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DROP
THAT
HEAVY LOAD
by
Pastor Max Solbrekken
"Wherefore
seeing we also are encompassed with such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us.
"Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that
was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down on the right hand of God the Father."
(Heb. 12:1-2)
"Many years ago in England, there lived a Gypsy
man. One day he called his wife and five sons together
and said, "I am much burdened. A great weight
lies upon my chest and shoulders. I am afraid my heart
is about to burst and I will soon die".
His wife pleaded, "No, my husband. You cannot and
must not die. Your sons and I need you.
With a fearful and heavy heart, the Gypsy man hitched up his
horses to the old wagon and drove the long distance to the
trading post to purchase supplies.
He had watered and fed his horses at the livery stable and
was heading into the store, when he saw an unusual sight. A
man was standing on a wagon, with a Bible in his hand. He
was preaching to the farmers who had gathered around.
The preacher said, "There is no load as heavy as the
load of sin. It will burden you down and wear you
out. It will make you sick spiritually, mentally and
physically. It can even kill you, and will eventually
take you to hell.
"But, you can be free from the load of sin",
continued the preacher. "Jesus Christ died on
Golgotha's Hill, to destroy the power of Satan and free you
from sin!"
The preacher invited everyone to repent of their sins and
receive Christ as personal Saviour. The Gypsy had not
been exposed to the gospel and his heart beat excitedly as
he heard the good news for the first time.
He rushed forward and fell beside the wagon wheel,
exclaiming, "You have explained my problem
perfectly. That which is weighing me down is the load
of sin. Now, I don't have to die because Jesus died
for my sins and has the
power to save me and remove the heavy load from my
life".
He prayed: "Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You
died on the cross for my sins. And that You rose from
the dead! Please forgive me, come into my heart and
lift this heavy load, so that I can be free".
A very different man drove his team of horses home that
evening, singing the gospel song he had learned from the
preacher.
"There
is power, power,
Wonder working power,
In the precious blood of the Lamb."
Arriving at home, he
awakened his wife and sons, proclaiming: "I have good
news; I am not going to die. The heavy burden I
carried was the load of sin, but I met a preacher who prayed
with me and Jesus Christ has made me free".
One
of those five sons grew up to become the great English
preacher, Gypsy Smith.
There are some heavy weights we should all dispose of,
excess baggage which weighs us down and becomes more
burdensome as the years come and go! I concur with the
writer to the Hebrews - Drop that heavy load!
DROP THAT HEAVY LOAD
Here are some of the weights we must lay at Jesus' feet
1)
GUILT
Nothing
weighs a person down like guilt and condemnation.
Guilt comes by knowing that we have failed and missed God's
moral and spiritual mark for our lives! Sinning brings
condemnation.
Conscience makes a person feel guilty and vulnerable.
The only way to satisfy a guilty conscience is through the
knowledge of 'sins forgiven'.
And there is only one way that can happen: by accepting
God's provision for the removal of sin - the shed blood of
Jesus Christ.
The Bible says: "How much more shall the blood of
Christ, Who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works
to serve the Living God"? (Heb. 9:14)
Christ's death on the cross was vicarious - substitutionary.
He did not die for His own sins, because He had none!
The truth is, Christ died for our sins.
St. Paul admonished:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death".
(Rom. 8:1-2)
Again the Word of God declared, "For if our heart
condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then
have we confidence toward God".
(1 John 3:20-21)
2) WORRY & ANXIETY
An Anglican Bishop
was so burdened for his flock that he was staying up late
almost every night. His concern turned to anxious
moments of tormenting worry! Finally, one Saturday at
midnight God spoke to him saying, "You can go to bed
now, Bishop. I will take the next shift!" Surprised
and greatly relieved, he
went
to bed and slept soundly without a worry or care. He
had left the responsibility of his flock in God's hands.
The Bible says, "...casting all your cares upon Him
(Jesus), for He careth for you".
(2 Peter 5:7)
Jesus stated,
"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life,
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your
body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than
meat, and the body than raiment" (Matt. 6:25)
Then, He paralleled God's provision for the lilies of the
field and the birds with His care and concern for us!
Jesus made it quite clear, that our Heavenly Father will
take care of us and we do not need to worry about the
future.
IT IS SINFUL TO WORRY AND FRET
Plainly it is sinful to worry and fret, when we can put our
trust in God! The
Bible says: "If then God so clothe the
grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast
into the oven; how much more shall He not much more clothe
you. O ye of little faith."
"And
seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink,
neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things
do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father
knoweth that ye have need of these things."
"But rather seek ye the kingdom of
God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom."
(Luke 12:28-32)
St. Paul admonished: "Be careful (not anxious) for
nothing;
but in every thing by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God".
(Phil. 4:6)
3) FEAR
In His apocalyptic warning, Jesus Christ included 'the
fearful' (cowards) with unbelievers, liars, thieves,
drunkards, homosexuals, occultists and murderers, as
candidates for Hell and the "lake of fire"!
(Rev. 22:15)
Why would He do that? There is no room
for fear in the life of a Christian, because "God is
love" and "There is no fear in love; but perfect
love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment". (1
John 4:4, 18) John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist
Church stated: "I could no more worry than I could
sin!"
Fear is the opposite of faith! The Bible teaches,
"Without faith it is impossible to please God"
(Heb. 11:6), but with faith, "all things are
possible".
(Mark 9:23)
St. Paul declared, "For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind".
(2
Tim. 1:7) Even though Job was a godly man he
confessed, "The thing which I greatly feared is come
upon me..." (Job 3:25)
FEAR OPENED THE DOOR for Satan's attack on Job! Fear is a
spirit which causes people to doubt God's Holy Word. Fear
brings unbelief, confusion and torment, and since God is
love, peace and joy, the two are diametrically opposed.
Medical Science has pinpointed at least 40 fear phobias from
agoraphobia
(a morbid fear of being in public places) to zoophobia
(an inordinate fear of
animals and zoos), and
God can and will deliver us all from every fear and phobia.
In recent years, we have read much about people suffering PANIC
ATTACKS. Like all other sickness and disease,
panic attacks are also on the rise. Without a doubt or
hesitation, I can say: There is total healing from these
also, in the wonderful, life-giving name of our crucified
and risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, "And the peace of God which passeth all
understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ."
(Phil 4:7)
Again, God's Word states,
"And, having made peace through the blood of His cross,
by
Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say,
whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven".
(Col. 1:20)
4) BITTERNESS, UN-FORGIVENESS,
RESENTMENT & ANGER
Jesus emphasized, "A new commandment I give unto you,
that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also
love one another. By this shall all men know that ye
are My disciples, if ye have love one to another."
(John
13:34-35)
Again the Bible says,
"Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love
is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:10), and
"have fervent charity
(divine
love)
among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of
sins".
(1 Peter 4:8; James 5:20)
Jesus taught His disciples to pray by giving them a model,
which we call 'The Lord's Prayer'.
By studying this prayer, we learn how God wants us to
conduct our private and public prayers.
It states, "And
forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors". (Matt.
6:12) Then He declared, "For if ye forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive
you. But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
you your trespasses." (vs. 14, 15)
BITTERNESS, UN-FORGIVENESS, ANGER: Blocks
the channels to God's blessings.
You may write for our FREE tracts on this subject titled:
"Hate & Anger Makes You a Slave" and
"Fear: Mankind's Greatest
Foe".
St. John stated, "We know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that
loveth not his brother abideth in death.
"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye
know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him."
(1 John 3:14,15)
Hatred is a heavy load no one can afford to carry! It
is evil and will eat like a cancer in your heart, if you
allow it space there.
The Bible says, "He that loveth his brother abideth in
the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in
him. But he that hateth his brother
is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not
whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his
eyes." (1 John 2:10, 11)
Hate opens the door to
evil spirits which lie, and bring an individual into a
wilderness of envy, bitterness and resentment.
The Bible warns against bitterness
and anger:
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour,
and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice". (Eph. 4:31); "Looking diligent lest
any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be
defiled;"
(Heb. 12:15)
5) PRIDE
The Scripture says, "Pride
goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a
fall". (Prov.
16:18)
Let us not forget, it was the spirit of pride that BROUGHT
LUCIFER
DOWN! Satan
was once a beautiful archangel, but his: "... heart was
lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy
wisdom by reason of thy brightness..." (Ezek. 28:17-18)
PRIDE
was his undoing, and so consequently he uses it every
opportunity
he
can, in order to trick people into following him! We
must guard against pride of face, pride of race and pride of
place.
ONE OF SODOM'S FIVE SINS: PRIDE
The Bible says, "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy
sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of
idleness
was
in her
and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of
the poor and needy."
"And they were haughty, and committed abomination
before Me: therefore I took them away as I saw good."
(Ezek. 16:49-50) The Bible states, "God hateth a
proud look".
(Prov.
6:17)
A person does not need to be handsome, beautiful, rich,
talented or well positioned, to be proud. I've met
ignorant, ugly, poor and non-productive people who are
arrogant, proud and bigoted against the truths of the gospel
and the person of Jesus Christ.
6) LUST
St. John warned, "Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him."
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world."
"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof;
but he that doeth the will of God, abideth forever." (1
John 2:15-18)
St. James strongly warns
about the dangers of a lust controlled life: "But every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust
and enticed. Then when
lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and
when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Do not err, my beloved brethren." (James 1:14-16)
LUST BROUGHT DOWN SAMSON
Samson played the
fool and lost! The Bible says, "And she (Delila) said
unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart
is not with me" thou hast
mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein
thy great strength lieth."
"And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with
her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto
death;"
THAT HE TOLD HER ALL HIS HEART,
and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine
head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's
womb:
if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I
shall become weak, and be like any other man."
"And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his
heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines,
saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his
heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her,
and brought money in their hand."
"And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called
for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks
of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength
went from him."
And she said, "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.
And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at
other times before, and shake myself.
And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him."
But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and
brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of
brass; and he did grind in the prison house.? (Judges
16:15-21)
Here is a song that warns about the pitfalls which lust can
bring into a life
RUN,
SAMSON, RUN!
Run,
Samson, run
Delila's
going to get you
Run,
Samson, run
She's
going to cut your hair
Run,
Samson, run
You're
going to lose your power
You're
going to go to prison and die down there
You're
going to go to prison and die down there
Delila was a long haired pretty thing
With
flashing dark brown eyes
And
Samson was a servant of the Living God
Who
never was to compromise
He
met her in a little town one day
And
her love was sweet to him
But
the Lord saw it all and it grieved His heart
For
Samson fell in sin
Samson
fell in sin
Now,
Delila was paid by the Philistines
To
see what made him strong
Three
times she tried to tempt and trick the man
Who
wore his hair so long
She
begged and pleaded until one day
His
heart could stand no more
He
said, If you cut my hair I'll be weak
For
it means I am the Lord's?
It
means, I am the Lord's
They cut his hair while he was sleeping
And
he never heard a sound
But,
when he awakened his knees started shaking
As
they dragged him to the ground
The
Philistines put out his eyes
And
bound him with their chains
They
made him grind in the prison house
And
he died down there in shame
He
died down there in shame
Now listen boy, If you've been looking
At
a girl with pretty eyes
Make
sure she loves the Lord with all her heart
And
never wants to compromise
For
a worldly girl will take your life
And
use it for her gain
Don't
trust her or you'll end up with
The
fools who are in chains
The
fools who are in chains
Lust includes sexual erotic fantasy and behaviour,
inordinate affection (perversion), lasciviousness which
includes a filthy mind, conversation and impure infidelities
and voyeurism.
Lust also covers an inordinate desire for power, wealth and
pursuit of pleasure! Without a doubt, LUST IS A DEMON
SPIRIT,
that seeks to destroy individuals and turn nations from
God! It was LUST FOR MONEY,
POWER and
POSITION that
brought down Balim the Prophet.
7) GREED, AVARICE &
COVETOUSNESS
Jesus spoke with
conviction as well as compassion to the rich young
ruler. "Sell all you have and follow Me",
knowing he had great riches and was in love with his wealth.
The rich, young ruler who had approached Jesus with great
simplicity and sincerity asking, "Good Master, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?",
turned away sorrowfully, not willing to part with his money.
His love of wealth, position and affluent living far
outweighed his desire to walk with God in total trust and
confidence toward Him.
Jesus said, "... how hard is it for them that trust in
riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man
to enter into the kingdom of God". (Mark 10:24-25)
WARNING: LOVE OF MONEY !!
St. Paul stated, "But they that be rich fall into
temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows".
(1 Tim. 6:9-10)
Then he admonishes,
"But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow
after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience,
meekness.
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life,
whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good
profession before many witnesses". (1 Tim.6:11-12)
Money is not evil, but the love of money is the root cause
of all evil! LUST, GREED, AVARICE and
COVETOUSNESS
is another heavy weight we must all drop and leave at the
cross! It is a sin which besets a lot of people, and
that is why so much is written in the Bible about the sin of
covetousness.
THAT IS WHY GAMBLING IS A NOTORIOUS SIN! Gambling is
a notorious sin. And why so many are being deceived by Satan
to gamble with their soul's salvation. Multitudes who
"take a chance"
with their eternal destiny, are tricked by the devil to wait
too long and are lost forever! How sad.
Moses spelled out the evils of covetousness in the tenth
commandment: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is
thy neighbour's". (Ex. 20:17)
IT IS ALL BY THE GRACE OF GOD
Many years ago in Ireland, a farmer was driving his
horses and wagon home from the village grocery store.
Walking slowly along the road was a well known hermit - who
lived in same general vicinity - carrying a one hundred
pound bag of potatoes on his back.
After some coaxing, the hermit agreed to accept the kind
farmer's offer of a ride. A few minutes later, the
farmer could hear strong groans and grunts coming from the
hermit, who was in the back of the wagon.
Looking backwards, the farmer witnessed a strange
sight. The hermit was sitting on his haunches still
holding the bag of potatoes on his shoulder. The
farmer asked sharply, "Why don't you lay down the bag
of spuds"? The hermit replied, "I'm trying
to help the horses".
St. Paul stated,
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not
of
yourselves:
it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man
should boast". (Eph. 2:8-9)
"But He was wounded for our
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities: The
chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid upon
Him the iniquity of us all." (Is.53: 4-6)
Nearly every False Religion is marked by their belief that
their own efforts will help to save them! The lighting
of candles, buying indulgences, making pilgrimages on one's
knees, paying for someone to get people out of the '
imaginary world of purgatory'.
Others knock on so many doors for an X number of Saturdays,
standing on the sidewalk with a Watch Tower Magazine, or
doing so many hours of work at a Mormon 'Stake House'.
The Bible says, "For God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life". (John 3:16)
My dear friend, none of us can do it alone. We all
need help from God through Jesus Christ. He carried
our burdens on Calvary's cross so many years ago.
The wise thing to do is to "drop that heavy load",
since He has already borne it for us all! Here is Jesus
Christ's invitation to us all:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hearth My
word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed
from death unto life."
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