VIDEO Living a Life Worthy of Sacrifice

The message of Memorial Day is one of sacrifice. On this day, we honor those who—throughout the history of our nation—paid the ultimate price to secure and defend our freedom. These were fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, who said goodbye to their families, never to return. It’s our honor to keep their memory alive.

In John 15:13, Jesus makes a simple, yet profound, statement: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (NKJV).

This verse often comes to mind when I think of the sacrifice of those who died in service to our nation. This is the ultimate gift—there’s nothing more a soldier can give. They’ve paid the price with their very breath and blood, all for you and me.

Of course, when Jesus said those words, He understood that He, too, would soon give His own life. In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (NKJV).

Our military members surrendered their lives to secure our freedom in this mortal realm, and Jesus gave His life—conquering sin and the grave—to offer us eternal freedom from the bondage of sin and the power of death.

1 Corinthians 15:55–57 reinforces this truth: “‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (NKJV).

This Memorial Day, I invite you to take a moment to consider the incredible price that has been paid by so many for the freedom we have in the United States. Be grateful for those who gave all they had for you and for me. Honor those who have gone before.

At the same time, devote yourself to living for Christ, whose death and resurrection opened the door to salvation. As Paul writes in Romans 12:1, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (NKJV).

Surrender everything to the one who paid the debt for you, cling to His promises, and live a life worthy of the sacrifices that have been made for us.

Living a Life Worthy of Sacrifice: A Memorial Day Message From Will Graham

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Memorial Day Sermon – Romans 5:5-8

When It’s Time

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

When my friends Al and Kathy Schiffer flew their iconic, World War II–era airplane to airshows, it was the reactions of the elderly war veterans that meant the most to them. They would come by so they could talk about the wars they served in and the airplanes they flew. Most of their battle stories were told with tears in their eyes. Many have said that the best news they received while serving their country were the words, “The war is over, boys. It’s time to go home.”

These words from an earlier generation relate to the war believers in Jesus are engaged in—our good fight of faith against the devil, the enemy of our souls. The apostle Peter warned us: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” He tempts us in various ways and uses discouragement in suffering and persecution to try to draw us away from our faith in Jesus. Peter challenged his first readers and us today to “be alert and of sober mind” (1 Peter 5:8). We depend on the Holy Spirit so we won’t let the enemy cause us to surrender the fight and bring us down.

We know that one day Jesus will return. When He comes, His words will have an effect similar to that felt by wartime soldiers, bringing tears to our eyes and joy to our hearts: “The war is over, children. It’s time to go Home.”

By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

What help do you need from God to resist the devil’s schemes? How could your fellow believers help you?

Almighty God, You’re far greater than anyone or anything that stands against me. Please help me to rely on Your strength and power.

For further study, read Know the Enemy: Revealing Truths about Satan.

The Cross: Grace Displayed

Because Jesus died, we gain abundant life, unconditional love, and a relationship with our heavenly Father Romans 3:21-27

At Calvary, God displayed His grace for the entire world. The cross represents the intersection of His holiness and His love.

Our holy God is without fault—so “perfectly perfect” that no man or woman can look upon Him and live (Exodus 33:20). We, however, are sinners. We were all born with a sin nature, which left us separated from God.

It’s important to understand that the Lord hates sin because it harms the ones He loves. Remember that God is love (1 John 4:8)—He created us to have a relationship with Him and desires that all people spend eternity with Him (2 Peter 3:9). Yet there remains the problem of our sin.

The Lord will not violate His own nature and compromise His holiness. Prompted by His own great love, therefore, He made a way to have a relationship with us: He put the sin of all mankind on Jesus Christ’s shoulders.

The Father sent His holy Son to be a perfect sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself and died on the cross in our place. When we trust Him as our Savior and receive His forgiveness, we are made new—holy, perfect, and welcome in our Father’s presence.

What Mean These Stones

“When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know.” (Joshua 4:21-22)

The poet George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” In the life of every nation, there are “memories” that must be preserved if that nation is to retain an awareness of its unique role among the nations of the world—indeed, among the long list of nations throughout history.

Long ago, God Himself instituted “memorials” so that the key events of history might be remembered. The rainbow was to remind God of His covenant to preserve life on the earth after the awful destruction of the Flood (Genesis 9:8-17). Jacob set up a stone after he had seen the ladder and spoken with the angel of the Lord (Genesis 28:12-22). Joseph insisted that the children of Israel take his bones with them into the land of promise (Genesis 50:25).

In our text, Joshua is told by the Lord to take 12 stones out of the Jordan and make a monument to commemorate the beginning fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham centuries earlier. That day, Israel was to enter the “promised land” and start its conquest of Canaan.

The Memorial Day that we celebrate in the United States began with the ending of the Civil War. Since then, our country has added many memorials. Each of them, whether a mere plaque, a lone statue to a notable person, or a vast and sweeping edifice, are all intended to remember some significant event and the people who made history during that time. Typically, we honor the dead who paid the ultimate price that we might live on—and we should. There are others, though, whose sacrifices in time and treasure were enormous. May our thanks this day “remember” all of them. HMM III

Is It Possible To Live A Righteous Life In A Godless Environment?

The answer of course is “YES!” Daniel of the Old Testament is probably our best example of someone who did it with class.

You may remember that as a Jewish lad, Daniel, along with his three compatriots, was taken captive into wicked Babylonia. Throughout his life, he demonstrated God’s faithfulness by choosing to live righteously amidst life-threatening pressures to conform otherwise.

HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE: Daniel lived in Babylonia, but Babylonia did not live in Daniel.

FOUR OBSERVATIONS ON HOW DANIEL DID IT:

1. DETERMINATION — Daniel determined in his heart not to eat the king’s defiled food.

QUESTION: Working as many of you do in the market place where compromise is a daily occurrence, have you determined in your heart to not take the first step toward defilement?

2. DELIVERANCE — Daniel chose to believe God for deliverance amidst humanly impossible circumstances.

One example was Daniel’s commitment to interpret the king’s dream before God guaranteed him the interpretation. Failure would surely cost him his life. (Daniel 2:1-23; Key vs. Daniel 2:16; See Daniel 6:6-23)

QUESTION: Are you willing to take steps of faith (when warranted) that could cost you an account, diminish your production, or otherwise adversely affect your career?

3. DEPENDENCE — In times of crisis, Daniel chose to be dependent upon his compatriots.

In the instances cited in 1. and 2. above, Daniel enlisted the support or prayers of his three Jewish companions. (Daniel 1:9-20; 2:17, 18)

QUESTION: Are you locked in with a team of friends whom you look to for mutual moral and spiritual support? Or are you choosing to tough it out alone? (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10)

4. DECENCY — Daniel chose to live a life of uncompromising decency.

After interpreting the king’s dream he chose not to yield to the king’s influence by accepting his gifts. (Daniel 5:17; Consider also Daniel 6:1-5)

QUESTION: Has your moral integrity been compromised by receiving gifts or favors from those in positions of power or authority? (Proverbs 23:1-3)

THE BIG QUESTION: “You are in the world, but is the world in you“? (John 17:13-19)

“One thing I know.”

John 9:24-41

John 9:24

Smooth words, but full of malice; they did not, however, deceive the resolute man to whom they were spoken.

John 9:25

That was enough for him, and he could not be beaten out of it. Surely the man who had opened eyes which had never seen the light before could not be a guilty person.

John 9:26, 27

He turned from his defensive position and warmly assailed his questioners. They were so determined to cavil that he refused to go over his story again.

John 9:30-33

This was splendid reasoning. The man’s eyes were opened in more senses than one.

John 9:34

Railing and persecution are the old arguments of those who are silenced, but refuse to be convinced. We must expect such things just in proportion as our enemies feel the power of our words.

John 9:35

Happy is it for us that Jesus is sure to come to us when we are cast out by men for his sake.

John 9:38

Being no Socinian, the divinity of Jesus was clear to him, and he acted accordingly. If the eyes of Unitarians were opened, they also would worship Jesus.

John 9:39

The process is going on—the wise are made fools, and the fools are made wise. Men who boast of what they know have their folly rendered more conspicuous, while self-distrusting honest-minded confessors of their ignorance are taught of God. Lord, make us to be among those whose eyes rejoice in thy light.

John 9:40, 41

If they really could not see, they might be excused, but, sinning against the light of which they boasted, they were guilty indeed.

To be sung or read

Light of the world, our eyes unseal,

Thy miracles in us recount;

Now on our eyelids place the clay,

And send us to Siloah’s fount.

Light of the world, our praises hear;

Thou hast our darkness turn’d to day.

Though foes may mock, we will not fear,

But all thy glorious work display.

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‘Tis no surprising thing

That we should be unknown,

The Jewish world knew not their king,

God’s everlasting Son.

Though we endure the sneer

And jest of wicked men,

We’ll patient wait till Christ appear,

For he will come again.

The Humble Place

All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. (1 Peter 5:5)

I have met two classes of Christians; the proud who imagine they are humble, and the humble who are afraid they are proud!

There should be another class: the self-forgetful men and women who leave the whole thing in the hands of Christ and refuse to waste any time trying to make themselves good. They will reach the goal far ahead of the rest.

The truly humble person does not expect to find virtue in himself, and when he finds none he is not disappointed. He knows that any good deed he may do is the result of God’s working within him.

When this belief becomes so much a part of any man or woman that it operates as a kind of unconscious reflex, he or she is released from the burden of trying to live up to the opinion they hold of themselves. They can relax and count upon the Holy Spirit to fulfill the moral law within them.

Let us never forget that the promises of God are made to the humble: the proud man by his pride forfeits every blessing promised to the lowly heart, and from the hand of God he need expect only justice!