As Americans we are free to go where we want. Who can forget the words of Wiston Churchill, who said, "We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields. We shall fight in the streets. And we shall fight in the hills." Sounds like the way my family use to be when we went on vacation.
We are free to marry anybody that we want to. There was a bachelor who was waiting late in life to marry the absolute perfect woman. Someone who was a cross between Wonder Woman, Demy Moore, and Betty Crocker. He was seated on a plane one day and into the plane walked this beautiful lady, the most stunning woman he had ever seen and all eyes were instantly riveted on her. Good fortune had her sit beside him and he introduced himself and he asked her, he said, "I curious. What kind of a man does a beautiful woman like you like?"
She said, "Well, I like Indians. They're tall, dark and handsome. And then I like Jewish men. They're intellectual and wealthy. And then there's a streak in me that likes the macho man, somebody in his pickup truck with a long neck that really likes action." Then she looked at him and said, "What's your name?" He said, "My name is Gerronimo Goldberg. But my friends call me Bubba."
So, How Free is Freedom? The question is this, "Why do you want to be free?" When you get your freedom, what are you going to do with it? Because there is no virtue in wanting to be free in and of itself. Every bird wants to be free. Every fish in every river wants to be free. Every animal will fight you to the death, for its right to be free. But the question is, "Why do you want to be free and when you get your freedom, what are you going to do with it?" The prodigal son in the Gospel of Luke took his freedom and destroyed himself with it. He discover that freedom includes the right to mismanage your affairs. The prodigal son left home a son and returned a slave. He left home searching for power, profits and pleasure and he came home in poverty with the stench of a pig pen on him.
He left home looking for a good life and what he found with his freedom is hell on earth. So I ask you, what do you want to do with your freedom? Because freedom is a package deal. With it comes the responsibility of choices. And choices have consciences and you will live out those consciences and you can't blame your mother, your father, God or the government. Freedom includes that. Freedom is not the opportunity to do what you want. Freedom is the responsibility to do as you ought.
I want you to read with me if you will a simple verse in John 8:36 that captures the essence of what I am saying. John 8:36 ""Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." Again. (repeat)
Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, let us grasp how free is freedom, that we may have it thru Jesus Christ and all of God'
There is no freedom that will allow you to escape the commandments of God. The 10 Commandments are just that, commandments, they are not recommendations. They are 10 Laws of God.
The first commandment says, "Thou shall have no other gods before Me." Say that with me. (repeat) Our generation is a generation that has tried many gods. We have tried the god of communism and humanism and hedonism (the doctrine that pleasure is the principle good).
Communism promised absolute freedom. The destruction of the classes mentality. The state was god. Their apostles were Marx and Lenin. And they lifted their God hating fist into the sky and they defied the God of the heavens. So were is communism today? Communism today is in shambles.
A second god our nation is trying is humanism. That's another god. Humanism says, "Man is his own master." Humanism says there is no absolute right or absolute wrong. Our children is school are being brainwashed with value clarification. Translation. How can we take your thoughts away from Christian ethics. It begins with, "I am the master of my faith and the captain of my soul." You are not partner. Without the help of God you can't draw your next breath.
What is the result of humanism. In our public schools we have teachers who are no longer teaching, but are struggling to survive to 3:00. Every public school teacher ought to get hazardous combat pay. Discipline has broken down because there is no right and there is no wrong. We no longer open the school day with the Word of God and a prayer. We now open the school day by putting a condom on a banana. Humanism has brought us that. Humanism has produced an educational system that is godless and brain dead.
First there is the refusal in humanism to admit that anyone is wrong. Please understand that in the Christian world, there is sin and there is righteousness. There is white and there is black. There is wheat and there is tares. There is sheep and there are goats. There is right and there is wrong. That's why humanist hate the Word of God, because the Word of God is an absolute standard for your moral conduct, for your financial dealings, for your dealings with God and your dealings with humanity.
And as long as you and your children believe this (Bible) you cannot be duped nor serve humanism. Ladies and gentlemen it is time to wake up and speak up for the God of our fathers and the authority of the Word of God. And take America and this community back to basics, back to the Bible, back to the God of our fathers--
LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED.
Let the battle start, the victory is already ours. We are more than conquerors thru Christ. Yes we are free, free to destroy ourselves, but I say we are also free to choose Jesus and the authority of the Word of God, let God arise and let his enemies be scattered, sayeth the Lord unto His church.
There is no freedom that escapes the commandments. There is no freedom that escapes community. Simply stated, we need each other. Our lives are linked together. What affects you, affects me. And what affects me affects you. I cannot do what hurts you without hurting me.
How free is freedom? There is no such thing as absolute freedom. Young people listen to me, there is no such thing as absolute freedom. The stars do not have it. They are hemmed in by the hand of God. The oceans do not have it, they are hemmed in by the shore line. Man does not have it, he is hemmed in by other men. We cannot run from each other, so we must embrace each other. I have to tell you, that the church of Jesus Christ is not doing a very good job of loving thy neighbor as thy self.
The church is segregated by race and it's segregated by economics.
The story of a black man who tried to join a very proper church down in the deep south. He tried 6 times and was refused 6 times. So he quit trying. He bumped into the minister of that church in a supermarket one Saturday and the pastor ask him, "Why did you quit applying for membership? He said, "I'll tell you. It hurt my feelings that you wouldn't let me join the church and so I talked to the Lord about it" and He said, "Don't worry. I've been trying to get in that church for 50 years and they won't let Me in there either.
So I ask you, why do you want freedom? Freedom is a empty word if all it means to you is the absence of restraints.
Freedom requires that you make choices. Choices are difficult. Decisions can get very tricky. Every marriage is the result of choice. One wife said of her husband, "We married for better for worse. He couldn't do better and I couldn't do worse."
Freedom. Your attitude is a matter of choice. There are only 2 kinds of attitudes, a good one or a bad one, so choose to have a good one.
Every career is a matter of choice. The job you have is the job you chose. And if you are not excited about your job, you better get excited about it. Because there is a word for people who are not--and that word is unemployed.
You are where you are right now by choice. And if you are in a pig pen, it's not your mother's fault, it's not your father's fault, it's not God's fault, it's not the government's fault, it's not your pastor's fault. It is your fault. And that is something that our generation is trying to avoid.
We are a nation, that if we are going to have a future, must stop talking about absolute freedom, because there is not such thing. I'm accountable and you're accountable. And we ought to have a government that's accountable. And we need to start to talk about responsibility and truth and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. And character and righteousness and the judgment of God. I want you to understand this. You will stand before God someday and give an account of every word, for every thought and for every deed.
You are responsible for you. When you stand in the judgment, your mother, your daddy won't be with you, you will be by yourself. Your pastor won't be there. You'll be there by yourself, giving God an account for who you are. Wake up and start making the right choices. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life". He is the right choice, choose Him, He never fails.
Now weather you are controlled by your mind or controlled by the Holy Spirit determines the choice you make. Let me break it down a little simpler. When the State Trooper pulls you over on I-69, his name is Mike by the way, and he ask you how fast you were driving? Reason tells you if you say you were going 80 MPH, you're dead meat. You've got 2 tickets now, if you get another one, you get a bicycle. You conscience says, "Tell him how fast you were going!" Reason says, "Ask him what the speed limit is." You've only be driving that road for 20 years, but ask him.
Conscience tells you, "Tell him you were going 80 MPH and that you drive this fast every day. That you are guilty, guilty, guilty. Reason will justify what conscience condemns.
What does it mean to walk in the flesh, it means that you have rejected conscience. What happens when you trample your conscience long enough? Listen to this. God will give you over to a reprobate mind and you will believe a lie and be damned. The question is "are you trampling your conscience? Are you ignoring that inner voice within you. Is there something in you that says go back to the Father's will. If you ignore it long enough you will find yourself in a pig's pen. It may be the pig's pen of divorce or financial ruin, or AIDs or health problems or emotional torment---how free is freedom?
It's never free enough to ignore the commandments of God. It's never free enough to ignore community. It's never free enough to ignore choice. And it's never free enough to ignore your conscience, which is the voice of God within you.
Let me close with this. You are never free until you are voluntarily mastered by something greater than you are. You are never totally free until you are the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. When He makes the decisions and you follow them, then are you free to enjoy life. For who the Son sets free, is free indeed. And until you find Jesus and are master by His decision, you'll never be free. I don't care how rich you are. I don't care how intelligent you are. I don't care what your social standing is, until you totally surrender to Christ------
YOU'LL NEVER BE FREE.
Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, I thank you for this Mother's Day, I thank you for the freedom we have in Christ. Now let your Holy Spirit fill this room--In Jesus name. Amen
How many are in this room and can say, "Pastor, I have taken my freedom and I brought to my life pain and heart ache that I know God never intended by my foolish choices and today I want you to pray for me." Can I see your hands, right where you are. High, high, raise it high. This is an absolute confession to God.
How many in this room can say "Pastor, I have followed after other gods. The gods of pleasure, the gods of profits, the gods of power. And it has only brought me pain. Today, I want to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ and find absolute freedom. Can I see your hand right were you are. How many of you here can say, "Preacher, I want to accept responsibility for my life. I want to accept responsibility for the choices I have made. I want to quit blaming, my mother, my father or other people in my life for the way my life has gone. And I want to take full responsibility and from this day ask the Lord Jesus to forgive my past and make my tomorrow's covered by His grace and glory. Can I see your hand right were you are. Be honest with God. Be honest with God.
Some of you right now are crossing a bridge that will change your life forever, but you have to accept responsibility.
As we sing, Just As I Am, #417, if you raised your hand, I want you to meet me here, we are going to have a prayer and Jesus is going to do something for you that will change you forever. As we sing (clap) I want you to come.
Pray this prayer with me. Lord Jesus, I accept you--as the absolute Lord and Master--of my life---forgive me of all my sins---cleanse me from all unrighteousness---remove every bitter thing within me---and fill me with your joy---I accept responsibility for my life---and my choices---now forgive my past---and let me move into the future---with Your grace and glory---I celebrate you Jesus---and today in Your name---I receive Your peace---Your presence---Your love---and Your joy--- Amen
