DELIVERANCE | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 12, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 37.

DELIVERANCE.

THE essential and overruling principle of sin is bondage. It is bondage to the mind; it is bondage to the body.

THE first stage of the bondage of sin is a selfish service for ourselves. Selfish ideas and selfish work pervade the entire being. Then a deeper degradation than this may follow, in the form of enforced servitude to others. These things in their very nature bring unhappiness, and keep the individual continually in discontent.

THE essential workings of sinfulness are to keep us forever in the pursuit of happiness, always thinking that the goal of joy, contentment, and bliss is just ahead of us, without ever reaching that for which we seek. It is one of the deceitful plans of Satan, and in following after pleasure in this selfish way, we find ourselves soon involved in entanglements of various kinds, that fill our nights with sorrow and our days with pain. We may appear pleasant and happy, but we carry with us all the time a lurking load of sadness, that puts the sting of pain in every joy, and leaves us without the desired contentment.

BUT there is deliverance from this condition. There is deliverance for the present time, and that deliverance reaches over into eternity; so that the deliverance is not simply a temporal one, for an hour, for a day, or for a year, but it is that which will abide with us forever. This deliverance is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Matt. 11:28-30.

THE individual who has merely heard about Christ, and who is not personally acquainted with Him, and does not know Him as his personal Saviour, will not experience the rich blessings that are given in the foregoing promises. He will not find that rest to his soul. He will not know that Christ's yoke is easy, and His burden is light, because he has not learned to take this yoke upon himself. He may have his name enrolled on the church register, yet he does not know the Man of

Calvary, the great Burden-bearer, because he has not entered into the experience of His rest.

BUT still Christ invites us,—still He says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden.” It matters not what difficulties we encounter; He still invites us to come. It matters not what our labors or heavy burdens are; He still calls for us. He is not saying to a selected few, “Come unto Me.” He is saying unto all that labor and are heavy-laden, “Come.” Observe particularly that it is those who are burdened down with labors, those who are heavy-laden, that He specially invites. Then if your heart is filled with sorrow, if griefs are oppressing you, remember that the Master is saying to you that if you come to Him, He will give you rest.

You may say that you have already come to Him, and you do not find that rest. If this is your condition, be sure that you have not found Him yet. There is something standing between you and Him. He is inviting you, but you have not learned to know Him, because the promise is definite and positive, “Come unto Me, . . . and I will give you rest.” And again He says, “And ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

THE way through which we are to find Christ is revealed to us in His Word; and if we are anxious to find the rest that He gives,—a rest that is perfect in every respect,—then take the neglected Bible, study His words, and you will see that He clearly reveals His way, and shows us the path through which we may reach the rest that He has to offer. And this path is not a long and devious way, but we may come to Him in a moment, as soon as we recognize Him and are willing to throw away all of the entanglements of sin and receive in their place the solid realities of righteousness and truth.

THEN there is still a deeper joy than all this. Not only may the individual be delivered from sin, but we are on the threshold of the time when the whole creation will be delivered from its curse,—when every result of the curse of evil will be swept from the universe of God, and in all of its brightness, in all the glory of righteousness, it shall again stand forth as the fair and beautiful handiwork of God. This time is right at hand. The joys of the eternal world are just before us; for the Saviour who has invited us to come to Him that we may find rest, has also promised that He will come again and receive us unto Himself. That time of eternal deliverance is at the door. Are you resting in the joys of deliverance from sin, so that in that time when the whole world shall be delivered through the eternal destruction of evil, you may be found among those who are rejoicing with all of God’s redeemed creation? T.