Tuesday, November 4, 2008

In Her Was Found The Blood Of Prophets And Saints And Of All Who Were Slaughtered Upon The Earth. Rev. 18:24.

One day I found myself in court, sitting in the gallery with a church member who had gotten himself into a bit of trouble. As we waited for his case to come up we watched a drunken driving case playing out in front of us. The scene had four main players: the judge, a policeman (the accuser in the case), the defendant, and the defendant's lawyer.

It seems that the policeman had discovered the man, "drunk as a skunk," pinned behind the wheel of a car and asleep. The front of the car was embedded into the concrete abutment of a bridge. Behind the car, tracks in the snow indicated the car had driven along the sidewalk for about 130 feet (40 meters) before its impact with the bridge.

The outcome of the trial seemed obvious. The defendant clearly (as far as I could see) had been operating under the influence of alcohol when he wandered though town, barely missing shops and entryways before coming to a jarring stop upon impact with the bridge. The defendant, unable to extricate himself from the car, fell asleep (it was about 2:00 in the morning) behind the wheel. The policeman found him there and wrote up his summons.

The defense lawyer, however, was not intimidated by the apparent facts in the case. Pacing back and fourth, he argued, to the thinly veiled amusement of the judge, that his client was not the driver of the car, but had wandered upon the scene after the accident. Finding no one in the car, he climbed into the driver's seat and fell asleep!

The judge wasted little time on deliberation. He pointed out how difficult it had been for the policeman to extricate the man, proving that he had been in the driver's seat at the time of impact. Then he referred to the tracks in the snow as evidence that the driver was not in normal control of his faculties. As a result he levied a stiff fine and a six-month revocation of license as a penalty.

The defense lawyer then jumped up and cried out, "We appeal the decision!" The judge responded immediately with a time and place for the appeal hearing.

Although justice was probably already done in this case, a healthy court system includes the concept of a higher court. Injustice at one level can get corrected at another. According to Revelation 18, the decisions of all earthly tribunals, including the U.S. Supreme Court, can be appealed to the higher court of God's end-time judgment. There God will reverse all the injustices of this life. Saints treated as criminals by earthly courts will then be vindicated.

Lord, thak You for the assruance that You will reverse the unfairness of life when You finally take full control. Give me the patience to await Your final verdict.

God is the fountain of life, and we can have life only as we are in communion with Him. Separated from God, existence may be ours for a little time, but we do not possess life. "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." 1 Timothy 5:6. Only through the surrender of our will to God is it possible for Him to impart life to us. Only by receiving His life through self-surrender is it possible, said Jesus, for these hidden sins, which I have pointed out, to be overcome(TFMB 61).