The Price of Freedom

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham.

A little later in the program we'll tell you about this. By all reports people are not feeling very good about America these days. Whether you're watching the news media on television, listening on radio, reading news magazines, newspaper reports. We have a generation who have serious questions about the future of America. As a matter of fact there are some who are suggesting that for the first time the next generation of Americans may not be better off than the previous generation. Parents in America have long standing desire for their children to be better off.

To have better opportunities and privileges and freedoms that they even had enjoyed. But now we have the serious pessimism and the questions people are asking. Is it really getting better? Are we really better off than we were? And because of the decline of morality and because of the violence and because of the problems economically that we're facing. Many people are raising serious issues that seemingly have very few answers today.

What is the answer? If God be for us, who can be against us? Over the years in America what made America great was the future. In favor of almighty God. Our God gave birth to this nation. He established this nation and he blessed this great nation and will continue to bless this great nation if we trust in him. We exist today not because of our military might, not because of our Yankee ingenuity, not because of the power of economics, our financial power, but we exist today. This nation has been formed. This nation has been preserved because of the principle of freedom.

If God be for us, who can be against us? The good hand of God from the beginning has blessed this nation. Columbus came to this land seeking the favor of God, seeking to know and to do the will of God.

And that is why when he planted the flag of his nation on these shores he called this place San Salvador, God our Savior. And those pilgrims came on the Mayflower and subsequent those who followed. They came seeking religious freedom and the opportunity to express their faith and to live their faith in freedom. Establishing this great nation on Christian foundations and principles. Even our Constitution, the framers of our Constitution, the founders of our great nation, the Constitution itself presumes a religious order. I quote from one of the founders of the Constitution, commenting rather on one of the founders of the Constitution, the concept of a secular state was virtually non-existent in 1776 as well as in 1787 when the Constitution was written.

And no less so when the Bill of Rights was adopted. To read the Constitution as the charter for a secular state, that is a state that ignores God, a state that has no religious intent, I repeat, to read the Constitution as the charter for a secular state is to misread history and to misread it radically. The Constitution was designed to perpetuate a Christian order. The writer was simply stating what we as Christians believe and that is this nation was founded upon Christian principles, upon the principles of both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the ethics, the morality, the values, the beliefs that our founding fathers shared, they implanted, led by God into the original documents of this nation. The very first amendment tells us that there is to be no state religion but there is to be no restriction for the free right and the exercise of religion. Yes, there is to be separation of church and state and the Constitutional architects believed that there was to be no church-state, that there would be no church dominating the state, that the state would not sell out to any church. But never in their wildest imagination did our founding fathers conceive of a time in which boys and girls would be forbidden to pray in public schools and graduation exercises and football games. To read the Bible in our public schools and to somehow divorce God and government in their wildest dreams while they believe in the separation of church and state as do we. The separation of the church and state does not mean the separation of God and government. The political system, the American political system is built upon Christian ideals. It is built upon the principles of the Bible and rooted in the love of God and the love of mankind. If God be for us, who can be against us? Charles Malick, one time ambassador to the United Nations from Lebanon put it this way. The good in the United States would never have come into being without the blessing and the power of Jesus Christ.

I know how embarrassing this matter is to politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, and cynics. But whatever these honored men think, the irrefutable truth is that the soul of America is at the best and highest Christian. The soul of America. America has a soul.

And that soul made for God, made to know God, made to experience God, and we're in danger of losing that soul. America did not happen by chance. God guided the hands, the minds, the lives of our forefathers and our mothers. His sovereign hand shaped this nation. And our freedoms, like all freedoms, are from the hand of God, the one who said you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. And let me say, that no government can give freedom. Government can protect freedom. Government can preserve our freedoms. But only God, the author of all liberty, can give freedom. Freedom is a God-given principle. If God be for us, who can be against us?

Listen to another great American, Noah Webster. Noah Webster and all of them, one by one, who gave us this government in its original form. The statesmen were God-fearing men.

Many of them Christian men who had experienced the new birth in Jesus Christ. And regardless of what some revisionists are now doing to our history and trying to rewrite our spiritual heritage and history, the fact is that 50 of the 55 framers of the Constitution consider themselves to be born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 30 of those 55 constitutionalists were bold Christians, active in the service of Jesus Christ. One of those, James Madison, the architect of the Constitution, the fourth president of the United States, said this. We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government.

Far from it. We have staked the future upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves and sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God. Old Hickory, Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, said, Our republic rests upon the rock of Scripture. And when you give, we'll say thanks by sending you Dr. Graham's book, A Man of God. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131.

Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org, where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily e-mail devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, The Price of Freedom. If God be for us, who can be against us? Let me say that the opposite of that biblical charge is also true. If God be against us, who can be for us?

And the day America decides that we don't need God, that we don't need the principles of the Bible, the day that America decides that we no longer are to commit ourselves to following Christ, to following the Bible, the Word of God, that is the day that America begins to die if it hasn't happened already. If God be against us, who can be for us? So it's not a question though, or not, of whether God is on our side. God has proved that He is willing to be on our side. The question this morning is, who is on the Lord's side? If God be for us, who can be against us? This nation was founded upon certain principles that emanated from the Word of God.

I mentioned several of them this morning. One of those principles is the sanctity of human life, the sanctity of human life. This nation was built upon the value of one person, the integrity and the dignity of the human life and the human soul.

Taken from the Scripture which says, What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? The value of a soul, the value of a single individual, the value of a person, everyone so precious, so valuable to God, all men created equal by God and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. And not only the rights and the freedoms and the privileges of the born, but the unborn as well. There's the principle of the traditional monogamous family. This nation is a society of families. The values of the family. The values of the traditional home and family where a mother and a dad are committed to each other, who love one another, who love their children, who bring their children to know God, to serve God, to live for Christ, to love Christ. That's the home.

That's the biblical home. And this nation was based upon the principle of the home and the family. Another principle, a spiritual principle that gave birth and gave privilege to this nation is that of common decency. Some of us, and some of us who are not too old, remember a day when you could go to an athletic contest, a ball game, or walk down the street and not yourself be embarrassed or have your wife and your children embarrassed by the obscenities, the vulgarities, the dirt, the filth, the smut that is coming out of people's mouths, wherein we used to live in a time of common decency, what used to slink down the back alleys of our cities now struts down the main streets of America. Pornography is a four billion dollar business in so-called God blessed America.

We say God bless America and sometimes I wonder why should God bless America. Common decency. Many of you ladies in the workplace, your awareness of the issue of sexual harassment has been heightened because you're exposed to all kinds of obscenities and vulgarities and filth and jokes and come ons. And no longer can you live in work with common decency and purity and integrity.

No wonder our nation is in trouble. Another principle that built this nation was the work ethic. The Bible is clear about this, the dignity of work, the value of work. Any welfare system that strips an individual of the value of work strips that individual of dignity and fulfillment.

Work creates the possibility of enjoying, fulfilling work and ambition. I'm not talking about people who can't work. I'm talking about people who won't work. The Bible says if a man won't work, neither shall he eat. A nation is to be a good nation and a compassionate nation and we should use our government's funds and our tax monies to help those who really need help and to help those who are impoverished and to help those who are hurting.

But any welfare system that takes from those who work and gives to those who will not work is a flawed system. The work ethic is a biblical system. The free enterprise of America, that which has made America great is built upon the work ethic of the Bible. We know that one of our great problems economically in America is that America needs to get back to work doing quality work. We've lost the cutting edge.

America needs to get back to work. The work ethic. Something else that has built this great nation and that is God-centered education. Education, which includes God. Did you know that the original institutions of higher learning in this nation, those ivy league institutions like Brown, like Harvard, like Yale, like Dartmouth, all of those were originally built to train ministers to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ? And now look at so many of our even so-called Christian institutions. Not to even speak of our public institutions where prayer is abandoned and Bible reading is out.

Creation is out in the public schools, but condoms are in. And then there's the principle of divine institutions, divinely established institutions. And by that I mean the home, the state, and the church. The home, the state, and the church. God established the home. God gave the state and we are to respect and to honor the state, the government.

The Bible is abundantly clear on that. Give honor to whom honor is due. We're to pay our taxes. We're to pay for our government. We're to pray for our government. We're to protect our government. We're to praise our government.

There is nothing wrong with being red-blooded, patriotic Americans. And then God established the church. And as the church goes, so goes the nation. And you can trace the demise of the churches in America to the demise of the nation. But I don't think that there's much wrong in America that couldn't be settled in the churches of Jesus Christ if we had some ministers with enough gumption to preach the word of God and Christians with enough grace to live it. If we had men of God and women of God who would stand on their own two feet and stand for Christ as salt and light in this generation, revival could come. But it must become among God's people. The Bible says if my people, we say, oh if only the prenographers, oh if only the humanists, oh if only the godless atheists, oh if only, no, the Bible says if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then what I hear from heaven and heal their land. If God be for us, who can be against us? My principle of freedom is this. The reason that we have existed, the reason that we still exist and will continue to exist is that God has been for us. If God chooses against us because we choose against him, then America is among the graveyards of ancient civilizations. But I want to close this message by giving you the price of freedom.

The reason that God can say he is for us is because of verse 32. He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? There's a price to freedom. Freedom is never free. Freedom is never cheap. Men, women, boys and girls have shed their blood as the price of freedom. Whether soldiers on distant battlefields or statesmen or citizens right here within our nation, the price of freedom has been incredibly high. Blood bought freedom. But beyond our national freedom, there was a greater price paid and a greater freedom bought. It is the freedom of our souls, the liberty of our spirits bought for, paid in full by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And hath not God said, if I be for you, who can be against you? And if God would not spare his only son, don't you know he will freely give you all things in him? That's why we have all joy unspeakable and full of grace is because of the price that Jesus paid.

That's why we have the peace that passes understanding because of the price that he paid. That's why we know the love of God which you cannot measure its height, its depth, its width, its length because of what Christ has done. That's why we know God is our Father. Christ is our elder brother.

The Holy Spirit is our constant comforter and companion because in Jesus Christ, in his cross, in his death, in his deliverance up for us, he paid the price for our freedom, delivering us from the penalty of sin and death in the grave that we might live in liberty and victory in him. Who killed Jesus? Paul says God didn't spare his son, but God delivered him up. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.

What unspeakable, unfathomable love is this? That the Father would give his only son for us all. He who knew no sin became sin for us, one for all and all for one, the Lord Jesus. And the way that we're saved, the way that we are forgiven, the way that we are freed from our hang-ups, the way that we're freed from our sin, the way that we're freed from our addictions, the way that we're freed from death, the ultimate enemy, is because of Christ bearing the penalty and paying the price and pouring out what Peter called his precious love. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, The Price of Freedom. PowerPoint is coming up on the end of our financial year and we've got some exciting news to share with you today. Some friends have stepped forward with a $180,000 matching grant, which will double any gift you give this month to help PowerPoint finish this financial year strong. With more people than ever searching for what only Jesus can provide, your gift today is nothing short of vital to help ensure PowerPoint remains a beacon of hope in the year ahead.

And we'll say thanks for your gift today by sending you Dr. Graham's book, A Man of God, for you or someone you know. So call now to have your financial year end gift doubled and request your copy of A Man of God as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131.

Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily e-mail devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? I believe the very first thing we must do is to get on our knees. Get on our knees in prayer and begin thanking God, thanking Him for the wonderful, incredible blessings of our freedom. Yes, for freedom in our nation, but more importantly, the freedom that He has bought for us, paid for by the death of Jesus Christ. Christ has set us free from the power of sin and death. We are liberated for life by the power of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. He paid the price for our freedom at the cross, and we can live and enjoy and experience life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in Jesus Christ. Thank Him today and every day for paying that price for your freedom. And then as it relates to our country, we need to pray, desperately pray, and ask Him to keep His hand of blessing on our nation. You know, there's a direct correlation between the moral decline of this country and the effort to remove God from the public square, from public life in our country.

How can God bless us if we continually push Him out of our lives? So I want to encourage you, stay involved in your community. Let your voice be heard. Exercise your privilege of choosing who's going to lead this country. Vote. I pray that you have a vision for what this nation should be, a biblical vision, and that you're expressing those principles personally as well as publicly, and that you are voting your principles.

Too many of us are voting our prejudices and our politics rather than our principles. So vote as God would lead you. And if you find yourself feeling unsure about these things or maybe defeated, just pray that God would ignite a passion in you, a passion for protecting your family, for protecting the life of the unborn. Whatever you do in Jesus' name, do something for the glory of God. And finally, as I'm sure you've gathered from today's message, we need to take courage. We need to be strong. We need to be faithful.

God wants to change the course of this nation, and more than anything, He wants to bring more men and women to Himself. Lift up the cross. Share the good news of Jesus Christ. Share the gospel so that people can not only enjoy life in this nation, but life in the heavenly nation, to know Christ and to know Him forever and to be with Him forever. That's what people really need. Be a part of a church that is preaching God's Word and lifting up Christ and endeavoring to engage the culture and share the gospel. If you will do that, you can make a difference.

And I believe God will show our nation forgiveness and favor as we move forward in the 21st century. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's powerful book, A Man of God, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And next time, Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can put Christ's love into practice. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.