REMEMBER, LEST WE FORGET
Text: Ps.103: 2
Intro: Tomorrow we celebrate Memorial Day. It is a day set aside by our nation to remember and honor all who have paid the ultimate price to preserve and maintain our freedom.
It is certainly befitting that we should honor those brave men and women who have sacrificed to preserve this great nation of ours, for we must never forget that freedom is never free. Freedom is always costly. It has always cost one of our most precious possessions—life itself. Therefore, we must remember, lest we forget freedom’s value. We must remember, lest we take freedom for granted. We must remember, lest our freedom ceases to be precious.
I remember seeing a National Geographic article some time ago about an attempt to locate the USS Indianapolis, which was sunk by a Japanese sub during World War II.
At 12:14 a.m. on July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 men on board, approximately 300 went down with the ship. The remainder, about 900 men, were left floating in shark-infested waters with no lifeboats and most with no food or water. The ship was never missed, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident four days later only 316 men were still alive (Taken from www.ussindianapolis.org).
Those men on the Indianapolis had friends, loved ones, hopes, ambitions, and dreams, just as we do. But they were willing to set all of that aside that they might defend our country’s freedom.
Folks, our freedom is precious because of what it has cost our nation and its people. Freedom has never been, and never will be, free. However, it’s not merely the sacrifice of its people that has made our nation great. It is something deeper than that. One man put it this way:
French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831, said, "I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests--and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning--and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution--and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!"
Alexis de Tocqueville.
The Bible says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Prov.14: 34). The fact is folks; biblical righteousness comes only as a result of knowing, on a personal level, the righteous One. To possess national freedom without knowing Christ as Savior is to know only partial and temporary freedom. The greatest battle ever fought was that which Christ fought and won on Calvary. Again, God’s Word says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free in deed” (John 8: 36).
Let us remember today. Let us not only remember those who died as defenders of our freedom; but let us also remember He who is the Savior of our souls.
Theme: Let us remember:
I. THE DEPTHS FROM WHICH WE CAME
A. We Must Remember The Pit From Which We Were Digged.
Isa.51: 1b “…look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.”
1. Man is a sinner by nature.
Ps.58: 3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”
2. We all came from the miry pit of sin.
Rom.3: 10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
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23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
3. Man is sinful to the core.
Jer.17: 9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
B. We Must Remember The Penalty From Which We Were Delivered.
Ezek.18: 4b “…the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
Rom.5: 12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
II. THE DELIVERANCE WHICH CHRIST HAS COMPLETED
A. It Cost Him His Broken Body.
1. He endured the scourging of the whip (Matt.27: 26).
2. He endured beatings at the hands of men (Matt.26: 67).
3. He endured the crown of thorns upon His brow (Mark 15: 17).
4. His side was pierced with the spear (John 19: 34).
5. His beard was plucked out (Isa.50: 6).
B. It Cost Him His Shed Blood.
Heb.9: 22b “…and without the shedding of blood is no remission.”
Eph.1: 7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”
C. It Cost Him The Weight Of Our Sin’s Burden.
Isa.53: 6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
III. THE DESTINY TO WHICH WE HAVE COME
A. It Is Our Destiny To Be Conquerors.
Rom.6: 14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
I Cor.15: 57 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
B. It Is Our Destiny To Be Complete. (Mature)
Col.2: 10 “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”
C. It Is Our Destiny To Be Comforted.
1. We have the promise of His comfort in our daily frustrations.
Isa.26: 3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
I Pet.5: 7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
2. We have the promise of comfort in the future.
Rev.21: 4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Theme: Let us remember:
I. THE DEPTHS FROM WHICH WE CAME
II. THE DELIVERANCE WHICH CHRIST HAS COMPLETED
III. THE DESTINY TO WHICH WE HAVE COME
