October 26, 2008

Apples of Gold (Proverbs 25:11)
"Judicial Speech"

LongReach16.mp3
Pastor Wade Burleson
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Enid OK

Proverbs 31:8-9 (ESV)

8. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.
9. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Today we examine the kind of speech God calls gold and the world calls old. It is for His people to speak judicially. These are words that pass judgment on society in order to bring about change.

1. To speak in a judicial manner is to speak up on behalf of the oppressed.
   "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and the needy" (Proverbs 31:8-9). The King James Version uses the word "dumb" in 31a. The ESV uses the word "mute." It is a Hebrew word that portrays people unable to speak for themselves and in need of help. The word "destitute" is literally "sons of passing away" or what we would call orphans.
   1. This kind of speech is a command from our Creator.
      Speak up, speak out, speak now. This is not an option; it is an obligation and duty.
   2. This kind of speech becomes our calling as Christians.
      My duty becomes my delight. I say "yes." The Lord creates within His people a desire to speak out on behalf of the poor, the defenseless and the downtrodden.
   
   
   
2. To speak in a judicial manner is to speak up on behalf of righteousness.
   "All of life, every part of society, needs the redeeming, powerful work of Christ," Calvin. Reformation must be universal. Reform all places, all persons, and all callings. Reform the benches of judgment. Reform the universities. Reform the cities. Reform the countries. You have more work to do than I can speak. Every plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up Thomas Case (1641). Allow me to encourage all of you who are nurses, teachers, policemen, administrators, politicians, bankers, or anyone in authority. Also, let me encourage those of you who go to India, Africa, and our other mission points. Oz Guiness tells the story how the Connecticut House of Representatives in session o a "bright day in May 1780" as the delegates did their work by the bright sunshine of the day. In the middle of the day an unexpected eclipse occurred and plunged the room into darkness. There was a clamor. Some wished to adjourn. Others wanted to prepare for Christ's coming. "We are all upset by the darkness and some of us are afraid. But the day of the Lord IS returning. I for one choose to be found doing my duty. I therefore ask that the candles be brought in." Delegates expecting Jesus went back to their desks and performed their duty.
   
   
3. To speak in a judicial manner is to speak up about others who have done so.
   In other words, to learn the stories of others who have spoken up for the oppressed and tell their stories to your kids, your students, your friends is a way to speak up as well. This morning I would like to tell you three stories of those who spoke up for the oppressed.
   1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- February 4, 1906 - April 9, 1945. During World War II Bonhoeffer was a leader of the Confessing Church. Because he spoke out for the Jews, he was arrested and put to death in a Nazi war camp just a few weeks before World War II ended.
   2. Harriett Beecher Stowe -- June 14, 1811 - July 1, 1896. An American author and abolitionist, whose novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play and angered and embittered the South. The impact is summed up in a statement attributed to Lincoln. When he met Stowe it is claimed he said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!"
   3. William Wilberforce -- August 24, 1759 - July 29, 1833.
      
      William Wilberforce: A Man Who Spoke Out for the Oppressed

      William Wilberforce is given credit by historians as the man who ended the slave trade in the British Empire. In February 1807 the British Parliament outlawed slave trade after a twenty year effort by William Wilberforce. It was said that nobody in English parliament could speak like Wilberforce. Edmund Burke, a member of Parliament, after hearing one of his speeches against slave trade, said "His speech surpassed even those of Grecian eloquence."

      William Wilberforce was born August 24, 1759. His father was a wealthy businessman who traded timber from Russia and iron ore from Sweden. Young Wilberforce had everything a young man from a rich, aristocratic family could desire. At the age of eight, William's father died and he was sent to live with his uncle, a man named John Newton (1725-1807). Many of you will know John as the author of "Amazing Grace," but you may not know that like William's father, John had also been a successful businessman -- taking from Africa people he would sell into slavery in England. John Newton and his wife had no children of their own and they welcome William into their home. John had been a successful slave trader, but before William came to live with him, he had been converted by God's amazing grace, and his life had been transformed. William lived with John and came under his evangelical influence. But William's mother, who opposed Newton (even calling him a fanatic), demanded her son be removed from the Newton home. Soon after, William Wilberforce forgot what his uncle had taught him, and by the age of 17, William lost any faith in God. He began to gamble and drink and entered Cambridge to be what modern youth would call a party animal. It was said that William Wilberforce had a beautiful voice, so much so, that people would stop to hear him sing. It also was said he was the most eloquent speech giver at Cambridge. While in college, his grandfather died, and William inherited an incredible fortune. He was only interested in enjoying the pleasures of life his riches could bring him. William became the youngest man to ever be elected to British parliament. His friend, William Pitt, would become the young Prime Minister of England. They had grown up together with all the power, wealth and prestige, but no concern for the oppressed. That is until something happened to William.

      He calls it his greatest moment. Historians say Wilberforce's greatest moment was February 23, 1807 when England, under his influence, abolished the slave trade. But Wilberforce called his greatest moment "The Great Change." His wealthy friends had the habit of vacationing between political sessions throughout Europe. On one particular vacation a young man named Isaac Milner began to talk to Wilberforce about eternal things. The change within Wilberforce was gradual, but according to him, "God's good providence had checked and turned me to a miracle of mercy." Wilberforce began to think through the historic truths of Christianity. He read The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Phillip Doddridge. He visited his uncle John Newton, at first fearful to be seen with him because of the hatred of those in Parliament toward Christians. After several such meetings where he conversed with Newton, Wilberforce confessed to him, "I've come to know God in Christ." Mr. Newton advised him to keep his connection with Parliament and William Pitt and remain a politician.

      God placed Wilberforce in a position of advocacy for the oppressed. One need not be a minister or a missionary -- God prepares the hour and the man and the woman; the place and the person. Wilberforce resisted the urgings of others to enter ministry -- he took upon himself a calling to change the British Empire -- in the next 20 years he was vilified. "You are going to ruin the British way of life." For twenty years he spoke out, because of his life in Christ.

      "If so to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow creatures and to be warmed with a desire of relieving their distresses is fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever to be permitted at large," William Wilberforce.