5-30-21 am A Memorial Day Message - Dr. Chris Haizlip

but what i want to look at today is joshua 23 if you allow me i want to read about eight verses here of the word of god today joshua 23 and then i'll bring the message today the bible says it came to pass a long time after that the lord had given rest unto israel from all their enemies round about that joshua waxed old and stricken in age joshua called for all israel for their elders and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers and said unto them i am old and stricken in age and ye have seen all that the lord your god have done unto all those nations because of you for the lord your god is he that have fought for you how many of you still believe that today amen and i think we need to pray for the nation of israel and for our country behold i have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain to be an inheritance for your tribes from from jordan with all the nations that i have cut off even unto the great sea westward the lord your god he shall expel them from before you and drive them from out of your sight you shall possess their land as the lord your god have promised unto you be therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of moses that you turn not aside there from to the right hand or to the left that ye come not among these nations these that remain among you neither make mention of the name of their gods nor calls to swear by them neither serve them nor bow yourselves unto them but cleave unto the lord your god as ye have done unto this day you can go ahead and be seated i am looking forward to going back and sitting down with a preacher that i got a chance to meet this past week while i was up in virginia he came to the meeting a couple of times he pastors a baptist church not far from where i was preaching about 50 minutes away the church he pastored he started in a building sort of like the building that uh the different companies out of here or through people in this church build that type of building and they started that church in it and my wife got a chance to play the organ uh from uh the church there that was still there but as that church grew a little bit uh there come a time when some things happen and a lady just there in the county somehow had a full church building that she uh wanted to give to this church but she was not allowed to give it away because of an agreement that had been made years ago and so she sold it to the church for a dollar and so now they're in a building that they bought for a dollar the preacher said he knew he wanted it because it had a paid parking lot and you just have to see where they are and where we were in the sticks uh no cell service know anything uh where they were at this particular church the reason i mentioned that as a pastor is a unique fellow the pastor is a man that is a civil war and revolutionary war historian i'm talking about he probably has forgotten more dates and more things that i or you could ever know in our life and we sat down at a breakfast table with he and his wife and the pastor i was preaching for and we sat there and all around us was uh so much memorabilia all around us of revolutionary war civil war i literally got to uh look at a civil war flag that flew after the war it ended that was on his wall that was valued at 40 000 and that flag it flew over the veterans of the civil war right after i held guns in my hand uh that were of value of some of them 15 to 20 25 000 guns he collected this stuff all his life but i'll tell you what really got a hold of me he set out he began to talk about how that years ago america being founded on the principles that it was and how that years ago the leaders of america's military guide their advice from preachers they got their advice from the spiritual leaders of that day the more he talked about it and the more i listened the more he talked about some of the great leaders of america and then he mentioned a book and i told miss wendy i said i want you to order me that book and so miss wendy ordered the book the name of it i'm talking about preachers of the great revolution somewhere in that name that's close and we got it in and i began to read one of the sermons in it just the other day at the house and i was amazed i was amazed brother dermott and i'll give you the correct titles have new because you want it but i was amazed uh those sermons were typed out in all their length every bit of it and how much preaching and church had to do with what we are as americans and i began to think about the price that people paid to serve and to give for this country i began to think about the shape that we're in today as a nation and i think you and i both know that we are not in the best shape far as leadership in this country and i think you know that there is a push in our country to go it away away from liberty and to literally go toward a way of communism and socialism listen i even heard this morning something that just absolutely blows my mind but somebody that serves in our legislature in america made the comment that we ought to look the other way when people break into cvs and walgreens and steal things because they might have a need then i like what one fellow said he said they ought to look at the oldest book what it said about it and it said thou shalt not steal amen and so we are living in a day to day where people literally are getting away from the very freedom but can i tell you this i still believe that america is a nation that needs to stand up for the freedom that we have and not compromise that freedom and so today as we think about the passage that i've read we think about joshua and how that joshua announced an old man he followed that to moses the bible said about joshua as i was with moses so shall i be with thee he followed after moses god had done a great work god had made some great crossings god had done some great things but then god said to joshua wanted the people to know don't you forget what god has done for you you think about the day in this auditorium all the hands that went up in this place today with all these hands that went up or many that have given their lives for this nation there are memorials all across our land today that have been somewhat uh of a reminder to us of what was paid and the price that was given no doubt as you think about today uh memorial day you can't help but to think about that it's more than a beach trip or a cookout it's more than just a get-together but when we think about memorial day we ought to think about those that keep us safe and give us the freedoms today so we can come in here worship and praise god and even today the freedom to eat a hamburger or whatever else as a nation that's free when we celebrate memorial day i think it's very important to understand that even in chapter 24 and i preached about this many times how that those stones were set up as a memorial and he said someday when when the young people come by and they'll see those and they'll ask what mean these stones uh someday you'll be able to say this is when god gave us freedom this is when god brought us across this is when god delivered us free we ought to thank god for the freedoms we have today in our country i want you to notice three things in the chapter that i've read and i know this is more of a solemn message i know this is more of a message today on a sunday morning about memorial day but i want to say this to you today and i want you to get a hold of this for the sake of our children and for the sake of your grandchildren i believe that we need to as americans understand our freedoms notice if you would in joshua 23 and verse number 6 the bible says be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of moses that you turn not aside there from to the right hand or to the left how many of you are convinced in that verse that what god is saying to us is let's not get complacent let's not get complacent and let people take away the very foundation the very structure that very rock in which we're built all and that is faith in the bible the lord jesus christ and we ought to not get complacent when it comes to that amen as a nation we've become very complacent forgotten our christian heritage matter of fact today you have people that say oh america's not a christian it was founded upon christian principles it was founded upon the right things and understand this there were people that gave their lives in order for you and i to have this freedom even back in the revolution even back uh when england tried its mass to shut america down god had his hand on america but i'm afraid in our day and time today we've got complacent i'm afraid that we're letting things slip by because of our complacency i'm afraid that we don't fly the flag as high i'm afraid that we don't stand for what we ought to stand for i'm afraid we're letting people talk us out of love for our country i'm afraid we've gotten complacent uh in the very thing of standing for what's right and can i tell you this for all the blood that was shed on every foreign field for all the blood that was shed at 9 11. for all the blood that was set in the revolutionary war for everything that's been done you and i do not need to be complacent but we need to be thankful for those that paid the ultimate price for our country amen that's exactly what god was saying to israel here in joshua 23. he was saying to israel here in joshua 23 be very courageous he was saying to them be very courageous be very courageous why he was saying to thee i don't move to the left or to the right stand where you are and stand firm where you are and don't move god said i've delivered you as a nation i've done things for you as a nation joshua has been used of god to lead you as a nation but don't turn to the left or right stand for what is right and i want to encourage you today as a christian that you make sure far as an american you stand for what is right but you also make sure as far as a christian you don't move to the left or to the right but you stay steady on the course that god has placed you on listen complacency complacency will rob us of the freedom that others have bought and others have paid for look at verse number seven the bible says that ye come not among these nations these that remain among you now i don't have time to get into the god's history and time to get into the land that's there but it is all bible right here you understand that here's what god said that you come not in among the nations these that remain among you neither make mention of the name of their gods in other words what he's saying is allah is not your god and somebody else is not your god but your god is the lord god jehovah and don't you make mention of any other god but god himself amen oh but listen we're living in complacency where people don't want to be offensive where people don't want to say anything about things of that nature we're living in a day where people don't want to talk about things like that because oh we don't want to be offensive to anybody friend listen i still believe there is but one god i still believe there is but one lord i still believe there is but one bible i still believe we ought to not be complacent but the second thing god says to them is they ought to not compromise order not compromise the god of america little g is the god is not the god of the bible that many people say because too many false gods have risen up the god of america is the same god of the bible but unfortunately i believe today that little god is replaced and we are not standing for what we need to stand for and we had better not compromise there are too many people that gave their lives and paid the price so that you and i could have what we have for us to to compromise what we believe amen by the way that also goes for christianity people that died on stakes in roman coliseums people that gave their lives so you and i could have what we have today compromise then i want you to look at verse number eight the bible says but cleave unto the lord your god as you've done until this day i want you to notice today what joshua was told he says not only should you not be complacent he said not only should you not compromise but he said there needs to be a commitment there needs to be a great commitment to the things of god free listen i don't know about you but i want to see god send revival i want to see god bless this nation i want to see god bless our churches as it has often been said and we know it to be true that listen only two defining forces have ever offered to die for us one is jesus christ and the other is the american soldier one died for our soul the other died for our freedom though we got freedom with both i want you to understand freedom comes with a price amen as i was looking through a few notes this morning i want to go back here for just a moment and i don't know if i can find this but i i want to go back for just a moment and see if i can i ran across something this morning it was a statement uh by patrick henry and uh if i don't find it i may read it to you tonight but it was a great statement that was made about our nation a great state listen he was convinced that any country that any country that does not stand for the cause of christ this is our leaders this is the founders of our nation these are people that were part of what america is that if we do not stand for what is right then we leave the very principles of who we are and what we've done as a country how many of you today are very thankful that you're an american how many of you today are very thankful that someone was willing to give their life amen apart from somewhat of the vietnam war america has always been a volunteer army always been a volunteer army it had always been people that stood up i'll tell you something that blows my mind brother vermont going back to the revolution of this country want you to listen in the book that i have preachers of the reformation preachers of the revolution one of the stories that our the preacher was telling us and it blew my mind he said that one of these preachers had had george washington in is america's fighting for their independence and his family had had him in and they were there at a table he breakfast and he said as he got done with a meal this minister went to the service and then they had a service in a church before these men were to go out he said as george washington's meal were lining up front to move the minister up front unzipped his robe and underneath this robe was a uniform of a revolutionary soldier and he said someone gave their life for me i will go give my life for america amen can i say this to you today friend we need that kind of patriotism today amen here's the words of patrick henry 1776. it cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religious religionists but by christians not on religions but on the gospel of jesus christ for that reason alone people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here is what we were founded on why don't you stand to your feet this morning and i want to say this to you just real quickly we have recently heard one negative thing another negative thing about our country brother heath we're not going to need a song but miss heather one of those patriotic songs in that book would be great we have heard negative about so many things in america have we not i mean i'll be honest with you sometimes when you think about our country sometimes it literally makes you feel like you almost be ashamed a little bit of where we are but here's a real fact the real fact is we still live believe it or not even in his condition we live in the best country in the world and that amazing even with all of our friends we still live but brother dermott if we get complacent and we compromise and we don't stay committed to god it won't be my generation brother clark's generation he and i both i'm 57 you 57 yet brother clark he and i both right at 57 it will not be it will not be our generation that pays the ultimate price but this generation will see in america like you and i never saw your grandbabies to see in america like your grandbabies never saw well preacher what difference can i make how many believe still god's still in the power of prayers amen how many believe there's still enough remnant in america for god i believe that don't you i don't want the blood to be wasted on the fields all around this world that gave us freedom i've never fought for freedom in america i've just enjoyed the freedom i didn't go to vietnam i was like born after that i i i i already dear in that conflict i i didn't i didn't serve some of these people in here have put their lives on the line could have easily left this world so that you today could put cheese on your cheeseburger without the government telling you you can't eat cheese see that's crazy preacher listen we're already getting to be a country show me your papers i remember brother russ he's in heaven now but brother russ loved to play that call of duty he loved to shoot them shoot them folks who's trying to try to take over he really liked miss terry he really liked those older ones back the japanese and and and the pearl harbor and then and they'd always get and then later on the the nazis used to every time somebody drive up in the truck they would say show me your papers if you didn't have the right papers then they'd either rest you or shoot you brother russ used to tell me he always liked to shoot him before they shot him but don't you listen this it's where we're going to go if we don't stand up for freedoms that others have given their lives for i'll be honest with you guys there are some things i am not willing to compromise and there are some things i'm going to stand on amen but i'm going to tell you this we better be thankful for those that paid [Music] the ultimate price today's memorial day we'll have a good time of church fellowship six but before we ever get to six maybe a good time this morning for us to find a place in this auditorium and thank god for the freedoms we have as an american how many of you still love america say man how many of you still love that flag say man [Music] i still do but i'm gonna tell you this for the sake of our children let's keep on pleading the blood praying for stirs of revival and asking god to do a work in our midst so while miss heather's playing this great patriotic song i wonder if we could end this service today maybe you want to come thank god for your freedom in christ no greater freedom freedom in christ if you haven't been set free by that blood of christ i'm going to tell you what today it's the greatest freedom you'll ever have i went down into the into the mire a shackled prisoner but jesus set me free maybe today you want to thank god for your freedom in christ maybe today you want to thank god for the freedom you have as an american today amen as we just get you to come and pray if you feel led of god to do so young people ask god to give you the america that you want to see a nation who still loves god still serves god [Music] maybe you'd like today to pray for our leadership the greatest thing needed for our leadership is america is they need christ let's be honest people do the way they do because they don't know christ they've never been saved they've never trusted christ so because of that they struggle [Music] i know about you today but i'm very thankful to live in a nation [Music] where we're free [Music] are you thanking god today for your freedom to be able to celebrate with your family [Music] to be able today to say lord i can go to church nobody's busting the doors in i can take my bible nobody's taking it from me one of our missionaries into china they just smoked in 30 some thousand bibles in the china underground said that ain't near enough people begging for the word of god risking their lives to get the word of god to people [Music] oh yes thank god for freedom i don't mind taking a sunday and thanking god for my freedom

Channel: Calvary Baptist

Views: 68

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: calvary baptist church, gospel

Id: fXiNb5qYFmU

Length: 26min 17sec (1577 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 10 2021