Participants: Mike Leno
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000035
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00:29 At the Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth Town, New Jersey,
00:33 Pastor James Caldwell rose to deliver the morning sermon. 00:39 He placed his bible in the middle of the pulpit 00:43 and then he took out of his coat a loaded pistol 00:48 and he put it on one side of his bible, 00:51 and then he reached into his coat again 00:54 and he took another loaded pistol 00:57 and he put on the other side of his bible. 01:03 And then he proceeded to address the congregation 01:07 and deliver the morning sermon. 01:11 Now Pastor Caldwell was not concerned 01:14 about angry church members, 01:16 or people who might disagree with his sermon that day. 01:20 No, Pastor Caldwell was concerned with something 01:23 much more dangerous than that. 01:25 You see, Pastor Caldwell was part of the group of patriots 01:33 in the 13 colonies who were rebelling 01:36 against the tyranny of England at that time. 01:41 Here is a flag from the revolutionary war. 01:44 Notice the 13 stars on this flag representing the 13 colonies. 01:50 The words across the bottom read, 01:52 "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God," 01:58 an indication of how strongly they felt about the war effort. 02:05 The year was 1780 just four years 02:09 after the declaration of Independence 02:11 and the American revolutionary war was in full swing. 02:14 The Americans had unfortunately suffered a series of defeats 02:18 and they were retreating across New Jersey. 02:21 And as they did so 02:23 many of Washington's sick and wounded soldiers found refuge 02:27 in the Elizabeth Town, Presbyterian Church. 02:29 Not only had Pastor Caldwell allowed his church 02:32 to be used as a barracks and a hospital 02:35 but he himself had become part of the war effort. 02:38 Besides being a Pastor, 02:40 he served as a Chaplain in the continental army. 02:43 He was even appointed Assistant Commissary General 02:47 and as such he obtained food, and clothes, 02:49 and other supplies for the troops. 02:52 The British had some names for Pastor Caldwell. 02:55 They called him "The Rebel Priest" 02:57 and "The High Priest of the Rebellion" 03:00 and they offered a reward for his capture. 03:04 And now you know why Pastor Caldwell 03:06 had two loaded pistols, 03:08 one on each side of his bible, as he preached that morning. 03:12 Well, the British Army followed 03:14 the retreating American across New Jersey 03:16 and they made a night raid on Elizabeth Town, 03:19 in order to capture American soldiers. 03:21 In that raid they burned Pastor Caldwell's 03:25 Presbyterian Church to the ground. 03:28 Now as Pastor Caldwell preached his sermon 03:31 he looked out at a congregation gathered 03:33 in a converted red barn. 03:36 Cornelius Hethfield Senior owned this barn 03:39 which was located just across the river 03:41 from the old church which was burned down. 03:43 Ironically, Hethfield's three sons were British sympathizers 03:47 and they had guided the soldiers 03:49 who raided the town and burned the church. 03:52 About four months later, the British Army, 03:55 encouraged by a victory at Charleston, South Carolina, 03:58 marched on Washington in New Jersey. 04:01 The Americans fell back from Elizabeth town 04:03 towards Connecticut farms in Springfield. 04:06 Now Connecticut farms 04:07 is where Pastor Caldwell had his house, the parsonage. 04:12 As the British soldiers advanced into Connecticut farms, 04:16 a soldier walked by the parsonage 04:18 and looked through the window and found 04:21 Pastor Caldwell's children surrounding his wife. 04:25 According to one report, 04:28 as the Pastor's wife surrounded by her children 04:30 and holding a baby in her arms looked out the window, 04:34 the soldier took aim and shot her in the chest. 04:39 After she died, the soldiers dragged her body outside 04:42 and then burned the house to the ground. 04:45 A month later, the battles continued 04:48 in the area of Springfield. 04:50 The American soldiers ran out of wadding for their guns. 04:53 James Caldwell immediately rode to a nearby Presbyterian church 04:58 and gathered up all the hymnals he could. 05:02 He rode his horse out to the battle field 05:04 and distributed the hymnals to the soldiers saying, 05:07 "Let's put Watts into them boys." 05:10 'Course Isaac Watts wrote 05:13 most of all of the hymns in that hymnal. 05:16 And here we see a water colored picture 05:18 of Pastor Caldwell handing out the hymnals to the soldiers. 05:24 They ripped the pages out of the hymnals 05:26 and used each page for wadding and stuffed it into their guns. 05:31 James Caldwell and his wife fought for freedom. 05:36 They along with many others paid the price 05:39 for our freedom, here in this country. 05:43 There is one who sacrificed far more 05:46 in order to give us freedom. 05:48 Not just freedom in this life, but freedom forever. 05:53 "For God so loved the world," says John 3:16, 05:57 "that he gave his one and only Son, 06:00 that whoever believes in him 06:02 shall not perish but have eternal life. 06:05 For God did not send his Son into the world 06:08 to condemn the world, 06:09 but to save the world through him. 06:12 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, 06:14 but whoever does not believe stands condemned already 06:17 because he has not believed 06:19 in the name of God's one and only Son." 06:23 Who was this Son of God? 06:26 Who was this Jesus? 06:30 who paid the price for our freedom? 06:35 It's one thing for Pastor Caldwell, 06:39 who by the way died before the war was over 06:42 and his wife who was shot 06:45 while surrounded by her children. 06:47 It's one thing for two patriots to die for our freedom. 06:51 We can in a sense say that they died 06:54 so that we could be free. 06:57 But of course, it took the deaths 06:58 of many, many, many other people 07:01 in order to accomplish the goal of the Revolutionary War. 07:06 We can't say that Pastor Caldwell and his wife 07:09 are completely and totally and solely responsible 07:12 for our freedom. 07:14 It took a lot of other people, besides. 07:17 So how is it that Jesus Christ is qualified to be our Savior? 07:22 How could his death set us free? 07:28 What is the price of freedom? 07:30 And what qualified Jesus Christ to pay that price? 07:34 Well, we've got a lot of text in the bible to consult, 07:37 in order to find the answer to this question. 07:40 And we're going to turn first of all to Philippians 2:5, 07:45 Philippians 2, beginning with verse 5. 07:50 Here Paul says, "Your attitude should be the same 07:52 as Jesus Christ, Who, being in very nature God," 07:56 listen to his language here, "in very nature God, 07:59 did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 08:03 but made himself nothing, 08:05 taking the very nature of a servant, 08:09 being made in human likeness. 08:12 And being found in appearance as a man, 08:15 he humbled himself and became obedient to death, 08:19 even death on a cross." 08:22 You see, there's basically 08:25 two groups of texts in the bible. 08:29 One group of text says that Jesus was like us, He was human. 08:34 This text Philippians 2:5-8 08:37 is the first text in that group of texts. 08:39 Jesus was like us. He was completely, 100% human. 08:44 There's another group of texts which we will get to, 08:46 in a moment that says, Jesus was not like us. He was sinless. 08:49 Let's turn now to Romans 8:3. 08:53 Romans 8:3. 08:57 "For what the law was powerless to do 09:00 in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, 09:03 God did by sending his own Son 09:05 in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. 09:11 And so he condemned sin in sinful man. 09:15 " Now notice the language here, "the likeness of sinful man." 09:22 The bible here, the original Greek text does not indicate 09:25 that He just looked like a man. 09:27 The likeness of sinful man 09:29 meant that He was really a man, completely a man. 09:32 Combined with the previous text in Philippians, 09:35 we know that Jesus Christ was not just pretending to be human. 09:38 He didn't just look like He was human, 09:41 He really was human. 09:42 And if you need more evidence, let's turn to Hebrews 2:11. 09:48 Hebrews 2, verse 11. 09:58 "Both the one who makes men holy 10:01 and those who are made holy are of the same family." 10:05 That's pretty plain, isn't it? Let's read on. 10:07 "So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 10:11 He says, 'I will declare your name to my brothers. 10:14 In the presence of the congregation 10:16 I will sing your praises.' 10:17 And again, 'I will put my trust in him.' 10:20 And again He says, 10:22 'Here am I, and the children God has given me.' 10:25 Since the children have flesh and blood," 10:27 Listen to this, "Since the children have flesh and blood, 10:29 he too shared in their humanity 10:33 so that by his death he might destroy him 10:36 who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, 10:39 and free those who all their lives 10:41 were held in slavery by their fear of death. 10:45 For surely it is not angels he helps, 10:48 but Abraham's descendants. 10:51 For this reason he had to be made," 10:54 watch this closely "like his brothers in every way, 11:00 in order that he might become 11:01 a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, 11:05 and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 11:09 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, 11:13 he is able to help those who are being tempted." 11:17 There is no room to doubt. 11:20 Jesus was like us in every human way possible. 11:27 He was completely and 100% human. 11:32 But there is a second group of texts 11:33 and we need to discuss those right now. 11:36 The second group of texts says 11:37 that Jesus was not like us, He was sinless. 11:41 And those texts include 2 Corinthians 5:21, 11:44 1 John 3:5, and John 14:30. 11:47 Let's turn to our first one, 2 Corinthians 5:21. 11:53 2 Corinthians 5:21. 12:03 "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, 12:09 so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 12:16 Notice that there is a distinct difference between 12:21 Jesus' humanity and our humanity and that has to do with sin. 12:26 "Him who had no sin," says 2 Corinthians 5:21. 12:31 Okay, now we're going to turn 12:33 almost the end of the bible to 1 John 3:5. 12:37 1 John 3 verse 5. 12:43 "But you know that he appeared 12:46 so that he might take away our sins. 12:49 And in him is no sin." 12:54 Once again, there is a distinct difference 12:57 between the humanity of fallen, sinful human beings 13:02 and the humanity of Christ. 13:05 Jesus is just as much human 13:07 as we are with one important exception 13:10 and that is He did not have any sin. 13:14 He didn't have any sin on Him. He didn't have any sin in Him. 13:18 One more text, John 14:30. 13:22 This is the gospel of John now. 13:25 John 14 verse 30. 13:30 This is Jesus speaking. 13:32 He's been comforting His disciples. 13:33 This is a talk that He was having with His disciples 13:37 just before He went to the cross. 13:40 "I will not speak with you much longer," 13:42 He says "for the prince of this world is coming." 13:46 Now notice what He says next. 13:47 "He has no hold on me." 13:52 You say, what does that mean? 13:54 What does it mean, "He has no hold on me?" 13:58 The prince of this world is the devil, 14:00 Satan, that terrorist of the universe. 14:06 And because of our fallen natures, 14:09 because of our sinful condition Satan has a hold on us. 14:13 He has something in us he can take advantage of. 14:16 But that condition did not exist in Jesus Christ. 14:20 Jesus himself said, the prince of this world is coming, 14:22 but he has no hold on me. 14:27 Now if we put all this together, what do we have? 14:30 We know that Jesus was 100% human. 14:34 We also know that He was a 100% divine. 14:38 Now this isn't supposed to make Mathematical sense, 14:42 in the human sense of the word, 14:45 but we-- we go by what the bible says. 14:47 He was 100% human and He was sinless. 14:55 But the question is, how does all this give us freedom? 14:58 How does this qualify Jesus to be our All Sufficient Savior? 15:03 Why does Jesus' sacrifice on the cross 15:06 pay the price for our freedom? 15:10 First, Jesus was the only person in the universe 15:14 that could do anything about our freedom. 15:17 He was uniquely qualified. 15:19 He was fully human and fully God. 15:22 He was completely human like us, 15:25 but He was unlike us in that He was without sin. 15:31 1 Corinthians 15:45, describes Him this way. 15:36 "So it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being,' 15:42 the last man Adam, a lifegiving spirit." 15:47 You understand the significance of that text? 15:50 Jesus is called the second Adam. 15:55 In other words He won the battle where Adam lost it. 16:00 What Adam lost in the Garden of Eden 16:02 because of the temptation 16:03 through the serpent in the tree and his wife Eve. 16:07 Where Adam was tempted and fell, 16:11 Jesus Christ came and won the battle. 16:15 Not only that, 16:18 He went to the cross and bore the results, 16:21 not of His own sin because He didn't have any. 16:24 But He bore the results of your sin and my sin 16:28 He paid the price for our freedom. 16:30 Romans 5:6-8. 16:42 Romans 5:6-8 says, "You see, at just the right time, 16:46 when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 16:50 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, 16:53 though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 16:56 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, 16:59 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 17:06 So you see, Jesus Christ was imminently qualified 17:12 to pay the price for our freedom. 17:14 First because He was both God and man, 17:18 second because He did not fall. 17:22 He did not lose the battle where Adam did. 17:25 And third because He went to the cross 17:28 and He bore the sins of the whole world on Himself. 17:33 In Him was no sin 17:35 but there was our sin on Him. 17:41 This gives us peace. Why? 17:46 When you're in the middle of a war, 17:48 we say there's no peace because we're in war. 17:52 But what if you knew that the battle was already won? 17:56 What if you knew the outcome before it ever happened? 17:59 Wouldn't that give you a sense of peace, 18:01 even in the midst of the war? 18:03 And that's how Jesus Christ 18:05 gives us peace in our everyday lives now. 18:08 Because of what He did on the cross the battle is won. 18:12 We have freedom that has been paid for with His blood. 18:17 And because we know through His sacrifice on the cross 18:21 we know the end result of this battle 18:23 with the terrorist of the universe, Satan, 18:26 we can have peace. 18:28 Notice the words of the gospel of John. 18:31 John 16:33. 18:40 John 16:33 says, "I have told you these things," 18:43 this is Jesus talking, "so that in me you may have peace. 18:49 In this world you will have trouble. 18:51 But take heart. I have overcome the world." 18:58 In spite of the fact, that we live in a war zone today, 19:02 we know that we can have peace and victory 19:06 because what Jesus already did for us on the cross. 19:11 Like Pastor James Caldwell 19:13 who had to preach with two loaded pistols 19:15 on his pulpit and like his wife 19:17 who was shot to death, we live in a war zone. 19:22 It is a temporary war zone, but it's still a war zone. 19:25 The good news is we know who wins. 19:29 Jesus has already paid the price of victory. 19:31 Because of that we can be at peace, 19:35 even though we're still at war with the enemy. 19:38 Satan will throw everything he can at us, 19:41 to convince us that we're not free. 19:44 But don't be fooled, 19:45 in spite of what happens in this world, 19:47 the only real freedom is found in Jesus Christ. 19:52 In 1873, a businessman named Horatio Spafford 19:56 was recovering from his financial losses 19:59 resulting from the great Chicago fire of 1871. 20:03 He and his wife felt that they needed to get away 20:07 and so they planned a trip to Europe together. 20:11 Spafford and his wife had four girls, 20:14 four daughters ranging in age from 18 months to 12 years. 20:19 Something came up at the last moment 20:21 just before he was to sail with his family off to Europe. 20:24 And so he sent his wife and his children on ahead of him. 20:29 And so they got on the boat and headed out, 20:33 out of the harbor towards Europe. 20:38 They sailed on a ship called the "Ville Du Havre" 20:42 which just as it went past the coast of Newfoundland 20:46 struck another English ship. 20:51 It collided and they sank within a half an hour. 20:54 Anna Spafford was rescued 20:57 but all four of their girls were lost. 21:01 Anna Spafford says that the baby 21:04 was literally washed from her grasp. 21:09 In those days, news didn't travel as fast as it does today. 21:16 And so, Mr. Spafford didn't know anything until ten days later 21:22 when the survivors finally arrived in Wales. 21:26 Finally, his wife Anna was able to send a cable to her husband 21:31 and the message contained just two words, "Saved alone." 21:39 Well, Mr. Spafford immediately packed his bags 21:42 and sailed to England to be with his wife. 21:46 And together they tried to find some consolation by meeting 21:51 with the very famous Evangelist Dwight L. Moody. 21:55 Moody reported that he did his best to comfort them, 21:57 but he also noted that the couple although grieving 22:01 was able to trust God. 22:04 "It is well," Mr. Spafford said. 22:07 "The will of God be done." 22:11 Would you be able to say 22:12 that in the phase of such horrendous tragedy? 22:17 It's hard to know how one would react in a situation like that. 22:25 But I believe in such extreme cases, 22:27 grace is given when it's needed. 22:31 And Horatio Spafford and his wife Anna, 22:34 although suffering the complete loss of their little family, 22:37 their four girls, were able to say, 22:40 in spite of their grief, 22:43 "It is well, God's will be done." 22:47 Upon returning to the United States, 22:49 Mr. Spafford took the two word' cable, "Saved alone" 22:55 and had it framed and put up in his office. 22:58 A rather strange memento, you might think. 23:01 But two years later, Ira Sankey, 23:05 who was the musician that worked with Dwight L. Moody, 23:07 came through the area and visited with Horatio. 23:11 And once again they sat down 23:13 and they discussed this horrible tragedy 23:14 that had happened two years before. 23:17 Once again, 23:19 Horatio expressed his complete trust in God. 23:26 And then a very interesting thing happened, 23:29 Horatio out of his, out of his grief 23:33 and remembering this horrible tragedy 23:36 when all four of his girls 23:38 had simply been swept out of his life, 23:42 but also, at the same time 23:45 relying completely on God 23:48 who has paid the price for our freedom, 23:53 who gives us peace even in the midst of a war zone. 23:57 Horatio Spafford sat down and began to write a song. 24:02 "When peace like a river, attendeth my way, 24:07 When sorrows like sea billows roll, 24:10 Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 24:14 It is well, it is well, with my soul." 24:19 Whenever you sing that hymn, 24:20 I hope you remember 24:22 Horatio Spafford and his wife Anna. 24:26 Songs like this were not written out of easy times. 24:30 Songs like this are not written 24:32 by--by people with circumstances that are 24:39 just blessed all time. 24:42 Songs like this are written when faith is tested 24:47 and when you don't have anywhere else to go, 24:50 but to Jesus. 24:53 You can know that He has already paid the price for your freedom. 24:59 And because Jesus, 25:01 that perfect human being, 100% human, 25:07 100% God and completely sinless, 25:11 because He voluntarily went to the cross 25:15 and because He bore all the sins of the whole world. 25:19 It means that you and I know, 25:20 that in spite of the fact 25:22 that we live in the midst of a war zone. 25:24 In spite of the fact 25:25 that horrible things happen, people die, 25:28 children are swept away from their parents. 25:32 In spite of that we know that this is not the end. 25:36 We know that there is a better day coming. 25:39 We know that the Son of God 25:41 went to the cross because He couldn't live 25:44 without you and me for eternity. 25:48 And because of that, we can sing just like Mr. Spafford, 25:52 "When peace like a river, attendeth my way, 25:57 Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, 25:59 It is well, it is well, with my soul." 26:05 What does it take to be able to sing that song 26:11 in the phase of the most horrible personal tragedy? 26:15 I'll tell you what it is. 26:17 When you know Jesus, 26:18 when you know the kind of person that He really is, 26:22 when you know that Jesus 26:24 didn't go to the cross because God was angry with us. 26:29 He didn't lay down his life because God was mad at us. 26:33 He went to the cross because the heart of God was breaking, 26:36 because his children were going to be lost unless, 26:40 he undertook a rescue mission. 26:43 And he knew the rescue mission was risky. 26:45 He knew that it would be costly. 26:47 He knew that it would require the ultimate price. 26:53 Some people go into battle not knowing what will happen. 26:59 But I can tell you Jesus knew 27:02 what was going to happen when He went into battle. 27:05 When He bowed in grief, and sorrow, 27:10 and loneliness there in the Garden of Gethsemane 27:14 and when he prayed, 27:15 "Father if it's your will, let this cup pass from me." 27:20 You can be sure that Jesus knew exactly 27:23 what the price of our salvation was. 27:27 But Praise God, He paid it for us. 27:30 Praise God, He was not afraid 27:33 to face the devil on his turf, even. 27:36 Praise God that He could go to the cross 27:38 and not only die on the cross, 27:40 but go to the tomb and be resurrected for you and me. 27:46 Knowing that Christ has paid the price of freedom, 27:50 that He has won the war already, 27:52 we can know that no matter what happens, 27:55 It is well with my soul. |
Revised 2014-12-17