LEST WE FORGET FREEDOM’S PRICE
John 8:32-36
Introduction: Most of you realize that last Friday, November 11th, was Veteran’s Day or Remembrance Day. It is a day celebrated also in other free lands. Throughout this nation and around the world, wherever the flag of freedom flies, thoughtful and thankful people paused at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to remember the price that has been paid for the freedoms that we now enjoy. LESS WE FORGET!
Australia my adopted land, and America, my native land, have set a national holiday for returned service men or veterans. I am pleased and proud this is the case.
I’ll never forget something that happened on our last trip overseas. I was pulled out of line in an airport in the U. S. for one of those random searches. I was more than tired. I was utterly exhausted. A tall burly security man approached me waving his wand. He asked me to do the ordinary things in preparation for such a search. I stood immobile with my arms outstretched as he made a thorough scan of my body.
As he finished, he stopped and looked me in the eyes and said, in a soft tone, "Sir, are you a veteran?" I said, "Yes." He nodded, "I thought you might be." Then he said, "Which war?" "The Korean conflict," I replied. He then slowly raised his hand from his side in a subdued military salute and said with obvious emotion in his voice, "I just wanted to say, THANK YOU!" That not only made my day but it made my year and gave me something to reflect upon for the rest of my life.
Another of one of the most moving experiences of my life came about three or four years ago when we were privileged to be present in a church on the occasion of a God and Country Day. There were around a thousand people present. The service focused upon stirring patriotic songs and hymns as well as readings and remembrances given to honor a nation of freedom and to remember those who had purchased and sustained that freedom at a great price.
At a certain point in the service, veterans were asked to stand as the military music of their branch of service was played. The sanctuary echoed with grateful applause as wrinkled, stooped and grey-haired veterans of the Great War stood to their feet. The applause was just as enthusiastic for those veterans of more recent conflicts. I am sure I was not the only one present that had to choke back deep emotion when my turn came to stand with my veteran brothers.
I would like to share with you something I wrote a few years back to be shared at a celebration honoring those who died for freedom’s cause in the land of my birth:
"REMEMBERING THOSE WHO PAID THE PRICE FOR FREEDOM - May this day be a time for remembering the great things God has done for America. For over two centuries the nation’s sons and daughters have fought and fallen in faraway fields and forests for freedom’s cause. Their blood has stained the dry deserts of North Africa, soaked the beaches of Normandy and saturated the sands of Iwo Jima. Their bodies have lain among the hedge rows of Europe, on the jagged hills of China and in the frozen wastes of North Korea. Today they still fall in near and faraway places for the same great cause. There’s scarcely a land, ocean or a sea on this planet that has not been hallowed by the supreme sacrifice of our nation’s heroes as they have answered freedom’s call.
Who were these patriots? These unassuming and non-pretentious heroes, we should remember as we celebrate our liberty today? They were mostly just simple folk. Citizen soldiers some were called. They rallied to freedom’s flag from the farms, villages and towns of our nation’s heartland. They came from the boroughs and suburbs of our great cities. These ordinary people came from all across our great land. They were not professional warriors or skilled combatants. But they were inspired by the clarion call of liberty and moved by the sublime cause of defending their country, their homeland, the land of their birth.
Who were these men who willingly laid down their lives at a time of their country’s greatest peril? They were those who became familiar with the strident sound of the bugle rising at reveille and soulful sound of taps reverently played at the setting of the sun. These are they who marched into battle and heard the awful whine of a ricocheting bullet, the rattling roar of a machine gun and the threatening thunder of a mortar shell; and then the heart-rending cry of a fallen comrade.
Who were these who suffered the pangs of loneliness and pining of homesickness as they faced the hunger, thirst, relentless heat, torrential rains, and bitter cold of the field of battle? These are those brave souls who trudged onward ’till the day they fell mortally wounded. Who grew old in youth; burning out the candle of life in minutes; sacrificing all that life owed them in their future tranquil years.
Who are these men that lie buried beneath 639,455 white crosses around the world? Who rest in places like Arlington, Pearl Harbor, Philippines, Anzio, Flanders Fields, the Argonne, and a thousand hillside cemeteries all over America? These are our fellow soldiers, patriots of this free country, who believed that freedom for our children must be preserved, whatever the cost.
On this day when we celebrate the birth of liberty, let us remember as well, with deep gratitude and humble thanksgiving , those men and women who survived the battles and who are gathered together around the world to celebrate the blessings of freedom.
Let us give thanks too for the families who have given their sons, fathers, and brothers to the call of their country. And while we are remembering, let us never forget what one of the founding fathers said, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance" And let us resolutely echo the words of another and say, "We highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." Lest we forget.
But more than anything else today, let us remember the blessings God has poured out upon our nation. Let us be thankful to Him today for the moving of His mighty hand in the beginning of our nation and His guidance and providence that has sustained and preserved our freedoms through the years. Perhaps some words from two grand old patriotic hymns say it best:
"In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom
that transfigures you and me, As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on." - (Battle Hymn of the Republic)
"God bless America, land that I love, stand beside her and guide her, through the night, with the light from above. From the mountains, to the prairie, to the oceans, white with foam. God bless America, my home sweet home. God bless America, my home sweet home." - (God Bless America)
Today I have the privilege of being a dual national. I hold cherished citizenship in two great freedom loving nations and have spent equal parts of my life in each. Thus, I have the privilege of thanking God for the sacrifice of those who have paid the supreme price in both these nations in freedom’s cause!
In case you did not pause on Friday to do so, let us stand together now and bow our heads in prayerful thankfulness to God for our freedom. In doing so, let us say, "Thank You," to those who have sacrificed so much to purchase and preserve the precious liberty that is ours today.
LEST WE FORGET FREEDOM’S PRICE let us look today at the some freedoms that are ours because of the graciousness of our God and the sacrifice of those who have gone before. (1) THE FREEDOM TO FIGHT FOR OUR FAITH. (2) THE FREEDOM TO FEARLESSLY TELL FORTH THE FACTS OF THE GOSPEL. (3) THE FREEDOM TO FACE OUR FEARS.
THE FREEDOM TO FIGHT FOR OUR FAITH. Paradoxically, we can surely say, "Freedom is never free." This is clearly the case confirmed by the history of free nations in the world today. The terrible sacrifices of World War II veterans come to mind. Their terrible toll in life and limb is beyond our comprehension. The millions of casualties among allied forces boggle the mind. But just think of the reward of such sacrifice. Not only did these valiant heroes pay the price required to maintain the freedom of their peoples, but their sacrifices made possible the expansion of those freedoms to those nations they freed from their tyrannical oppression. The freedoms enjoyed by such nations as Germany, Japan, Italy and even the former Soviet Republics, ultimately flowed from the fountain of their supreme sacrifices. They purchased freedom at a premium price for multiplied millions in the free world today.
Freedom is never free. It always costs someone something. And that cost makes freedom all the more precious. As we celebrate our freedoms on such occasions as Veterans and Remembrance Day, we should consider the price that has been paid to purchase and preserve it and then ask ourselves if we are willing to stand up in be counted in the fight to preserve and expand freedom’s borders in our generation. We who are called today to fight or contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints should never forget that this precious faith was first purchased at the Cross of Calvary. There God gave His only begotten Son and that Son gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. At the cross, we find the eternal freedom only afforded those who have forgiveness of sin and are called to be the eternal sons and daughters of God.
We who live in nations blessed by a Christian history and heritage have much for which we should thank God. We have a faith that is powerful and unique to our Judeo-Christian culture. A culture that is the foundation upon which our free and democratic institutions are based. As we see that foundation being inundated, eroded and washed away by the great food tides of promiscuity, permissiveness and perversion threatening to overwhelm us, it is vital that we understand the importance of returning to and contending for the faith our fathers purchased for us.
It is even more important that we who are blessed to be personally and spiritually resting upon the real Foundation Stone, Jesus Christ, fully understand and deeply treasure our faith and be always ready to not only contend for it, but share it with others also. This is especially true of those of us who have all the blessings related to being His peculiar people, purchased by his precious blood and placed into a particular place of acceptable service unto God. Our motto spiritual motto should be, "Always ready."
Peter, the apostles and the early members of those first century churches seemed to be always ready to do so with boldness and love. Their lives seem to be characterized by speaking up and speaking out, consistently testifying to the saving power of Jesus Christ and earnestly contending for every doctrine and teaching of Jesus Christ. In the Book of Acts, we find the record of these simple folk of faith responding again and again to the challenges voiced by the political and religious leaders of their day.
Their answer was always consistent, courageous and confident. " And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:18-20)
Lest we forget, we should remember that this precious and valuable faith, and the liberty to exercise it freely, was preserved by the blood of the many men and women who have given there lives for the faith. We could begin with a roll call of the faithful in Hebrews Chapter Eleven. We could continue by recounting the glorious martyrdom of the first Christian martyr of record, Stephen. The New Testament record tells us he died ,in a hail storm of stones, glorifying God, with his eyes fixed upon Jesus at the right hand of God.
Others were soon to follow in his footsteps. Traditional history tells the story of their valiant stand for Jesus and His gospel. James was executed under Herod Agrippa. Matthew traveled to Ethiopia and was pinned to the ground and beheaded. Reports indicate Jesus’ brother, James, was stoned and cast down from the top of the temple. Still alive, he was smashed in the head with a fuller’s club. It seems Matthias was stoned. Andrew was crucified on an X shaped cross. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria. Peter was crucified upside-down. Paul lost his head. Jude and Bartholomew were crucified. Thomas was run through with spears and thrown into an oven. Luke was hung from an olive tree. John was exiled and boiled in oil, but survived.
We could conclude by mentioning those multiplied millions of martyrs made during the middle and dark ages who stood just as valiantly and died just as gloriously for the faith. The blood of these committed and courageous warriors of the faith cry to us from the ground; echoing the words of Jude, another martyr: "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 3)
THE FREEDOM TO FEARLESSLY TELL FORTH THE FACTS OF THE GOSPEL. In our day of so many false gospels, it is such a great blessing to have the freedom to proclaim the facts of the real gospel. Our world is daily bombarded with a variety of gospels. Some preach a social gospel. A gospel that is focused on the social ills of society. A gospel that is designed to deal with the temporal, short term problems of a culture. This gospel is based upon the false concept that life in the here and now is what really matters. After all, they say, those who believe in hell, judgment and life beyond the grave, are just wistful dreamers; looking for the panacea of pie in the sky by and by
Others preach a revolutionary gospel. A gospel that advocates violent change at the business end of a gun. During the cold war era much of the budgets of some ungodly ecumenical groups was expended on support of Marxist-Leninist groups in Central and South America, Africa and Asia, that were dedicated to the violent revolutionary change.
Some preach a gospel of humanism. This gospel begins with the premise that man is innately good. He has within him a spark of divinity. A bit of judicious fanning will bring out the divine. Man can move to a materialistic utopia on earth through his collective efforts. It doesn’t take an academic or a scholar to observe the practical failure of such a theory in our world today.
There are those who are more Biblically based who preach a good works gospel; resembling the error that crept into the Galatian church. A gospel of working one’s way to heaven through keeping of God’s laws, observing rituals and liturgies, and ultimately establishing their self-righteousness before God. The primary problem with this gospel is that it is not scriptural and is unworkable and stands in direct opposition and stark contrast to the gospel of grace which Paul preached and which true Bible-believing Christians preach today.
It is obvious that the simple gospel of truth is not preached in every place where the name of Christ is spoken today. In some places, purporting to be places of Christian worship, the simple gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ alone is rarely heard, much less preached in the boldness of the Spirit of God.
It’s puzzling and perplexing that places purposing to honour and worship Christ would not presently proclaim His powerful gospel. Why is the gospel not preached? Perhaps there is a fear of scorn and ridicule. Some preachers may fear loss of tenure if the truth about sin is spoken. There might be many reasons for the dulling of the sharp Sword of the Spirit, the cooling of evangelistic fervor and the loss of basic boldness in the proclamation of the Word. This obvious neglect only emphasizes the importance and urgency we should attach to using our precious freedom to preach the powerful and factual gospel of Jesus Christ.
We should praise God for those who have sacrificed to make possible the positive preaching of His pure and powerful gospel. The facts of this gospel are simple. Paul made this amply clear to the Church at Corinth when he said: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day." (I Cor. 15:1-3) This gospel is by far the most well documented fact and validated fact of ancient history. (See I Cor. 15:4-8) He died on a cruel Roman cross outside Jerusalem about 33 AD. He rose again three days later and was seen of hundreds on a number of well documented occasions. This good news is a fact, not a fable. " For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." (II Pet. 1:16)
It is an irrefutable fact that He died because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Ro. 3:23) It is a fact that He paid the penalty of our sin: giving Himself as a complete sacrifice. (I Peter 3:18) It is a fact that the purpose of His sacrifice was to enable us to stand before God; clothed in the Son’s righteousness. (II Cor. 5:21) The cross is a fact. The empty tomb is a fact. His resurrection is a fact. Forgiveness of sin is a fact. Eternal life is a fact. Therefore, we can freely preach a powerful gospel that brings a perfect completed salvation. It is a fact that it is finished!
Let us again thank God for those who have purchased and maintained THE FREEDOM TO FEARLESSLY TELL FORTH THE FACTS OF THE GOSPEL in our day.
THE FREEDOM TO FACE OUR FEARS. We live in terrible times. The threat of cruel barbaric terrorism pervades the atmosphere at home and abroad. Hardly a day passes without hearing news of another unimaginable atrocity perpetrated upon innocent women and children. It seems there is no depths of depravity those who are the adversaries of freedom and democracy will not plumb in order to bring terror and fear to those who advocate and advance the principles of a Judeo-Christian civilization.
They make it clear they hate us for being us. They tell us in no uncertain terms we do not deserve to live on the same planet with them. They say ultimately we must convert to their fanatical version of a religion or die at the point of a sword. It seems they would prefer the latter fate. We seem to be given the options of dying on our feet or living on our knees in slavish subjection to an extreme and perverted form of this religion. The make no secret of their ultimate goal: a pan-Islamic Caliphate that will subjugate all mankind and place them under the harsh dictates of Shia law. They seem to seek to impose a barbaric, uncivilized code that would make the culture of the Taliban look like mere child’s play.
Is there any hope? Have our heroic men and women who have fought for freedom’s cause in earlier wars, died in vain? Are our brave men and women who are giving their limbs and lives in Afghanistan, Iraq and other points of conflict, sacrificing in vain? I do not think so. Surely God will answer the prayers of those who will stand for righteousness in the land and in the world and grant the continuing freedom we need to live and serve Him. Surely we are still privileged to pray for such a victory in our time. Surely we can use the weapons of spiritual warfare He has given us to face our fears of the forces arrayed against us and forge ahead into a future of real freedom in Christ Jesus!
In Christ we can always be optimistic about the future. We can be sure the sun will rise tomorrow and the future will come, if Jesus does not come in the meantime. Tomorrow may bring its own share of troubles, trials and tribulation, but it will bring along with those the overruling providence of our great God. The words of our Saviour assure us of this, ". . . In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Our Saviour is saying the obvious if will just stop and consider it. Each day has enough burdens and blessings of its own.
God only gives us grace and strength to live one day at a time. That’s all we really need. Tomorrow’s problems and challenges can be dealt with by His grace if and when tomorrow comes. Prudent planning and provision for tomorrow is wise, but undue worry about tomorrow is foolish and futile and fails to face the future with faith that the God of today is also the God of tomorrow. The scriptures tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and that God’s mercies are new each morning. When we are overly fretful and fearful about tomorrow, we often rob ourselves of the peace, joy and victory God would give us today. This is not God’s will and way for us. Our outlook about the future should be reflected in the words of the Psalmist, "This [is] the day [which] the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)
Is there a real and lasting solution for fears for tomorrow? Jesus does not leave us guessing about this. He clearly calls us to commit ourselves to a course of action that will effectively counter this tendency. Just what should we do? We should refocus our lives by placing Him first in all things. Seeking first His Kingdom and righteous ways. (Matt. 6:33) I understand His language indicates first in order or at the very top of the list. His priorities as outlined in His Word should become ours. His attitudes and mind-set should also become ours. (Phil. 2:5) His spiritual affections should replace the earthly affections that so easily seduce us. (Col. 3:2) Our mind and attitudes should be so renewed that we are transformed rather than conformed. (Ro. 12:2) After all, if we are accepted in the beloved, joint-heirs with Christ and are already seated in heavenly places with Him, what have we to fear?
With all this in mind, let us once again thank God for those who have fought and died to give us THE FREEDOM TO FACE OUR FEARS, THE FREEDOM TO FEARLESSLY TELL FORTH THE FACTS OF THE GOSPEL AND THE FREEDOM TO FIGHT FOR OUR FAITH.
