House of Hope Online

January 21, 2024

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In our last session, we saw that we are appointed by Jesus to bear fruit, and our lives become fruitful, productive, and joyful when we plant into the soil of God by paying our first fruits tithes and offerings.  The Lord promises to open the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing until it overflows.  We saw the Hebrew word for “blessing” means benediction, or “good words” from the Spirit of God, to grow us spiritually and to prosper us in all we do.

The word of the Lord today is freedom, and I believe it is an extension of, and a result of, fruitfulness.  As our lives become spiritually fruitful, we begin to get free of the things in our lives that burden us or enslave us.

So, what is freedom?  Can we ever be totally free?  Do we live in a free country?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, freedom is the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.  It is also liberation from slavery or restraint from the power of another, i.e., independence.

I am fascinated by the expression “absence of necessity” in the definition of freedom.  The implication is we only have freedom of choice when we have no needs, or when all our needs are met.  Some think: “If I only hit the lottery, then I would have freedom of choice, and I wouldn’t have to put up with this job.”  Even if we enjoy our job, we are not free to spend our time as we please, and therefore, we feel constrained in our choices and consequently enslaved to our work as a means of provision.

Can money buy freedom?  The short answer is “No, it just changes our need.”  If we have a boatload of money, we may be able to quit our job, but we still have needs.  We need to invest wisely to preserve the money, so the money continues to meet our needs.  So instead of slavery to the job, we become enslaved to the stock market, and perhaps to politics as it affects the economy and the performance of our investments.  And, of course, we need to make sure the devil does not swindle us out of our cash.  Therefore, even if we become free of the job, there is still no absence of necessity.

The point is, there is always a need that must be met.  Abraham Maslow became well known as a psychologist by developing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which proposed that we have basic physiological needs in life, such as food, water, clothing, and shelter, and once these basic needs are met, we begin to focus on (or perhaps become enslaved to) higher level needs such as safety, love and acceptance, self-esteem, and self-actualization (reaching full and creative potential).

The longer a need goes unfulfilled, according to psychologists, the more we are motivated to satisfy that need.  Maslow developed a pyramid to show the various levels of needs, with the most basic needs at the bottom, the psychological needs of love, acceptance, and esteem in the middle layers, and the self-fulfillment needs at the top.  The implication of this field of science is that we are always striving to satisfy needs in our lives, and therefore there is never truly an absence of necessity.

The Pursuit of Freedom

So, how can we be free, if we always have needs, if there is never an absence of necessity?

The issue of freedom has become somewhat of a hot button debate in the U.S. due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The school shutdowns, governmental bans on public gatherings of certain sizes, and mandatory business shutdowns were unprecedented, and the discussion of vaccine mandates alarmed those who believe the vaccines are risky and ineffective.  Some believe our society is still suffering the ill effects of denying the higher-level needs of love and social interaction.  The debate shows we tend to rely on our government to provide and safeguard our freedoms.

A review of scripture confirms that there is no absence of necessity, but there can still be freedom, and it has nothing to do with the government or the ability to move about freely.

In Matthew 6, Jesus confirmed that there is no absence of necessity.

Matthew 6:

 31 “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’

 32 “For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Jesus confirms our basic needs of food, drink, and clothing, but His issue is that we are allowing ourselves to become enslaved to those needs, and therefore we become anxious.  Look at what else He said in this passage.

Matthew 6:

 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

 25 ¶ “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, [as to] what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, [as to] what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?

In verse 25, Jesus acknowledges higher level needs when He says: “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Matthew 6:

33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

 34 “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. [Each] day has enough trouble of its own. (NASB)

Verse 33 emphasizes we must change our focus from a needs-based focus to one which is more big-picture – that is, if we focus on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, the Father will meet all our needs.

The Apostle Paul re-emphasizes Jesus’ assurance in Philippians 4.

Philippians 4:

 19 And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Again, this is a confirmation there is no absence of necessity, because we have needs, but it is interesting to me that the context of Paul’s words involved sowing into the Kingdom of God.  He was acknowledging how the Philippians sowed into his ministry and met his needs as He focused on spreading the Gospel.  This reinforces not only Jesus’ word about a Kingdom focus, but also last week’s word about the importance of sowing into the Kingdom to be fruitful and content in life.

So, if the scriptures acknowledge no absence of necessity, how do we become free?  The first step toward freedom is to not voluntarily become a slave to anyone or anything. 

Do Not Voluntarily Become a Slave

Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged an entire race when he said:

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” 

In other words, do not volunteer to be enslaved.  Reverend King’s words are consistent with warnings in the Bible that we should not become slaves to something other than pursuit of the Kingdom.  For example, Jesus warned in Matthew 6:24 about becoming enslaved to our needs.  He said: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

He is instructing us that our path to true freedom requires that we do not agree to become enslaved to money to satisfy our needs.  Instead, it requires a focus on serving the Kingdom of God.  If we submit and subordinate our needs to the Lord, all our needs will be satisfied.

In the same way, Paul promises that if we serve the Lord as Master, we will become free of whatever enslaves us.

1^st Corinthians 7:

 21 Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that.

 22 For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave.

 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

Verse 23 is significant.  We were bought with a price.  Jesus paid for us with His shed blood.  We belong to Him.  We are to be His slaves.  Doing His work is what we should be all about.  And we work not for wages, but for Him to provide all our needs according to His riches in glory.   His riches in glory far exceed any wages we could earn for our time.  His riches represent abundance not only in financial terms, but also in terms of higher-level needs such as love and self-esteem.

Importantly, verse 23 commands that we should not agree to become a slave of men.  This means if things are not going well at work, or if we have no work, it should not steal our peace or our joy.  If it does, we are enslaved to our needs and we are depending on men to provide those needs.  Jesus said no one can serve two masters.

In Galatians 5, Paul again admonishes us not to submit to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:

 1 ¶ It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Use of the word “yoke” in verse 1 is noteworthy because it means being joined together in bondage.  The message is: “Be careful who you are joining with to satisfy needs.”  Are you working with someone or something that wishes to take advantage of your needs to enslave you, or someone who wants to set you free?  I realize you cannot quit your job because your boss does not love you, but you do not have to allow it to enslave you.  You have the power to resist slavery, even if you feel imprisoned in your job.

There is an interesting story in Acts 16 that illustrates how you can resist slavery despite having people and circumstances that are trying to enslave you.

Acts 16:

 16 ¶ And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling.

 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

 18 And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities,

 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews,

 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”

 22 And the crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, and proceeded to order [them] to be beaten with rods.

 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.

 25 ¶ But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

 27 And when the jailer had been roused out of sleep and had seen the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!”

 29 And he called for lights and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas,

 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.”

 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.

 33 And he took them that [very] hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his [household.]

 34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

There is so much to unpack here:

• Paul and Silas were ministering in the region of Macedonia when the woman who was a fortune teller began following them.  Even though she was saying complimentary things about them, Paul discerned the evil spirit of divination, so he turned and cast it out, which led to his and Silas’ public beating and imprisonment. 
• Note Paul chose not to be yoked with the fortune teller and thereby become enslaved to the evil spirit.  The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  If Paul was enslaved to making a name for his ministry, he might have wanted her around since she was saying flattering things about Paul and Silas.
• After being unfairly beaten and imprisoned, they resisted enslavement to their circumstances by praying and singing praise hymns to God.  The other prisoners heard them, so Paul and Silas were doing God’s will by ministering to others in their time of trial.
• There was a great move of God, an earthquake that opened the prison doors and unfastened their chains.  They could have escaped, but they did not, and they assured the warden that they would stay put.
• The warden was so blessed, he submitted his life to Christ and invited Paul and Silas to his house to minister the word of God to his family.

Moral of the Story: Despite being imprisoned, Paul and Silas were free and did not feel the need to escape.  It is a choice to become enslaved to our circumstances or our needs.  Paul and Silas chose instead to be enslaved to the will of God by praying and singing praises.  Then Jesus set them free.  Finding the Father’s will is true freedom.

Galatians 5:

 1 ¶ It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Jesus’ Mission Is Freedom

Luke 4 describes Jesus’ mission statement.  Jesus read it aloud from the Book of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth.

Luke 4 (Jesus in the Synagogue):

 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

 18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN,

 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

God knew there would be no absence of necessity and therefore no freedom.  He knew we would all be captive to, and become downtrodden by, our needs.  He therefore sent and anointed Jesus to set us free.  As we submit to Him as Lord, He sets us free by guiding us through the Holy Spirit into the Father’s perfect will.

John 10:

 10 “The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have [it] abundantly.

While man tries to enslave us to our needs, Jesus promises not only to meet our needs but also to provide an abundant life when we focus on finding God’s will in our circumstance.  That is His mission.

Conclusion

The dictionary defines freedom as the absence of necessity.  Psychology teaches that there is a hierarchy of needs, and our level of need changes as we satisfy lower-level needs.  So how can we be free if there is always a necessity?

The Word of God confirms that there is no absence of necessity, but there can still be freedom, and it has nothing to do with our jobs, the government, or the ability to move about freely.  True freedom is a choice, and we must resist our natural tendency to enslave ourselves.

The story of Paul and Silas in prison shows us that we can choose to be free by focusing on God’s will through prayer and praise, despite our circumstances.  Jesus’ mission is to set us free, and whom the Lord sets free is free indeed.  Allow Him into your heart.  He knows our needs and He promises, if we seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be added to us, and we will live an abundant life.  We will become free indeed.

Let us pray.    

Father God, thank you for our doorway to freedom: Jesus.  Help us to resist becoming enslaved to men by instead focusing on your will, as Paul and Silas did in prison.  Quicken us by the Holy Spirit to know your will in our circumstances and give us peace and an anointing to do what you are calling us to do.  Let us praise your name during our trials that we might minister to fellow prisoners.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.