Sermon Central
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Independence - There Ain't No Such Thing
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Jul 3, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: We Americans like to think of ourselves as independent people but we never can truly be totally independent. In the spiritual world we are slaves in the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light but the motivation is entirely different!
Independence? - There Ain’t No Such Thing
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse(s) is(are):
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Today we will be reading from Romans 6:15-23
On July 1, 1776, John Adams wrote the following letter to his wife Abigail:
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”
History tells us that the Declaration of Independence was actually signed by the Congress on July 4, 1776 which is why we have this holiday.
There were many reasons leading up to this Declaration of Independence and you can read about them at your convenience, but, we are not here today to discuss whether the declaration of independence from British rule was justified or not.
I thank the Lord that in His providence He raised up the United States of America according to His will and to accomplish His purposes. And while the tyranny of the throne of England over the colonies was drastic it pales in comparison to the tyranny that currently exists in other areas of our world.
As grateful as we are for the Declaration of Independence and ultimate victory in the Revolutionary War, we are here for a much more important reason.
And, whether we like it or not, and, whether we admit it or not, we all exist in a state of slavery and will continue to do so throughout the rest of eternity.
But … it may not be what you think … while you listen to today’s Scripture please try to find words that involve slavery …
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read Romans 6:15-23
(Prayer for help)
We are born into slavery.
Now, you may say that we live in America, the land of the free!
But, in reality, it does not matter if you live in America or if you live in North Korea where you can be tortured and put to death if you do not cheer loudly enough for the self-proclaimed, “Dear Leader”.
I would assume that by now you all have guessed that we are not talking about slavery to an earthly master or to a tyrannical government, but, that we are all slaves in the spiritual sense.
We are either enslaved to sin or slaves of Christ!
Let me give you an earthly example.
Recently I have been watching some videos made by a young lady who was born in North Korea. As a teenager she escaped but she had to escape twice. The first time she was caught by the Chinese and sent back to North Korea. Eventually, she escaped again and then after traveling through several South Asian nations she made her way to the USA.
She was born into slavery. All of the North Koreans are slaves to the government. They are required to do what they are told when they are told to do it. Anything, food, medical care, housing, can be withheld from them at the whim of anyone who would bring an accusation against them. Their life can be taken from them for the simplest of reason without any trial or even being allowed to speak in their own defense. She was a slave in every sense of the word.
She was not alone in her hatred of the slavery enforced by her communist, socialist, atheist, dictatorial government but enslaved she was.
Now she lives in America. Now she is a slave of the USA. She is not a slave enforced by the government. She is a slave of obedience to the nation that has taken her in because of her love for America. Once she was a slave of brutal oppression. Now she is a slave driven by grateful passion. But, a slave she still is.
