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Maybe we've lost something in our celebrations of Independence Day. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the day was one that involved towns coming together for parades and innocent fun through games and races and competitions. It usually started with a service at church where the preacher would commemorate those who sacrificed and gave their lives so that we could experience the freedom that we have in America, and usually prayer for our country was the final order of the morning's activities. After the service, the ladies of the town would have a dinner fixed for everyone to eat and then would be parades and lemonade stands and horse races to see who had the fastest buggy and steed and many other fun from the good ol' days." After the days events were done, there might be fireworks lighting up the sky to celebrate and then everyone returned home tired but with fond memories that would last for a lifetime. There was apt to be a good game of horseshoes and maybe a sandlot baseball game in later years. Independence Day was a day that everyone participated in, looked forward to, and dressed in their very best for. It was special.

Today, the focus is on leisure and barbeques and most people don't bother shaving, nevertheless coming to church. If there is a town get-together, it's usually a "drunk fest" and they might have a "moment of silence" where everyone meditates upon "the faith of their choice" but there will certainly be no prayers to the God upon whom America was founded because to do so is now politically incorrect. Call me starry-eyed, if you will and I don't desire to repeat everything from the past and live there, but in the case of Independence Day celebrations, I can't help think that we've lost something in our country. Maybe what we've lost is a real appreciation for the sacrifice of those who have made our freedom possible.

I reread the American Declaration of Independence this week for the first time since I was forced to do so in history class in school. It was written and rewritten by Thomas Jefferson and changed and edited by numerous other patriots. Fifty-six men signed the declaration and pledged their lives, loyalty, and money to each other. It was probably the bravest document and most courageous act in modern history. The Colonist had come to America seeking primarily religious and monetary freedom. They wanted to be able to make a better life for themselves while choosing to worship God according to their deep religious convictions. Britain had repeatedly changed their handling of the colonies until these men could no longer do nothing. They felt as if everything that they desired was as stake. And so without common public sentiment, without an army to even fight the able British with, without any precedent to pattern themselves after, and risking everything, they signed this declaration and trusted God to help decide the outcome.

These were not men who were rebels or brash-mouthed fools. They were men with deep religious convictions who were willing to give up everything for religious and financial freedom. They were men like:

Carter Braxton of Virginia, who signed on a wealthy sea trader and plantation owner and saw his fleet of ships destroyed in the war and was forced to sell his home and estate to pay his bills and died in rags yet faithful to the patriot cause.

Thomas Nelson Jr, who in the battle of Yorktown realized that the British had seized his home and were using it as a headquarters, and turned to General George Washington and said "open fire!" When Washington -- knowing that the home and estate was the sole result of a lifetime of work for Nelson, paused -- Nelson urged him to "open fire on them." The result was his estate being destroyed, and financial ruin, with Nelson eventually dying bankrupt, and yet he stayed loyal to the cause.

John Hart of New Jersey, was at his wife's bedside while she was dying when the British army arrived forcing him to flee for his life. His children ran and he ran and lived in caves and forests for more than a year. He returned to find everything on his land -- the home, the barns, the gristmill -- destroyed and his wife dead. He would never see his children again. And yet he stayed faithful to the cause of liberty.

We could go on and on. Five of the signers were captured by the British and tortured to death as traitors. Nine died from wounds suffered in fighting a campaign in the War for Independence. Some like Thomas McKean moved his family constantly for years, losing everything that he had in the process, and then offered to serve in the new Congress without pay. The writer Thomas Jefferson esteemed his role in the Declaration of Independence and subsequent actions to the be the finest accomplishment of his life. Fifty years later, Jefferson lay dying and was in and out of a coma and yet would repeatedly ask "is it the fourth yet?" "is it the fourth?" He lay on the brink of death throughout the third and then when finally awakening and being told that it was the morning of the fourth, he laid back and died, satisfied to leave this life on the fiftieth anniversary of such a declaration. He was buried under the oak tree behind his house with an epitaph that he had composed himself: It mentioned that he was the writer of the Declaration of Independence but neglected to mention that he had been President of the United States -- such was the esteem of the events of that first fourth of July in his mind! Independence Day didn't automatically bring freedom, but it gave the liberty to fight for freedom, and thus was special.

And they did this all to guarantee that Americans could go to church and worship with liberty. That we could be prosperous and raise our children as we would desire and not to the whims of a "king." The Day of Independence was the declaration of a people who were willing to sacrifice everything so that those who come after them could have liberty. So that they could have freedom. So that freedom could ring on and on. So that Independence Day could last forever!

So if the signers of the Declaration could see our celebrations now, would they have a problem with them? I don't necessarily think so. The very liberty to choose your own way was the catalyst for the Declaration in the first place. I don't think that they would have a problem with our day-long celebration, but they might with our year-long one! They didn't pay such an awful price for us to have a one day, national holiday, but rather that we might have religious freedom and worship with conviction the God of the Bible. That we might be free to raise our children and own land and such. They sacrificed so that freedom would last for forever, and yet I can't help but think as I look -- not on people celebrating a holiday -- but on people living year around that we have lost the very point for which they died. They were willing to sacrifice awfully so that we would have the freedom to act right and live right and do something about how God had commanded us to live, and yet as I look around today, it's very evident that most people do not use their freedom. They can get right with God -- no government or military is going to keep them from doing so, and yet most men have chosen to use their freedom to do nothing about their relationship with God. They can raise their families by Godly example and teach their children in the ways that are right, and yet most have used that hard-bought freedom to do nothing in the way of showing their families and children how to serve God or by positive example. We can pray as much as we would like and read our Bible as much as we would like, and allow God to move as much as He desires, and yet most use that freedom to do nothing.

I think that we should remember with appreciation the men and women that sacrificed to create such a country that we live in today, but I think that the greatest way to appreciate them, is to walk and make full use of that liberty throughout the year! In that way, Independence Day ought to last forever!

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I can't help but notice the similarities of the American freedoms with the "Independence Days" of the Bible:

We read in our text in John chapter 8 where Jesus told His disciples "if you continue in my word, then you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free." The Pharisees -- the Jewish religious leaders -- took offence that Jesus said that they "needed to be free." And in verse 33 of our text, they responded with these amazing words:

John 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free ?

Amazing! They said in effect: we're Jews and have never been in bondage to anybody! That sentence is so amazing because it's absolutely false. Had they forgotten the story of the Book of Exodus and a man named Moses whom God sent to deliver Israel out of the slavery of Egypt? Had they forgotten how that for over 400 years Israel was the bricklayers and slave workers of a godless land with Egyptian taskmasters driving them every day? And yet they said "we've never been in bondage to any man."

Had they forgotten the time of the Judges, which after being delivered into the Promised Land, they had promptly forgotten God's laws and became idolaters again only to find themselves being taken as subjects to five different foreign kings, with each time when they repented, God had to send a deliverer to bring them back into His will?!

"We've never been in bondage to any man," they said, and yet had they forgotten the 70 years of captivity where the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had come in and conquered them and taken them into a foreign land in the time of Jeremiah and Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah. God had made a decree that every seven years, the land was to be given rest and no crops were to be planted and Israel was to live off of what came up naturally as God provided. But Israel had ignored this decree and turned again to idolatry, so God allowed them to be carried away to foreign lands for 70 years -- one year for each year that they had not allowed the land to rest. And it was only by the grace of God that they were allowed to return to rebuild their homeland.

We've never been in bondage to any man. And yet they must have forgotten how that between the Old and New Testaments, Alexander the Great and his Grecian army swept through the world and conquered Israel and then left it to one of his generals. They must have forgotten how that after they had gained their independence from the Selecians in 167 B.C. how that they began to fight among themselves which weakened their defense and made them easy prey for the mighty Roman army which swept through the world and whose rule these Jewish leaders were under at that very moment as they defiantly said to Jesus "we've never been in bondage to any man!" No? If not, then what is that Roman soldier doing over there and why is Caesar on your coins? Why are you paying taxes to a Gentile king? If you've never been in bondage to any man.

And notice Jesus' response to their query. He did not mention the many times of history that proved their claim false as we have done here today. He did not point out the Roman soldier and bring up the political end of it. Instead He said:

John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Jesus was saying "you're in bondage right now, because you have sinned and are trying to pretend like it's okay, and to be bound to sin is the greatest bondage of all." Not only were the Jews wrong in that they had repeatedly been in bondage throughout their history, but they were at that moment bound twice: politically to the Romans and spiritually in their sin!

And Jesus was saying "it's not the Romans that I'm worried about, but your sin problem." Jesus said in another place:

Jesus said "the Romans aren't your real problems because eventually they will be gone. Your real problem is the sin that has come between you and God, because unless you are loosed from the bondage of sin, then they will follow you into eternity and cause you to be lost."

Jesus was about to declare an Independence Day from sin! There was coming a cross and a Calvary where He was about to declare "you can be free from the tyranny of sin and death!" Jesus was our example in conquering sin by living sin free and He was our example in conquering death by getting up on the third day! In Colossians, Paul wrote:

The Resurrection of Christ was Independence Day! It was a declaration that sin could be conquered, that death and hell don't have to be the end result of your life, and that man and God can be reconciled! It was a declaration of life and life everlasting! As great as the American Declaration of Independence was and is, it is nothing compared to the great message of Calvary! Without a man named Jesus and a cross, you and I would be hopeless, bound by the past and doomed to hell. Without a stone rolling away to reveal an empty tomb, there would be nothing to believe in! There is none of us that could approach a holy God with our past actions staining us, but God provided a way out through the death of Jesus Christ to make a way that we can "boldly approach Him!"

Jesus said "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach liberty!" And so blind eyes were opened and the lame were walked and myriads of people that had been bound and hostage to sickness and disease were healed! People who were bound by demons and generational curses were set free at a command from the Master! Jesus was the "prophet like unto Moses" in that He brought a message of freedom, but Moses could not really compare to this Miracle Worker! He calmed the storms, called ordinary men and women and made them Apostles and preachers, and even forgave sins. Why did Jesus come into the world with such a splash? Because He was coming to declare something! It was all to point to a cross on a hillside where He, Himself, would pay the ultimate price for sin! Jesus had come to declare an Independence Day from sin: no longer did men have to live bound by the vices and wiles of sin. No longer did men have to live oppressed and fearful and with worry and pain. No longer did men have to live knowing that their were irreconcilable differences between their evil actions and a perfect God! Jesus came to declare Independence! His death and resurrection was the greatest declaration of Independence in the history of the world!

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Just like the American Patriots who were willing to pay such a high price for our freedom, Jesus Christ did not suffer and die for you to be free for just a little while. He intended for His Independence Day to last for forever! He didn't intend for it to be a victory for a few Jewish disciples and never reach any further than that. He intended for it to impact the world and every generation! With all these examples in mind, let me preach to you then on what it's going to take for that Greatest Independence Day of All to live for forever in our lives today:

When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, it simply gave the American Patriots the right and go ahead to act upon the plan for freedom. It drew a line in the sand that said "we're going to fight and begin to behave in such a manner as to gain our freedom." Technically after they signed their name and the letter was mailed, the American Patriots were no freer than they had been the minute before. There was still Redcoats all throughout the colonies, they had won no victories, there were taxes still demanding to be paid, and a king that wasn't going to go for their declaration. And furthermore, not all of the people were necessarily behind their decision. Their Independence Day did not feel very "independent" because they still had to act according to their plan for independence.

It was the same way with the children of Israel. For Moses to declare to Pharaoh "God has said let my people go," was the declaration, but it only gave the people the freedom to act according to a plan for freedom. The Declaration and even the Passover lambs being slain would have done no good unless they had packed up their bags, smeared the blood to the doorposts and were willing to put the plan in action.

It's the same way with Calvary! Yes, a great price was paid. Yes, it paved the way for salvation. Yes, Jesus' resurrection was a sign of our resurrection to come. But at that moment. Immediately after those three days of waiting and that triumphant and startling discovery of an empty tomb. The world wasn't just "instantly free." They weren't automatically saved from their sin. Rather, the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus was a Declaration of Independence that you and I could be free, and could enact the plan of God to bring that freedom to our lives. But it doesn't happen automatically.

I've heard preachers teach that everyone is saved because Jesus died on the cross. Sure, He died on the cross for our sins, but that was to pay the price for sin so that you could have the opportunity to obey His Word! Simply believing that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, doesn't save you. You must act upon the plan of freedom that He brought! It is living according to God's Word and obeying it that saves you, not just believing on Christ. You have to look no further than our text to prove this scripturally:

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 .

These disciple had believed on Jesus Christ, but Jesus told them "if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciple indeed!" And ye shall -- future tense there -- know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If they were already free by believing on Him, then why would Jesus tell in a future tense that the "truth shall make you free?" And that they would be disciples if they continued in His word?

Believing is important, but you must understand that believing is just a declaration of independence. When you say that you believe on Jesus Christ, then you are saying that you believe that Jesus is real and that He really died on the Cross for you and that you believe His Words. That's a declaration. And it has now given you the freedom to act upon the plan that He has placed for you to actually get free. You're not free from sin, by simply believing, but you are free to obey God's plan that can get you free from sin. That's an important distinction. Saying you believe in itself does not save you, but truly believing -- believing enough to do what God's Word has said will save you. If your statement of belief is a declaration of independence from sin and a declaration that you want to follow Jesus, then you will have no problem obeying His Word when He says to:

1. Repent

2. Be baptized

3. Be filled with the Holy Ghost

This plan of Jesus was based upon His example of death, burial, and resurrection. Repentance is dying out your old habits and asking God to bring about a new man. For there to be a new man, an old man has to die. Paul wrote that water baptism is a "burial with Christ" (Colossians 2:9-12), and Titus 3:5 teaches that we are saved by the "regeneration" or "bringing back to life of the Holy Ghost." Peter summed up the plan of Jesus for the freedom from sin nicely:

Your declaration of faith has enabled you to now obey the plan of God for your freedom, but only when you enact that plan will you truly be free!

For the Israelites to be free under Moses, they had to admit that they were slaves and they had to want freedom. Ditto in the American War for Independence. In our text, Jesus told the Pharisees of His day that He could set them free, and they didn't want to admit that they were slaves to anything. And Jesus responded "he who commits sin is the servant of sin." In other words, "if you are free, then why do you still do the things that you do?"

I've heard people tell me "I'm free, preacher" and I don't need God in my life. And yet their lifestyle reveals that they are servants and bound by sin. If you are free, then why is your life turning out just like the generational curse of sin said it would? If you are free, then why do you have to reach for the cigarette in times of stress? If you are free then why do you need a "cold one" to get through the day? If you are truly free, then why are you constantly looking for a relationship that will fulfill your needs and it continually failing? If you are free, then why do you worry?

God can set you free, but only if you want freedom. It's your choice. His declaration just made it possible for you to choose freedom or not. But to be free, you've really got to get sick and tired of your sin and the problems in your life and want out. Which brings us to our next lesson learned:

After the declaration and after the children of Israel had left Egypt, Pharaoh's army came tearing up behind them wanting to enslave them again! After the Declaration of Independence in America, then the real fighting began and really America was not truly free until years and years later. The lesson is easily learned but often forgotten: there will be an enemy that does not want you to be free raise it's head. You will not become totally free, without a fight.

Moses and the children of Israel and the American Patriots both had one thing in common: they were willing to step out in faith and fight for what they wanted, and trusted God to help them get the victory! But remember you are going to have to fight! The devil is not going to sit idly by and allow you to waltz out without putting up resistance, but if you will fight in the Spirit and trust God, then know that the devil cannot win! The Declaration of God told you that you can be free and so if you'll fight for it, you will win!

For Independence Day to last forever in your life, you must be willing to fight for what's right! That means fighting for your kids. Fighting for your marriage. Fighting for your relationship with God. Fighting for your purity and holy living. Freedom is not free and only comes with a fight, but you can win because God is on your side, but you've got to be willing to do something about it!

Remember that awesome scripture in Colossians that we read about the Cross being the even that declared our freedom and set us free from the bondage of sin? We ended it's reading by:

Col 1:22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

I didn't give you the whole story. The very next verse has an if:

In other words, the cross frees you from sin IF you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, and don't shift from the hope of the Gospel! It's possible to be free and use that freedom to be bound once again!

Americans have done just that.