When Liberty Turns Into Bondage

Temple Baptist Church - 7-1-2012

2 Corinthians 3:17

Introduction:

A. America is the most wonderful, blessed nation on the face of the earth. It is like no other in its beauty and wonder, natural resources, diversity of people, form of government, and freedoms. I read this once and though it described to some degree our wonderful nation.

“ ONLY IN AMERICA”

Only in America……can a pizza get to you house before an ambulance.

Only in America….. are there handicapped places in front of a skating rink.

Only in America…...do drug stores make the sick walk all the way back to the back of the store to get their prescriptions.

Only in America….. do people order double cheeseburgers, a large fry, and a diet coke.

Only in America….. do banks leave both doors open and then chain their pens to the counter.

Only in America…...do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless pieces of junk in the garage.

Only in America….. do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place.

Only in America…..do we buy hotdogs in package of 10 and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America…..do we have drive up banking with Braille lettering.

B. I love America but am disappointed at the continual decline of our nation. This is not a political message as I find no place for them in the pulpit but those in authority over us are determined to lead this nation into socialism and away from God. The Preamble to the United States Constitution is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. It states in general terms, and courts have referred to it as reliable evidence of, the Founding Fathers' intentions regarding the Constitution's meaning and what they hoped the Constitution would achieve.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

C. Listen to these words that begin our Constitution:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

D. I preached along these lines last week as we faced the 136^th birthday of our great nation. My heart’s desire for America is that they 1) Wake up 2) Realize what they have fallen from and what they have fallen to 3) Repent of their wickedness and turn back to the God of this nation! Buddha, Allah, and the rest of these “gods” had nothing to do with the founding of our nation. It was not through Buddha, Allah, or any other that this nation has been blessed. It has been “One Nation Under God” that has preserved this great nation!

E. During the Seventh Inning Stretch, “God Bless America” is normally sung and this song refers to Jehovah God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the one and only God; He is the true God; and He is our God! I am glad the be a Christian; I am glad to be a born again believer in the one and only Jesus Christ; I am glad that He is my Lord as well as my Saviour!

F. America was founded by men and women who wanted religious freedom. That did not mean that they came to worship any God other than the God of this Bible but it did mean that they were tired of the dictates of certain denominations that persecuted Bible believing people.

G. That liberty did not last long as England colonized it (along with a few other nations) and brought America under British rule. During the Revolutionary War England conquered sizable tracts of what is now American land. The war was fought and won as God’s hand was evident and America gained its freedom from England.

H. Now, America is in danger of losing its freedom once more. Our nation began as a Republic but has mutated into a Democracy of sorts over the past 2 ¼ centuries. “Republic” no longer mentioned unless you are pledging allegiance to our flag. What is the difference? The difference is profound:

In the Pledge of Allegiance we all pledge allegiance to our Republic, not to a democracy. "Republic" is the proper description of our government, not "democracy." A republic and a democracy are identical in every aspect except one. In a republic the sovereignty is in each individual person. In a democracy the sovereignty is in the group.
A Republic. That form of government in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated. [NOTE: The word "people" may be either plural or singular. In a republic the group only has advisory powers; the sovereign individual is free to reject the majority group-think. USA/exception: if 100% of a jury convicts, then the individual loses sovereignty and is subject to group-think as in a democracy.]

A Democracy. That form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation, as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy, or oligarchy. [NOTE: In a pure democracy, 51% beats 49%. In other words, the minority has no rights. The minority only has those privileges granted by the dictatorship of the majority.]

The distinction between our Republic and a democracy is not an idle one. It has great legal significance. The Constitution guarantees to every state a Republican form of government (Art. 4, Sec. 4). No state may join the United States unless it is a Republic. Our Republic is one dedicated to "liberty and justice for all." Minority individual rights are the priority. The people have natural rights instead of civil rights. The people are protected by the Bill of Rights from the majority. One vote in a jury can stop all of the majority from depriving any one of the people of his rights; this would not be so if the United States were a democracy.

The freedoms that our Constitution guaranteed have now been infringed upon for many years. Instead of upholding our Constitution, the legislature and Supreme Court now spend their time “interpreting” it. Their interpretation of that blessed work does not correspond with the obvious original intent and meaning of it.

I. We have gone from liberty to bondage to liberty and are now moving back into bondage. I want to look at several areas where we are now being brought into spiritual bondage which leads to physical bondage.

1. From liberty of independence from England to the bondage of dependence upon our own government law - Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. (In Joseph’s day, Egypt was receptive to the things of God and prospered but, after the death of Joseph, there arose a Pharaoh who knew not God and things changed toward God’s people. There was a day in our history when America was not only founded upon the Bible but was receptive to it. We now have men in authority who know not God and our government is becoming a hard “taskmaster.” Socialism has taken our nation by storm. The government is now our “daddy” but it does not come without a price. The government is out of control and our people are under control.)

Exodus 1:13-14 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: (14) And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

2.From the liberty of God’s Law to bondage of man’s laws - Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Our court system is failing the people as they have watered down the biblical judgment for sin to a “slap on the hand” and turn offenders loose on society while labeling those who stand for the old ways (Bible ways) as evil. The laws of our land now tell us what and when we can do on our own properties; let insurance companies dictated how we operate our vehicles (seat belt laws, etc.); and continue to remove our individual liberties through legislation.)

3. From liberty of prosperity to the bondage of debt - Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (God blessed America! Our nation has the ability to be self-sufficient but we are not allowed to tap our own resources because of special interest groups and have become dependent upon the resources of our enemies. Our economy is struggling because of the uncontrollable monetary appetite of the oil companies while our jobs are being outsourced overseas. We are now borrowing over 40 cents of every dollar spent and America has dug for herself a financial hole from which she probably will never recover. America has become a greedy nation where enough is never enough.)

Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

4. From the liberty of holiness to the bondage of sinfulness - Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (“A clear conscience makes for a soft pillow.” There was a time when America had morals. Sin was named from the pulpits and was not publically tolerated. Sodomy, abortion, adultery, mistreating one’s family, etc. were frowned upon and most sin was done in the dark. America of our day is being held hostage by sinfulness. It is open; it is tolerated; and it is promoted. Men in public office are no longer held accountable for open sin. Lascivious lifestyles are now promoted by government, schools, and television where sodomy is not only allowed and taught to our people but also venerated in our society.
Sin is still sin and the wages have never changed: death! God has not changed His mind and the Bible has not changed its writ!)

5. From the liberty of peace to the bondage of fear - Romans 8:14-15 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (America has been blessed with oceans to the East and West; good neighbors to the North with the longest unsecured border in the world but has failed to secure its border to the South. Where we once took the wars to the enemy on his “turf,” we now face the fears of infiltration in our America. Not just the illegals who come here to “skim the cream off of the top” while sending their wages to THEIR country. America is not their country! They do not want to obey its laws; they do not want to learn its language; they do not want to become good citizens; they do not want to salute its flag (Cinco de Mayo instead of July 4^th); and they do not want to defend her. Homeland Security (what a joke) has become our “watch dog!” People are afraid to fly and must be violated before getting on a plane. We now MUST see a federal or state ID with picture so we can identify our citizens and deport illegals. When we were in high school, students learned Latin and French—not Spanish! America is certainly not what it used to be.)