[The following is a full manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 1st of July, 2018, the Sunday before Independence Day. Today's service included the observance of Holy Communion. Unfortunately, the video did not take, but look for the videos of our other services on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Since this is the Sunday before our nation celebrates its independence, and also the first Sunday of the quarter, I’d like to look at what true freedom means and how it relates to communing with our Father's Son.
Jesus told us much about freedom, and also about its opposite: slavery. His concern with slavery, though, was not as regards human ownership, but of a more spiritual nature. One truth He shared with us might be familiar.
Please listen and follow along as I read from chapter 8 of the Gospel account of the Apostle John, verses 31 through 36, from the New English Translation of our Holy Bible…
Jesus told us much about freedom, and also about its opposite: slavery. His concern with slavery, though, was not as regards human ownership, but of a more spiritual nature. One truth He shared with us might be familiar.
Please listen and follow along as I read from chapter 8 of the Gospel account of the Apostle John, verses 31 through 36, from the New English Translation of our Holy Bible…
31 Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed Him, “If you continue to follow My teaching, you are really My disciples 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they replied, “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the family forever, but the son remains forever. 36 So if the son sets you free, you will be really free."
--John 8:31-36 (NET)
Let us pray… Father God, Your beloved Son Jesus offers to set us free from our slavery to sin. He made the ultimate sacrifice of His own blood so that we might be forgiven of our great disobedience to You if only we would believe in Him and accept Him as Lord. Help us, please Father, to not only believe, but to recognize and accept His Lordship over our lives. Help us obey His commands and be more righteous in Your sight. Speak to us now with the message we need to hear this morning. Help us to understand the truth of Jesus and of what He told us. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
As we approach the day we celebrate our nation’s independence, we need to remember how our liberty was attained - through whose help and by whose hand. Every day when the sun rises over Washington, DC, its first rays fall on the eastern side of the city’s tallest structure, the 555-foot Washington Monument. The first part of that monument to reflect the rising sun is the eastern side of its aluminum capstone, where these words are inscribed: Laus Deo – which is Latin for “Praise be to God.” This short prayer of praise, visible to the eyes of heaven alone, is tacit recognition of our nation’s unique acknowledgment of the place of God in its founding and its continuance.
Author Dorothy L. Sayer once noted that, "The divine 'scheme of things', as Christianity understands it, is at once extremely elastic and extremely rigid. It is elastic, in that it includes a large measure of liberty for the creature; it is rigid in that it includes the proviso that, however created beings choose to behave, they must accept responsibility of their own actions and endure the consequences."
These two, taken together, describe where freedom truly begins and what it really means. George Washington readily acknowledged that it was only by divine providence that his hastily assembled, barely trained, and poorly equipped army was able to defeat the most powerful armed force of his day. God provides for our liberty, both as a nation and as individuals.
But as Ms. Sayer pointed out, freedom is not free. Freedom requires sacrifice, a deep and steadfast commitment, and constant vigilance. Our freedom from tyranny as a nation was and is paid for by the blood of countless men and women, shed on battlefields around the globe. Our freedom from sin as individuals was paid for by the blood of One, the Son of Man, our Savior Jesus, shed on that cruel cross.
Freedom from tyranny or from slavery to man is short-lived, as is all life on this earth. Freedom from slavery to sin is eternal, and only the Son is able to grant that freedom.
Ms. Sayer merely echoed what the Apostle Paul told us so long ago, in his letter to the church in Rome, from chapter 5 verse 20 through chapter 6 verse 2…
John Diefenbaker, a former Prime Minister of Canada, said, “Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.” This is what Paul is saying. Just because we have been forgiven of our sins doesn’t mean that we can just go on sinning like before, go on living as if nothing has changed. As Ms. Sayer put it, we must accept responsibility for our actions, even in our liberty, for those actions carry consequences.
So Jesus frees us from slavery to sin when we accept Him as Lord and Master, but isn’t that just trading one form of slavery for another? Well… yes, to accept Jesus is to willingly put ourselves in servitude to Him. We willingly become His, give ourselves to Him. And it is right that we do so.
American clergyman Phillip Brooks, in the 1800’s, noted that, “No man in this world attains to freedom from any slavery except by entrance into some higher servitude.” That “higher servitude” we enter into is to Jesus. Serving Him is our way to thank Him for freeing us from our sin, and by His request to our heavenly Father, for our being granted eternal life in paradise.
It is our responsibility to be worthy in God’s sight, to be right with God our Father, so we can receive this gift we do not deserve. Paul points out the importance of our being worthy. God’s Son frees us from our bonds of sin, allowing us to freely commune with Him anytime we wish. As a family, we choose to observe Holy Communion with our Lord at certain times each year. But Paul cautions us not to come to our Lord's table unless and until we are right with God. Hear Paul’s warning from his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 26 through 28…
Jesus frees us from the death of our sins when we accept Him as Master. Let us be worthy of His sacrifice and of God’s grace. Let us take this time now, and during my prayer in a moment, to get right with our Father, to repent of our sin, to renew our own personal commitment to serving Jesus, before we come to His table.
Jesus told us the solemn truth – the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And the truth sets us free. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You placed us here in this “land of the free” so we could enjoy our liberty. But Father, true freedom only comes from You, and is only available to us through Your Son Jesus. Forgive us, please Father, when we think we are so independent we don’t need You. Forgive us when we take liberties with our freedom. Please help us cherish and honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us so that we might be free from slavery to sin forever.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You told us the truth and the truth will indeed set us free, but only if we do our part. We must believe in You as the one true Son of God, who sacrificed Your all for us. And we must remain worthy and righteous in God’s eye, remaining faithful to You and our Father. Help us to do just that – to remain true and to stay right with God. Help us to acknowledge and honor Your sacrifice. And help us to share Your truth with the world around us.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
As we approach the day we celebrate our nation’s independence, we need to remember how our liberty was attained - through whose help and by whose hand. Every day when the sun rises over Washington, DC, its first rays fall on the eastern side of the city’s tallest structure, the 555-foot Washington Monument. The first part of that monument to reflect the rising sun is the eastern side of its aluminum capstone, where these words are inscribed: Laus Deo – which is Latin for “Praise be to God.” This short prayer of praise, visible to the eyes of heaven alone, is tacit recognition of our nation’s unique acknowledgment of the place of God in its founding and its continuance.
Author Dorothy L. Sayer once noted that, "The divine 'scheme of things', as Christianity understands it, is at once extremely elastic and extremely rigid. It is elastic, in that it includes a large measure of liberty for the creature; it is rigid in that it includes the proviso that, however created beings choose to behave, they must accept responsibility of their own actions and endure the consequences."
These two, taken together, describe where freedom truly begins and what it really means. George Washington readily acknowledged that it was only by divine providence that his hastily assembled, barely trained, and poorly equipped army was able to defeat the most powerful armed force of his day. God provides for our liberty, both as a nation and as individuals.
But as Ms. Sayer pointed out, freedom is not free. Freedom requires sacrifice, a deep and steadfast commitment, and constant vigilance. Our freedom from tyranny as a nation was and is paid for by the blood of countless men and women, shed on battlefields around the globe. Our freedom from sin as individuals was paid for by the blood of One, the Son of Man, our Savior Jesus, shed on that cruel cross.
Freedom from tyranny or from slavery to man is short-lived, as is all life on this earth. Freedom from slavery to sin is eternal, and only the Son is able to grant that freedom.
Ms. Sayer merely echoed what the Apostle Paul told us so long ago, in his letter to the church in Rome, from chapter 5 verse 20 through chapter 6 verse 2…
5:20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6:1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
--Romans 5:20-6:2 (NLT)
So Jesus frees us from slavery to sin when we accept Him as Lord and Master, but isn’t that just trading one form of slavery for another? Well… yes, to accept Jesus is to willingly put ourselves in servitude to Him. We willingly become His, give ourselves to Him. And it is right that we do so.
American clergyman Phillip Brooks, in the 1800’s, noted that, “No man in this world attains to freedom from any slavery except by entrance into some higher servitude.” That “higher servitude” we enter into is to Jesus. Serving Him is our way to thank Him for freeing us from our sin, and by His request to our heavenly Father, for our being granted eternal life in paradise.
It is our responsibility to be worthy in God’s sight, to be right with God our Father, so we can receive this gift we do not deserve. Paul points out the importance of our being worthy. God’s Son frees us from our bonds of sin, allowing us to freely commune with Him anytime we wish. As a family, we choose to observe Holy Communion with our Lord at certain times each year. But Paul cautions us not to come to our Lord's table unless and until we are right with God. Hear Paul’s warning from his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 26 through 28…
26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.
--1 Corinthians 11:26-28 (NLT)
Jesus told us the solemn truth – the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And the truth sets us free. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, You placed us here in this “land of the free” so we could enjoy our liberty. But Father, true freedom only comes from You, and is only available to us through Your Son Jesus. Forgive us, please Father, when we think we are so independent we don’t need You. Forgive us when we take liberties with our freedom. Please help us cherish and honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us so that we might be free from slavery to sin forever.
Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, thanking You for Your many blessings, promising to turn from our sin, and asking for Your help as we do so…
Lord Jesus, You told us the truth and the truth will indeed set us free, but only if we do our part. We must believe in You as the one true Son of God, who sacrificed Your all for us. And we must remain worthy and righteous in God’s eye, remaining faithful to You and our Father. Help us to do just that – to remain true and to stay right with God. Help us to acknowledge and honor Your sacrifice. And help us to share Your truth with the world around us.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, our only hope. Amen.
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