Sunday Morning Podcast July 4, 2021. Bro. Andy Gallagher.
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What a blessing to be here this morning! We’re here to hear God’s Word! The room is packed when you could have been somewhere else because this is a holiday, the 4th of July! God help us. There’s going to be some things that are said that are coming from my experience, but not your experience, which you won’t be able to comprehend some of what I say, and that’s just the way it goes. I can’t comprehend some of what you’ve been through in life either. But you can consider some of the thoughts we bring. As I was growing up, school and Andy were like butting heads. Challenging! Challenging to say the least! I would get an upset stomach just going to school sometimes! If someone would ask about history, or spelling, I would almost get physically sick! Because I disliked school so much, and would “run” from it. I didn’t want to know anything about it, because I couldn’t comprehend, couldn’t understand! I was thinking about the saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” It hasn’t been until these last 5-10 years, that the teacher showed up and is teaching me! Now I love to learn! Now. It’s a joy, to dive in to what God shows us! Recently I dove into something I thought I would never be interested in. The Declaration of Independence! I was reading that and it stirred me! The words those men wrote and went through! I’m so glad that I was born in an era, where they have YouTube. I can more easily get into it, and see their animations and what they were talking about. What they did, and what they went through. Oh my, how ignorant I was about Independence day! How ignorant to think it was about fireworks. But oh, there’s such a message behind Independence day!
Those that wrote the Declaration of Independence, centered it much around God’s Word! We’re going to touch upon some of it this morning, and we’re going to get into the gospel. To realize this declaration was written around a biblical point of view. “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.” I used to think those were just words, ..fluffy words. I didn’t understand those big words they were talking about, and thought I’m just going to go do something else! This morning I’m going to paraphrase or put this declaration into more easily understood language for us. “We hold these truths to be self evident.” Self evident are the truths that are so clear they don’t need to be explained! “That all men are created equal.” God created us all! No one is better than another! None of the different sisters are better than other sisters. None of the brothers are better than other brothers. We are all the same! The pastor, the congregation down to the smallest child in the congregation are all equal. No matter where you’re from, what your background, what you’ve been through; we are all equal! God created us equal! “That they are endowed by their Creator.” In other words God has given this to them! “With certain unalienable rights.” Basically it is saying, ..special privileges. “That God has given us.” For just the saints of God? No. For everyone! Amongst 3 of those privileges, are life (freedom to live), liberty (freedom), and the pursuit of happiness, (the search of being happy !) These 3 truths are self evident! I was reading a story the other day, by Theodore Geisel, famous author. Anyone heard of him? He wrote over 60 books! By the time he died in 1991, he had sold over 6 million copies! Very popular books. He went by his middle name Dr. Seuss I’d like to talk about one short story he wrote. Not a true one. Within it are some deep truths.
These books are said to be written for children. But I’m thinking a lot of parents got help from them. It deals with life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and is called “Are you my mother?” It’s about a bird on a nest waiting for her egg to move and hatch, The mother bird is excited and says, “I better go get some food!” She takes off, and lo and behold while she’s gone, the baby breaks out of the shell. The baby breaths life excitedly, looks around, and says “Where’s my mother?” The bird looks up, down, and questions again, “Where’s my mother?” The bird had freedom to go search for his mother. He sees a cat, and asked, “Are you my mother?” The cat replies they are not it’s mother. The bird then talks to a cow with the same question. The cow also answers they are not his mother. This search goes on and on, and he sometimes had passed his mother (who was too busy trying to gather food for the bird), but didn’t yet know what she looked like. And it’s important to understand that the bird didn’t know what his mother looked like. So the bird kept looking for the happiness of his mother. The bird had also questioned a big back hoe machinery, to only be then picked up by it, and dropped right back in it’s own nest. The mother flies back to land on the side, to see her baby. She asked, “Do you know who I am?” And the bird goes “YOU”RE my mother!” The bird found life, and didn’t find life and freedom until it found the happiness of his mother!
So many things could be taken from this story/lesson, but it’s important to understand the point here, ..is you might miss it! The first way to understand it is, to think of it’s opposites. Death, ..spiritual, even mental death. Many analogies can be made here. The opposite of freedom, ..is the dark imprisonment of bondage! Unless you’ve been bound you probably don’t comprehend freedom. Without the opposite of happiness, it is hard to understand it. Experience brings understanding. To understand, you first have to want them! You then have to reach out for them! To want life, more than death, freedom more than bondage, happiness more than unhappiness! There’s most likely a time when most of us asks the big question, “Why am I here, what it is the meaning of it?” Potentially you are here today, because you have found some answers. Today you can be physically living, but never have experienced real life. There’s so much more to us than these physical bodies! Jesus came to answer that question, “What is the meaning of life?” His answer for mankind 2,000 years ago, is still applicable today! He told that all can have abundant life! He said “Whosever will!” That’s you and I ! No exception, that promise is for all! Not just life, but everlasting life! God has given you, all, some unalienable rights! In other words, “Special privileges!” But if we don’t know what God has given us, we might miss it! Jesus said in John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Jesus is speaking to physical people that are alive! Could he be talking to live “dead” people?
TEXT: ROMANS 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
So the scripture is saying that spiritual death has passed on all men (physically living people). So the scripture is talking about people that had death upon them. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God! Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; The word quickened means to come alive! You that were dead (in trespasses of sin), hath he quickened (made alive)! Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: In times past. According to the course of this world. According to the prince of this air. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. But God who is rich in mercy! Aren’t you thankful He is rich in mercy? I was dead in sin, thinking I was living the life! Rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us. I’m so thankful for God’s love! 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Praise God, for we were all dead! And some still are. Until we chose to have life! Have you chosen life this morning? Some of us are ignorant about this life, and that’s okay! But there’s going to be a day that you are no longer ignorant. A day when you look in the mirror and see something you didn’t see before. You then need to “strike” while the iron is hot. If you’re not saved this morning, ..strike while the iron is hot! Strike while there’s still life to be had, instead of living in death!
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness