Gtcotr/ss070526
Happy Birthday America! Yesterday our nation
celebrated the 250th Anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration
of Independence. In the weeks leading up to July 4, 1776, 56 men signed the
document pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors to the
cause. And for the past two and a half centuries the United States of America
has stood as the symbol of freedom and liberty. May the Lord of all glory,
Jesus the Christ, continue to shine on and shine through our beloved nation.
God bless America and may His truth keep marching on!
This morning we're going to reflect on two types of freedom,
both of which are equally important.
The first freedom we will consider is Personal Freedom for Ourselves. Personal
freedom is the decision to leave a bondage, a burden, or a situation that God
never intended us to live under. This is important, and there are times when
pursuing personal freedom is the only right choice.
When it comes to personal freedom the question is: “What am I willing to do to free myself from this
bondage?” Am I willing
to:
- · End a relationship
- · Change jobs
- · Enter rehab
- · Apologize to someone
- · Confess my sin
- · Go to Church
- · Run Away! (1 Corinthians 6:18 – “Flee sexual immorality!”)
·
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is
leave.
o
Leave the party.
o
Leave the bar.
o
Leave sickness and the sin that so easily besets
you behind.
o
Just leave … (Hebrews 12:1)
What are you willing to do to be free from the hell of this
life? Leaving this world is not the answer, rather overcoming in this world is
the answer.
The second type of freedom we will consider this morning is Purchased Freedom for Others. This type of
freedom asks a different question: “What am I
willing to pay so that someone else can be free?”
The difference can be simply stated:
- Personal freedom often chooses to escape the pain.
- Freedom for others often requires that we endure the
pain.
The Bible gives us two powerful examples of this principle.
1. Love Considers Others
When the Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome in about the
year AD61, he wrote a letter to the Philippian Church. In the letter, Paul
describes a difficult choice he was facing in his life. The choice centered
around who to choose … “Do I choose myself and escape this pain or do I choose
others and endure this pain?”
Philippians 1 NKJV
21 ¶ For to me, to live is Christ, and to
die is gain.
22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will
mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.
23 For I am hard pressed between the two, having
a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is
more needful for you.
25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith.
Love willingly sets aside personal preference for someone
else's spiritual benefit.
Love asks, "What do others need?" before deciding,
"What do I want?"
2. Love Often Endures What It
Could Escape
To learn this we have but to consider what Jesus said the night He was arrested in the Garden.
Matthew 26 NKJV
50 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you
come?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.
51 And suddenly, one of those who were
with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant
of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
·
According to the Gospel of John, Peter was the
one who pulled his sword. But what was Peter doing with a sword? (John
18:10-11)
·
The other writers of the Gospels wrote in a time
when Peter was still alive and so they no doubt protected his identity, most
likely in efforts to keep Peter from being connected to this crime.
·
John wrote his Gospel about 15 to 20 years after
Peter’s death and so his identity needs no longer be concealed.
52 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its
place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
·
Luke 22:38 tells us the disciples had two swords
with them on the road.
·
Luke 10 talks about the Good Samaritan and the
thieves along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
· Evidently the disciples were always armed for various reasons.
53 “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My
Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
·
Jesus could have escaped and gained His personal
freedom but …
· Jesus chose to endure the cross for others.
56 “But all this was done that the Scriptures of
the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.
·
The disciples fled and chose personal freedom …
just as they should have done.
·
Jesus did not call them to die with Him at that
moment … their cross would come later.
·
Sometimes choosing personal freedom is the will
of God for us.
·
But Jesus stayed because our freedom required
Him to endure the cross.
I know it’s difficult to imagine but according to Hebrews
12:2, Jesus didn’t just endure the cross, He embraced it and, some could
reason, He had an inner peace and joy that extended beyond the cross.
We are not always measured by what we can avoid but rather by
what we are willing to endure, like a football player who doesn’t just sidestep
the opposition but chooses to plow through them … he embraces the moment. Much
the same, life is a choice.
Freedom Always Has a Cost
At the end of the story, everyone made a choice.
The disciples fled.
Jesus remained.
The disciples preserved their own freedom.
Jesus surrendered His freedom so that ours could be secured.
Personal freedom seeks relief from suffering.
Redemptive love accepts suffering when it brings freedom to
others.
Every freedom comes with a cost.
The question is not whether we will pay a price.
The question is whose freedom are we willing to pay for?
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to
lay down one’s life for his friends.
Jesus paid
the price for our eternal freedom.
Jesus calls His followers to love others with that same
sacrificial spirit.
Conclusion
Most of us will never be asked to die for someone else.
But every day we are given opportunities to sacrifice a
little of our comfort, our time, our convenience, and our preferences so that
others can know Christ, grow in their faith, and experience His freedom.
Personal freedom asks, "How can I escape this?"
Christlike love asks, "What am I willing to endure so
that someone else may be blessed?"
That is the cost of freedom.
God bless America, land of the free and home of the brave.
