Liberty Through Christ

Philadelphia, July 5, 1777. My dear Daughter: Yesterday being the anniversary of American Independence, was celebrated here with a festivity and ceremony becoming the occasion . . . The thought of taking any notice of this day was not conceived until the second of this month, and it was not mentioned until the third. It was too late to have a sermon, as every one wished, so this must be deferred another year” (John Adams, from Adams Family Correspondence: June 1776–March 1778, 274).

John Adams made an observation that should be remembered today. Everyone wished to hear a sermon as part of the celebration.

We have come far! (In the wrong direction).

It is the liberty of Christ that will heal the brokenhearted. It grants deliverance to the captives and new sight to the blind.

True freedom can come only through Jesus Christ

John 8:36

John 8:36 NKJV

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Since it's inception, the United States has stood as a symbol of freedom to the entire world.

The U.S. has been a land of hope and opportunity. Not just because of our political liberty, but because we were founded on the freedom that can only come through Christ.

Because of this, this nation has reaped God's blessings.

Because of America’s beginnings in Christ, we have reaped God’s blessings

Psalm 33:12

Psalm 33:12 NKJV

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

Today, many have fooled themselves into thinking that religious pluralism is the great strength of our nation.

However, diversity and pluralism are nothing more than euphemisms for what God calls idolatry.

God doesn’t celebrate religious diversity, He condemns it. The first commandment of all was

Today, as a nation, we no longer acknowledge God

God does not celebrate religious diversity, so neither should we

Exodus 20:3

Exodus 20:3 NKJV

“You shall have no other gods before Me.

When Israel was about to enter Canaan, a land filled with pagan idolatry, God commanded the Israelites to “put away the foreign gods that are in your midst”

Joshua 24:23

Joshua 24:23 NKJV

“Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”

Joshua 23:7

Joshua 23:7 NKJV

and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,

Do you think God's view of idolatry has changed in the last 3000 years?

Even so, the anti-Christian forces in today’s society have set themselves up as gods by defining their own morality, yet If we proclaim the morality of the Bible, we are called intolerant and self-righteous.

However; the Bible is clear that we are not to be tolerant of false religions.

Furthermore; a Christian’s righteousness is not his own, but God’s. Therefore; we are not the self-righteous ones.

Those who define their own righteousness are self-righteous.

Work, pleasure, money, and self-indulgence have become the god of those who oppose Christianity, and Christ is far too radical and judgmental to have a place in their lives.

They have left us a godless nation… all while they enjoy the benefits of God’s blessings, yet they don’t want the obligation of obedience or service to Him.

Living without a care, they are oblivious to any coming judgment.

The blessings we now enjoy are now only residual, we are riding the coat-tails of a forgotten time in our history, but it hasn’t always been this way.

America was founded as a Christian nation, and we won our independence as a Christian nation.

Christ was not on the same level as all other gods, He reigned supreme.

All other religions were considered false imposters, and rightly so.

But now our attitude of inclusion (acceptance of all types of sinful lifestyles) and non-offending policies, have allowed us to become a breeding ground for the future residents of Hell.

However, these are not the values upon which our nation was founded.

The first settlers came to this land in search of freedom...freedom to worship their God.

This hard-won freedom was neither free nor easy, but they understood the importance of freedom.

Freedom today is often taken for granted, we indulge in the luxuries of life, while not a thought is given to the price that was paid for our freedom.

Lives were lost, and families were shattered, but there was no doubt that the cause was just.

Why do people inherently desire freedom?

We desire freedom because apart from life itself, it is the most precious gift we have from God.

God himself apparently places a high value on freedom, consider this:

God has given us the most precious of all freedoms, the freedom to either accept or reject Him.

Consider the consequences of this freedom. Because of this freedom, countless souls will spend an eternity in Hell.

This freedom carries the highest price of all, the ultimate cost or the greatest reward, Heaven or Hell.

Why would God impart this freedom with such a price tag on it? After all, it is His will that none should perish.

Without freedom of choice (free will) there would be no true love of God, no real devotion. We were created to love God and fellowship with Him.

If God values freedom so much that He offers it at such a high cost, then we should also esteem it.

We must protect freedom, regardless of the consequences.

After all, any Earthly consequences pale in comparison to the ultimate consequences of God’s freedom.

If Heavenly freedom is worth the price of Hell, how much less are the prices we pay for Earthly freedom?

With this desire for freedom in mind, the founders of this nation sought a place where they could freely worship the God of the Bible.

Consider some facts from this nation’s history.

The first charter of Virginia, dated October 10, 1606, indicated that one of the primary purposes of English colonization in the New World was the propagation “of Christian religion to such people, as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God.”

A crude church building was erected the first month after the settlers landed at Jamestown. It became the center of religious, social, and civic life of the first permanent English colony in America. We know what their priorities were.

In many early charters and land grants in America, a missionary purpose was expressly pointed out that became one of the primary objectives of colonization.

All throughout the New World, as soon as homes were erected, meeting houses were built as a place to worship God.

The majority of the original colonies required a person to be a professing Christian, in order to hold office or vote.

What a difference today. Christian influence in government is now considered taboo.

The phrase in the Declaration of Independence “endowed by their Creator. . .” actually eliminates the majority of religions in the world.

Our governmental system was once based on God’s word

In the constitution of South Carolina one of the requirements to be able to vote was: “Acknowledge the being of God, and to believe in a future state of rewards and punishments.” (Heaven or Hell)

Our entire governmental system was based on Scripture, and the need for laws was inspired by

Jeremiah 17:9

Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

The three branches of government were based on

Isaiah 33:22

Isaiah 33:22 NKJV

(For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us);

Our original and fundamental system of laws was based on the “Ten Commandments.”

The tax exempt status of churches was based on

Ezra 7:24

Ezra 7:24 NKJV

Also we inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tax, tribute, or custom on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God.

This nation was built on the solid rock of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and The Holy Scriptures.

Satan; however, has been blasting away at this foundation, and he has been using our education system to do it. It is interesting that, in the early days of this nation, education used to honor God.

Christianity was the mother of education in Colonial America.

A Massachusetts law of 1647 required public education for religious purposes. The law said that children should be taught to read because Satan tried “to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures.”

Our first colleges were church-related.

The inscription on the west gate at Harvard reads; “After God carried us safe to new England, and we had built our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship, and settled the civil government: One of the next things we longed for, and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present Ministers shall lie in the dust.”

The Supreme Court said in 1844, Vidal v. Girard’s Executors, “One does not have to treat all religions equally in the classroom, because other religions are infidelities. America is a Christian Country.”

Furthermore, the Supreme Court reasoned that since this is a Christian nation, we should not hesitate to teach the Bible to our students to encourage moral behavior:

"Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment, be read and taught as divine revelation in the school—It’s general precepts expounded, Its evidences explained and its glorious principles of morality inculcated?…Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New testament?"

According to the Supreme Court, attempting to separate the teaching of Christianity from the teaching of morality was not only impossible, it was unnecessary since this is a Christian nation.

In 1782 the United States Congress said, “The Congress of the United States approves and recommends to the people the Holy Bible for use in schools.”

This is no longer the case.

Christianity has been replaced with evolution, which is the new, state-sponsored religion.

The teaching of morality has been replaced with sex-education.

The Bible has been replaced with books like “Heather Has Two Mommies.”

Today, there are many among us who would have us to forget our nation’s Christian heritage. They have been rewriting the history books so as to remove God.

As a result, this nation has been on a downward spiral.

Millions of babies are killed each year, and they call it [abortion] healthcare instead of murder.

Violent crime is up, and scholastic achievement is down.

We are forced to pay to have a false religion taught to our children in the public schools.

A nation where it was once the norm to proclaim and serve Christ, has now embraced a new normal, one which shuns Christ and celebrates sin.

Sadly, that old nation is not coming back.

As Christians we must once again learn that our freedom depends not on our politics, but on our submission to Christ.

Christians must refuse to conform.

We must continue to serve the Lord, and proclaim the truth off the Gospel.

We must proclaim Jesus Christ, no matter how much our government/society demands that we don’t.

Regardless of what society sees as normal, we must never accept a normal that celebrates sin and seeks to shame Christians into silence.

Although people may persecute us because they do not like what we preach, we MUST stand in fear of God, not in fear of men.

We must, once again, stand in fear of God instead of man

Matthew 10:28

Matthew 10:28 NKJV

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

We Christians need to make the gospel heard.

We must preach the good news of the Gospel to the lost world around us, introducing people to the saving freedom that Christ offers.

We must lead the lost to a saving faith in Jesus Christ

Matthew 28:19-20

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Romans 10:9

Romans 10:9 NKJV

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Be grateful and celebrate the wonderful liberty that God has granted us. But pray:

Our main concern should be His Kingdom, and this should be our prayer

Matthew 6:10

Matthew 6:10 NKJV

Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

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