Temple Baptist Church - 5-29-2022
1 Timothy 6:11-12
Introduction:
A. Tomorrow, May 30, 2022, is Memorial Day.
1. The day in which we honor our war dead: men and women who paid the ultimate price for our freedom that we enjoy today.
2. “All gave some but some gave all.” Their lives were cut short; they died in their youth; they had no chance to grow old; their dreams were never realized; their lives can only be lived through us; their dreams can only be realized through us!
3. Those who died would have been friends, neighbors, doctors, lawyers, teachers, mill workers, miners, store owners, moms, and dads—America’s youth, America’s strength, America’s future!
B. As we enjoy our freedom and blessings tomorrow, our day trips, picnics lunches, grilled favorites, do not fail to remember those who will not be there to enjoy them with us!
1. These statistics are several years old. In all the American wars, either by our country or within our country, over 45,000,000 men and women have served in wartime with over 1,175,000 war dead and over 1,500,000 wounded in action.
2. That is a tremendous number of young lives that have been given and families forever changed while affording us the freedom that we now enjoy.
3. I knew a soldier who, as an 18-year-old was carrying a machine gun, wading through the waters of the Pacific Islands under heavy fire, watching his buddies die before his eyes and seeing the waves filled with the bodies of the dead. He grew up that day.
4. I remember a man who, as young artillery man, coming on shore at Omaha Beach on D+2, watching them as they carried away the dead and wounded. He grew up that day!
5. I have known men who fought in WWII, through the harsh winters of Korea, walked through the jungles of Viet Nam, died in the middle east, and continue to die until this day for our freedom.
6. My thoughts go to Arlington National Cemetery and to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and read the inscription, “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”
C. Freedom in a privilege, not a right! Citizenship is a privilege, not a right! There are many living in this country that enjoy the freedoms while misusing them.
1. We do not have the freedom to do wrong in this land.
2. We do not have the freedom to live here and defame this land.
3. We have not right to burn the American Flag.
4. America has had some sad things in its history and still is not a perfect land, but it is my country and I say, “Love it or leave it.”
5. Come to America but come legal, learn the language (I do not speak Spanish), salute the flag, pay your taxes, be productive, get a job, and be a good citizen!
6. You are not here because it is your right; you are here because you are privileged to live here. This is our country, one nation under GOD, paid for with the blood of our valiant youth! When you came to America, you joined us, we did not join you.
D. War is not something that any sane man or woman wants, but we find in our text that war is sometimes a necessity.
1. Men who will not fight will not remain free.
2. Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death!” It is the cry of the patriot and is the prerequisite for freedom. To live free, some must sometimes die.
E. God bless the memory of our war dead; God bless our troops; God bless America!
F. This morning, for a few minutes, I want to look at a different type of war casualty. You and I are in a spiritual warfare today. It is a war just as real as physical wars are real. We have spiritually what we have this morning because someone paid a great price.
1. From the blood of Abel to those who are martyred in other countries today, blood has been shed as men earnestly contended for the faith once delivered.
2. Throughout history, men and women have been tortured and died because they were not willing to recant concerning their faith. Over 50 million died for their faith in the Dark Ages alone.
3. We have the witness of both church and secular historians who have brought to us the reality of these sacrifices. Millions upon millions have and will die for their faith.
G. Because of the sufferings and death of these and countless others like them, we are spiritually blessed! NOW, we are the generation that needs to fight for our posterity! A short three-fold application is given in our text: Flee, Follow, and Fight.
1. Flee the Things that Distract us. Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (There are so many things that distract us from living a consistent life for Christ. Paul spoke of "the weight" that slows us the "sins" that beset us. Weights are things that may not be sinful but keep us from doing the things that have eternal weight. Then there is the distraction of sin.)
Philippians 1:10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
2. Follow the Paths that Directs us. Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. (I often ask the question, "Were our forefathers right or were they wrong?" I believe that they were right, and their paths are still right ones. MAINTAIN the old ways wherein are the good ways.)
3. Fight the Truth that Anchors us. Jude 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Without the Truth of the Bible, people will NEVER be free!)
John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; (32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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