The Power of Freedom

Pray for Alex Tasca and his upcoming heart surgery!

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

These are the words from our nation’s founding fathers, as written in the Declaration of Independence, nearly 250 years ago. In this declaration that these brave men wrote, they began to lay out some 27 charges against the king of Britain and of how the rights and the freedoms of these United States was being fractured and compromised by tyranny.

Basically, the opening words of the Declaration of Independence that I just read to say, state that whenever the government, (which is instituted by us, the citizens of the United States of America and not the other way around), whenever that government becomes destructive and damaging to the rights and the freedoms of the people of this great nation, it is the both the right as well as the DUTY of the people of America, to throw off such government and to provide new guards, new people who will provide for their future security and freedoms!

In other words, our founding fathers knew and understood the value of what being FREE truly meant and thus they wanted to empower the citizens of this great nation which they were willing to lay down their own lives for, with the ability and the authority to prevent future governmental bodies from becoming another “tyrannical” reign and rule over the people.

Our founding fathers wanted to bless us with the true POWER OF FREEDOM!

A person who knows and believes that they are FREE and that has tasted of the sweetness of that FREEDOM, becomes a danger to any opposing force that would ever try and to come and enslave them again!

John F Kennedy stated, “The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.”

The men who formed our great nation and gave of themselves to secure our rights and our freedoms, were adamant about the power of that freedom. Listen to a few statements from these men and of how they viewed it:

Patrick Henry famously quoted, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

John Adams said, “Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.”

Adams also said, “You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve YOUR freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it.”

And finally, “Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to liberty, and few nations, if any, have found it.”

As a country, as a nation, our forefathers understood the value and the precious gift of national FREEDOM and they were willing to lay down EVERYTHING, including their own lives and financial security, to buy and secure that FREEDOM for this great nation, that we call America!

Freedom has always come at a cost and history has time and time again demonstrated this.

It is each generation’s right and responsibility to teach and to promote the national gift of FREEDOM to the generation that comes up under them.

And as soon as we begin to disregard and take for granted the FREEDOM with which we have been given and we stop teaching its value and relevance to the next generation, then we are risk of losing it and thus losing its power!

Former President, Ronald Reagan said it this way, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”

You see, when you have truly tasted FREEDOM and the blessings that come with it, you never want to walk without it again!

And it is this nation’s FREEDOM and the liberty of its citizens, which empowered it and made it the greatest nation in the world and a force to be reckoned with.

Our national FREEDOM became a light to the world, which beckoned and called for those who desired a life of FREEDOM and the pursuit of happiness for them and their families!

And every enemy of FREEDOM and every force that has ever placed themselves in opposition to the power of that FREEDOM, has never been able to unseat America as the pinnacle of humanity, citizenship and the opportunity for a better life!

I submit to you this morning, that though she is fractured and has some cracks in her structure, our great nation is still sound and standing. That even in the midst of national chaos with this pestilence called the COVID-19 virus and the fear of uncertainty that it brings, alongside of the racial issues that keep showing up (both of which are being driven and utilized by the national media as a weapon against its own people to propagate fear and uncertainty), even in the midst of all of this, we survive and stand together today as one people, one voice, united as one nation, under God, indivisible with LIBERTY and justice for all!

There is absolute POWER IN FREEDOM.................AMEN!

This is of course our nation’s Independence Day celebration weekend and thus the impetus for my opening statements about FREEDOM and the power that comes with it. And it is very much fitting to speak about FREEDOM on this day, because it is and should be fresh upon the hearts and minds of every person who is old enough to understand it today.

And as much as we can easily see and understand about the value and importance of our national FREEDOM and the great gift that it is, I want to stress to everyone here this morning, of the even greater and infinitely more important gift of FREEDOM that exists within the citizenship of the Kingdom of Almighty God!

You see, the founding father’s of this great nation empowered it with the gift of FREEDOM for its people and then secured that gift with a bulwark of constitutional rights and decrees that would preserve and protect it throughout the ages.

And as a citizens of this nation, we walk in the power of that FREEDOM and umbrella of protection that it provides for us.

Well, as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we too walk in the power and the authority of FREEDOM.

And the gift of FREEDOM with which we have been given, is also preserved and protected. However, our FREEDOM and the power that comes with it, is NOT secured and protected by anything man-made, or even anything of this world.

Our FREEDOM and the power that it affords, comes from the Holy Spirit of almighty God!

And like the Declaration of Independence, which was signed in ink and attested by the witness of the two or more faithful men, our INDEPENDENCE was signed for in blood and attested to by the witness of three that are the only FAITHFUL and SURE: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

That three, makes a majority every time!

Do you understand the POWER of FREEDOM that you have been given as citizen of Heaven? And let me stress also, that your FREEDOM does not come to as just a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, but even more so, your FREEDOM and the power that it affords comes to you, because you and I are children of the King; we are not just citizens, but we are heirs to the Kingdom through our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ!

Jesus, out of His own mouth, stated that He came to this earth to do the will of His Father and thus He came as a SERVANT for us all. As a servant He taught and healed and delivered people from the stronghold of the god of this world, the devil.

And when the time came, He laid down His life as a final act of love and servitude and paid the ransom price for us with His precious and spotless blood!

BUT, the servant Christ, rose in victory from the borrowed tomb as the eternal King of Kings and took His rightful place beside the Father as the Son of God.

It isn’t the servant/slave, who set us free, but rather it is the victorious Son of God, who sets us free!

Just as Jesus, Himself, stated in John 8, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

And as amazing and awesome as these eternal words are for us to hear, do you truly understand what the FREEDOM is that we have been given and what it means to us?

It’s not at all like the national FREEDOM that we have been given as citizens of America. Our national freedom that we have in this country, enables us to pretty much live our lives how ever we want and in whatever way seems right in our natural mind!

That is not at all like the FREEDOM that we have been given as Christians!

As a child of God, you and I have the free will to do as we please, but this is not the FREEDOM of which I am speaking of.

The FREEDOM of the believer in Jesus the Christ, is given to us so that we can become like Him and to do what He did..............to SERVE OTHERS!

It’s the complete opposite of the way that we think in the natural. Our natural FREEDOM is given so that we can live our lives completely for ourselves and in doing whatever seems right and pleasing in the flesh.

Even if that lifestyle is immoral and sinful according to a Holy God!

Our spiritual FREEDOM empowers us to break free from sin and its bondage and then turn right back around and become servants to God first and then to those around us!

And there lies the battle and the need for FREEDOM!

How many of you understand that your flesh (your carnal nature) and your spirit within you, are at war every day of your life. And the casualty of that war is your eternal soul! Godly FREEDOM empowers you to break free from your flesh and its desires and to begin serving Him.

This is the conflict that Paul speaks about in Romans 7. (ELABORATE)

And as Paul discloses the agony of living in the flesh and its demands upon him, we comes to the end of chapter 7 and asks the question, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

And then, like in some heroic action story, the hero rides in! Paul answers his own question by giving thanks to God for Jesus, his savior!

And then listen to how Paul opens up chapter 8 in Romans, after he had been lamenting over the issue of the flesh and the sin that goes with it and the shame and condemnation that it brings upon us in chapter 7. Chapter 8 opens with Paul stating to each one of us, “There is therefore now (everybody say, “NOW”), no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (If you are free from sin and death this morning, then say it, “I AM FREE!”)

And then the rest of chapter 8 is Paul talking about living in the Spirit vs the flesh and of the benefits and power that Holy Spirit gives to us!

It is Holy Spirit living in and working in our lives, which empowers us to live in the FREEDOM of God; FREE from sin and death and alive to serve as His children.

Which is what Paul emphasizes to us in verses 14-17, where he says, “ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

Too many Christians take their FREEDOM for granted and live their lives according to their own plan and will. This ultimately leads back to sin and its bondage. You and I were made FREE to serve the Lord and do His perfect will for our lives, but that spiritual freedom is never a license to do what we want to with our lives! Galatians 5:1 in TPT tells us,

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.

Jesus gives the believer the POWER of His FREEDOM, so that we can walk as God’s children and serve Him, rather than staying as slaves to a body of sin that is corrupt and bound for hell!

WE ARE SET FREE FROM SIN AND ITS PAINFUL BONDAGE AND IN RETURN, WE GET THE HONOR OF SERVING THE LORD AND SPENDING AN ETERNITY AS HIS CHILDREN AND IN HIS KINGDOM!

Paul said, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another; walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

According to Ephesians 2:10,

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

That is the purpose for our FREEDOM in Christ Jesus; to do the works of God, according to the will of God for our lives. That is why we are created anew in Christ Jesus, for His will and glory and not that of ourselves!

I have used this example before, but it is very appropriate for this message.

Take a guitar string and mention how it is free. (Show how you can twist it responds and is free to move about.) Yet, if you fasten it down and twist it and make it taught, to a precise level, then it becomes FREE to be what it was intended for; MAKING MUSIC!

Real freedom is not freedom “from”, but rather, freedom “FOR”!

This is what Holy Spirit does in our lives and it’s also why we must have Him active and controlling in our lives, because He empowers us to live in the FREEDOM that God has called us into!

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

There is nothing more sad than to see a brother or sister in Christ, who once walked in the authority and power of the FREEDOM of CHRIST, and who now have been enslaved again to the power of sin!

Use the example of circus elephants being enslaved with ropes and then also read example of the eagle.

In Jesus Christ, you have been given the POWER of FREEDOM!

You are now free from guilt and shame, you are free from God’s wrath against sin, you are free from death and destruction, you are free from the bondage of sin and also free from the curse of the law and it demands!

You are free to love others as Jesus loves you, you are free to walk in the fullness of the kingdom of God and operate in the full power of Holy Spirit!

Is Holy Spirit inside of you this morning? Is He active and speaking to you and are you able to hear His voice? If He is there, then you are free indeed, as Jesus said that you would be.

II Corinthians 3:17,

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF OUR FREEDOM, I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO BOW OUR HEADS AND PRAY FOR OUR NATION, FOR OUR PRESIDENT and FOR ISRAEL!