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omeone said, “To be born free is a privilege. To die free is an awesome responsibility. Yet freedom is never free. It is always purchased at a great cost.”

It has been said that the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. We have many enemies that would love to rob us of this precious gift if they were able. The person that would remain free must constantly guard that freedom. Jesus reminded us that, “ If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into” (Matt 24:43 NIV).

Some would argue that the Bible condemns fighting. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek and Peter commanded us to, “Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right “(1 Peter 2:13,14).

Jesus said, “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:39 NIV). Jesus was not saying, “Keep your mouth shut. Bury your head in the sand. Let evil conquer you.” God inspired Solomon to write, “...a time for war and a time for peace” (Eccl 3:8 NIV). Jesus was saying, “Exercise self-control. Give the other guy the benefit of the doubt. Go the second mile. Don’t be first to start a fight.” Jesus showed us by His example that there are many times His followers must fight.

Notice what Peter said, “Submit to every authority... who punishes evil and rewards good.” Peter did not say that every earthly authority is sent by God. Notice what God said through Hosea, “They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval” (Hos 8:4 NIV). Peter was not instructing us to submit to authorities who punish good and reward evil. In Acts 4:19,20 (NIV), Peter and John refused to submit to the authority over them. Jesus refused to submit to the authorities of His day when they insisted that He keep their man-made laws. Time after time He called these authorities hypocrites and pronounced many woes upon them (Matt 23:13-39). He also called them a brood of snakes (Matt 23:33) as did his forerunner John the Baptist (Matt. 3:7).

Moses sternly warned the people of his day, “...arm yourselves before the LORD for battle... "But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out (Num 32:20-23 NIV). The words “be sure that your sin will find you out”, have many applications today but in its original context it refers to the sin of refusing to fight.[1]

Note the example of the Militant Messiah; The Wonderful Warrior; the Fantastic Fighter; the Supreme Soldier.

We often think of Jesus as a soft spoken, effeminate, milk toast sort of a man who lacked back bone, but this is not the Jesus of the Bible! Jesus was a warrior from His birth. Within the first two years of Jesus’ life, the Jewish king and his soldiers waged war against Him and lost. Satan himself waged war with Him in the wilderness but he lost. The Pharisees waged a relentless battle against Him but they lost. His ministry was a constant battle. Jesus pronounced many woes on the religious authorities of His day as is recorded in Mt. 11:20-24. In Matthew 7:23 He declared, “I never knew you! Away from me!”

John records that in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry “...he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle: he scattered the coins of the money changers.” The literal translation of this verse from the Greek is, “And he made a whip-like device with a handle and several cords attached to it. And with fiery indignation Jesus applied the scourge right and left to these men. Then also to the sheep and oxen” (John 2:15).[2] This event was at the beginning of His ministry. Matthew records nearly the same account only his story is at the end of Jesus’ ministry (Mt. 21:12. Thus we see that Jesus both began and ended his ministry in a “war mode”.

John 8:43-44 records Jesus saying, “You belong to your father, the devil!” And in John 7:28 Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know me and you know where I am from!” These words are not the words of a fearful introvert.

Jesus’ war against man-made laws: Notice His relentless battle against hypocrisy and the tyranny of man-made laws. The Jews of Jesus’ day thought more of their man-made traditions than that which God had commanded. Jesus continually fought against these traditions. Many times Jesus could have avoided a confrontation, but instead He chose rather to rub the noses of the religious authorities in their own wrong doings.

CEREMONIAL WASHINGS: In Mt 15:1-3, we read about the disciples eating in the presence of the religious authorities without first doing the ceremonial washing. In Mark’s account of this incident, (Mark 7:9), we see that instead of submitting to the religious authorities Jesus condemned them. “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! Why do you break God’s commands for sake of your traditions?” Not only did Jesus permit his disciples to disobey the religious authorities, but He also refused to obey them. (Lk. 11:37 - Jesus didn’t wash before eating. Notice that Jesus openly ate without washing and told the authority figures that though they washed they were full of wickedness.)

work on the Sabbath: The religious authorities required the Jews to refrain from picking and eating grain on the Sabbath because they considered it work. In Mt 12:1,2, we learn that the disciples ate grain on the Sabbath and even though the religious authority condemned them, Jesus pronounced them innocent (Mt 12:7). As we observe Jesus’ miracles on the Sabbath day, we see every indication that He went out of His way to make His point. Jesus was NOT GOING TO submit to any authority on earth who required doing things contrary to God’s will. In Lk 13:10-17, that Jesus healed the woman who could not straighten up, on the Sabbath, and he knew that he had humiliated the Jews. Jesus refused to be diplomatic. Jesus was saying, “Get this point! You are not going to add to God’s message! You are not going to condemn where God has not condemned!” Notice in Jn 9:14,16 that Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath and in Jn. 5:8,9 He told the healed man to pick up his mat on the Sabbath.

Jesus was not crucified because of His miracles, his parables or even His doctrine. Jesus was crucified because of His relentless war against man made laws. Even in this war, our militant Messiah rose victorious.

are YOU A CHRISTIAN? What does the word “Christian” mean? It has been suggested that it means to be Christ like. “In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him” (1 John 4:17 NIV).

Peter and John were Christians. Like Jesus, they refused to submit to the authorities who wanted them to do things contrary to God’s commands. “Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard’” (Acts 4:18-20).

STEPHEN was a Christian. Like Jesus, he refused to submit to the law of the land when it required him to stop preaching God’s message. He told the authorities, “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51-55).

JOHN THE BAPTIST was a Christian in this sense. Like Jesus, he refused to submit to the law of the land when it required him to stop preaching God’s message. “For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and had him bound and put in prison...18 For John had been saying to Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife”’ (Mark 6:17-18).

We could list a whole host of others who refused to submit to the authorities of their day. Think of Daniel, the three Hebrew children, Elijah and the list goes on and on. The message is clear. If we are going to live godly, we must often fight against ungodly authorities.

Are you ready to suffer for being a Christian? Are you submitting to evil? Are you willing to fight against ungodly laws in our country? “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). This verse tells us that if we don’t suffer, we are not Christians. Why can’t we figure this out? What fact are we missing? If we carefully analyze this verse, we should be able to see that godly people not only live good lives but confront sin. If we are truly Christians, we will point out sin in people’s lives as Jesus did, as Peter and John did, and as John the Baptist did. In other words, we will become like our militant Messiah. When a person is confronted with sin in his life, he will always react in one of two ways. He will repent of his sin or he will strike back at the one who confronted him and this, obviously, will bring persecution to the “confronter”.

“On June 11, 1776, in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the best men from each of the colonies sat down together. These were men of means, well educated. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Nine were farmers and owners of large plantations....

“They knew if they won this fight, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling nation. If they lost, they’d face a hangman’s rope. But they signed...The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776: ‘For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.

“Of the 56, few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes...from Rode Island to Charleston...sacked, looted, occupied by the enemy, or burned. Two lost their sons in the army. One had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 died in the war, from its hardships or from its more merciful bullets. They were not poor men or wild-eyed pirates. They were men of means. Rich men, most of them, who enjoyed much luxury in their personal living.

“But they considered liberty---and this is as much as I shall say of it --- they had learned that liberty --- is much more than security --- that they pledged their lives...their fortunes...and their sacred honor.

Jesus said, “...because you are lukewarm-neither hot or cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:17). “He who is not with me is against me...” (Mt. 12:30). “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 25:30).

Paul said, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Rom 12:11).

The Bible views man as possessing certain basic human rights that God has given him. The negative commandments of the Bible are based upon positive rights. When the Bible forbids murder (Ex. 20:13), it protects the right to life. When the Bible forbids kidnapping and slavery (Deut. 24:7), it protects the right of liberty. When the Bible forbids stealing (Ex. 20:15), it protects the right to property. These rights are absolute and no government has the right to take these privileges away from its citizens.

secular humanism has stolen our country from the Christians as we sat back and watched. Our founding fathers pledged and gave their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to establish a nation built on Christian principles. They wrote in the Declaration XE "Declaration" of Independence XE "Declaration of Independence" that it is our duty to throw off any government that would take away the right of its citizens to have LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. Our government now condemns those who would fight for the life of our unborn citizens. Our government now has taken away the liberty of our schools to teach the message of God and teach the importance of prayer to the only One who can save our country. It is our duty to throw off such a government! Paul instructed, “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight!” (1 Tim 1:18).

remember the martyrs who paid so much. In their memory, let us stand up and fight!

As was previously stated, in 1963 many of our religious freedoms were ripped out of the Bill of Rights. The U.S. Supreme Court judges stole the foundation out from under our country and we have sat passively watching our country crumble all around us.

[1] All murder is killing, but all killing is not murder. The Ten Commandments do not condemn just warfare. Some people use Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill” as their proof text that God doesn’t want anyone to go to war. In the Hebrew language there are nine words which are roughly translated “kill.” The word used in Exodus 20:13 means an intentional and unjustified act of murder. This is not the same word used for killing in war and therefore war is not covered by this commandment. The same thing is true in the New Testament. The Greek word for killing in war is different than that of murder.

[2] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel, Minneapolis, MN., Augsburg, 1936, pp. 205, 206.

[3] Peter Marshall & David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, A division of Baker Book House Co. Grand Rapids, MI., p. 269. Bancroft, George, Brancrof’s History of the United States. VII, Third Edition, Boston, 1838, pp. 73,74.

THE COST OF FREEDOM