An Open Letter to Posterity

Introduction

Psalm 78:1–7 KJV 1900

1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, Shewing to the generation to come The praises of the Lord, and his strength, And his wonderful works that he hath done. 5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children: 6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; Who should arise and declare them to their children: 7 That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments:

Pray - Be Seated

Body

I have been lately more remiss than usual in writing to you. There has been a great dearth of news. Nothing from England, nothing from France, Spain, or any other part of Europe, nothing from the West Indies. Nothing from Howe, and his Banditti, nothing from General Washington.

There are various conjectures that Lord Howe is dead, sick, or gone to England, as the proclamations run in the name of Will Howe only, and nobody from New York can tell any thing of his Lordship.

I am wearied out, with expectations that the Massachusetts Troops would have arrived, e’er now, at headquarters — Do our people intend to leave the Continent in the lurch? Do they mean to submit? or what fatality attends them? With the noblest prize in view, that ever mortals contended for, and with the fairest prospect of obtaining it upon easy terms, the people of the Massachusetts Bay, are dead.

Does our state intend to send only half, or a third of their quota? Do they wish to see another, crippled, disastrous and disgraceful campaign for want of an army? I am more sick and more ashamed of my own countrymen, than ever I was before...

…Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.

Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, 26 April, 1777

Present

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Memorial’s Day.

Spending time with family and friends

Grilling out

Day of leisure and enjoyment

Why do we celebrate Memorial’s day?

To honor the sacrifices of those who have went on before us.

To honor the fact that they chose to lay down their lives so that we could enjoy the freedoms and the liberties we enjoy today.

To be thankful for the men and women who sacrificed everything so that we wouldn’t have to.

To be thankful for those who were willing to pay the ultimate price for you, and for me.

We celebrate Memorial’s day because our forefathers left to us, their posterity, a legacy. A gift of freedom and liberty, and the example that these things are never cheaply bought.

Past

John Adams, whose letter to his wife we just read, was a member of the generation that secured our liberty from the tyranny of King George III.

He was part of a group of very influential men that pledged everything, and gave much, to the cause of freedom in the American colonies.

He saw that liberty was worth it at any price.

Of those that signed the Declaration of Independence, some of them lost their families. Some lost their homes and earthly possessions. several of them lost their lives.

In looking forward in time, he addresses those who would inherit the freedoms and the liberty his generation so preciously purchased.

It was his hope that future generations would enjoy the liberties his generation had purchased.

It was his fear that because they would attain their freedoms cheaply, they would be lightly valued.

What possesses a man or a woman to decide to lay down their lives for someone else?

The answer, obviously, is love.

John 15:13 KJV 1900

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

We know and we declare that Jesus Christ came to earth and purchased our liberty at the cost of His own precious blood.

He did this so that we wouldn’t have to.

He did this because He knew we couldn’t.

He did this because of His great undying love for each of us.

Scripture Text

We see in our scripture text the command of God to declare the goodness of God, the praises of God, the mighty works of God to the next generation.

Why? “That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments:”

We want future generations to be better equipped, better able to overcome, more effective in God’s kingdom than we ever could have been!

Today we stand on the backs of giants!

Andrew Urshan

James Kilgore

G.A. Mangun

Many others!

God has given that responsibility to the present generation: To raise up the next generation.

To help them to see that spiritual freedom and liberty is worth it at any price.

To demonstrate to them that, no matter what happens to us, God is faithful. That our hope must always remain in Him, and that He is forever faithful.

Judges 2:10 KJV 1900

10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

If we fail to pass what we have received on to the next generation, the church cannot last.

Unlike John Adams, we know that every generation is guaranteed a fight. Every generation is promised a part in this spiritual war. The only questions is will they be ready to fight?

Conclusion

What is our letter to our posterity today? What are we going to tell them? What legacy are we going to leave to them?

Will our lives demonstrate what it means to be a son or daughter of Almighty God?

What will our choices tell future generations? Are we willing to lay everything on the line for our generation AND the next?

Will we show them how to live victoriously? Will we focus on the costs, or will we focus on what we’ve purchased?

2 Corinthians 4:17 KJV 1900

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Paul understood how to look at it. And so do we.

Let’s purpose in our hearts, from this moment onward, to leave a rich, godly heritage to future generations. This is our responsibility. This is our great privilege.