Free At Last!

Freedom is a very interesting concept. There have been songs written about it. Like this popular one.

My country tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died!

Land of the Pilgrim’s pride!

From every mountain side,

Let freedom ring!

Our father’s God to, Thee,

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright

With freedom’s holy light;

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God, our King!

Lives have been lost trying to save it and obtain it. We in America tend to take it for grant it. We even have a hard time trying to define it. Dr. King lost his life in the pursuit of it. He even had a dream about it.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning "my country ’tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountain side, let freedom ring" and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last.

Today we want to take a good hard look at freedom and see what it means for us in our walk with God.

Paul’s View Society’s view

“Slavery to God’s will” “Doing whatever one wants”

Relationship with God through being left alone

Christ in the Spirit

Interdependence Independence

“”We have only to choose between bondage to the Father, which makes us free, and bondage to the powers of this world, which enslaves us.”

How does this Apply to us?

1. People must see what we need to be free from before they can be free.

Paul Harvey read this on his radio show and I want to share it with you now.

A Wichita pastor’s opening prayer angered legislators in the Kansas House of Representatives. “We confess we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism,” prayed Joe Wright of Central Christian Church, the guest chaplain Jan.23. “We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.” As one legislator walked out and another sat down, Wright continued. “We have abuse

power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors’ possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.” He closed with a plea for God’s forgiveness, blessings, and wisdom….Rep. Delbert Gross, who refused to stand during the prayer, called it “divisive, sanctimonious, self-serving, and overbearing,” press reports said. In the legislature, where there are people with strong convictions on many sides of issues, “the prayer should draw them together and recognize their integrity,” said Sam Muyskens, executive director of Inter-faith Ministries in Wichita.

The problem we face when we talk about freedom is trying to get people outside the faith to understand that they are in slavery. Imagine trying to tell a prisoner who lives out his life in a lush resort playing golf or bowling by day and dancing by night with wine, women and song that he needs to be set free. The problem is that most people don’t want to be set free from the world. It is just easier to live life and not be held accountable for your actions (in their mind). What people need to know is how awful their status is. They need to know where this present life will take them. They need to know what they are being set free from. They are being set free from Satan and all his trappings. He has a wonderful plan. Make submission to the Lordship of Jesus look like slavery. Tell us about the false sense of freedom we already have in the world. But don’t tell us the price we will pay in the end. For the 65 years or so of perceived freedom we spend eternity in Hell. You do the math is it worth it?