August 24
Job 12:1-15:35 | PS 39:1-13 | Prov 21:30-31 | 1 Cor 15:29-58
The legal term, "Res ipsa loquitur" is a legal term meaning, "the thing speaks for itself" In medical malpractice cases, these would be things which can not be explained away, such as leaving a lap pad or instrument in one's body in surgery. But there is a mistake when we apply such things to the things of God. Sadly, this is frequently done and in the process God is misrepresented and many walk away from the faith. So many believe that those who are "good" will invariably be blessed on this earth with the good things that this earth has to offer, while those who are "bad" will see the opposite. But what happens when this does not happen, which is often the case. In this case, "the thing does not speak for itself". All too often people then point their fingers at God, and cry, "unfair". This also applies to eternity in the minds of most. If someone was a "good" person of course they are going to heaven, while if a "bad" person, they will go to hell. But, who are we to judge such things? What criteria do we use? All too often we apply human standards to God's judgments. The truth is none of us are good (Romans 3:10-12). None if us deserve earthly blessings. None of us have earned heaven. It is purely by His grace and mercy, that any of us experience earthly blessings, and what happened at the cross of Jesus, that any of us enter heaven.
We read in Job 13:7,12,16, "Will you speak wickedly for God, And talk deceitfully for Him?...Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes, Your defenses are defenses of clay...He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him." I am so thankful that the healthcare worker who approached me upon finding my mother dead in her hospital room, made the choice not to speak to me in platitudes, but instead spoke gently God's word, praying Psalm 23 over me. David rightly saw things as he wrote in Psalm 39:5-7, "...Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.""
Human wisdom and logic often destroys faith, because applying it to the things of God does not make sense. God is not constrained to our little finite human minds. As written in Isaiah 55:8-9, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts." As we read in 1 Corinthians 15, and catch just a glimpse of our transformation from corruptible to incorruptible, from mortal to immortal, this undeserved blessing is not based on our "goodness" but purely by a choice that Jesus made to die for our sins, and a choice that we make to repent of our foolish human sense of right and wrong, falling helplessly at the foot of the cross, in thankful acceptance of His glorious mercy and grace.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: