Freedom: Free, but Costly
Chuck Sligh
May 27, 2012
POWERPOINT: There is a PowerPoint presentation for this sermon available by requesting it from me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: John 15:13 – “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
INTRODUCTION
Memorial Day was established in 1868 to honor the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. It has grown to become a solemn recognition of all of our nation’s war dead and the high price of our freedom.
It’s something we often fail to explain properly to our children.
Illus. – A church had a bulletin board decorated in red, white and blue with pictures of soldiers who had been killed in service to their country. A little boy was looking up at the board when the pastor came up, so he asked the pastor what the board was about. He explained that the pictures were the men from their church who over the century or so had “died in the service,” by which he meant, in the service of their country. But the way he said it is the way many civilians say it: “They died in the service.” The little boy was quiet a moment, and then he asked, “¿The morning service or the evening service?”
Well, so far we’ve never lost anybody in one of our services!
We laugh, but Memorial Day is no laughing matter to us in our community for we’ve ALL attended the memorial ceremony for someone who lost his life in Iraq or Afghanistan. And to some of you soldiers Memorial Day is not academic or abstract: someone in your unit, or perhaps even a buddy—someone you knew PERSONALLY—is among that group we say gave his life in the service of our country.
As we honor the heroes who have given us our freedom this Memorial Day Sunday, let me share two thoughts with you.
I. FIRST NOTE THAT OUR FREEDOMS AS AMERICANS ARE FREE, BUT PAID FOR AT GREAT COST BY THE SACRIFICE OF OTHERS.
We have amazing freedoms as Americans.
• We can worship as we choose, or pray to whomever we please, or not worship or pray at all, because we’re free.
• We can say nearly anything we want—even about the highest leaders in the land.
• We can move about freely, live anywhere we wish, and own our own property.
• We can work hard and make a good living, or we can lie around and be lazy.
We’re FREE! But our freedoms did not come without great cost. There was a price that had to be paid for our freedoms—many times over.
Many have died on the battlefields in all of America’s wars to preserve our freedom.
• They died in the War of Independence in places like Lexington and Concord.
• They died in the Civil War in places like Gettysburg and Chattanooga.
• They died in World War I in places like Verdun and the Argonne Forest.
• They died in World War II in places like Normandy and Iwo Jima.
• They died in the Korean War in places like Qusan, Inchon and Chosin.
• They died in the Vietnam War in places like Khe Sanh, and Dien Bien Phu.
• They died in Iraq, and they are dying still in Afghanistan.
These men died for the freedoms we enjoy. We’re free, but that freedom wasn’t secured without cost: SOMEBODY paid the price for us to enjoy the freedoms we have.
POEM: I love the following poem titled, “Freedom Isn’t Free” by Air Force Junior ROTC Cadet Major Kelly Strong:
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young soldier saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?
How many Pilots’ planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No Freedom isn’t free
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard at the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington…
No—Freedom isn’t free!
You see, there IS a sense in which freedom IS free. It’s free to me as an American citizen.
• I really don’t have to serve in the U.S. military if I don’t want to—and I’m still free.
• I don’t have to vote if I don’t want to—and I’m still free.
• In fact, if I wanted, I could live on welfare, and lush off the government, and then turn around and criticize this country and say how terrible it is or anything else I wanted to say about it even while I’m living off the largesse of others’ taxes—and I’m still free. That would be a terrible thing to do, but I’m free to do it.
In other words, I have the benefits of freedom irrespective of whether I deserve them or not.
They’re free to ME, but it is a terrible personal moral failure if I forget and am not thankful for those who paid the price for me to have those freedoms. Today let us not forget those who have given their lives for the freedoms we share. Let us thank God for those who laid down their lives for the freedoms we enjoy.
Our freedoms as Americans are free to us, but they were paid for at great cost by the sacrifice of others.
II, NOTE SECOND THAT SALVATION IS FREE, BUT PAID FOR AT GREAT COST BY THE SACRIFICE OF SOMEONE ELSE.
Jesus said in John 8:36 – “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” When you’re saved, you are FREE—praise God!...
• You're freed first of all from God’s judgment.
The Bible says that every one of us has sinned against God. Sin is transgressing God’s Law, or disobeying God’s commandments, and the Bible clearly teaches that we’ve ALL done that. This means we’re ALL sinners before a holy and just God who hates sin.
And the Bible is equally clear that there is a penalty for sin.
--Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death.”
--Revelation 20:14 tells us that this penalty is not only a PHYSICAL death, but what it calls “the second death.”
--And Revelation 21:8 says this: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
But you know what?—When you’re saved, you’re free from God’s judgment! You’re free from hell! In fact, you’re promised eternal life in heaven!
Aren’t you glad about that? Instead of eternity in hell, you have the assurance of eternity in heaven if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior. What a privilege!
• Not only are you free FROM hell, but you have many other spiritual freedoms and privileges in Christ.
--You have the right of forgiveness for every sin you’ve ever committed or ever will commit.
--You have the privilege of being a child of God, and more than that, you have the honor of adoption to all the privileges of a full son.
--You have the right of immediate access to God at any time.
--You have the privilege of fellowship with other believers.
--And you have the right to an eternal inheritance as an heir of God!
If you’re a believer, you have all these and many more rights and privileges. And guess what: They’re ALL FREE!—Every one of them. You don’t have to, nor could you ever, pay a penny for them. You don’t have to do a THING to earn them. They’re all free.
Several times in the Scriptures we’re reminded that salvation and all it’s benefits are a GIFT.
• In Romans 5:15-18 we’re told SIX times that RIGHTEOUSNESS to be saved is a free gift from God. We don’t BECOME righteous through our good life to be able to stand righteous before God. No, in the Bible righteousness is CREDITED as a free gift to anyone who believes on Jesus Christ. The biblical word is “imputed,” which means to “put to one’s account.”
Illus. – It’s like if your old buddy Bill Gates transferred several million dollars to your bank account as a free gift. In exactly the same manner, RIGHTEOUSNESS to stand before God as perfect and righteous is a free gift from God.
• Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – ETERNAL LIFE is given as a free gift through Jesus Christ.
• Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” – SALVATION ITSELF is given as a free gift of God, independent of any works or good deeds or religious acts.
Righteousness, eternal life, and salvation—they’re all FREE to you and me! They don’t cost you a thing! In fact, they CANNOT cost you a thing to earn if they’re truly gifts. They moment they cost you something, by definition, they cease to be gifts.
Illus. – I remember on our furlough last year hearing an ad on the radio about getting a free gift online. I can’t remember what it was, but it sounded like something I’d like to have, so I thought I’d at least check it out.
Well, it wasn’t exactly free. You see the gifts were “free” [DO AIR QUOTES] IF you bought some of their other products. So you had to agree up-front to the condition of buying certain products to get your “free gift.” [DO AIR QUOTES] Now answer me by shaking or nodding your head: Had I agreed to buy the required items to get the “free” gift, would it have REALLY been free or truly a gift?
You see, this is the fallacy behind what’s known as “Lordship salvation,” the teaching in many circles today that in order to be saved, one must do more than simply “believe in Jesus Christ,” which is the ONLY thing the Bible says over and over again one must do to be saved. They say a person must fulfill some other condition or conditions in ADDITION to faith in Christ to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life, like committing one’s life to Christ, or resolving not to sin, or submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, or being baptized. But you see, the moment you add ANY conditions to salvation other than simply RECEIVING IT BY FAITH AS A FREE GIFT, it ceases to be a gift and becomes something you help pay for or earn.
No, the only thing you can do with a gift is receive it or reject it. God offers salvation—that is, eternal life, forgiveness of sins, becoming a child of God—as a TOTALLY FREE GIFT. If you receive it simply by faith, it’s yours—at NO cost to you.
Once you receive God’s free gift, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit comes in and regenerates you, and makes you a new creation and begins a process called sanctification, whereby He helps you change and become more Christlike. Then you want to serve God with a thankful heart for all He has done for you, not try to earn it by adding any conditions to his free offer of salvation.
But my main point is that salvation is totally free to you…but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a cost for somebody. There was a great cost to Jesus Christ. That cost was HIS VERYT LIFE!
Just as our privileges as citizens are free to us, but paid for by the sacrifice of others, our salvation is free to us, paid for by Jesus Christ.
• 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.”
• Isaiah 53:5, that great Old Testament prophecy about Jesus’s future suffering on the cross says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions…”
Illus. – During World War II a minister, walking along a street in London, saw a wounded British soldier painfully hobbling along. Stopping him, the minister said to the soldier, “Thank you for being wounded for me.”
The man looked back at the minister in astonishment. People had sent him cigarettes and had given him entertainment, but no one before had ever THANKED HIM for what he had suffered on others’ behalf.
Then the minister continued, “I know Someone who was wounded FOR YOU.”
¿Wounded for me, sir?” replied the soldier, now more surprised than before. “¿Who could that be?”
“It was our Lord Jesus,” responded the minister. “Isaiah 53:5 says ‘He was wounded for our transgressions.’”
With that, the man of God was on his way, leaving the soldier to think about the One who was wounded for Him.
Yes, Jesus was wounded for us, but the Bible goes further and says that along with His wounding, He also GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US. In today’s text, Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 )
• Jesus also said, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
• Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Galatians 1: 4 says, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.”
• And Paul says this of Jesus in Titus 2:14 – “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity…”
The Bible is clear: Jesus died for your sins so you could be free, and have all the benefits and privileges and rights of a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. He offers you salvation free of charge. Would it not be a slap in the face of God to turn down such a wonderful free gift? Wouldn’t it not be a tragic mistake to neglect something offered so freely at such great price. No wonder the writer of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation…?”
CONCLUSION
Our freedoms as Americans are free to us, but they were paid for at great cost by the sacrifices of others. I hope that tomorrow, Memorial Day, will not just be another day to relax and kick back and have a barbecue. I hope it’ll also be a day when you remember and honor those who have fallen in defense of the freedoms you and I hold dear. I also hope you will “give back” in some way to your country for all the sacrifices others have made by being a good citizen, voting, and serving your community.
And, praise God, salvation is free to us, but paid for at GREAT cost by our Lord Jesus. If you’re already saved today, I hope you’ll bow your head in a few moments and humbly thank God for all you have as a citizen of heaven, all of it paid for by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross of Calvary. I also hope that you “give back” to the Lord in thankfulness for His free gift of salvation for you by living for God, making Him first place in your life, turning from sin and self, and being a faithful disciple.
If you’ve never been saved, I hope you will bow your head, and tell God you’re a sinner deserving of His judgment, but that you’re trusting in Him and what he did on the cross for your sins as your only hope of eternal salvation.
