Freedom II, The Cost of Freedom

Weekend and You know all of life there's nothing we value more than freedom, isn't that true? Your freedom to make choices freedom to come and go freedom to have friends freedom to fall in love Freedom to worship freedom to work Freedom to rest freedom to laugh Freedom to give freedom to be in this Memorial Day weekend We're looking at the cost of freedom the individual freedoms that each of us Exercise and the freedom that we as a nation have been blessed to know for over 250 years and the realization that that freedom came and continues to come At an incredible personal cost. I don't know about you but one of the things that I have appreciated this weekend as I Even doing my workout is watching just bits and pieces clips and the different news channels, they've been doing a lot of biographies of men and women who have Suffered through the current war that our nation's involved in and I don't know I just refuse to let that just be something that's happening over there. I hope that that's your conviction as well You'd be surprised how many people if we sit up right now have Family members or very close friends that are currently serving in active duty. It's it's something that's affecting and should be affecting all of us, but is directly affecting many of us and as we come to Memorial Day, you know, I I Want us to recognize that this is something that that isn't just a passing sort of yeah token thing We've got to take time. This is something that's at the core of What it takes to be free Freedom always comes at the cost of shedding blood Now, I'm not that much of a historian. I didn't do very well in history in college, but I think it's just because I You know, I I don't know just was more inclined toward the the sciences But but the thing that I discovered was History teaches us so much about what people value and did you know that the Memorial Day was really kind of officially Established around the Civil War. I didn't know that run the Civil War and That's when So many Americans died because we were killing each other and there was an amazing battle At a place called Gettysburg. How many have heard of that? Gettysburg the battle of Gettysburg one of the most violent battles of the Civil War and During that exchange Courageous men stepped up and women. I don't know that women were involved directly in conflict then but men stepped up and and did things and stood for for values that we today still hold and cherish and just before we leave that part of Today's celebration. I want us to to just think about that and we found this clip of it's the story It's just one little part of the story of the the Battle of Gettysburg the battle for a little round top one of the one of the hills in Gettysburg a man by the name of Joshua Chamberlain who was a Valiant warrior. I mean he was an officer who was wounded six times once almost fatally And he led his troops in this battle Where he held the flank against the oncoming rebel forces and let's watch this clip and and just be reminded about The cost of freedom and what it took for you and me to have the freedom to choose today to be here to worship as God leads us. Let's watch You All of us volunteered to fight for the Union just as you some came mainly because we were bored at home Thought this looked like it might be fun Some came because we were ashamed and not Many of us came Because it was the right thing to do We can't run away if we stay here we can't shoot so let's fix bayonets Let me bend to moving down the hill They got to be tired the revs they got to be close to the end if we also fix bayonets Ellis wait Ellis you take The left wing. I'll take the right. I want a right wheel forward to the whole regiment when you mean charge Yes, but here's what we do. We're going to charge swinging down the hill It's like we pull back this left side of the regiment. Now. We're going to swing it down. We swing like a dog We're gonna sweep them down the hill just as they come up Understand everybody understand Ellis you take the left wing and when I give the command I want the whole regiment to go forward swing down to the road All right, sir Move I Know Your orders to go up to the top of the big hill my new yorkers will take over your prison, yes You know we watch from our position above May I shake your hand sir? Got a colonel one thing the Name of this place is Hill has it got a name. It's him. This is a little round That's the name of the hill you defended big one you're going up to That's big round I guess I'll remember that We are here for something new this has not happened much in the history of the world We are an army out to set other men free America should be free ground All of it not divided by a line between slave states and free all the way From here to the Pacific Ocean No man has to bow No man born to royalty here we judge you by what you do not by who your father was Here you can be something here is the place to build a home But it's not the land There's always more land It's the idea that we all have value You and me What we're fighting for In the end Fighting for each other It's a powerful thought isn't it and Then the military honestly, that's what you're taught it's not about grand missions as much as it is each other and I want to just do one thing before we move on if you happen to be here tonight as a veteran We want to honor and thank you for your service. So many veterans here tonight Would you please stand and let's thank those who served our country? I Bless you Thank you, let's continue to pray daily for those who Even as we gather here to worship today Of putting their lives in the line that we might be able to continue to do so for the coming years now the truth is that when it comes to this matter of The longing to be free Nowhere is it more true than in our spiritual lives. I mean we were designed to be open and intimate with God our Creator and and we were designed as JR said so From the from the Garden of Eden to be in fellowship With God and with each other that that Adam and Eve it says in Genesis 2 25 were naked and Unashamed that they were given the freedom to be one And that freedom Was stolen by sin in our lives and We're going to continue to look at that power and how it continues to to pursue us Try to steal from us this this freedom that God gave to us on the top of your outline and make sure you take your Island out of your notes and look with me Because this is what we are asserting in this entire series week after week. I hope you don't miss a single week It is for freedom that Christ has set us free so stand firm The implication is if you don't take a stand you'll lose your freedom Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again By a yoke of slavery Don't go backwards into slavery. We're gonna look and see exactly what that means in a moment. JR said last week We've been offered freedom in Christ. The Galatians have been offered freedom in Christ and when you reject that offer of freedom you turn away from it and you fall back into pride or shame and You lose the gift that God intended for you To enjoy the freedom of a relationship a living relationship with the Living God now a little background here Galatians was written to a group of cities Galatia is an area. It's not a specific town. There's little towns Lystra's in there Antioch's in there a Bunch of small towns. I think it's the it's it's the southern part of modern-day. Turkey is what it is And so Paul's writing to that group of cities and churches and it's mostly Jewish believers that he's writing to Who had found? freedom from trying to keep the law in Order to be accepted by God The first thing I want us to see is this on your outline that the Galatian Church is in many ways Just like us not that most of us were Jewish because most of us weren't But the Galatian Church was much like us in that Most of us have tried most of our lives to be accepted by God. Is that not true? If we pulled this congregation I Would expect that most of us would say yes, I I desire to be accepted by God and the people in Galatia Had been told that Initially that the way to do it was by keeping the Jewish law and Paul imagine this this man that they heard was a Rabbi and a great teacher who had now become a convert to Christ He came to the to this this area of Galatia, and he began to preach a gospel An entirely different message now when I step back and I say we're not unlike him Imagine if somebody came and began to tell you something entirely different Then you heard your whole life and imagine by the way, this is exactly what our missionaries do They go into places where people were told their whole lives Believe this and now a missionary comes and says well, I know what you've been taught But this is the truth. This is what Paul was facing their whole lives these Jewish Galatian People were taught obey the law Sacrifice animals Have your sins atoned for and You will one day be accepted by God and Paul came in and said There's a new way to salvation and that way is salvation that way to freedom is not by keeping the law But by trusting in Jesus, let's read together Galatians 2 16 and by the way, I put this and I Rarely do this, but I chose to to pull this out of the the living Bible We normally do the NIV but this says it's so powerfully and clearly I think that you'll you'll be able to really grasp all of it Yet we Jewish Christians know very well that we cannot become right with God by obeying Jewish law But only by faith in Jesus Christ to take away our sins And so we too have trusted Jesus Christ that we might be accepted by God because of faith Not because we've obeyed the Jewish laws now look at this next sentence for no one will ever be saved by obeying them Loved ones you have to understand that was just a bombshell That was like what? I mean, I spent my whole life believing if I obeyed these laws and gave you sacrifices I'd be part of God's family. And now you're saying that's not the case and Paul said that's right and People were discovering that that was indeed true that the Old Covenant had been fulfilled in the person of Jesus That they had found this way that they'd never heard of this way to freedom this way to be set free To know God in ways that they had never known him before Now what happened was this and this is where I begin to see the sort of the parallels The Galatians became confused let her be because there was a small sect of them Who began to whisper in the ears of these new believers wait? That's not exactly right this this guy Paul is the what this Jesus was a real person And we acknowledge that this Jesus was probably a great prophet Maybe a great teacher, but you have to believe in him, but you also have to keep the law they were called Judaizers and So their mission was okay, Paul's having such an impact. We can't deny it. He's a powerful preacher He's a powerful teacher, so all right. We won't try that we won't try to refute him We'll just say yeah believe Paul, but still keep the law Got me Believe in Jesus, but still keep the law Because you really need to keep the law Otherwise you won't be included at the final day of judgment. You're gonna be cut out That's what they were teaching now friends look up for just a second I Know and so do you personally? Scores maybe hundreds of people over the years that I've had conversations with that have had some sort of encounter with Jesus Christ They've heard a message. They heard a sermon like last week that just Opened their eyes to the reality of Jesus Maybe they heard you know someone like Billy Graham in person Or maybe they just turned on their televisions And they they heard this message that resonated that they could be free and they believed in Jesus But something in the back of their mind said yeah But you got us you still got to do this in church, and you still have to do this sort of Religious tradition or this ritual or otherwise at the end you won't get in you won't get in and very sadly There are many people that have not yet free Because they think it's Jesus plus something else that they need for freedom and look at Paul says the Paul's confused because when he when he left the Galatians and his in his Missionary tour they were believing They were just with wholeheartedly in Christ, and here's what one six says we're backing up a little bit This is what he says he says I'm amazed that you are turning away So soon from God who in his love and mercy invited you to share the eternal life. He gives through Christ You're already following a different way to heaven which really doesn't go to heaven at all But there's no way No other way that is than the one we showed you you're being fooled by those who twist and change the truth Concerning Christ and there in the bottom of your page write this down Jesus plus anything else Is going to lead you into fear or pride or you could add confusion loved ones when it comes to Salvation when it comes to knowing that you know that you belong to God that your destiny's secure that you're on the way to heaven That you're in the perfect plan of God for like all you need to know is Jesus That's a good place to say man That's all you need to know you don't have to have your doctrines all sit down You don't have to have your catechisms all straight You don't have to have the blessing of somebody somebody in the hierarchy of some kind of organization all you need to have is Jesus and unfortunately These people had fallen to the to the lie that they needed Jesus plus keeping the law Here in Pittsburgh people have fallen to the trap they need Jesus plus keeping the things that their old traditional church taught them or Somebody that maybe you know somebody said that well if if they just they got to live a certain way How many of you have believed well? Yeah, it's Jesus plus me living a good life Hello, I Hear that all the time Well if I don't live a good life Then you know I hear people say I expect to go to heaven because I believe in Jesus And I think that my my good things outweigh my bad things It's Jesus plus I believe in Jesus and I and and every once while I go on a mission trip Or I give my money to the church at least a little bit of it Or I serve in the nursery when I really am really desperate People somehow believe it's Jesus plus something and all that does There's two things it brings fear into your life or pride it brings fear because you think I can't possibly do enough So you're always wondering is this enough have I added enough have I done enough have I if I've been good enough You know have I guided church have I participated have I have I given or it adds pride because you think well look at me I believe in Jesus, but I've also Done this and I've accomplished that and I've given this and by the way I'm on this board or I've I've been asked to be part of this movement or someone else You know included me in this land and it just pumps us up And so basically what it is, you know, it's it's like it's sort of what I called my Aflac theology You know, it's a little extra that you add to Jesus in order to be sure that you have enough to make it through now It may be a little bit humorous to a few of you, but the reality is the majority of people that I meet Do not really fully understand That's in Christ and Christ alone That we find freedom loved ones. Um Now I'm compressing a whole lot into this that that I mean I would love to go way down the road of talking about the fullness of the grace of God that's available It's just simply this all that you need in order to know that you belong to God forever is to put your faith in the grace of God in Christ and trust him To be the one who paid the penalty for your sin And when you do that actively your life will change and your behaviors will change and your priorities will change and your life will not look The same but it's not because you've changed that God accepts you. It's because you believe That God accepts you You want you wonder why it's so hard? You want you want to know why people find it so hard just to accept why I just said this because it just seems too easy Our own human price is I've got to do something don't I to help me to validate that? I'm really worthwhile I've got to do something to to prove that that you know, God should include me. I mean, it's it's the American way to demonstrate that we know We're we're good enough We prove it by our actions we prove it by the way we do things we earn it in some special way I've had so many conversations with people. They're there Well, you know if if I'm really gonna be a Christian and I need to show it this way or do that And you know, it's not what it says It says simply you've got to put your trust in what Jesus did for you And let me tell you why you can't add anything to it. And this is the core of the message tonight It's really short turn your outline over. Here's why you can't really improve upon it. Let's look at the cost of freedom Not too long ago. I look back and I did a message on the cross under letter a the wondrous cross. I called it And I talked about the fact that in our culture. The cross has become an image. It's become a you know, a Symbol that we just takes so comfortably right now I don't don't put your hand up, but I bet there's a number of you who have a little cross maybe some ladies have a cross necklace I See a lot of cross tattoos these days I see there was some bikers that our car crews on Friday night with Cross crosses on their leathers There's so many crosses on churches. It's just a very common symbol and So therefore we somehow it just sort of loses its sense Of meaning it's just sort of like when I went to buy Carol a Mother's Day gift, but I Not sure why I did that actually I guess that was my kids responsibility, but you know got to cover your bases and Beyond that. I just wanted to celebrate What a great mom my wife has been to our kids the first thing that the person the jewelry store said was Well, how about a cross I mean you're a pastor when you're out like I said, well probably not Show me something else It's just such a common symbol. I want you to listen to the reality of this You see the cross Is so much more than the physical pain of it all The movie the passion of the Christ Is so fresh enough in most of our minds that I think that I needn't go back and depict the horror of that if you didn't see the movie I Would recommend that a point where you feel like you really would like to know what Jesus went through get the DVD and watch the movie, but Needless to say it was it was a The the most horrific way to die and the movie fairly graphically depicted that But I want you to know that that really wasn't why Jesus really suffered so When it came to the cross notice this Galatians 3 The man who finds life will find it through trusting God how different from this way of how different From this way of faith is the way of law which says that a man is saved by obeying every law of God without one slip But Christ has bought us out from under the doom of that impossible system By taking the curse for our wrongdoing upon himself For as it is written in Scripture and anyone who is hanged on a tree is cursed as Jesus was hung upon a wooden cross What was it about the cross that made Jesus cry out in his heart and listen to the heart of Jesus he went to the garden of Gethsemane and I I've had the privilege of seeing the place that they is to this day verified by archaeologists as the very Garden where Jesus was the olive trees that are there are said to be the ones that were there when he was there They're one of the few Organisms that have lived for a couple thousand years and here's what it says in Matthew Matthew 20. I'm sorry. Yes, 26 38. My soul is crushed with horror and Sadness to the point of death He said stay here to his disciples and stay awake with me and he went forward a little and he fell Face-down on the ground and prayed my father If it be possible Let this cup be taken away from me and the Bible says that Jesus prayed that exact prayer three times Father if it'd be possible At the end of the service today, we're going to take communion In our small group this week Someone asked what is it about the cup is the cup symbolic of something and the answer that is it absolutely is The cup the symbolic in Scripture throughout Scripture of the wrath of God towards sin and What Jesus was saying was not listen many many men and women have been martyred Many have suffered physically It was not the physical horror that Jesus was crying out for It was the anguish of what he saw in the wrath of God towards sin Loved ones what I'm concerned about in this church and in my own life For each of you is this That we fail to look into the cup We want to get past the cup and go right to the glory Jesus looked at the cup and he saw The wrath of God towards sin and you know what he saw He saw not it wasn't his sin. It was our sin It was all the sin of all of mankind and you start thinking back You don't have to go very far. I mean, I watch the news just today How many horrible things that I see in just the news today? how many heartbreaking things people shooting people People I mean we live in a world that's full of violence and hatred and evil When Jesus said father take this cup from me It was the cup of the wrath of God toward all that sin and evil that he that just permeates Who we are and he said father. I don't want to drink this because listen It wasn't just the wrath It says in 2nd Corinthians 5 The Jesus who knew no sin Became sin So that in him we might become the righteousness of God look at that verse That's one of the most profound verses in Scripture. Look at it Imagine the holy pure sinless son of God. He became sin And that's why he said the father God, please don't make me don't make me drink this cup Three times he cried out and you know, I can't do justice to the emotion of that of that exchange But he also knew that sin That he had never known was going now to become Part of who he was in fact the Living Bible says it this way, which is is is very very powerful Let me read it for you it says for God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins and Then in exchange he poured God's goodness into us. Oh, thank God You see we have the hope of something positive because we get God's righteousness He got our sin. Here was the other thing that he saw when looked in the cup. You know what he saw He saw that he would be alone He saw that the father would not be with him and imagine God from all of eternity One with the Spirit Father Son and Spirit the eternal triune God and In that moment Jesus realized I was he was about to be separated from his father That's why when he hung in the cross his last words were father. Why have you? forsaken me Why have you left me this way the cost of our freedom loved ones Was Jesus becoming sin and being abandoned by his heavenly Father Now I want to pause right now for just a moment and ask you an honest question Would you would you honestly answer this have you ever really thought about that? I know when I was a student Used to make fun of people who went to church and used to make fun of religion all that kind of stuff. I Never ever really understood What Jesus had done That I could be free and now as I stand as a mature man and realize where I am I have The amazing gift of being free to follow Christ I have the hope of eternity and spending All of eternity with God and all my loved ones in heaven I have the I have the best Friends and life and Blessing and promise of God that I live every single day when I look at The glory of the sunrise and the sunset I see God in it I live every day expecting God to do miracles. My life's radically changed because Jesus had the courage to drink the cup Nevertheless father not my will but thine be done and In a few moments, you're gonna hold the cup in your hand. I want you just to think about something. I want you to think about the cost of the freedom that you're able to celebrate because of what Jesus did and You see when you take the cup what you're saying is Lord in the same way that you gave your all I Give my all back to you That's really what communion is. It's a way of just affirming what Jesus did and saying I'm willing to do what you did now let me just sort of bring this in for a Closing here because I I would love to talk about the blessings. I mentioned here look at Galatians 3 14 Now God can bless the Gentiles too with this same blessing He promised Abraham and All of us as Christians can have the promised Holy Spirit and we could go on and talk about all the blessings I I've mentioned, you know eternal life and all that and all the different things that can come our way What an amazing gift it is to us But what should be our response to that freedom? Well, just three things just three things number one Every day spend a little bit of time. Maybe just a few moments, but maybe it'll be 10 or 15 minutes Reflecting on the cross friends you never get past the cross Oswald Chambers says you always go through the cross every day the cross for you That's your pathway to freedom number two when you focus on the cross you worship the Savior Who went there for you, you know as we were sitting or standing today and worshiping I was thinking to myself Unless you understand what Jesus did for you. Why would you worship? These are just pretty songs. They don't mean anything but when you realize what Jesus did these suddenly these songs mean so much because there are expressions of the heart of God toward us so that we can be free and I have found that worship for me is The it's just the opportunity for me to say to God in in song and in reflection and in words Lord, thank you for going to the cross and loving me so much that you would lay down your life and and And be willing to drink the cup on my behalf and then finally The third response to freedom is to point others to the cross. Do you know how many people just don't know? They just don't know what happened the cross for them is just a symbol It's just a piece of jewelry or a tattoo or it's something on top of a church steeple I was talking to a gentleman recently and we were talking about just you know life and listening and and he said to me Well, so you're a preacher. So I know I kind of know what your answer is gonna be said but But why do you think church is so important? And I asked Michael I asked just a question. I said I said back to him. Well, sir. Tell me What is your solution? For the problem that you know you have is it well what problems that I said well Have you ever sinned once in your life, that's a great question to ask somebody if a person said no you got them, okay You say well right there. You've already admitted that You're lying Okay, because every honest person. Well, yeah, I've seen some I've you know, I've been selfish. I've been prideful Maybe I wasn't an axe murderer, but I've sinned and I said so so what's your solution? And that got us to talking and here's the thing I discovered no I have to cut this short I Discovered that no one had ever explained to him what Jesus had done on the cross for him that Jesus became sin and bore the penalty of God For our sin on his own body and I said to him at the end Our father's gonna look down. He's gonna say either we pay the price Or Jesus pays the price And I said, would you like Jesus to pay you? You know what? He was a businessman and I said to him. Would you like Jesus to pay your price? He said I would How do I do that? I said if you'll let me I'll lead you in a prayer. I Said and if you trust God To fulfill his promise. He will pay the price for you That man's a part of our church today might even be here tonight Most people just don't know it why because they go Someone along the way told him it was Jesus plus religion And so they just kept the religious part and they forgot the Jesus part. Look at the last verse will end with this As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything Except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Hallelujah, I Can't boast about a church. I can't boast about a building. I can't boast about Writing a book I can't boast about this or that but the one thing I can boast about is the cross Because there Jesus Paid the penalty for my sin and I'm free tonight because of what he did Because of that cross my interest and all the attractive things of the world Has died long ago that cross is our key To freedom. Are you free tonight? Are you free? Are you free as you go through this day? Will you say, you know, I'm free or will you say well Part of this are you free? That's the question that only you can answer Let's stand and pray together. I'd like to invite you to bow your heads with me Just before we take the elements in communion That question that I asked is the most important question that anyone could ever ask you Because if you're not free, then that means you're a slave you're a slave to trying to do it your own way You're a slave to trying to figure out your own sort of path to heaven your own unique sort of journey that Only you have figured out how foolish and arrogant that is Let me ask you tonight loved one, do you want to receive the wonderful gift of eternal life you can tonight you say well Jay, what do I have to do? And this is what? Seems so counterintuitive. All you need to do is say Lord. I Can't do this on my own. I can't forgive my own sin. I Can't make myself a better person. I just need you to forgive my sin and I accept Your sacrifice for my sin and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer if that's what you desire God will hear your prayer and he will come in and replace Your sinful nature with his sinless nature just as I read. Isn't that awesome? You can receive that gift right now. If that's what you desire pray this prayer with me Just say these words Lord Jesus same thing Lord Jesus That's the same to him Lord Jesus Thank you for becoming sin for me that I might Be free from sin in my life. I receive your gift of forgiveness and salvation And I receive the power to live free from sin I accept Jesus and Jesus alone in your name I pray Now all around the room if you prayed that prayer the Lord heard you.