Equality, Life, Liberty and Pursuit of God

Over and over again, the Bible speaks of the Freedom available to those who are in relationship with Jesus …

Romans 8:1b–2 (NASB95) … for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 … the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Galatians 5:1 (NASB95) It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1 (TPT) Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.

Galatians 5:13 (NASB95) For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

But relationship with Jesus is more than freedom alone.

It is equality with other believers

It is eternal life.

It is a pursuit not of temporal, conditional happiness, but abiding joy. Joy that persists in the face of trials.

All of these things paid for by the suffering and bleeding of Jesus

at the hands of Jewish leaders

at the hands of Roman soldiers

at the hands of those who had, no doubt stood and gasped in awe at the miracles they saw Him do

now they cry out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

But not only did Jesus suffer and bleed, but He died a cruel death.

So that we could have Equality, Life, Liberty and the Freedom to pursue what really counts.

In a few minutes we will remember the Lord’s death by partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

I know that July 4th and the 250th birthday of our nation is behind us.

But may we never forget that God was in the founding of this nation.

Even to the words of our founding document, the Declaration of Independence.

May we not only remember, but may may we always humbly, give thanks to God for His supernatural involvement.

May we also remember the sacrifice of patriots.

Who shed their blood.

Some losing hands, arms, feet, legs, eyes and more.

Some sacrificing their lives…

To defend this country and its freedoms.

Whether acknowledged or not we must remember that…

A DOCUMENT, not a battle, not a coup, not even an uprising marks our birth

But instead, IDEAS

IDEAS expressed in our founding document.

Ideas clearly founded on the Word of God.

In the lines that contemporary Americans know best, part of the Preamble to The Declaration of Independence says …

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.” 

Unalienable rights

First of all the writers of the Dec of Ind …

Spoke of the entitlement of Nature's God 

They believed that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights

They appealed to the Supreme Judge 

They declared a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence

All of these speak of a belief in and reliance on Almighty God.

The writers and editors of the Dec of Ind believed that God is the One who gave unalienable rights.

something that cannot be taken away, denied, or transferred to someone else.

Jesus died on the cross to secure those rights for us.

Created Equal

The writers and editors of the Dec of Ind believed and patriots died believing we are created equal.

Thomas Jefferson, the primary writer of the Dec of Ind was an enigma, a hypocrite or both.

About a quarter of the first draft of the Dec of Ind was removed, edited out, by the Continental Congress.

Some of that removed material included a notable paragraph, attacking King George III for allowing the Transatlantic Slave Trade to continue.

During the Continental Congress's revision process to Jefferson's draft, they removed the bulk of the paragraph and reduced it to a veiled reference against slavery, complaining that King George incited "domestic insurrections among us."

Here is the draft of the original paragraph that Jefferson wrote and the emphasis are original (some will be hard to understand):

He [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him,

captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.

this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain.

[Who] determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce:

and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them;

thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.

Yes, we were shamefully slow to eliminate slavery in this country — no matter the source, no matter the commercial rationale.

But we know the truth of the Word of God concerning equality of persons…

Romans 12:5 (TPT) And so it is in the body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others.

Romans 12:5 (2015 AMP) so we, who are many [nationalities, cultural backgrounds, skin colors, etc.] , are [nevertheless just] one body in Christ, and individually [we are] parts one of another [mutually dependent on each other].

After all, in Revelation 7:9–10 (NASB95)[John the Revelator says...] After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Galatians 3:27–28 (NASB95) For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:9–11 (NASB95) Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Patriots died to give us a nation that believes and to a degree PRACTICES equality (as much as any other nation).

Jesus died to give us equality of persons in His Body — the church.

Life

Jesus died to give us life…

John 3:16 (NASB95) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Jesus said in John 6:47 (NASB95) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

John 11:25–26 (NASB95) Jesus said to [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 6:58 (NASB95) [Jesus explains that He ]“… is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

So we see that the Bread of the Lord’s Supper …

With its stripes and piercings

Speaks of …

Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation

Of supernatural healing available through those stripes

Of eternal life

1 John 5:12–13 (NASB95) He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Liberty

So, Jesus died to give us equality, life and Liberty…

John 8:31–32 (NASB95) [tells us that] So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 (NASB95) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Pursuit of God

When we partake of the Lord’s Supper today, we remember that Jesus died to purchase equality, life, and liberty for those who will repent of their sins, deny themselves and follow after Him.

But Jesus also died so that we would pursue the right things.

Jefferson and others talked about the Pursuit of Happiness.

I certainly pray we pursue other and better things

Things like righteousness, mercy, purity and the peace and reconciliation of others to God...

Matthew 5:6–9 (NASB95)“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for [who pursue, run after] righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Like the Kingdom of God…

Matthew 6:33 (ESV) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Like peace with others and holiness…

Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV) Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

Seek the best for others…

Philippians 2:3–5 (NLT) Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

We should pursue the joy…

The Apostle Peter described in 1 Peter 1:8 (NASB95) … joy inexpressible and full of glory,

That Jesus gives… John 15:11 (NASB95) “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

That Jesus talked about in John 16:20–22 (NASB95) “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. 21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

Above all, we need to choose to pursue God.

Deuteronomy 4:29 (NASB95) “But from [the place of being scattered among the nations] there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Psalm 34:10 (NASB95) The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NASB95) ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Psalm 27:8 (NASB95) When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.”

The Lord’s Supper

Could someone call the children who wish to partake of the Lord’s Supper?

In this month of celebrating not only 250 years as a nation, but also, this past week, we celebrated 30 years as a church located in the Blairsville community.

Let us come to the Lord’s Table and remember the price that paid for both.

The suffering, bleeding, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

But, let us not come casually or flippantly — just to go through some religious ritual.

1 Corinthians 11:26–32 (MSG) What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master [of Jesus]. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt. 27 Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of “remembrance” you want to be part of? 28 Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe. 29 If you give no thought (or worse, don’t care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you’re running the risk of serious consequences. 30 That’s why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. 31 If we get this straight now, we won’t have to be straightened out later on. 32 Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.

Let us examine ourselves in prayer…

1 Corinthians 11:28 (NASB95) But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Faith says that through prayers of repentance and confession I can be made worthy to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

That as says 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

PRAYER

Distribute Elements

Let us come to this table in audacious faith

As we break off a piece of the bread, think about how you are part of a whole…

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 (NASB95) Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

As the worship team comes and receives the elements…

Could we all stand?

You don’t have to be a member to partake.

Receive the symbols of the Lord’s Supper and hold them until we all partake at the same time.

Could we stand together across the front of the sanctuary?

Song: O The Blood

Bread

Audacious faith says that the stripes laid of the Body of Jesus — portrayed through this bread we use for the Lord’s Supper this morning — audacious faith says those stripes paid for the miraculous healing of our bodies.

1 Peter 2:24b (NASB95) … for by His wounds you were healed.

Therefore we partake of this bread …

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 (NLT) For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Prayer over Bread (______Angela ___________)

End prayer with prayer from Seder:

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Cup

Audacious faith says that the shed Blood of Jesus is sufficient for our salvation.

WE BELIEVE Hebrews 9:11–14 (NLT) …  Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. 13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

1 Corinthians 11:25 (NLT) In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”

Prayer over cup (________ Cecelia _________

End prayer with prayer from Seder:

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

He’s Coming Again

Audacious faith says that Jesus is coming again.

1 Corinthians 11:26 (NLT) For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

James 5:7–8 (NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. 8 You, too, must be patient. Take courage, [have audacious faith that believes that] …  the coming of the Lord is near.

Chorus: What A Day That Will Be