lead us to become shortsighted, unable to properly discern God’s eschatological divine plan for justice as revealed in
Scripture, and forgetful of our need of Him and the mercy we have obtained for our own injustices. When we become
shortsighted we then begin staring at the injustices of others and their victims, which in turn leads to judgment and even
cynicism towards justice. It is important that we give ourselves to social action, but it needs to happen in the context of
the gospel and the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Pursuing social action outside the context of the apostolic gospel is opening up the door to preaching a false version of
Jesus, a Jesus who is nothing more than a sympathetic humanitarian with a gospel of social reformation. The justice
movement today is becoming increasingly filled with precisely that sort of sentiment. Jesus cares about humanitarian
needs but there is substantially more to Him than relieving our external circumstances.
John chapter 6 is one of the most powerful chapters to illustrate this truth. It is a familiar passage where the poor came to
Him seeking to be fed for a second time after He had fed them supernaturally the day before. The next day the poor went
out to look for Him and when they found Jesus they told Him that they had been looking for Him. Jesus tells them the real
reason that they were trying to find Him: the poor came looking for Him simply to have their physical needs met again.
Jesus does not mind meeting physical needs, whatever they might be, but He wants to establish justice in our souls first. It
is with this vision of justice in mind that Jesus refused to feed the people a second time. When He told them what He was
requiring of them, many were offended and left, refusing to follow Him from that day forth. In this hour we must proclaim
the Jesus of John 6 because what Jesus did in Israel 2000 years ago, He will do again in the Great Tribulation. In
Revelation 6:5 Jesus breaks open the third seal; He withholds the bread of the nations resulting in the greatest famine
in history. What will our message to the poor and the oppressed be in that hour? Who do we present to them in that
day and how do we prepare the poor before that day?
In this hour the Holy Spirit is raising up forerunners who are messengers of justice, peacemakers who will equip the church
and the nations for the unique dynamics that will take place in the days before Jesus returns to bring justice. Peacemakers
are those who partner with God in His redemptive purpose. In Joshua 5:12-13, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to
Joshua, Joshua asked a very profound question, a question that has been asked by the people of God to this day.
Joshua asked, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”—whose side are You on? The Lord’s answer was as equally
profound as it was astonishing: He simply said neither, as though to say, the real question, Joshua, is: whose side are
you on?
The question to the prophets of our day is: Who are you representing? On whose behalf do you speak? Do you speak
on behalf of a particular political platform, ethnicity or natural citizenship? Prophets are those who represent Christ Jesus
and His vision for justice in the earth by primarily speaking on His behalf and His heart, whatever the issues might be.
Not one person, system or governmental structure is righteous by virtue of the way it operates; we are justified by faith
alone. The Lord taught the prophet Habakkuk that lesson.
Habakkuk, gripped with a prophetic burden because the nation of Israel was filled with injustice, cried out, “O Lord, how
long…” This is the main intercessory cry for justice. It is a cry that is birthed from the heart of God, and imparted to His
intercessor prophets, as it was to Habakkuk, becoming their own burden. This cry is also in the heart of the broken and
the destitute and the Lord is looking for messengers who will present them with the apostolic gospel, that they might have
hope and endurance in the great crisis that is coming. Habakkuk cried out to the Lord about the violence in the land,
lamenting the fact that there seemed to be no truth or salvation in sight. “Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to
see trouble?” (Hab. 1:3). Sin was rampant all around, confusion and disorder were prevalent in society. Habakkuk’s day
was filled with plundering, violence, corruption and robbery in every sphere of society. Social and domestic tranquility
was removed by strife and contention. Habakkuk lamented, “…the law is powerless and justice never goes go forth…
there is evil legislation in the land”. Habakkuk found himself in the place of prayer, crying out to God about the prevailing
conditions of his day, the powerlessness of the government and the state of the covenant people. Habakkuk prayed—
and God answered; God gave Habakkuk a divine remedy, a most surprising answer. He told Habakkuk to “look among
the nations and watch—be utterly astounded” because the answer would surprise Habakkuk, exposing deep pockets of
disagreement in His soul with God’s method for establishing justice in the earth. God told Habakkuk that the revelation of
His plan would drive the prophet into unbelief because it would confront and challenge his paradigms, causing Habakkuk
to recognize that he was more a nationalistic prophet, a prophet of Israel, than a prophet of God. The Lord was training
Habakkuk to be a prophet who stands in the counsel of the Lord, who has heard the voice of God and who speaks on
behalf of God to Jew and Gentile, and not on behalf of Israel. In our day, the Lord is looking for prophets, messengers
of justice, in the earth who will speak on His behalf, rather than on behalf of their nation, political party, ethnic community
or social group. Prophetic messengers ought to be mouthpieces of the Lord and speak on His behalf in the fear of the
Lord.
The Lord directed Habakkuk to do three things: “look among the nations…watch—be…astounded”. In other words, the
prophet is instructed to pay attention to current events as an anointed observer, and then watch in the place of prayer.
A contemporary application of this would be to watch the news or read the newspaper with a devotional spirit. The Lord
is instructing the prophet to watch the news in the context of inquiring of the Lord and asking for prophetic insight, so that
he might see prophetically beyond what the headlines were saying. We must cultivate these same three things. First, we
are to look which means we pay attention to current events, nationally and internationally. Secondly, we watch which is to
cultivate a devotional spirit and a lifestyle of inquiring of the Lord. Thirdly, we posture ourselves to be astonished by
cultivating a Christ-centered, end-times perspective, and by getting connected to God’s end-time plan as He brings the
leadership of the nations under the leadership of His Son for the purpose of justice in the earth.
Growing in our understanding of God’s end-time plan is essential because it is in this way that we come to understand
that God is serious about establishing justice on the earth forever, that His plan will not fail and that He wants His people
to partner with Him in the process. The study of the End Times is filled with many surprising and astonishing components
as it relates to Jesus’ leadership to release justice in the earth. As we study the End Times we gain insight into the heart
of God, His plan and His ways, as He prepares to lead the nations into the fullness of God’s glory. God’s premier vision
is for the earth to be filled with the knowledge of His glory which is His justice. The centerpiece of God’s eternal purpose
is when Jesus to returns to fully establish His Kingdom-rule over all the earth as He joins the heavenly and earthly realms
together. Both these dimensions must unite to fully express God’s personality and purposes. The joining of heaven and
earth is for the purpose of filling the earth with the knowledge of God — the glory of His existence, personality, and
purpose. The whole earth will be filled with this reality, where justice is demonstrated by all of God’s created order living
in harmony with God and with each other. In fact, it says in Habakkuk 2:14 that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
The surprising element in the Lord’s answer to Habakkuk was that the Lord was going to raise up a people “more evil”
than Israel–the Babylonians–as God’s chosen instrument of justice. This was undoubtedly a major challenge to
Habakkuk’s understanding. How was it that the Lord would use an unjust people, an evil nation, as a tool to bring about
justice? The nation of Israel was filled with violence, plundering, corruption, evil legislation, the shedding of blood,
corruption and immorality. Why raise up a people to bring justice if they were involved in the same evil practices as the
people of God? Why would the Lord raise up more violence to deal with violence? The Babylonians are described as a
“bitter and hasty” people. They are power-hungry, loving to conquer territory and challenge the sovereignty of other
nations. The Babylonians were a fearful and dreadful people because of their military might and enslavement of people.
Habakkuk 1:7 says, “their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves…” which means that they have a
relativistic morality and are wise in their own eyes.
The Lord’s reply in Habakkuk chapter 1 does indeed astonish and trouble the prophet. Habakkuk continues in the place
of prayer, acknowledging the eternal majesty of God (Hab. 1:12) as well as acknowledging that Israel cannot be utterly
destroyed though they are destined to come under the discipline of the Lord. Habakkuk continues in verse 13 and
expresses the conflict of his soul to God. Why would God, who is pure, raise up someone who is impure? Why would He
grant favor and permission to a people to carry out the evil that is in their hearts and minds?
In verse 13, Habakkuk voices one of the greatest questions in our hearts about injustice: Why is God silent? Why does
He seem indifferent as things become more evil around us? The truth is that God is not silent concerning the issue of
justice; it is just that we don’t like what He has to say about it. Like Habakkuk, we can find ourselves confused by the
ways of the Lord but the simple fact is that His way is straightforward. The Lord is speaking plainly concerning the issue
of justice but we don’t like what He has to say about it. Habakkuk is in conflict yet he continues to give himself to prayer
by inquiring of the Lord and acknowledging that He is eternal. He recognizes God’s majesty and leadership, admitting
that his own knowledge is lacking, whereas God is all-knowing. The difference is that our perspective is rooted in
humanism, whereas His is rooted in eternal wisdom. In this hour we must come before the Lord that we might gain divine
perspective in the place of prayer to impact our intercession and message to the nations of the earth.
One of the things that began to surface in Habakkuk’s heart (1:13) was the notion that Israel was more righteous then the
Babylonians, whereas it is actually those who live by faith are the ones who stand for justice. Though Habakkuk was
perplexed by the Lord’s response, he remained humble and teachable before the Lord; this is a model of how we are to
respond to the Lord in our day. Habakkuk recognizes that his perspective is out of line with God’s, and he declares his
intention to remain in the place of prayer and wait for God’s divine adjustment to be revealed. The way that we resist the
temptation to give in to human sentiment, political platforms, and humanistic ideas is by staying in the place of devotion
and inquiry before the Lord, by searching out the whole counsel of God’s word. In the place of prayer the Lord will unveil
His plan to us, line upon line, that we may run with it as messengers of justice to the nations. In Habakkuk 2:2 the Lord
commands Habakkuk to write the vision down and make it plain. He states that the vision is yet for an appointed time,
meaning that it is an end-time vision. The Lord’s ultimate answer to Habakkuk’s cry for justice in manifested in the Second
Coming of Jesus to the earth for the purpose of establishing His throne of glory in Jerusalem and bringing justice to the
earth. The Lord tells Habakkuk that there will be a strategic delay but that the fulfillment will surely come.
The Lord told Habakkuk to “write the vision down and make it plain…that he may run who reads it.” The apostle Paul was
one who read and ran with the apostolic vision and wrote the book of Romans in which God states that all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God bring. This brings us to understand that there is not one righteous person in all the
earth, the same understanding that shifted Habakkuk from being a prophet of Israel to becoming a prophet of God.
Nationalistic or “partisan” prophets operate under the assumption that their nation or group is more righteous than any
other. The Lord, in this hour, is looking for messengers of justice who have seen and heard the Just One and know His
will. We must give ourselves to prayer that we might stand in the counsel of the Lord and have the prophetic word fueled
by the mystery of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Elect One.
The fullness of the vision is appointed for the generation in which the Lord returns. The vision was inaugurated 2000
years ago in the cross, but the plan will culminate in the generation in which the Lord returns at His Second Coming,
bringing heaven to earth so that the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. The gospel of the kingdom
is good news to the poor. The gospel declares that all of humanity is guilty of injustice before God, whether rich or poor,
male or female, Jew or Gentile. The good news is that we can regain our right-standing with God through faith in Christ.
Faith is a dynamic and internal agreement with God’s will and purpose. Those who have faith will be justified in the court
of heaven and walk out the justice that God requires. The societal transformation that Habakkuk longs for in the nation
of Israel will only be seen when the people become the people of faith. Those who live in dynamic agreement with Jesus
on the inside are the ones who will live out the kind of justice that will arise like a sweet aroma before the throne. There
is a social action that is only pleasing to the Lord inasmuch as it is done in dynamic agreement with who God is.
The gospel also states this a betrothal relationship with God awaits us; that His Son is the Bridegroom who longs to
establish the first commandment in first place in the heart of the redeemed. The gospel of the kingdom reveals to us
that Christ has a vision for justice in the earth, that He is going to rule the nations spiritually, economically, politically,
socially and that there is a royal destiny that awaits those who are in Him to rule the nations by His side. I cannot think
of a more delightful message than to tell the poor and destitute of the earth that they can be delivered from their internal
depravity and that if they walk in the ways of Christ, humbling themselves before the Lord, He will cause them to be seated
with princes. What glorious news that is to a young boy or girl rescued from the evil and wicked men who fund and lead
sex trade brothels in Thailand, or for the former Jihad terrorist who turns to Christ; for the abortion doctor or person
caught up in all manner of immorality who turns to God; to the corrupt tax collector or the greedy loan sharks of India.
The gospel of Jesus can transform a former KKK member to lay down their lives for the gospel in a community they so
vehemently opposed. The gospel can so transform a greedy tax collector to the point that he would offer a four-hundred
per cent return to anyone he had robbed; it can turn a government in a day as one nation under God in Christ. Jesus
offers to deliver whosoever would turn, on the inside from their personal depravity, that they would rule and reign with
Him forever.
In Matthew 16, Jesus asked His disciples two very important questions: 1) Who do men say that I am? 2 )Who do you say
that I am. He is asking the Church the same questions today. The response to the first question in the Western world
might be: some say You’re a conservative, others say that You’re a liberal; some say You are against abortion and
homosexuality, while others say that You are against war, want to save the trees, end world hunger and establish ethnic
unity. Jesus is now looking at His people and asking the most probing question of the hour: Who do you say that I am?
The Lord wants to end all forms of social injustice and restore the environment but there is an all-encompassing
understanding of who He is that transcends mere issues. Jesus is the Christ; He is God who came in the flesh, remaining
in the garments of humanity forever, and is to be worshipped as God who alone possesses the salvation of the souls of
men, the societies of nations and all of creation that He made for His own glory. The Lord is calling His servants to give
themselves to the receiving and the proclamation of who Jesus is. The Holy Spirit is calling the church to a place of
intimacy with God unto receiving the revelation of Christ, and experiencing the deep things of God. The revelation of
Jesus gives us insight into God’s holy heart and personality, His purposes and power as it relates to His works in creation,
the redemption of humanity and the created order, justice, the New Jerusalem, His eschatological plan etc. The revelation
of Jesus, not a political platform, is to fuel our vision and message of justice. It is necessary that we vote in righteousness
to the best of our ability, but it is also important that our prophetic voice not be fueled by political platform, but rather by
the apostolic and eschatological gospel of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The gospel is apostolic in that it is
Christ-centered; it is eschatological because the gospel gives insight into God’s action plan for establishing divine justice
on the earth forever. We see throughout the Bible that Jesus will give His end-time Church clear prophetic insight into
His counsel.