Bill Johnson - Why Justice Matters and the Purpose of Authority
Contending for justice is a significant part of what it means to exercise the authority that God has given us. Justice begins by protecting and defending those who have no voice. Justice is truly about putting yourself at risk to defend those who cannot fight for themselves. Thank you; I love you too. My goodness, there’s a lot of train wrecks in this room. Wow! She asked for something that comes in a little box and goes around her finger, so I got her a box of Band-Aids. That’s just bad. There’s another story where a guy says his wife kept leaving jewelry magazines open all around the house, so he got her a magazine rack. I tried donating blood today—never again!
Too many questions: Whose blood is this? Where did you get it? Why is it in a bucket? Sorry, I apparently haven’t had the mic in a while, so I’m making up for lost time. If you’re fasting and still gossiping, go ahead and eat. Research shows that laughing for two minutes is just as healthy as a 20-minute jog. So now I’m sitting in the park laughing at all the joggers. The Bible mentions vegetables 13 times and meat 290 times. I’m on the biblical diet. If your wife says she’ll be ready in five minutes, she will be; there’s no need to remind her every 15 minutes. How strong do you like your coffee? I want it to show up on a drug test! One more, then we’ll get serious. This morning, I accidentally changed the GPS voice to male; now it just says, «It’s around here somewhere, keep driving.» Oh, I’m going to need this tonight.
I felt earlier that several women in the room have ongoing issues because of either pregnancy or delivery, and the Lord’s going to heal and restore. If that’s you, just put a hand up so I can see how many there are. Yes, there are a few here. It’s a strange thing, but I’ve seen over the years quite a few who broke their actual tailbone during delivery, and Jesus heals those so commonly that it’s just become expected. There are also some folks here, male or female—there’s only two kinds—who have ongoing issues in the lower part of their back, right in this area a little above the belt line all the way to the tailbone. Who has problems in that area? Okay, we’ve got several. Is there someone here who has a problem with the inner ear, something to do with the bone of the inner ear—maybe it’s missing or damaged? Is that you? Yes, right ear? Well, tonight’s your night. Good! We’ve seen the Lord heal these things before. There’s also someone with an issue right at the base of the skull, at the top of the neck. There’s a problem there—is it a degenerative condition? Oh goodness, we have several here. Whenever I see that many in a group, it doesn’t mean nobody else gets healed; it just means it’s an unusual coincidence, which is the language of the Spirit. So put your hands up again. There’s like seven in just a small section. Isn’t that unusual? The rest of you, sorry you missed out. If you had followed the Lord, you would have sat over here—third-grade sense of humor, sorry.
So the Lord’s going to bring healing to that. All of you that raised your hand for any of these things, go ahead and stand up. Thank you, Lord. Let’s add something to this: anyone who has any kind of joint disease—could be an arthritic condition, could be some kind of degenerative thing—anyone who has an issue in any joint, please stand up quickly. Yes, there’s specifically someone with that right hip; is that you? All right. In that hip joint, right at the socket, there’s healing happening right there. So, Lord, we invite you to come. We thank you that you’re here. Demonstrate, Holy Spirit, the wonder, loveliness, and beauty of Jesus by touching these people’s bodies right now. In Jesus' name, we declare the healing grace of Jesus over you. Church, just extend your hands toward them and begin to pray, declaring the healing word over them. I believe the Lord is going to reset bones that didn’t heal correctly.
If you broke a bone—I don’t care if it was 50 years ago, I want you to stand up too. Just do that quickly. Thank you, Lord. Just increase that healing grace now. All of you standing, check yourselves out right now before we actually lay hands on you and pray. If you’re at least 80% better already, then wave both hands over your head so we can see you. Yes, we see you there! Check yourselves out; don’t wait to feel heat or tingling or anything. Don’t wait on that because only half the people we see healed will actually feel it happen. So check yourselves out for another about 15 seconds, just keep moving around. Yes, just a simple act of faith. Jesus sent a blind man to the pool of Siloam, and it was in the going that he received his sight. Sometimes there’s an action involved.
All right, are you completely healed? How long has it been there? It’s been a year and a half; the last weekend, I was unable to get out of bed because of the pain in my back, and Jesus just healed her tonight! Thank you! Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. Anyone else at least 80% better already before we lay hands on you, wave your hand at me so I can see you. There’s another one in the back, another one here… okay, we have about five. Now, all of you standing, put a hand up and leave it there till someone comes to you. Those of you sitting, you just got drafted into the army of God. I want you to go to them, find out where the problem is, pray a very simple prayer, and speak and declare the healing word. You can put your hand down when someone comes to you. To those who are online, we declare the same healing grace over you, let bones be reset now in Jesus' name! We declare healing over that hip joint in the name of the Lord Jesus right now. Thank you, Lord. Now speak to the condition and command the bone to be reset, arthritis to leave the joints, whatever it might be. Speak to the condition. We declare in the name of Jesus, He sent His word and healed them. We declare that over your bodies right now in the name of the Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord.
You’ve got about 10 more seconds, then we’re going to check it out again. Thanks, Lord. Alright, end your prayer but stay with them; don’t leave them, please. All of you who received prayer, examine yourselves for at least 10 or 15 seconds. Anyone who is at least 80% better, wave both hands overhead so we can see you. Yes, we got some more over here, another one here. Beautiful! Several more over here. Wonderful! All right, one last time—turn and pray again one last time. Jesus prayed for a blind man twice before he could see clearly, so we declare that over you in Jesus' name—full restoration! Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord. All of you receiving prayer, why don’t you just confess, «Lord Jesus, I receive your gift of healing for me.» I receive your gift of healing. Jesus became a curse that we would not have to bear the curse, so we received that.
Okay, everyone who received prayer, check yourselves out again. Those online, put it in the chat box or something as Jesus heals your body. Check yourselves out again. How many of you were healed this last time we prayed—at least 80%? Wave both hands over your head so we can see who you are. Wonderful! We’ve got quite a few more! So beautiful! Thank you, Lord. All right, please take your seats. I believe more and more people will be healed, delivered, and born again at the most awkward times of a meeting, even in the teaching. I feel like we’re supposed to build some sort of expectation—zero hype, just declaring what He does. Yes, sir.
I’ve seen over the years that when something is declared at the beginning of a meeting, it’s much more likely to happen—not because we’re making something happen, but because we pick up on the heart of the Lord and we declare it. Nothing happens in the kingdom until there’s first a declaration. I want to say that as the word is taught, I’m hoping and expecting that whenever the word is taught, people are actually healed because there is a connection between the word of God and healing. It says, «He sent His word and healed him» (Psalms 107:20). So I’m expecting that even tonight, you have permission at any moment to be healed—it’s possible. How many of you have been healed in this last 10-minute segment? Stand up; just stand where you are! Look around; is that wonderful? My goodness, amazing! That’s amazing!
How many of you had a bone that once broke that either didn’t heal correctly or didn’t heal at all? How many of you have had that happen? My goodness, two back over here—right here! That’s amazing! What happened? When I was a kid, my rib broke over here, and when it healed, it got calcified, and this big lump came over it. Now it’s down about 60% from what it was! It led to all sorts of issues. And was there any pain involved with that? As people were praying, I could literally feel it moving! Awesome! That’s so cool—like you could feel it moving. Yes, amazing!
Anyone else? Jesus did something for you tonight; you’d love to share! Right here! What did He do for you? I hurt my back about 30 years ago, and it never healed correctly. Tonight, when they started to pray, the pain instantly went, and I felt the vertebrae going back in order! Wow! Like all the range of motion is back! I won’t be able to play basketball, but that’s awesome! Beautiful—thank you, Lord! Just curious about the bones that got reset. What part of your body? Right there—your arm? Yes! I broke my arm when I was 16 years old; both of the bones in my arm broke, and the result was that it grew back together, but I couldn’t hold my hands like this and relax. Now I can just relax and do this!
That’s so wonderful! Thank you, Lord! Did you feel anything happen? Did you hear a pop or feel anything move? No, but I felt a burning—a burning! Yes, hot is good! That’s awesome! Anyone on this side of the room? Right over here—yes! … Okay, two more—we’ll do this one here and that one there. Go ahead! Yes! From the age of 8 to 14, I skateboarded a lot, and I fell on my butt several times. My tailbone curled and went sideways to a 45-degree angle. While people were praying for me, I felt it like it straightened out! Check it out! How is it? It doesn’t hurt at all! One more right here! In 2001, they discovered tumors in my pelvis, and so they removed my sacrum, my ilium, and part of my sacroiliac joint, and they just stuffed me with donor bone. I couldn’t rotate on one side, and so as these guys were praying, I picked my knee up and turned it out, and I mean, this is something I wouldn’t know until I have an x-ray, but this is a rotation that I could not do!
That’s amazing! Let’s give a shout of thanks to the Lord—come on! We bless you, Jesus! Wonderful! Jesus is wonderful! Wow! Wow! Awesome! It’s also pretty cool that some of you don’t know you’re healed yet, and you’ll find out in the morning, and those are fun too! Make sure you tell someone—just make sure you tell someone! Now, how many of you gave God praise? You gave Him glory because of the stories you just heard. You actually gave Him a gift! Had they not shared their testimony, you would never have been able to give Him that gift. It was their willingness to share what God had done that liberated something in you to bring Him a gift you couldn’t have given otherwise. It’s the power of your story. Keep it clear, simple, honest, but let’s give glory to Jesus! So that’s wonderful.
I have a really long teaching. You’re not supposed to react like that! Usually, someone gets up and says, «I’m going to keep it short,» and then they don’t. I’m just telling you ahead of time: I’m going to try to keep it shorter than normal, but I’ve got a huge subject that I talked about a month ago. I don’t remember if it was Sunday morning or sometime with this group, and you may not have been here, but I talked about power and authority, and I want to address this briefly and then go off into an area that I think is pretty important for us.
In Luke chapter 9, at the start of the chapter, we find that Jesus brings His disciples together. The Bible says He gave them power and authority to heal the sick. We studied this years ago; maybe we’ll do it again sometime soon, but it’s a fascinating chapter on the Lord empowering—if I could use a more modern term—deputizing 12 guys to go to six different cities in pairs. They went out and actually did the same things they had been watching Jesus do. He commissioned them to step into His assignment: heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, cleanse the lepers—all the same stuff. So in this chapter, He gave them power and authority. It’s crucial to remember those two terms, as they are critical for us today. He gave them power and authority, and they went out and did exploits. The funny part of the story is when they returned; they were arguing about who was the greatest. Apparently, God used them so powerfully that it boosted their egos. The Lord is not afraid of doing that because He has a great pruning instrument to prune egos well. He’d rather have you experience something in Him and then whittle it back down to its place of strength than have you theorize everything and think you have to become perfect before He’ll trust you.
He empowers, and He does so with power and authority. Fast forward: when Jesus died and rose again, He reappeared several times over 40 days to His disciples and talked to them about the kingdom. Acts chapter one tells us some of the subject matter. The road to Emmaus and some of these various stories give us glimpses of what was on His heart. He would visit the guys again, visibly seen by at least 500 people after His resurrection, and He would come and talk to them about their assignment. Very specifically, in Matthew 28, the passage we call the Great Commission, He stands before the remaining 11 and says, «All authority has been given to Me. Therefore, go and disciple nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I’ve taught you.» Just a reminder: Jesus taught them to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, cleanse lepers—that was a part of His instruction for them. That was always to be part of the Great Commission: to bring converts but also to disciple them to do what you’ve been trained to do. That cycle was never supposed to be broken.
The illustration I use often is from a pastor I heard many years ago. When they were doing a building project, he wanted to be involved in building. He would go to the contractors every evening and ask, «Is there anything I can do?» He had no building skills, but finally, the contractor had mercy on him one day and said, «Yes, we need these—» I forget the exact number and size, but I’ll just give it to you to illustrate: «We need 2×4s cut to 8 feet in length.» He was excited; he finally got to do something! So everybody left, and he was there with his saw, cutting 102×4s to 8-foot lengths. He takes his tape measure out, measures 8 feet, marks it, and cuts it. He puts his tape measure away, takes the 8-foot board, places it on top of the next board, marks it, and cuts it, and does this for 100 boards. Well, every board is about an eighth of an inch longer than the previous one. That’s not a problem if you’re cutting three or four boards, but when you’ve cut 100 boards, you end up with some that are 9 feet long and some that are 8 feet long.
So what happens is, in church life, we tend to compare ourselves with previous generations with only an eighth of an inch difference, and after 2,000 years, we find out that we’re way different than the original. The original standard is the life of Jesus. Oh wow, He’s the 8-foot tape measure, not your favorite Christian. Use your favorite Christian for inspiration, model them, and follow their examples, but the original standard is Jesus.
So Jesus then comes to the disciples and commissions them, thereby giving them authority. But in Luke 24, He says, «Don’t leave Jerusalem till you’re clothed with power.» The point was that while they were following Jesus in their three-and-a-half years of mentorship and discipleship, they could function under His authority and power. But when Jesus left, they had to get their own «yes.» So in the commission, they were given authority, but then He said, «Don’t leave Jerusalem till you’re clothed with power.» Authority comes in the commission; power comes in the encounter.
Power comes in the encounter. When Jesus was baptized in water, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove. He is recorded to have walked in authority from that point on. He goes from that water baptism into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The devil comes to Him, and the first question was, «Has God said…» or «If you’re the Son of God, turn this stone into bread.» What was the last thing Jesus heard from the Father in that storyline? The Father said, «You are my beloved Son.» So the devil comes and says, «If…» The whole thing is to question identity and to question what God has said. The two themes running deep in every temptation are either to question what God has said or to question who we are. If you get those two settled, nothing else is appealing. Nothing outside of God’s purpose is attractive if you know who you are and what God has said.
Power is to write what is wrong. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, is to put power upon the people of God, number one, for miracles. Without power, this is not good news; it’s not a philosophy to inspire. It’s a relationship with the Almighty One who paid a tremendous price to make it possible for us to taste freedom and liberty—freedom from addictions, afflictions, all sorts of demonic stuff. He paid a tremendous price so that we would taste it now, not just in heaven. The promises made were not just made so that we could enjoy freedom and liberty in heaven; He actually makes it available now. It’s why He said, «The kingdom is at hand"—it’s within reach!
So Jesus commissions His disciples and says, «Disciple nations,» but wait till you’re clothed with power. So in that context, there is this element of power and authority that rests on the church. Here’s what I want to talk about tonight: Authority. Authority has to be used for justice, or it’s not properly used. The Bible teaches us in Psalms 97 that righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. Contending for justice is a huge part of what it means to exercise the authority that God has given us. Here’s the most challenging part of this: Justice begins by protecting and defending those who have no voice.
I’m really searching for words here tonight, trying to stir something in us as a people. The most obvious example is the unborn; they have no voice. They can’t speak for themselves. Justice is to put yourself at risk to defend those who can’t fight for themselves. Let me read some verses for you that I’ve got printed here. Isaiah 1:17 says, «Learn to do good; seek justice; reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.» Justice targets those who either don’t have the position in life, the strength, or sometimes just the voice to defend themselves. Authority in the kingdom is not just to cast out devils—thankfully, I’m glad that’s our privilege and assignment—but sometimes it becomes very practical. We see people who have been abused, taken advantage of, and have suffered many different things in life, and they need someone to stand up for them because they cannot speak for themselves.
Proverbs 24:11–12 says, «Deliver those who are being taken away to death and those who are staggering to slaughter; hold them back. If you say, 'See, we did not know this, ' does He not consider it who weighs the heart? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? Will He not render to man according to his work?» What He’s saying is: you can’t say, «We didn’t know!» They couldn’t speak for themselves and do nothing because if you actually saw, for example, the unborn and you say nothing, then your silence in that moment is a misuse of authority. Authority is not meant to punish and destroy people; it’s to defend those in need—the widow, the orphan, the unborn.
In some cultures, certain races have a harder time just making it in life, and it is our responsibility as the biblical use of authority to make sure that people have the opportunity to thrive and to be liberated in life. Jeremiah 22:3 says, «Thus says the Lord: do justice and righteousness; deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; do not shed innocent blood.» This troubles me. I watch powerful people treat non-powerful people with disgust or, more often, indifference. I don’t see that a lot here, and I’m thankful for it, but I did see it today. It troubled me when I saw someone who just kind of set aside someone who doesn’t have that much going on for them, by someone who did.
When I see that, it hurts so bad because that’s an improper use of authority. See, if I use my position—here’s the deal: we are called priests of the Lord. We represent God before people and people before God. I represent people before God in prayer and intercession. I’m praying on behalf of them. I represent God before people, trying to bring them His love, His word, His touch, everything I can. If I misuse that by pointing fingers—we sang a song tonight about clean hands and a pure heart. Clean hands are not pointing fingers. Hands that don’t accuse: if I accuse people before the Lord, I misusing my position as a priest, and He will then rise up to defend them against me because I’m misusing my authority. Authority is supposed to be for their benefit.
Our authority is never used for self-promotion. It’s never used for vindication. Anything you obtain through self-promotion you have to sustain through self-promotion. It’s like a beach ball with a leak in it; you have to keep pumping the air in to keep it alive, and it’s a disgusting way to do life. We’ve had—well, let me read some more verses and then I’ll stop rambling. Proverbs 31:8 says, «Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate.» Amos 5:24 says, «Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.» How blessed are those who keep justice, who practice righteousness at all times?
What I want you to see is these two terms: justice and righteousness. Justice addresses a wrong, while righteousness is what you build with. Picture it this way: a nation, a holy nation, the people of God have been commissioned to disciple nations. How do you disciple a nation? You don’t just point out what’s broken and wrong; you actually lead the nation into building something where communities thrive, businesses thrive, families are healthy, and education and medicine are strong. That’s what it means to disciple. You take them into something positive.
Justice gets us out of the red; righteousness brings us into the black. Does that make sense? The authority we’ve been given regarding justice, specifically, is to bring people out of the red—in other words, fix the stuff that’s broken. Deal with those who have been disadvantaged, abused, and rejected, and everything else that goes on in life. Get them out of the red. Then righteousness brings them into a lifestyle where they can experience what they were designed for.
It’s all part of the authority we’ve been given. In recent days, we’ve had so many reports of tragedies among great leaders and failures, and I remember when this happened back in the '80s. We had a series of national crises that hit the church, and we faced the same dilemmas that we have today, and I’m troubled by it. Sin is so unnecessary. To see what happens to people—first of all, when you give yourself to justice, the first thing you must do is give attention to the victims. The first thing you do is give attention to the victims. Victims don’t often need you to fix them; most of the time, a victim needs a friend, an ear, someone to listen, and honor them enough to listen to their story.
I admit, even after all these years, my first response is still to try to fix something instead of realizing most of the time what people need is a friend. They may need someone in authority who will listen, who values their experience, who values what they’ve kept secret. I just had a connection with someone who had horrible experiences recently, and I spent some time listening to their story. Just apologizing on behalf of spiritual leaders: «Forgive us for taking, not just taking advantage of you, but forgive us for sending the signal out to those that did and didn’t care for you.» This is what authority does.
Authority is never used for ourselves; it’s never used to say, «I’m right, and you’re wrong.» It’s not a position that says, «You’re just bitter» or whatever. You know what? There could even be bitterness, but let’s get them healed so we can move on. I believe everyone needs to walk in forgiveness; I get that. But this issue of authority is actually to bring people into wholeness. It is not to establish your great ministry; it’s to bring people into wholeness. And that requires justice and righteousness.
There are a couple of more verses I’ll read, then I’m going to wrap this up. In Hosea 2:9, it says, «I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in loving-kindness and in compassion.» Just think about that: I will betroth you to Me forever in righteousness and justice. Even in the intimacy of a relationship with the Almighty God, He has woven the themes of justice and righteousness into that relationship.
Some, I believe this is prophetic, so I’ll throw it out there, and you can do with it what you want: I think some in this room who have needed great breakthroughs won’t have them until you stand up for somebody who’s hurting. It’s in the posture of protection, using whatever authority you have to protect and defend and to stand up for them—stand up for the rights of the person in need. Sometimes you work in a place, and you’re sure you’ve seen it, as I have, where there are certain individuals who get picked on a lot. It’s almost like they have a target on them. I’ve watched this for years. It’s not because they’re weird; it’s not because they’re bad workers. They just seem to attract that stuff.
I think it’s just a demonic thing that isolates them and makes them feel like they’re living under that thing of rejection. Where authority comes is when you come and stand alongside that individual—not only becoming a friend but speaking words of affirmation and encouragement to bring them out of that cycle. I believe we have the authority to break that cycle. I’ve watched this for a number of years. If I were to have a business person, oh, I may get phone calls and invitations for lunch! I can feel it coming right now. Do NOT call me, please!
But I’ve seen that if I would take time with a certain businessman, something would happen. We’d have lunch together, and there would be prayer for their personal breakthrough; and then they would go back to work and get a raise! It was remarkable. I know that sounds strange, but I’m just saying—follow this biblical concept. In Ephesians 4, it says, «Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.»
What is grace? Grace is divine favor. In this context, He says, «Don’t speak words of death; speak words of life.» Pick somebody; bring an encouraging, affirming word to them according to their situation, and God will add His touch of grace on what you just said. You can break cycles in people’s lives by just selecting them, taking time with them. At the end of the day, it can be a simple sentence that changes a person’s life.
I’ve watched this for so many years. Just stepping into a person’s life for a moment can change everything. Everybody in this room has been given authority and power for that. Power and authority are what every believer has to walk in to accurately demonstrate our Heavenly Father—who He is and what He is like. Power confronts the stuff that’s wrong. The second part of power—I don’t think I mentioned this, and I should have—is power is also for enduring until the miracle comes.
The dunamis power of God enables grace in a person to endure hardship. Yes, you see extraordinary miracles in the gospel; extraordinary miracles in the book of Acts. But you also see crazy endurance—the power of God on Stephen as he was martyred. It’s bizarre! I’m not prophesying; I’m just explaining that power is huge. Walking in the power of the Lord, yielding to the power of the Lord is crucial because then nothing is impossible.
But it’s not just a demonstration of power; I don’t know that I’ve ever thought through this. I lean towards the demonstration of power more than authority. I never would have said that out loud because it wasn’t conscious, but I’m stating now that the release of authority is critical and vital. Power starts the revival; authority sustains it. Walking in the justice of the Lord gives credibility to the work of the Spirit of God to where people become whole. All of us are broken; I don’t know if you’ve noticed that. I’m here to give you good news: all of us have issues, and Jesus is working on every one of us.
Walking in that kind of authority—to stand up for those—I forgot to mention that when there’s a crisis like we have right now, we have to give attention to the victims, number one. Number two, we’ve got to give attention to those who—it’s almost like collateral damage. You have a victim, but then they have a sister, a brother, a cousin. There is this collateral damage that happens, and we’ve got to listen to them too. And then finally—and this one bothers people the most—you’ve got to give attention to the victimizer.
I was going to read the entire chapter of Isaiah 61, but I missed it completely, so let me quote one part of the passage. Jesus announces, «The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,» and He describes what He’s going to be doing in His ministry. What’s interesting is He said to give recovery of sight to the blind. He makes these decrees before any miracles happen. He declared it before He did it. It’s not hard to declare it after you’ve done it. Some of you will do more if you declare more. I was trying hard, I was trying hard! Alright, let me get through this!
This passage shows that Jesus is going to set captives free and set prisoners free. There is a difference between these two groups. Captives are those who are imprisoned because of what was done to them. Prisoners are captives because of what they did. Are you with me? So in this room, there are people who are captive because something was done to you. For example, a stepfather may have abused you—captives. Jesus came to set that person free. But then there are also people who are bound because they are the victimizers. You were the one giving the abuse. He’s here to set you free too.
The wonderful thing about our Father—now we’ve got to take this in sequence; this is the critical part. We work with the victims; we work with the fallout in families and friends. But we can’t ignore the victimizer because that’s the part of the Gospel that makes this thing go full circle. You’ve got an apostle, Paul, who was responsible for the martyrdom of Stephen. He comes full circle and becomes the great proponent of the gospel.
We need that kind of hope, regardless of what situation you’re in. All right, I’ve rambled long enough; I just need to understand. I had such good plans! Such good plans! I apologize for not reading more scripture! That helps a bit. Righteousness and justice. Man, this has been a long day. How many of our visitors are here for the conference? You fly home tomorrow? Extend your hand toward these folks! Look at all of them! They’re flying home tomorrow, and they’re here late tonight. Extend a hand, start praying for safe travels. Let them take home more than they thought was possible; let them take home more than they thought was ever possible.
Let a spirit of breakthrough rest upon them, each one of them. Bless them with the Spirit of breakthrough—the wisdom of God and the presence, power of the Lord into your church and into your city, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen!