The Way - April 2, 2000 Volume 1 Number 14

As Christians we are blessed in countless ways, one of them is our spiritual family. We have so many brothers and sisters in Christ not only here in Oroville, but also literally the world over. It is especially uplifting to be invited over to their home to share in a meal, or coffee, or just sitting around the table talking. Invitations are appreciated when offered in sincerity. Our Lord offered an invitation in the book of Matthew. He says in Matt 11:28,

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Our Lord extends an invitation to all mankind, many have responded since the time these words were uttered. And many have had their souls comforted by accepting the invitation. This invitation, “all who labor and are heavy laden,” may refer to all who were suffering from any disease, but its deeper significance is to those who are weary, being heavily burdened with sin and spiritual defects---anything, which would be a burden to the soul. Jesus assures them that he will give them rest; rest from their labors and burdens whatever they may be; if burdened with sin, he will give them remission of sins. This invitation opens the door to the kingdom of heaven and goes into effect when his kingdom is established. All whose souls are sighing for rest and groaning under burdens is to come to him. There is no other source for them, and his assurance is positive, "I will give you rest."

Those addressed are weary and heavy laden. For example, they would be people burdened with ceremonies of the Old Law or sinners wearied with the slavery of sin. Jesus said in John 8:34, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” Note Paul’s words concerning sin, “and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” 2 Tim 2:26. All these are invited.

The Apostle Paul in Acts 9 helps us to realize that there is no burden too great, too heavy, that we must keep it. He, chief among sinners, was forgiven. The matter rests with our will. Jesus lamented over those who would not come to him. In Luke 13:34 he says, “"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! And in John 5:40, "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

To come to Jesus is to follow his teaching. Matt 11:29 says, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Taking the Lord’s yoke is obey him to deny self and forsake the things that bind him to the world (Mt 9:9; Luke 9:23; 14:33; 6:46). We must submit to God’s drawing power, meet the terms of His plan and remain faithful Heb 3:18, 19; 4:11.

What kind of rest? First of all, a present rest in Christ. Rom 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul also says in II Th 3:16, Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

Secondly, rest from the guilt of sin. Notice the attitude of the Eunuch when he knew his sins were washed, “Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39).

Thirdly, rest in the future. Heb. 4:9-11 says, “(9) There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. (10) For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. (11) Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”

There of course are many other forms of rest. Rest from all outward afflictions, rest from our labors, rest from Satan's temptations, rest from wickedness of others, rest from all sin, and rest from unsatisfied desires.

God's rest is a glorious rest---if you come you will find rest. So please those who are restless come and find rest for your souls.

There is a positive kind of freedom and there is a negative kind of freedom. Positive freedom is liberty to become and to do, as we should. Negative freedom is liberty from control, from regulation, and from restraint. People under positive freedom live in mutual accord governed by laws that protect the vital interests of all. An example is where vast numbers of automobiles, driven by non-professional drivers, ply crowded streets rarely having difficulty. Here, all benefit while most follow the rules although they might find it easier to speed, to cut corners, to use wrong lanes, or to ignore traffic signals. People acting without controls under negative freedom do so although their exercise of freedom might violate the rights of others. Consider how a student's freedom to play his stereo loudly in the dormitory conflicts with the rights of other students to study or to rest, or how the freedom of one student to cheat on tests denies all of the other students their right to a fair system of grading. True freedom requires individual maturity and self-restraint. Free societies have comparatively few police; they require that individual citizens police themselves. If many citizens fail this duty, the society must either fall or become oppressive.

Positive freedom, under law and under self-restraint, is outlined in the Declaration of Independence of the United States and in the basic documents of other western countries. It is also completely defined in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. The apostle, Paul, wrote in I Cor. 6:12 and 10:23: "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any . . . All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." God wants Christians to be free and happy. His followers should not be sad prisoners of their faith. So that Christians can be both free and happy, God limited Christian freedom. Christians live within God's prescribed confines from respect of God's will. Others obey these limitations because they are necessary, logical and time proven. Freedom's first limitation is that the things we do must be expedient, or beneficial. The New Testament's original writings in the Greek language used a word best translated as to be creative of harmonious situations. We can do as we please when our activities build harmonious situations. However, we must understand that freedom is a spiritual, not a physical, dimension. We can understand this by remembering some, although surrounded by wealth, are unhappy, remaining prisoners within themselves. Others, like Paul and Silas (in Acts 16:25), although physically imprisoned, sang hymns of joy and praise to God. The concept that freedom is physical is one of the great misunderstandings of our times. Paul instructs us, in Galatians 5:13: "For brethren we have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."

To express freedom's first limitation more generally, we ask, "Is this good for my soul?" Humans are not bodies that have souls; rather they are spirits that will live somewhere as long as God exists. Where our spirits spend eternity will be influenced by how our activities meet this first limitation. Will this activity create a harmonious situation? Is it good for my soul? Abiding within limitation number I is an obligation to ourselves that we must keep. God's second limitation on our freedom is that we must not be mastered by, or brought under, the power of the things we do. Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters.” Thus, servants of Christ must never serve other things. But, you say, "I will not be slave to anyone or anything, I shall be free". This is a popular myth; no human has ever lived who wasn't mastered by someone or something. It might have been kin, or boss, sexual drives, lust for wealth, liquor, cigarettes, or drugs. Everybody has a master of some kind. It is better to be slave to the master of the universe than to our own selfishness, indulgences, and bad habits. How free is the alcoholic? How free is the slave of the desire for material gain, surrounded by wealth, yet desperately unhappy having no real purpose in life?

Mankind can stand great pain, suffering and privation. Mankind cannot stand life without meaning or without purpose. Materialism and other modern concepts confuse young people. Many don't know what they should believe, and their lives have become without purpose or meaning. This is one reason why suicide among our young, ages 15 through 23, are the greatest cause of death, second only to accidents.

We must choose which master we will serve (we will serve someone or something). To be free we must choose our activities to include only those that serve Jesus and His kingdom. In so doing, our lives will have clear meaning and purpose.

God's third limitation to our freedom directs that our activities be constructive. That is, they must edify, or build-up, both those around us, and ourselves. This is so because freedom is also a social dimension. You cannot take another's goods because this conflicts with his right to keep them. You cannot speed on the highways because this interferes with the rights of others to travel safely. The notion of absolute freedom is an absurdity. No one has ever been absolutely free to do everything he might wish to do. All of us are bounded and constrained by the needs and rights of others and by our own limitations. We easily fall for the cheap solution, "I can do what I want as long as nobody gets hurt". How do you judge who gets hurt? What is hurt? How much hurt is permissible? Can you speed ahead on the highway squandering fuel without consuming from those you have passed? Will they get to their destination if the service station's allocation ends with you? Is the decision, made by two young people in a moment of passion, theirs to alone to make? Are their families implicated? If one should result, is the child unaffected? Over 112 million young, unmarried women will give birth this year. How free do they feel? Freedom is a delicate balance of many relationships. We can do what we want, but it must be beneficial to all, it must serve the true Lord of us all, and it must be constructive for all. By limiting our activities in these ways, we will attain and maintain true freedom. z

If I were the Devil . . .

I would gain control of a powerful nation; I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's efforts instead from God's blessing; I would promote the attitude of loving things and using people; I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for state revenue; I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership; I would make it legal to take the life of an unborn child; I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life and invent machines to make it convenient; I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that the life of animals is valued more than human beings; I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit; I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young and I would get sports heroes to advertise them; I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the mind of every family member for my agenda; I would attack the family, the backbone of any nation; I would make divorce fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation; I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movie screens, and I would call it art; I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals and their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled at; I would convince people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agenda as politically correct; I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date and the Bible is for the naive; I would dull the minds of Christians and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional . . . I guess I would leave things pretty much as they are . . .

By Paul Harvey

Brethren, there are many of our number who need our prayers. Let us never forget, let us always be fervent and prove ourselves righteous in prayer.

2 Sam 22:31
As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. NKJV