Stand Firm In Liberty and Freedom

The following program is sponsored by generous friends and partners of Real Life. Welcome to Real Life with Jack Hibbs.

For now, God has allowed you and I to live in this nation right now that grants us the freedom, at least for now, to proclaim the gospel. We're running out of time. We've got the greatest message in the world. And God help us and have mercy upon us if we sleep on it because we have something that the world longs for.

Patrick Henry's bold declaration, "Give me liberty or give me death," ignited courage in the face of tyranny, compelling ordinary men to take an extraordinary stand. Today, his words still challenge us to stand firm in liberty and freedom. >> We will NOT BE RULED BY TYRANNY. We are a free people. >> Stand firm in liberty and freedom.

All year long, don't just celebrate America's 250th birthday. Stand for what it was built on. Faith, freedom, truth. These are the values that shaped this nation from its very first days. And our faith and freedom collection was designed to help you carry them boldly wherever you go in a culture that is working overtime to silence those convictions. A simple shirt can start a powerful conversation. And right now, when you order from the Faith and Freedom collection, we'll also send you a free copy of the Happy Birthday America Kids Guide, a faith-centered resource that puts America's founding story in the hands of the next generation. Order soon and be ready to celebrate America's 250th birthday with conviction. Shop today at jackhibs.com or call 877-2346.

Heat. Heat. As America celebrates 250 years, I want to take a look back to a moment in American history in 1775 when our future hung in the balance. In a small Virginia church, Patrick Henry stood not to make a slogan for a t-shirt, but to awaken a nation to the truth that liberty is God-given, not government granted. He warned against comforting illusions called compromise. He declared, "Give me liberty or give me death." Today, a different kind of crisis is upon us. We must again ask that question. What is freedom worth to us under God? So, let's grab our Bibles and open our hearts and let's dive into today's message, standing firm in liberty and freedom.

Let's get into God's word because these are things that he has given us that we might enjoy in him. Tonight we exercise our rights and our liberty to gather together as a free people. We have become so accustomed to these freedoms that we rarely often think as to where they come from. And we celebrate America's birthday. It is a birthday that still to this very day causes those around the world who are in tyrannical settings to still want to come here to seek shelter. And as I mentioned a few weeks ago, the United States every year sees more immigrants applying for their citizenship to be in America than all other nations of the world combined every year. Because though this country is not perfect, it is still the best place to be free. And we NEED we need to remember that. But it was wisely said that these liberties sometimes have to be defended even at the expense of war. There are such things as as righteous wars and the peril that brought this nation into birth. I encourage all of you to study it and to read it. I commend you. Read the books by David McCullough titled 1776. Please make it your summer reading. It will change your life regarding the nation that you have that God gave you. Read the book Samuel Adams, a life by Ira Stole. It WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE to see what kind of a founding father, the very spirit of the revolution. Jefferson called Sam Adams as he was the only one they said that began the conversation of understanding liberty.

The Bible tells us in John 8:36, Jesus speaks to us and announces, "Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." That verse is not only, of course, joyfully preeminently about our salvation from sin and death, the grave, and hell. But if such a liberty takes hold of you, it will demand that it be the very thing that holds your life captive to that truth. Such liberty will cause you to be liberated and free in every area of your life. You will tell others. You will tell the world and you'll conduct yourself in freedom. And our founding fathers were shaped by the pulpit of colonial America from the 1620s all the way to 1775. It was the pulpit that gave the truth about liberty and freedom. The ultimate is having our sins forgiven in the Lord Jesus Christ. After that happens to you, such freedom has got to be shared. It's incumbent upon us to share it. It would be equal to us in the midst of a famine finding great amounts of food. Imagine, can you imagine finding a a a stack of crispy cream, in and out, fish tacos all together, and you're the only one that's enjoying it while you know that your countrymen are starving. Maybe after the second or third bite, it's no longer satisfying because you are partaking of something that every human soul needs. >> And we need to remember that.

So somebody might say, "Yeah, yeah, all of this for a country's birthday." NO, NO, NO. NOT ALL OF this for a country's birthday. I I'm sorry to tell you if maybe you already know this, but very few nations, if any, really celebrate their birthdays like we do. >> Amen. In all the world. So I want you to see what Thomas Jefferson had to say. God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God, that they are not to be violated but with his wrath. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Thomas Jefferson said that the man who universities proclaimed to be a deist or an atheist. Would to God more deist or atheist spoke like that. He speaks more clear than most Christians who should be thankful for their country. And I do believe in what he said. We should tremble at the mismanagement of freedom. Again, Thomas Jefferson said this. He says, "The reason that Christianity is the best friend of government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart." Thomas Jefferson, I stress again, what about the words of John Adams, the cousin of Sam Adams? John Adams said, "And may that being who is supreme over all, the patron of order, the fountain of justice, and the protector in all ages of the world of virtuous liberty, continue his blessing upon this nation and its government, AND GIVE IT ALL POSSIBLE SUCCESS and duration consistent with the ends of his providence." John Adams said that in his inaugural address when he was elected as president. We also know this from our remarkable Christian American history. The son of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, he said, "The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the divine inspiration of the holy scriptures MUST HOPE that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God." John Quincy Adams. That's crystal clear, folks. Remember this in your holiday celebrations. Let people know it. Benjamin Rush, America's first surgeon general. "The gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations. If moral uh precepts alone," listen to this, "could have reformed mankind, the mission of the son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary." In other words, your good works matter nothing to God. The perfect morality of the gospel rests upon the doctrine which though often controverted has never been refuted. I mean the vicarious life and death of the son of God. Would you like to have one of the ratifiers of the US Constitution, the surgeon general of the United States be as bold today? Now, I don't know the sincerity of this comment recently, but you saw it in the news. I certainly have never heard it from the lips of any president in my lifetime, and we'll let God be the judge as to the depth of it. It's very possible, I pray and hope, as you do, that God is not done with America. He could be, maybe he should be the way that we've treated him. But when you see even a president go to the podium on a historical moment and say like a child, "God, we love you." God was in some way, shape, or form a little bit of an infusion of encouragement to me. He didn't have to say it, but he said it.

And our friend Patrick Henry, Patrick Henry said this. "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here." And I want you to look at that for a moment. PEOPLE, EVERYBODY, ESPECIALLY YOUNG PEOPLE. THIS IS A this is an absolute. You'll I know of no other country in the history of man, any nation that has ever had the spirit of its revolution, bring forth a government that is somehow applies to all people within that country, no matter what their faith is. Many countries of the world demanded either worship of the death spot or the tyrant, like like what's going on in many countries today. Think for example, Xi Jinping of China is worshiped as an emperor. What about Kim Jong Un worshiped? WHAT ABOUT IN Japan's history? The emperors were worshiped as gods. What about Adolf Hitler? Did he not seek the worship of man? Obviously, our founding fathers in that statement that Patrick Henry gives basically says this, because we're Christians and we have founded this country. God is true. We're not threatened by any atheist or ANY OTHER RELIGION. LET THEM be false. They are. BUT FOR SOMEBODY to worship a different god or not god at all, that's their liberty or freedom. THAT'S WRITTEN within them, given to THEM BY THE GOD THEY DON'T EVEN BELIEVE IN. Think of that. And our founding fathers said that's okay. They'll stand before God someday on their own. But they should have the freedom to not believe in GOD AT ALL. >> NO NATION in the history of man has ever afforded such a thing. >> These Christian values that make this country great allow for the atheist to have the exact same representation as the Christian. Why? Because this government was established for equal protection, rights, and freedoms under this Constitution. No wonder why people want to immigrate here to America. They get it. We need to stop apologizing for America. >> That is a a very sick, that is a very sick insult. And I'm not talking politics. I'm talking about that's a sick insult to the God that gave us America. Amen. >> We're throwing it back in his face.

Maybe you grew up in a home like this. When we complained at home, my dad said, "Do you want to live in the Soviet Union? I will mail you to the Soviet Union." And my dad may may or may not have been joking. You didn't know. You never would have wanted to play poker with my dad. But uh one thing was certain that uh you were to be thankful for what this nation afforded you. And it's still true to this very day. And what about my good friend? I love this guy. I feel like I know him. Uh Samuel Adams. He says, "I recommend my soul to that almighty being who gave it. and my body I commit to the dust, relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for the pardon of all my sins." >> Boy, that's pretty clear, isn't it? >> Samuel Adams, father of the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, from his last will and testament. John Adams, his cousin, said, "Poor Sam Adams, he was born a rebel." He tried to preach a sermon, graduated from Harvard University, tried to preach his first sermon. His father said the sermon was so terrible, he said, "Sam, you've got to do something else than ever occupy a pulpit." Little did he know that God had him to be really the founder of this nation in many ways. Sam Adams again went on to say this. "We have appealed to heaven." That's where remember the flags earlier this year. Remember the banners and the stickers? WE HAVE APPEALED TO HEAVEN FOR THE JUSTICE of our cause. And in heaven, we have placed our trust. Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us. We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of omnipotence has raised us up. Let us still rely in humble confidence on him who is mighty to save. Good tidings will soon arrive. We shall NEVER BE ABANDONED by heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection." Sam Adams REMARKABLE because I'm on a roll with Sam Adams. Sam Adams said this. His biggest concern was that Americans, this is Ira Stole writing about Sam Adams, his biggest concern was that Americans would fall prey to immorality and lose that which made their cause righteous. Next quote. It goes on, "I have been I have long been convinced that our enemies have made it an object to eradicate from the minds of the people in general a sense of true religion and virtue in hopes thereby," listen to this, "to more easily carry their point of enslaving them. Indeed, my friend, THIS IS A SUBJECT SO IMPORTANT in my mind that I know not how to leave it. Revelation assures us that righteousness exalts a nation. Communities are dealt with in the world by the wise and just ruler of the universe. He rewards or punishes them according to their general character. The diminution of public liberty will not long survive the total extinction of morals." In other words, he's saying, live out your faith. Be bold about that.

Back to Patrick Henry. When Patrick Henry said, "This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them an inheritance which will make them rich indeed." You know that was those were his last words. Patrick Henry died upon saying that. Friends, tonight Jesus Christ, he is not only the fulfillment of all liberty and freedom. Sam Adams isn't the originator of the American Revolution. John Adams stated, he said, "But what do you mean revolution? You mean revolution the war?" Nay, revolution was in in the hearts and the minds of the people. When we speak of revolution right now with our liberty and freedoms that we enjoy, I'm talking about the revolution of pulling souls, men and women and boys and girls, from the grip of Satan. You want a revolution? You and I belong to a kingdom that will reside forever. And for now, God has allowed you and I to live in this nation right now that grants us the freedom, at least for now, to proclaim the gospel. We're running out of time. We've got the greatest message in the world. And God help us and have mercy upon us if we sleep on it because we have something that the world longs for. They might think they're coming here to maybe live in safety, but where is our safety? They may be thinking they're coming here for opportunity, but where is our opportunity? They might be coming here because they want to get rich, but what are our riches really? The God of heaven has provided us the opportunity in this country to be a free people. And these things about riches, what we acquire here in this life, we should keep a light touch on them. They should cause us to thank God the more if we have two pairs of shoes. And whatever your heart desires to make a life, you can do that. It's my commitment. It always has been my commitment even before I was a Christian that it made sense to me that God placed me in the United States, even though I didn't even know God. I later put that together. I was taught to love my country, to sacrifice for my country, and to even die for my country, to even afford the atheist or the man who might hate us or the woman who might scorn us because the cause is greater. I have been so spoiled in my life to have enjoyed a cause greater than anything this world can give me. >> We are so rich. We are so blessed.

We are a nation of laws. But if our laws are not upheld and if our leaders are less than worthy, then our nation will soon decline into peril. We need to pray. We're encouraging to celebrate him who is mighty to save. >> Amen. >> Amen. Remember, God has planted us in a nation where, at least for now, folks, uh we're still free to be able to openly proclaim the gospel. And that freedom is a stewardship. It's a responsibility that God has given us. Uh it's not a souvenir. It's not something that's to be put on the shelf, but in fact, we are to have that treasure within us, but that treasure is to proclaim the liberty that the gospel gives to every man and woman and boy and girl. America remains one of the freest places on earth to proclaim God's truth. Our greatest use of that freedom is something that we must do boldly when we share Christ. Lovingly, yes, boldly with confidence. Why? Because we've got the spiritual liberty provided to us as well as the physical and political liberty so that the whole world might hear. Jesus Christ has set us free and we must use that freedom. We want to hold the things of this world lightly. Let's not let riches come in and choke us out or choke the truth of God's word out of us. What we want to do is be faithful and strong witnesses, especially in a time like this. At a time like this when you and I should stand strong. God has given this to you and I. So, we are to stand firm in liberty and freedom. And let's live like a people who truly know what we have in Christ Jesus. And that is this. We shout to the ends of the earth, happy birthday, America. To help you in your walk with God, go to jackhibs.com and there there'll be a lot of information, a lot of teaching and material for you to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. So once again, we want to give God all the thanks for this very unique, amazing time where America turns 250 years of liberty and freedom. Let's see it revived and let's make sure that it's revived spiritually. America needs to turn back to God. He's our only answer. The freedom you have right now. Will you use it to become more free in Christ or will we not and wind up rejecting that? I hope at this nation's birthday season we accept Christ and his freedom. God bless you. Until next time. You are watching Real Life with Jack Hibbs.

All year long, don't just celebrate America's 250th birthday. Stand for what it was built on. Faith, freedom, truth. These are the values that shaped this nation from its very first days. And our faith and freedom collection was designed to help you carry them boldly wherever you go in a culture that is working overtime to silence those convictions. A simple shirt can start a powerful conversation. And right now when you order from the faith and freedom collection will also send you a free copy of the Happy Birthday America Kids Guide. A faith-centered resource that puts America's founding story in the hands of the next generation. Order soon and be ready to celebrate America's 250th birthday with conviction. Shop today at jackhibs.com or call 877-2346.

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