Happy Fourth of July. You know, we are living in a time when less and less are. Of our fellow citizens. Appreciating The incredible sacrifice that our founding fathers have given. in order that we may have the freedoms we have.
this 4th of July. Be intentional. about protecting the freedoms. That they, with God's help, have given us. Blessed Fourth of July.
Welcome to Leading the Way, the world-impacting Bible teaching and evangelism ministry of pastor and author Dr. Michael Youseth.
Well, as the nation celebrates Independence Day, the real price of freedom has been lost for many, masked, especially today by barbecues and the sounds of fireworks. But freedom always has a cost. For the United States, the cost was lives and livelihoods sacrificed in service for the nation. For Christians it is the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus for his Church.
So on this episode of Leading the Way Audio, a challenging, encouraging word from a recent Independence Day message taught by Dr. Youssef. It's a challenge to remember the price of freedom. Let's listen together as Dr. Youssef begins.
I think we all agree. That If a boat Yeah, I think it's a very good idea. out of the water. and some insane people are at the helm of that boat. I think we all agree.
that the boat will certainly drift. into the high seas of uncertainty or possibly destruction. This is a fact of science. But that does not only happen to a boat. But it can happen in an individual's life.
In a family life, In an institution's life, In a church And most certainly in a nation. And we're about to celebrate This great country And it's birth. A country that has done more good for more people in the world. in its short history than any in world history. And yet, as we celebrate its great birth, We have every indication.
And every indication is showing. that the anchor of the ship of state has been pulled out of the water.
Now, why do I say this? For well over 200 years, With all of the ups and the downs. With all of the failures and the successes, with all of our missteps and corrections. Through it all. Through it all.
We relied on the guiding hand of our Heavenly Father. For make no mistake about it. It was God. who has been the anchor and the rudder. of the founding fathers of this great country.
But now The God of the Founding Fathers is rejected from society. His word is mocked and ridiculed in the halls of government. His precepts are scorned in many a courthouse. and his moral laws are trampled down Under the feet. of our educational elite.
What is even worse than this? Is that so many of our current generation. Do not have a clue as to the historic anchor. that kept us steady. for all of these years.
So many of the current generation. have no sense of gratitude whatsoever. To the founding principles that brought us past and even some present blessings.
Now I speak as one of the millions of immigrants who came into this country. Who grew up? Under oppressive Socialist regime. Where we're terrified to express our thoughts. Lest our classmates or our neighbors be government informers.
Listen, I'm aware of the fact. That I can't help you experience what so many of us who came to this country have experienced before we came here. I can't Because you don't have a frame of reference. You can't relate. to our pre-American experiences.
You can say, I hear you. You can say, I understand. But not experientially. And thus so many of us who came to this country legally, I must add. We deeply value The founder's vision.
More than many of those who born in this country and take that freedom for granted. We deeply value the liberties And the vision of the founders, more than so many of those who take it for granted. by being born and grow up in this country.
So please Bear with me. Retelling you the truth about the founding fathers. and their vision. Please understand. I do not do this in arrogance, but in humility.
As God knows my heart. Listen, I'm not a politician, I am not a partisan, I am not even an ideologue. I am truth teller. And if they think the truth offends It is because they need to repent. And here's the truth.
Do you want to hear the truth? When the pilgrims landed here on Plymouth Rock, They believed. that they were founding a God-honoring new world. And when the fifty-six valiant Patriots signed the Declaration of Independence. They were signing a declaration of dependence on the Almighty God.
Listen to their own words. and for the support of this declaration. with firm reliance. Can you say firm reliance? upon the protection of divine providence.
This was Their anchor and the rudder. This was The deep Foundational stone. Try to get something like this through Congress now. And you'll be hounded. as unconstitutional.
And they continued. And for the support of this declaration with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence. We pledge to each other. Our lives Our fortune and our sacred honor. And boy, did they sacrifice.
I'm going to give you just a few examples. Judge Stockton. was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. and thrown into jail. And there he was abandoned and starved and almost died.
Certainly his health was ruined. In jail. And he died before the end of the war. When he was finally released, he came home to find His estate Looted. His possessions burnt.
And his horses were stolen. We owe a debt of gratitude. to the Judge Stocktons of this country. I can tell you about Carter. Brexton.
who was a planter and a trader. All of his ships were confiscated. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Court of Braxton. of this country. I wish I had time.
To tell you more. But suffice it to say That's 17 out of the 56. who signed the Declaration of Dependence on God. lost everything they owned. Mm-hmm.
At the Battle of Yorktown, The British General. Cornwallis Took over the house. of Thomas Nelson, Junior And he set up his headquarters there for himself. Thomas Nelson Jr. told George Washington to aim and shoot at his house.
Nielsen became financially bankrupt. We owe a debt of gratitude. to the Thomas Nelson Juniors of this country.
Now I can tell you about Arthur Middleton. or Eric Rutledge. Or I can tell you about Thomas Edward Jr. of Francis Lewis. I can tell you about Allah's John Hart.
and many of the great men and women whose sacrifice was the foundation of this great country. Which we take for granted now. I believe in the old adage. You don't know where you're going. if you forget where you came from.
And that's where we come from. These great men and women. who made this freedom that we have now possible. But they were followed by so many. Through the years, they were followed by so many in their noble endeavor.
The veterans Those who gave their lives on foreign battlefields to protect our freedom. Many who are willing to sacrifice their all for the liberty that we every single morning wake up and don't even think about them. Listen carefully, please. The vast majority of these men believed That their constitutional liberty stemmed from their understanding of biblical liberty in Christ. In fact, Take Christianity.
Output transcript. and you remove true freedom. Without Christianity, There can be no true liberty. And that is why America should value its unique liberty. like no other Western democracy.
I'm not talking about dictatorships and places that we come from, but I'm talking about Western democracy. There is no constitution in all of Western democracy in which the freedom of religion has been enshrined. Because the constitutional liberty was based on their understanding of the liberty in Christ Jesus. And that is why The American Constitution can never work. In any culture.
or any society. that is not committed to biblical truth. For many of the founders understood that the true liberty They're Christian liberty. Cost. The Son of God.
The sinless, pure, holy. Holy, who coexisted with the Father before all worlds. It cost him his precious blood on the cross. To many of the founders, their vision for the constitutional liberty stemmed from their understanding of their Christian faith. The vast majority of them understood God's plan of salvation, even if they didn't all experience it or practice it.
The vast majority of them understood that every human being is ever born in this world, born in sin and in slavery to sin. They understood what the psalmist said: that my mother conceived me in sin. They understood that being born in sin, sin will lead to a Christless eternity. And that is why Jesus came from heaven, not just to provide a way of escape from sin and the wages of sin, but that He become the way of escape. Most of them understood that God provided only one way for freedom from the slavery of sin.
Most of them understood that God provided only one way for liberty from sin and guilt and the grave. The vast majority of them understood that this spiritual liberty, their spiritual liberty, cost the sinless Son of God his precious blood on the cross. Most of them understood that there was heavy cost for their spiritual liberty, was paid by God himself, which motivated them to sacrifice for our constitutional liberty. Our God did not just sacrifice part of Himself, but all of Himself. Our God did not just redeem us from sin by sacrificing a portion of Himself, but all of Himself.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whomsoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. And when Jesus said this, He was giving us the very heart of the Christian faith that inspired many of our founders. to sacrifice for an earthly freedom. Inspire them. from the sacrifice for our turn of freedom by Jesus.
Listen to me. They believed that a free man and a free woman will be free to choose Christ. That's their understanding. Go and check on me. This is absolutely amazing to me.
It's amazing to me. And how This analogy. between these two freedoms. Why are they not equal in any sense of the word? I don't want anybody to criticize me.
I don't send me letters. They said, Are you making the freedom in Christ equal to the freedom? No, no, no, no. And that's what I'm saying. It's only an analogy.
They played an important role in the founding of this country. Let me explain this. Let me explain why it's the mess we're in today. When 60% of so-called churchgoers in America believe that Jesus is just the founder of another religion, like the founders of religions. When so many people in the church have now into apostasy.
What they're actually doing is this. Listen to me. They are devaluing the enormity of the cost of the cross. They are devaluing what it costs God to save us. And all my beloved friends, listen, when you devalue the truth about Our faith.
When you devalue the cross, you will devalue. The human sacrifices. that those founders gave us. for constitutional freedom. Listen to me.
I could never, never, never, never, never, never compare our eternal salvation with our constitutional earthly freedom. I could never compare the two. Never, no, never. But nonetheless, The commonality of thought that makes us grateful for one makes us grateful for the other. Like so many legal immigrants.
who came into this country. Before we came into this country, We experience horrors. And that's why we value it so much. We don't only respect the law of this country and all the laws. But we are grateful for our constitutional liberty.
But there's something else I need to tell you. Just like those who wanted to come and experience liberty and freedom have to live where they are In order to come to this country, if you want to experience eternal life, if you want to experience freedom in Christ, if you want to know what it is to be like for sins all to be forgiven, You have to leave the kingdom of Satan in which we are all born and have to get out of there and come to the kingdom of the Son of God. By leaving and coming and cleaving to Christ, you receive your true eternal liberty. Just as there are some who think that they can crash the border. And come here illegally.
And they think they can get away with it. There are some. In the churches, who think they can crash the gates of heaven. Without Jesus. They think they can be saved eternally.
without coming to God God's way. They think they can be saved eternally by coming to God their way. Whether they want to come to Christ through their good works, and whether they think they can come to Christ because they're good enough for God, or whether they think that they belong to the Catholic Church, or the Protestant Church, or this church, or that church, they all will be surprised and shocked on the day of reckoning. For God provided only one way for heaven. Only one way.
You can only come to God. on Christ's coattail. You will only Be accepted by God when you come to Him through His Son's sacrifice. On the cross of Calvary. You can only receive salvation and spiritual freedom and eternal life.
Through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. A church cannot save you. Good work cannot save you. Your family name cannot save you. Your civic connections cannot save you.
Only Christ's blood sacrifice can eternally save you. Having drawn this analogy. between earthly freedom and eternal freedom. I must hasten to say I keep emphasizing this. Because I know how people out in the social media are gonna do.
With this, I think. I know it. I know it. As much as I am filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to God. for giving me the privilege and the of living in this great country and experience constitutional freedom.
I cannot begin to compare. My earthly freedom. with my eternal freedom and life in heaven with Jesus. I cannot even begin to compare. My earthly freedom.
With my eternal salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ alone. One is a temporary at best, and the other one is forever. And ever. And ever and ever, I was talking to a group of people. I said, I never joke about hell because it's a real place, and real people are going to be there.
I weep every time I preach on hell. One gives us freedom. to choose the other. This life even if it lasts a hundred years. It will end.
It will end. But eternity. It's forever. Yeah. It's forever.
As wonderful as constitutional freedom, as freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, freedom of movement is. It pales in approximation. to our freedom from sin, Satan, guilt, And death. Earthly freedoms are wonderful as it is. cannot match up in the importance of eternity in heaven with Jesus.
Our freedom in Christ, our salvation through Christ alone. will not only Lost a lifetime. But forever. And ever. And ever.
And ever. And that is why I never preach about anything. Without giving people an opportunity to come to Christ, because you never know who's listening. I don't know where you stand. If you have never committed your life to Jesus Christ, today is the day.
Don't put it off. But there's something else I must tell you before I close. I mentioned it in passing a few minutes ago. I want it well on it for a few minutes. to experience earthly freedom.
the country of origin. with all of its socialistic dictatorship. with all of authoritarian and fear and terror. and come to this great land. in a far greater way to experience salvation from hell.
and eternal damnation. You have to move from the kingdom of Satan, in which we are all born, and come to the kingdom of Jesus Christ and live under his authority. In both cases, Even though they cannot be compared, I'll keep repeating this, even though they cannot be compared. It's important. to understand.
that you have to do something. You can't sit in your blessed assurances that I'm good enough for God, I'll make it to heaven. You have to come to Christ. You have to repent of your sins. And you have to receive Him as your only Savior and Lord.
You have to renounce your sinful native land. The life before Christ. You have to say goodbye. To the lower nature. Of the life of sin, and receive divine nature that only Christ can give you.
In fact, There is no other way to heaven. There is no other way to heaven. You cannot jump the fence. You cannot crash heaven's border. We don't have a flimsy border in heaven like this one here.
You cannot assume on God's goodness. God is good and I can get emotional talking about His goodness to me and to every one of the believers. But you come to Him His way, when you obey Him, when you surrender to Him. And therefore you have to repent. and invite Jesus to come into your life.
And be your Saviour. And Lord. And that is the only way. to be assured of heaven. Here and now.
Our loving father. As much as we are grateful. for this great country, and I am so grateful well, the most grateful dude in the in the room. for the privilege of living in this great nation. and experiencing liberty to preach Christ.
Lord, you know I did not come here. The chase Financial success or a dream. I came here to preach the gospel freely. I pray That someone Somewhere Somehow Today will come and cross over and receive Christ as the only Saviour and Lord. And Father, I pray.
That everyone at the sound of my voice, if they've never committed their life to you, not one person. Will allow this message to serve as a witness against them. for rejecting you. Father, I pray that this will be the stepping stone. for the freedom and liberty in Christ.
For Father, I pray this. Only In the matchless name of Jesus, The name that soon To whom every knee shall bow. And every tongue will confess. To the glory. of God the Father.
And all of God's people said, Amen. God's goodness that requires a response from you. and me. And if today's words from Dr. Michael Youssef have prompted a response or faith questions, won't you consider speaking with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor?
Connect with us at ltw dot org slash Jesus. That's ltw.org slash Jesus. Hello, my friends. You know, I want to thank each one of you. Nearly half a million people have signed up to pray for a Wake America campaign.
I am grateful to announce the next step We are launching citywide Awake America gathering across the country. Together. We will call believers back. To the truth of God's word, back to prayer, back to the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. To make disciples in our homes, our churches, and our communities.
Thank you, and God bless you. Keep on praying. Learn more about AWAKE America and ways for you to participate when you click over to awakeamerica.com. That's awakeamerica.com.
Well, we're just about out of time for today, but do make plans to join Dr. Michael Youssef for the next Leading the Way audio, when he passionately proclaims uncompromising truth with another powerful life-changing message on Leading the Way. Um This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yousaf. Mm-hmm.
