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All right, good morning everybody. Title of this message this morning is Free in Christ. Romans chapter 13 is a very popular passage in the Bible that teaches us the proper lines of authority. This wording, right, Free in Christ, kind of gets tossed around a lot in different churches and different perspectives of what the Bible clearly teaches us, right? You can go too far at any one end of the spectrum, right? As the sermon progresses, I'm going to show us a very healthy balance of what it means to be free in Christ. Today is the 4th of July and we are celebrating our independence as Americans. A lot of times people don't realize that we aren't free or have our liberties because of what a section of people tell us. We are free because we are born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches us right here in Romans chapter 13 that there are authorities in our lives that are God-ordained. So what does this mean? Free in Christ. Free from what? Well, let's look down, if you would, at verse 1. Let every soul be subject unto the what? Higher powers. So that means, kids, the word power doesn't mean like, you know, power like magic. It's power as an authority or like ability. So someone who is like, for instance, your dad, he has authority over your guys. Your mom has authority over you guys. Not that they have magical power, but rather God has put them in your life to be in charge of you. So when the Bible says that there are higher powers, we as people of society need to realize where does power come from? Where does authority come from? Well, the Bible clearly teaches all power is given or all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable, right? We know that the Bible is the final authority for all faith and practice. So authority comes from God. God has said, and then fill in the blank, period, end of discussion. God rules and reigns as a benevolent dictator. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So if he has a rule and I don't like it, guess who's wrong, me, not him. But nevertheless, God does not want us to be ruled and suppressed. God wants us to be free. God wants us to have Liberty. Think about the very beginning of the Bible, right? When God creates man and woman, Adam and Eve, right? He says of the trees of the garden, thou mayest freely eat freely. You can eat anything. You can virtually do whatever is pleasing unto you, except for the one tree of the knowledge of the good and evil thou shalt not eat thereof or the day thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die. So God had one rule. Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Do not participate in this. And that was a line that he drew in the sand. And that's the first thing I want us to get to understand about the subject of authority and being free in Christ. That without lines, there is no freedom, period. We need lines in our life to tell us, to dictate where we go and what we do and parameters in which people have ability to do X, Y, and Z. And in reference to what God has ordained, he has ordained the family, right? God ordained marriage, the husband and the wife and the children. And there's an authority structure built within that. We preached about that on Father's Day already. I'm not going to re-preach that subject, but men, fathers, husbands are the leaders of their homes and children are subject to their parents, their mothers. And Jesus Christ is the head of every man and is the head of the church. So what the Bible teaches us men to do, to bestow on our families, we do. So in reference to this passage, obviously we live in 2021 America in Hawaii. So what is the higher power in reference to our lives? Government is not a bad thing. It can become a bad thing. I'm sure you've heard the saying, absolute power corrupts absolutely, meaning that when someone gets too much authority or too much ability, it can get to their head and they think they can get away with anything. They can just do whatever they want and there's going to be no repercussions and there's no problems. But the Bible makes very clear that when you are bestowed authority, when you're bestowed ability, you are held to a higher standard. And Jesus Christ teaches that if you want to be called the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, you need to serve others. If you want to be bestowed authority from God, learn to follow, to serve other people because Jesus Christ was our example. He came unto us and was willing to serve us. You know, he had no reason to wash the feet of the disciples, but to lead as an example, he did that to show them that even Jesus, the son of God, God manifested in the flesh was not above this. Now this sermon, I am going to go into some historical things and this is not a history course on American history or anything else like that, but I am going to point out some highlights that'll help us to understand where the lines in the sand are for us to understand what it means to be free in Christ. So turn if you would to Isaiah 40. Now I'm going to be, you know, we're really used to in this church going through a lot of Bible. We're going to be like turning here, turning here, but I'm having you turn here in advance and I'm not going to get there for a while. I'm just going to quote a couple of passages to you to help you understand what the Bible is clearly teaching in rapid succession. So first Corinthians chapter nine verse one, this is the apostle Paul speaking. He says, am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you, are not ye my work in the Lord? So the apostle Paul is asking the people of Corinth, am I not free to do what I pleased with the Lord has told me to do? Am I not an apostle? Because obviously apostles are those who were alive during the time of Jesus Christ ministry and then continued the work. Now, obviously the apostle Paul wasn't there in the beginning, but on the road to Damascus, he then later on seen Jesus Christ, got saved and became an apostle, the last apostle. And he says, am not I an apostle? Am not I free to do these things? And it's true. The apostle Paul, the servants of the Lord are free to do what the Lord tells him to do. And it says, for instance, in Romans chapter eight verse two, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ, Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and of death. So what does this mean? When you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you were no longer under the law. Now, once again, this, the title of this message, right, was free in Christ. And someone can go really off the deep end with that. So you mean to say, now that I believe I don't have to keep the law or I don't have to keep the commandments or I don't need to follow the worldly government or anything like that? No, that's not what I'm saying. It is true that if you choose to not keep the commandments, if you choose to be a bad member of society and, and be an idiot, that you will be punished on this earth. You don't need to do that to maintain your salvation. But when the Bible says, Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death, understand this, something we have as born again believers is the assurance in our heart that we are on our way to heaven. And you want to talk about liberty. You want to talk about freedom. The number one freedom, the number one liberty that we or anyone could have in their life is to know that they are on their way to heaven. The Bible says in first John chapter five verse 13, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and you got to realize the blessing that that is. I know that if you look around in the world today, there are lots of people who are afraid to die. They don't know where they're going. They and they are truly afraid of death, but I have no fear of death and neither should any one of us. Why? Because Jesus Christ has promised us that if we believe on him, we are free from the law of sin and of death. I mean, think about how great of a mental freedom you have in your life when the world's freaking out about a global pandemic or they're freaking out about war, they're freaking out about fill in the blank. We as Christians can, we should be sitting back and relaxing and realizing, Hey, whatever's coming our way, we're going to be fine. We've seen the ending of the book. The Bible says in revelation that, you know, Satan is going to wage war with the saints and will overcome them. That might is going to overcome them. So obviously we don't need to be afraid of the one world order or the new world order that's coming. The one world system that is going to come, whether in our life or not, it is coming. The Bible promises that we don't need to worry. We don't got to faint death. Where is your sting? The grave? Where's your victory. We don't need to be afraid. We are free in Christ. We are free from the bondage of fear of death. We are passed from death unto life. We are saved and sealed into the day of redemption. We're going to start there because on a spiritual application, what does this mean to be free in Christ? You are freed from all your sins, from the punishment that you deserve. You are free to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the next point. It says in 1st Corinthians chapter 7 verse 22, for he that is called in the Lord, being a servant is the Lord's free man. Likewise also he that is called being free in Christ's servant. What does this mean? You kind of seem like it was a tongue twister there, but notice what it says. For he that is called in the Lord, if you believed you were called, right? Being a servant. If you're called a servant, like the apostle Paul was called a servant, like an evangelist, like a pastor, like a deacon, like someone who is doing work for God. If you're called and you are a servant, you're his Freeman. You're free. You don't realize that the way of transgressors is hard. The way of transgression actually leads you into bondage. Think about the person who's addicted to drugs. Do you think they want to use drugs all the time? Now yes, a lot do. Yes, a lot want to participate in that, but a lot of times they don't. They are slave to the drug, they are slave to the alcohol, they're slave to the pornography, they're slave to the television, they're slave to fill in the blank. When we go out and do the work of God, can't you just say you're a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ? No, no, no. Because if you love me, keep my commandments, and my commandments are not grievous, meaning that we can choose to disregard him, or we can choose to serve him. When you serve him, raise your hand if you've noticed in your life that when you serve the Lord Jesus Christ, you're actually realizing how happy and free you truly are. Because I know I have, and I know in my life, and when I'm out soul winning, preaching the word of God, sharing my faith with someone, I realize at that moment that this is freedom. You can't do that everywhere in the world. There are places in this world that today, right now, that if you go out and try to share the gospel with someone, not only will they imprison you, in ways they can put you to death, kill you. And that's a part of history that people do not want this message out. But we are free to do that. We are free to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the Bible says that the Pharisees told the early disciples, right, not to preach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ in the temple and house to house. They did not stop. No matter what law, rule, regulation occurs that says you cannot serve God, Jesus says you do it anyways. Why? Because I'm not afraid to die. What are you going to do, imprison me, leap for joy? Because what worse can they really do? Kill you? The Bible says, fear not them which are able to destroy the body, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Soul and body. If you take out the body, my soul, the Bible says to be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord. This is why I wanted to establish the foundation of what does it mean to be free in Christ? You're saved, your soul is secure, you have assurance that you're going to see the Lord Jesus Christ and you're in his blessing, you had graces, and you'll see loved ones who have also believed on him. But you have a choice, choose you this day whom you'll serve. Serve yourself, serve your community, or serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm here to motivate every one of you every single day to deny yourselves, pick up your crosses, and follow after Jesus. Because that is true liberty. That's what it means to be free in Christ. Galatians chapter 3 verse 28. The Bible reads, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Know what else? Free in Christ means you're free from racism. See a lot of people use the Bible to condone racism. They try to use it as an instrument to make racism happen. And I've always taught and I've always explained to people racism is obviously a wicked sin to try to think that you are better than someone because of the color of your skin or the people group you came from. And understand this, the Bible says that we are all of one blood. So racism is not saying that you are inferior to me. I believe racism is saying that I am better, I am superior to you. And the Jewish people never understood this. This is why when it comes to the subject of racism, some of the most racist people there are out there are the Jews. The people who call themselves Jews. Oh, how dare you say that? Look, they say they're called the chosen of God. They think they're better than the Gentiles, which the word Gentiles just means people of the other nations. But nevertheless, the New Testament clearly teaches us that what Jesus came to Peter, right? And he showed him a list of animals. He spread up in the veil and said, Peter, slay and eat. He says, Lord, there's nothing uncommon that has ever entered into my mouth. He goes, and he says, Jesus tells him that which I have cleansed, don't call uncommon or unclean. So Jesus Christ is showing that the job of the chosen people of God was to spread the message to all nations. Abraham was supposed to be a father of many nations. And you want to know the solution to racism today? It's not black lives matters. It's not supremacy of white supremacy or anything. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Look, bond or free, Jew or Greek, male or female, we are all one in Christ. Truly, the Bible is the answer to racism in our world today. Not only is it going to protect you, or is it going to show you the freedoms you have in your spirit, it's going to keep you free from what the world's trying to tell you about, oh, you're white, you're black, you're Asian, you're Mexican, fill in the blank. You're less or worse or whatever, suppress and so on and so forth. If you're a child of God, God doesn't care what color you are, red, yellow, black. God needs you your color. God made me my color. So why would he care? You know, the Mormon doctrine teaches that if you are darker skin, you're actually a bad spirit baby, and I'm not going to go into Mormon teaching, but they basically teach that the darker you were, you were a bad spirit baby, and that you came into the world because you're bad. That's racism. Nowhere did they get that from the Bible. The Bible clearly teaches we're all of one blood. It says, for instance, in Colossians 3.11, where there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, but Christ is all and in all. Galatians chapter 5 verse 1, it says, stand fast therefore in the what? Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. You got to remember, right, that during the time of the writings of the New Testament, we are changing from the Old to New Testament. So when it says you're not subject to the law, you're not subject to the ceremonial laws because Jesus Christ fulfilled those laws. That's not to say we do not, in our lives, you know, fulfill the moral law. Moral law is just like not lying, not stealing, not being a bad person because those sins have nothing to do with the spiritualism behind Jesus Christ fulfilling the law. Even though Jesus Christ truly fulfilled all of the law, now that he's done that, that doesn't mean I can go walk around and live a life of sin and be pleasing unto God. Obviously, Jesus Christ wants us to constantly do what we can. Do we make void the law? God forbid we establish the law. The law was a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. The law taught us that we needed a Savior. Then we built our faith in Christ and then we establish it. We show people that this is what God has always wanted from the beginning to believe on the Messiah, to believe on the Savior of man, and then to keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous. So how does this apply to us today? Well, like I was mentioning, we are in 21st century Hawaii, America, right? So we're going to digress into the lines in the sand, right? Because remember, there's no clear lines. There's no freedom because where does tyranny start and freedom start? Where does liberty start and suppression start? Well, there has to be a line in the sand that says that side is free. This side is not. And basically as Americans, I'm going to go through sub points of American history. Like I said, this is not a course on American history. We're just going to go through the main bullet points, but you got to remember the very first thing that people tend to forget as Americans, right, is that people in Europe were fleeing religious persecution of the Roman Catholic church. The Roman Catholic church was killing people, suppressing people from learning the Bible, from knowing who the Lord Jesus Christ truly was. They don't want it to control every aspect of life. This is why nowadays as Americans, we have a separation between church and state because the state religion of Europe was the Roman Catholic church. Now obviously during the time of the Protestant reformation, there was a changing going on. And there was a lot of protesting of the Catholic church and there were people who were calling themselves Christians that saw the Bible taught something very differently than what the Roman Catholic church was teaching. So they decided to start their own religious sects. You got, you know, Anglicans, you got all sorts of other different Christian groups of people, right? And they were trying to flee from Roman Catholic suppression. So then we have the discovery of America right now, I believe that the whole concept of Christopher Columbus discovering America is a fake, is a flawed. There are Spaniards and people of the Vikings that were coming to America for a long period of time. Now, obviously it wasn't the new land at that point, but it became the new land, the land of America, Northern and Southern America. So as these people were fleeing religious persecution, they started what are known as the 13 British colonies. Now I said British colonies, I didn't say the 13 colonies because a lot of people get this part convoluted. What do you mean? Aren't they just the 13 colonies? Yeah, but where did they come from? They came from Britain. They're a part of that kingdom. And they started the 13 colonies, the 13 British colonies. And then we go into the concept of the disputes over taxation and public representation with Great Britain. I'm not a professional in this field and this is why I'm just giving you bullet points, but we all have heard the story of taxation and representation of the 13 colonies. They didn't like what the king was doing at the time. They're taxing them ridiculously. The king was overstepping his bounds in lots of ways and they wanted nothing to do with it. They wanted to create their own nation. And with that being said, they started what's known as the American Revolutionary War, which started in 1775 and ended in 1783. And this established independence in America. Now understand this. We all know about the Declaration of Independence, right? That document that teaches that around this time is when America acquired its independence. That was in 1776. They were not free as of that point. They just all united together and created this document saying, this will be the rules of the new nation that we are forming. Because remember 1776 is way before 1783, but they finally put together this document. Now what did they say was going to be the supreme law of their land? They created the Constitution, right? And like I said, I'm not going to go deep into the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and these things, but the very first thing in the Constitution has to do with religious freedom. Like I said in the beginning, this is a part of American history that a lot of people tend to forget is that it's all about worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ freely, independently, without suppression of a group of people saying that they are truly serving God. And if we don't do what they say, they're going to kill us or suppress us or fill in the blank. So then with that being said, you all know the famous quote, right? In the Declaration of Independence, we hold these truths to be what self evident that all men are what created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, unalienable. Think about the term that's an illegal alien. Someone from Mexico or Canada who come into the United States has considered an illegal alien. Alien, it just means someone who's a foreigner. The Declaration of Independence is telling us that we have unalienable rights, meaning they didn't come from the government. Who do they come from? The creator, God himself bestowed upon us freedoms. And it's this term right. Think about the word right. You have the right to fill in the blank. You have the right to do this, the right to do that. What that basically means is that you're allowed to do this, but who gave allowance? Was it a government or was it God himself? God is the one that gives rights, allows people to do what they believe their conscience is teaching them through the word of God. If they're truly saved, they'll know the truth of the Bible. But obviously someone can look at the Bible like the Roman Catholic Church did and make it say whatever they want. And they did. And they destroyed a people for a long period of time. You remember the Dark Ages? It's called the Dark Ages because the word of God was put under a bushel and the majority common people could not understand the words of God because it was either written in Latin or Greek. But then it got translated into English and that's another subject for another time. The reason why we believe in the King James Bible as the preserved text. This is during the time of the Protestant Reformation when religious persecution was occurring with the Roman Catholic Church. Dang Dave, you just went through a lot of history in a short period of time. Well once again, religious persecution, 13 British colonies, the American Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence. We separated ourselves from Great Britain and we became our own nation. The nation's rule, the most supreme law of our land currently today is the U.S. Constitution which tells us we have the right to practice our religion freely. We have the right to go around and preach the gospel. This is why I said today that our way of showing patriotism is to go and preach the gospel. You think you want to show patriotism through fighting wars? You think you're going to show patriotism for voting for a certain leader? We are going to show our patriotism by preaching the word of God openly to people because throughout a lot of history and in other parts of the world, even to this very day, you're not even allowed to do this. So let's us practice patriotism by preaching the gospel. And like I was saying, the common person understood this. The pilgrims, the sojourners, the Bible uses those terminologies. We're known as pilgrims and sojourners, right? People came to this American land and wanted to spread the gospel to the Native American people. So there is a group of people that I believe, the founding fathers and people who established our government, that were not godly Christian men. They were actually free masons and they were devil worshipers and they actually did a lot of what they did, I believe, to protect themselves from religious scrutiny because they wanted to worship Satan freely. Now obviously we're going to benefit from that as Christians and worship the Lord our God freely, but this is another subject for another time, the founding fathers and things like that. But okay, David, we get it. The higher powers first, the Bible, God himself, the words of God. Second, we're Americans, right? But third, we got to remember we are Hawaiians as well. We are in the current occupied nation of Hawai'i, the kingdom of Hawai'i. I'd be doing this service an injustice if I didn't point out the fact of our American nation taking over the Hawaiian kingdom, the sovereign United Hawaiian kingdom, because it's a fact. It's not speculated. It's not theorized. You can look today in documents to see the truths of America taking over Hawai'i, which is a foreign occupation right now. Now let me start off with this disclaimer. I am not even advocating for Hawaiian sovereignty. I do believe that the Bible clearly teaches that God wanted there to be multiple nations on the earth. Through the time of the Tower of Babel, he tells them to go out and spread yourselves out across the world. Through the time of Noah coming off the ark, he tells them to go spread out and make nations across the world. In a perfect world, if the Lord Jesus Christ had his way, I do believe Hawai'i would be its own individual sovereign nation. I believe that from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Here's the thing. It's not today. I mean, for crying out loud, try to, in today's world, go around as a Hawaiian sovereign activist and not pay taxes and don't follow US law and see what happens. What truly can you do as a true, I mean, a Native American in the Cherokee tribe and the Apache tribe, they have a section of land that they can do whatever they want, right? And obviously if you're in construction, you understand this terminology, right? I need a permit to build. Wait a second. I thought you owned it. Why do I have to ask permission of someone else to build something on my house, on my property? Because who truly owns it at the end of the day? Now the Bible says, God is the one that owns heaven and earth. The earth is his footstool. But obviously people groups throughout time and history have taken it upon themselves to create their own kingdoms, their own places and so on and so forth. So with the subject of the kingdom of Hawai'i, basically you got to understand that the kingdom of Ahtui was an ancient name for the kingdom of Hawai'i and I know this is controversial and when it comes to Hawaiian history, Polynesian history, you're going to get, you get 10 Hawaiian historians in a room and you ask them one question, you're going to get 10 answers. But from what I've seen in my research, the kingdom of Ahtui was the original kingdom of the Polynesian triangle, the archipelago of the Pacific ocean. King Kamehameha, we all understood, united the islands and I put in parentheses united because he conquered them. He didn't like go over and ask, hey, can I be the king of your nation as well? Can I be the king? You know, he came and conquered obviously. And then he united what's known as the Hawaiian kingdom. Notice we have all these islands with different names, but the island chain is known as Hawai'i, which is after the big island of Hawai'i because he was the king of Hawai'i. So he then turned all the islands into this one kingdom. And obviously he had help militarily from Captain Cook, who was a person coming and discovering Hawai'i. Once he got cannons, he was able to take over all the other islands. But you got to remember after Kamehameha united the islands, right? His son, Leo Liho and Kahumanu, his favorite wife at the time, apparently that I know of, they abolished the Kapu system, which Kapu just means, you know, forbidden or sacrificial system. It's the forbidden sacrifices and the old religious customs of Hawai'i in the past. And you know, it's so funny, the same year that the Kapu system was abolished, what happened the next year? The missionaries came to the scene and Kahumanu and Kamehameha II established Christianity as the prime religion of the kingdom. They said, we are going to accept Christianity as the state religion, which is a great thing. But you got to remember, do you think everyone accepted Christianity? Obviously at that time, there's lots of turmoil in the water. A lot of people were not happy that the Kapu system was abolished. And all of a sudden these foreigners are coming and bringing with them their religion. But not only that, you know, the men and women in the Kapu system weren't even allowed to eat together. Right? So a lot of ladies actually liked the concept of Christianity because in their mind they're like, wow, not only can we eat together as husband and wife and men and women, but we have a lot of freedoms as ladies because the Bible has given ladies, remember male nor female, bond nor free. Women have been given a lot of rights once Christianity became the religion of Hawaii. But not only that, then we all understand the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 by the committee of safety. We all heard the history. We've all went to school here. And if you haven't come out and talk to me another time, we'll go over some of the Hawaiian history. But the committee of safety came and annexed or they are trying to annex the kingdom of Hawaii. What is annexation? Annexation a formal act whereby a state proclaims its sovereignty over territory hitherto outside its dominion, unlike cension whereby territory is given or sold through treaty. Annexation is a unilateral act made effective by actual possession and legitimized by general consensus. What the heck did you just say? Think of it like this. Let's say someone came over to my house and he's like, I'm going to live here and I don't actually take it upon myself to push that guy out of my house and like, no, no, no, this is my house. Get out of here. But let's say that guy comes here and comes to my house and just starts living in my house and then he starts getting mail sent to him. He starts telling all the neighbors it's his house and inevitably all the neighbors are like, Oh, okay, it's your house. But I'm like, no, no, no, this is my house. But I've not gotten mail in a long time. I've not talked to my neighbors. I've didn't tell them that I actually live here. They're going to be like, no, so and so lives there. So it's generally recognized that to this day right now, there is a sovereign kingdom that sits under U S soil, the kingdom of Hawaii, which is a part of the kingdom of a TUI by the way, which is the kingdom of the Pacific ocean. So lines in the sand, all that buildup was to talk about lines in the sand. If you don't draw lines, you don't know where freedom acts. You don't know where freedom is because no one's making clear the distinctions and they don't want there to be clear lines. The grayer, the less you could see a line, the more suppression can come. So if you don't draw these lines early on, you need to remember that you're subject to suppression. You're subject to tyranny and you're subject to being ruled. Now the Bible says the higher powers, you Hawaiian activists out there who truly want to have your kingdom back. You can, if you are willing to choose the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you got to remember what does the Bible constantly teach us? The Bible teaches that we as Christians are free in Christ. I don't care if I'm in Hawaii, I don't care if I'm in Guam, I don't care if I'm in Brazil, I don't care if I'm in Africa, America or wherever. If I'm a Christian, I'm free. My soul is secure. I'm safe. I don't care what color people are around me. As long as we're brothers and sisters in Christ, we're considered the brothers and sisters. Even if you're not by, even if you're not a saved Christian, I still don't get to suppress someone because of their color. But not only that, now we're going to go into nationality. If you're in Africa and you're a Christian, we are of the same kingdom. If you're a Hawaiian, if you're a native American, if you're an Eskimo, if you're a Mexican, if you're Chinese, if you're white, black, whatever nation you're from, if you're a Christian, we are all part of the same kingdom. And that's the last point I'm going to go into. I had you turn to Isaiah, right? Remember I told you I was going to come back to this verse. I just wanted to establish the concept of these lines in the sand. We say this time and time again. If my people, which are called by my name, should humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven. I'll heal their land. Do you think God was playing games when he said that? Or did he mean that? Did he mean that if my people, not everyone, Christians, followed the Lord Jesus Christ and made him the God of their life, that he would not heal the land? Why do you think everyone around us is living a life of degeneracy? Because no one is telling them, thus sayeth the Lord. God has said, you need to do X, Y, and Z. And look, choose you this day whom you'll serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And God can look favorably down on that and bless the people for that. It's too many examples of that in the Bible. But look, if you would, at Isaiah chapter 40, let me get there myself. You think you're great because you're of the sovereign nation of Hawaii? You think you're great because you're American? You think you're great because you're from any one people group here in Hawaii? You want to be proud of your nationality? This is what God has to say about it. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 12. Look at verse 17. So, the way God sees your Hawaiian pride, your American pride, He says, you are less than nothing. The kingdom of God is what truly matters. Did you know that New Jerusalem is coming? When the Lord Jesus Christ comes, He's bringing with Him New Jerusalem. He's going to establish His kingdom here on this earth. And you want to talk about freedom? That is when this old man will be shed off. The flesh will be shed off, will be given new bodies, and we will never sin again. And we will be serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Wait, didn't you say you'd be free? So why are you serving Him? Because service to the Lord is freedom. Like I was saying in the beginning, people don't get it. Well, wouldn't you get to do whatever you want? This is the American misunderstanding of the term liberal. When people are called liberal today, right? For crying out loud, look at the liberal agenda and what they're doing. They're twisting that term to mean whatever they want. Liberal does mean to be free, does mean to do what you see is best, but you're supposed to self-govern. You're supposed to govern yourself, prevent yourself from doing something stupid. Yes, you're right. You can choose whatever you want, but if you choose to smoke crack, guess what you're addicted to? Crack. If you choose to eat junk food, guess what you can't stop eating? Junk food. But if you choose the sword of the Lord Jesus Christ, guess what? That's peace, freedom, and true liberty and happiness. Look down, actually turn, if you would, to Daniel chapter four. Couple of pages to the right, Daniel chapter four. This is King Nebuchadnezzar, arguably one of the greatest kings of any nation at any time on the earth, King Nebuchadnezzar. In the vision that he had in his dream, he was known as the one who had the head of gold and every kingdom under him was inferior to him, less good, not as great of a kingdom and King Nebuchadnezzar was the king of this kingdom. Let's see what it says in verse one, Daniel chapter four, verse one, Nebuchadnezzar, the king unto all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. Okay. Sounds good. Starting off right. He's trying to send out blessings. Well, I'm not going to read all of the story, but later on he sees a dream, Daniel interprets that dream and tells him that you need to be careful and humble yourself because if not, God is going to slam you to the earth. Nebuchadnezzar never heeded that warning. And this goes to any president, dictator, any person who's a leader of any country. This should apply to you. You should memorize this passage of the Bible. If you are a leader of a country, look down if you would at verse 28, it reads, all this came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. And what was his response? The King spake and said, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty, while the word was in the King's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, Oh, King Nebuchadnezzar to the, it is spoken that kingdom is departed from thee and they shall drive thee from men and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen and seven times shall pass over thee until thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will remember the very beginning, right? The higher powers. God is the highest power. The Lord Jesus Christ, the highest after him is another nation. Nebuchadnezzar unfortunately thought he was all that and a bag of chips and Jesus Christ, God himself humbled him real quickly. He says, Oh, you think you're good. You think you built this. You don't understand Nebuchadnezzar is that I chose you as a vessel to judge my people to judge Judah because they were failing. Do you know why the Israelites were able to get into the land of Canaan? Was it because they were great people? No, it's because the Canaanites were being judged by Israel and let's digress the, the system that we just saw Hawaii. Do you know why you were taken over by the modern day Babylon? Cause you didn't serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore America took you over. Hey America, you know why you're in the religious freedom and the state that you were in today was because in the past you ran from the Roman or you ran from the British empire. Hey British empire, you know why you were, you are where you are was because the Roman Catholic church failed and the Roman empire failed. Hey Roman empire, you know why you are where you are was because the Grecian empire failed and you took over. Hey Grecian empire, do you know why you failed because you took over the Persian and we keep backpedaling. The Bible is teaching that God uses a people to judge a people because of their not understanding of the things of God. And look, God can humble and abase and lift up whomever he pleases at any time. This is why the Bible says all nations are less than nothing. Just the other week you were with me, remember we were going around soul winning and we talked to a Jehovah's witness and you know, the Jehovah's witness are big on the concept of the 144,000 people going to heaven, right? Which they're misunderstanding that passage and actually turn if you would to revelation chapter seven. And I love explaining this because even within this own passage of the Bible, it gives them the answer that they're just, and I quoted this passage to the lady to help her to understand that notice we go through 12,000 of each tribe, right? 12,000 of so and so, 12,000 of so and so, all the way to what adds up to 144,000 people. And I tell her, notice what the next verse says in verse nine. Revelation seven, nine says after this I beheld and lo a great multitude, which no man could number. 144,000? No, it's a number that no one can number. Of all nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with robes and palms in their hands. Where's the lamb of God? He's in his throne. Where's the throne of God in heaven. So if you are proud to be American, if you're proud to be Hawaiian, if you're proud to be an Eskimo, if you're proud to be Mexican, if you're proud to be Chinese, if you're proud to be fill in the blank, whatever nation you want to be proud of, you got to realize that God, these six things that the Lord hate ye, seven are an abomination unto him. One of which is a proud look. Do not be proud of your nationality unless you're talking about the kingdom of heaven. I am proud to be a Christian. Yes, I'm happy to be American. I am very happy to be American. Well, if you don't like America so much and you think it's all nasty and not good, like why don't you get out of here to one of these commie countries? Well, because I was born in America and I love the people of America. I love the people of Hawaii. And if there was a way that in my life I could help Hawaii become a kingdom one day, I will. You know how I'm going to do that? Point them to the Lord Jesus Christ and that if he chooses, we'll be willing to establish another kingdom here. But nevertheless, remember the story where the apostle Paul is about to get judged by the people, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, right? And he brings them to the Roman centurion and Paul looks over and then he says, are you ready to judge me a Roman? Because remember he was a Jew in every sense of the word, born of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee of the Pharisees above his equals, but he was also a Roman. I am in Hawaii, but I'm also American. So I'm going to use the liberties that America bestows on its people to do my job, to preach the gospel. And the apostle Paul did the same. The Jewish people were trying to judge Paul according to the mosaic law, which mind you, they were twisting and corrupting. But then he looks at the Romans and say, Hey, are you willing to put a Roman to death without hearing the cause? Cause that's not how Romans do their business. So then they realize like, Oh snap, you're a Roman. We better backpedal a little bit and look into this. So we're going to use the liberties that America bestows on us or allows us to have through God himself, to preach the gospel and show, share the message of the kingdom of heaven. And that's the last part I want you to see. Turn if you would, to John chapter 18, the kingdom of heaven, Jesus Christ, when in faced with Pontius Pilate, himself tells him, I am not of this world. My kingdom is not of this world. And we need to remember we are free in Christ. We don't need to be subject to any worldly government or kingdom or any person. If they contradict God himself, if God says, do something, we listen to God, not to men. We ought to serve God, not men. If we call ourselves a servant of Christ, we should not be pleasing unto men. Now look down if you would at John chapter 18, verse 28, it reads, then led they Jesus from Caiaphas under the hall of judgment. And it was early and they themselves went not into the judgment hall lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out unto them and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, if you were not a malefactor, which is another way of saying a criminal in a way, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, art thou the King of the Jews? So he's asking him clearly, are you who you say you are? Are you who they are saying you are? He's nervous at this point. Jesus answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself or did others tell it, tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What has thou done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I'm a king. To this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, what is truth? That's such a powerful statement because even though Jesus is looking Pilate in the face and saying, anyone who wants to hear the truth listens to me and then Pilate looks at him and is like, well, what is truth? Showing that Pilate didn't get it. He didn't understand who he really was. And it goes on to read him, when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews and said unto them, I find no fault at all, but ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? They cried, then cried they all again, saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber and let's look down into chapter 19 verse one. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him and the soldiers plated a crown of thorns and put it on his head and they put on him a purple robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews. They smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them, behold, I bring him forth to you that ye may know that I find no fault in him. What a cowardly way out. He's like, I'm going to scourge him and beat him in hopes that they have pity on him and do it anyways. And then it's funny because look what Pilate's response is to this. Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate saith unto them, behold, the man, when the chief priests therefore an officer saw him or saw they cried out saying, crucify him, crucify him, Pilate saith unto them, take ye him and crucify him for I know I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid, which he ought to have been afraid, and went again into the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have what? Power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? This is the verse I want you to see. Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above, therefore he that delivereth me unto thee had the greater sin. And verse 12 is the last verse, and from henceforth Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend, whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. So once again, Pilate sought, he had power over Jesus Christ, the son of God. And notice he keeps asking him, Are you the son of God? Are you the son of God? Are you who you say you are? Let me just beat you a little bit, and then they'll have sympathy, are you? Who are you? Who are you? And he finally just is like, you know what? You're not listening. As the Bible clearly teaches with the Pharisees, that seeing they will not see and hearing they will not perceive and understand. So obviously Pilate was missing the ball here. And then when Jesus gives him silent treatment, he's like, Don't you realize I have power over you to kill you or not? And Jesus is like, You don't got any power, dude. The higher powers, freedom comes from the highest. God himself, Jesus Christ himself, bestows ability, authority and power on whosoever he wills. Nebuchadnezzar, he'll lift up, he'll slam to the earth. Pilate, he'll lift up, he'll slam to the earth. King David himself, the nation of Israel, the Jews, he lift them up, he slammed them down because he's trying to show that all power belongs to God, to Jesus Christ himself. And we are free in Christ. Our sins are forgiven. The Bible says, if at all possible, that peaceably with all men, we will in our lives, I will in my life go around trying to live peaceably with everyone. Our government, neighbors, my boss and people, I'm going to try to if at all possible, if at all possible, live peaceably with all men. But you need to yourself draw a line in the sand and say, where's the line where a government, a king, a boss or someone has overstepped into what the Bible says is Christian liberty, free in Christ. And you got to find that the Bible will discuss this and explain this to you. Think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Nebuchadnezzar says, I'm going to throw you in the fiery furnace if you will not worship this image. And what did they say? We're not careful to answer the in this matter, if our God be able, which mine knew he is and was and did, but we're still not going to worship your image. So if tomorrow the government decides to say, you're going to do what we say, and it's against the commandments, the teachings, the clear understandings of God, I'm not careful to answer these. What did Esther say? If I perish, I perish. If I'm going to, I'm going to attempt to do the right thing, but if they kill me in the process, bless be the name of the Lord. There are too many examples in the Bible where Christians who are free in Christ chose who they will serve. Will you serve Nebuchadnezzar when he tells you to worship a golden idol, or will you serve the Lord Jesus Christ and tell him, no, I am free in Christ and I am not careful to answer the, in this matter, will you go out of your way to fight? I'm not in my life trying to bring the kingdom into the world in light of, you know, there are some people who believe that we as Christians are going to establish the kingdom on earth when really the Bible says Jesus Christ is going to come and establish his kingdom on earth. We need to look to him to establish his kingdom. We're going to try to get as many people into the kingdom. We're going to go around and preach the gospel, but when it comes to America, the kingdom of Hawaii, wherever you're from, understand this, if you are saved, you are free in Christ. And if you can try to live peaceably with all men, but nevertheless, we have to serve God rather than men. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you so much for your freedom. Thank you so much for saving us from our sins. Thank you so much for allowing us to go around preaching your message of salvation to the lost freely, without suppression, without fear of violence and all these other things. But even if people decided to do that, we thank you that you are willing to look out and protect us. Please be with us for the rest of the day. Help us to be safe, going out soul winning, to guide us to those who want to hear it and to avoid those who don't. In Jesus Christ's name we pray, Amen. Amen.