One if By Land or Two if by Sea
By Pastor Jim May
Thank God for freedom to worship him. Thank God for the blessing of living in the “land of the free, and the home of the brave”. I thank God for America. Even with all of our problems, injustices, prejudices, crime and bad government, we still live in the greatest nation on earth. There is no other nation on earth where I would rather be. God has blessed us so greatly.
But this freedom was not free. There was a heavy price in blood and suffering that has been exacted from the citizens of this great land. Down through the years there have been millions of lives that have been sacrificed for the cause of freedom and it is inevitable that the price of freedom will continue to rise as we see the prophecies of the end times coming to pass.
We are living in the last days of man’s history upon this world and as we draw ever nearer to end of days, the cost of freedom will grow ever larger. Great strides are taking place right now across this nation and around the world to remove those freedoms that were purchased in blood.
One great American Hero was a common man whose claim to fame was one famous horseback ride in the middle of the night. His name was Paul Revere and he was a great Patriot who placed his life, his fortune and his future on the line to spread the news that the revolution had begun.
After looking for the signal in the belfry of the old North Christ Church steeple, (one lantern if the British were coming by land, or two if they were coming by sea), Paul Revere and others rode through the darkness on the night of April 19,1775, to warn the people of the danger that was coming.
Through a system of signals and word-of-mouth communication the news that the British had arrived spread quickly. At Lexington Green, in Concord, Massachusetts the British regulars were met by 77 American minutemen who had assembled to stop their march. After a brief skirmish, the British were forced to march back to Boston with the Americans firing on them all the way.
On that day the “shot heard around the world” was fired as American Patriots began the long struggle to break free and form a “more perfect union”.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem about that night entitled, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”. I want to read a few portions of that poem this morning as we commemorate the birth of our nation and we celebrate the freedom that we all enjoy.
The first few stanzas of the poem go like this …
Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arms
The final stanza goes like this…
So through the night rode Paul Revere;---
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
As we come together on this Sunday morning, I know that many of you have probably already begun preparations for your own personal celebration.
I am so grateful to every one of those brave patriots, and for all of those down through the years who have paid the price for the freedom that we all enjoy today. We must never fail to honor them.
How can we best honor those who have suffered and died for our freedom? Do we honor them best by holding ceremonies in our nation’s parks or in the Capitol at Washington, D.C.? Do we honor them best by building statues and monuments to their bravery and courage? Do we honor them best by building museums that continually display the bits and pieces of history that have preserved from generation to generation? Or do we honor them best by the way that we live our lives and what we also accomplish for the cause of freedom?
I was watching a little bit of the movie titled “Saving Private Ryan” last night. I didn’t finish it but I had seen it before. In a nutshell, the story is about the D-Day invasion of Normandy and then the sacrifice of the lives of at least eight men in an effort to save one surviving brother of a family of four brothers named Ryan who fought at the same time, but in different places, during World War II.
The final scenes of that movie make a very powerful statement. As the leader of those who had come to seek out Ryan died from his wounds, his final words to Private Ryan were, “make this count for something, make this worth the price.”
I can only imagine what that made Private Ryan feel like – to watch men die so that he might live. What could Ryan do to make the price of their sacrifice worth it? What kind of life could he live? What kind of monument could he build?
Many years later, as he walked the cemeteries, finding the graves of those who had died for him, his single greatest concern was, “have I made their sacrifices worth it? Have I lived good enough to pay them back for what they did for me.”
I know that this was, for the most part, a fictional story but it makes a point that I want to bring out to you this morning.
HAVE YOU LIVED YOUR LIFE IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT HONORS THE SACRIFICE OF THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO SUFFERED AND DIED FOR YOUR FREEDOM?
I believe that we honor those who paid the price for our freedom every time we get up in the morning and go to work, doing the best we can on the job, to support our families and to make America a better place to live.
I believe that we honor them by entering into the voting booth and no neglecting that right to vote for which so many have given their lives.
I believe that we honor them by building monuments, opening museums and commemorating their heroic deeds, but I believe we honor them best by continuing to make the best of our freedoms and to guard against those freedoms being taken away.
How many of you believe that we still have as much freedom today as we did that day that America won the Revolution? The fact is that we have seen a steady decline in those freedoms. Bit by bit, those freedoms are disappearing from the scene. What the government doesn’t take away by force, we seem to give up without even a fight.
As wonderful as our national freedom is, that is not the main point of focus for what I have to say to you this morning.
You see, there is a freedom that is vastly more important to me than freedom from some British King or German Dictator. I have a freedom that greater than that. It’s greater than any man, or any number of men, could ever hope to gain through military might and power.
I am so very thankful for that “Uncommon Freedom” that only Jesus Christ can give.
John 3:16-17, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
Thus we know, from God’s Word, and the witness of the Holy Ghost in us, that Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice in blood for our freedom from sin and death.
Like those soldiers on the battlefield, Jesus bled and died for me. But there is a vast difference in the sacrifices of those soldiers and the death of Jesus.
The blood that those soldiers shed for me could only purchase the freedom of the flesh. The spirit and soul of men could not be set free by the blood of men, only by the perfect blood of Christ. That perfect blood of the Lamb of God, the very Son of God, who died for me, is the only blood that has the power to wash away sin and forgive sins.
John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Because we trust in Jesus and we know Him to be the “Truth, the Light and the Way,” and we trust in his blood to set us free, then that blood will make us free. Then we can really know and understand what is said in John 8:36, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
Aren’t you glad for the sacrifice that Jesus paid for you? He shed his own blood, died on the cross and then rose again so that you and I can enjoy the freedom in Christ that we have this morning.
Now the question arises, “ARE WE HONORING THE SACRIFICE THAT JESUS PAID FOR US? ARE WE MAKING OUR LIVES COUNT FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE THE SACRIFICE OF GOD’S ONLY SON WORTHWHILE?
The church loves to build its monuments and museums to the memory of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrections. We build huge monumental buildings and fill them with banners and statues that point to the price that Jesus paid. We build crucifixes and crosses and hang them around our necks and across the land on car mirrors, and set them up in prominent places in our homes. We build trophy cases and museums to the accomplishments of God in our lives from the past.
But is that really what honors Jesus’ sacrificial death?
Do we honor His sacrifice and make the freedom that Jesus bought for us worthwhile by building graven images of his death on the cross? Do we honor his death by building the huge buildings and then not even going to worship Him in those buildings? Do we honor Jesus by living our lives by our own terms and not surrendering that life to his service? Do we honor Him by claiming to be free in the Spirit and free from sin, and yet we come to church all the time all bound up by sin and shame and held captive in a prison of doubt and fear?
Paul said in Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
I believe that Jesus is saying the same thing to you and I this morning that was said to Private Ryan, “make my sacrifice count for something, make my sacrifice, to purchase your heart, soul and life, from the clutches of the devil, worth the price.”
Do you really believe, and really know, that when you stand before Jesus who paid for your life with His own blood, that your life will have been spent in such a manner that Jesus will know the price was worth it all? Do you think that Jesus will say, “well done, thou good and faithful servant”?
Just as America, as a nation, has allowed the freedom purchased by the Patriots to become eroded, I believe that Christians have allowed the devil to take away some of their freedoms as well.
Some have become entangled with the sins of this world again – and those sins have left them in prisons of bondage of guilt and shame.
Some have allowed the devil to blind them to the loss of their freedom in Christ – and they have allowed the legalistic minds of unscriptural and self-proclaimed “Men of God” to bring them into the bondage of the Law once again.
I think it would be good right now for us to stop for a moment and think of how we have lived our lives for the Lord. Have we been faithful to Him and to His cause? Has our life made Jesus’ sacrifice worth the price that He paid? Have we born the Fruits of Righteousness and carried on the message of the Gospel and continued in the fight for cause that Jesus died for?
This is a time of celebration, but it is also a time of reflection and self-evaluation! Has my life been worth price that Jesus paid for me?
I think that buildings and monuments are great. I believe that they do give honor to the Lord in many ways, especially if they are built under the anointing and direction of the Holy Ghost in the church. But I am persuaded to believe that the greatest monuments are not those built of brick and stone. The greatest honor that we can give to Jesus, and the greatest monuments that we can give that can make His death count for something, are those built in the lives and hearts of men.
Every time a soul is won to Jesus – another monument to his death is built.
Every time a life is blessed, there is another monument to his grace.
Every day that we live a life that is totally surrendered to Jesus and we do that which Jesus would have us to do, is another day in a life that will make the death of Jesus upon the cross worth the cost.
Paul Revere’s signal to ride was “one if by land, and two if by sea”. I’m here this morning watching for a signal too. The signal that I am looking for is that of the Second Coming of Christ and the Sound of the Trumpet calling his faithful Bride to come to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Paul Revere warned that the “Redcoats” were coming to help the minutemen get prepared for battle. I’m “riding you” this morning to warn you of someone more powerful than the “Redcoats”. I’m here to let you know that Jesus is coming so get ready.
Lift up your arms to worship the Lord and work for Him. Don’t worry about your powder horn; just get hold of the horns of the altar. Pick up the Bible because the Word of God is your sword. Get up from your place of lethargy and sleep. Put on the whole armor or God, and get prepared for battle with the devil.
We have the freedom that Jesus has purchased for us, but we will have to stay on guard, and ready in a minute’s time, to face the enemy.
Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." If we will just follow Paul’s advice I believe that we will make our lives count for something and when this life is over, we will have made our lives “worth the price” of Jesus death for our souls. Thank God for the freedom that Jesus has given to us all.
