The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1904-07-02

lU MN the rule and posses
1-S sion Of England;
we think of the he
roic struggle which followed, OF the
brave, precious lives laid upon the al
tar Of a nations need. We say: This
is what it cost to win our freedom"
We speak of the Christian's freedom and
think Of the bondage into which man
was plunged by sin; we think of his
hopeless, helpless condition, of his eff
forts to win his own d~eliverance, and
then we think of the great Deliverer
come to win success where man has
failed, to give His life that mans life
might be redeemed. And we say: This
is the price which has been paid for the
Christians freedom" Freedom is a
word not Of American coinage, but has
an older and a Diviner origin. In the
extravaganza Of enthusiasm we Amer
leans sometimes encourage ourselves in
the belief that We were the discoveries
Of the genuine brand of liberty. and that
the soil and climate Of the United States
afford about the only favorable condl-
lions for the growth of the flower OF
freedom. But we forget that God es-
tablished the principle Of liberty when
He placed man upon the earth, and gave
him the freedom of choice Of good and
evil. Jefferson has said The God
Who gave US life, gave Us liberty at the
same time" The foundations of this
government are laid Upon this underly-
ing principle.
THERE is much that is thought OF as
l. liberty, and a great deal which is
promulgated as liberty, which is as for
eign to real, true liberty as goodness is
foreign to the Devil and his angels.
Schiller declared that freedom was only
In the land Of Dreams" because that
which was Haunted as freedom was a
perversion, vas a travesty upon the fair
term which proves so attractive to
every human being. And because OF hu-
man frailties and failures, because OF
selfshness, and prejudice. and ignorance,
true freedom is more an ideal than it is
a reality. 1t was for this same reason
that Nine. Roland could stop in her
march to the scaffold before the statue
of Liberty In Paris and a~postrophize 1t
with the immortal words: 20. liberty!
liberty! what crimes are committed In
thy name" True liberty, that liberty in
which the spirit Of Gods righteousness
and truth moved, lever committed an
injustice, never took a life needlessly,
never fought q war unnecessarily, never
sought unfair advantage or exacted more
than its due, and never imposed condl-
tons which were harsh and unreason-
able. And yet how much of what man
calls liberty and freedom is tinctured by
these human and u~nrighteous elements.
Never were words more truly spoken
than that liberty is purchased at the
price. OF eternal vigilance. A vigilance
which guards the rights OF others, as
we'll as protecting those OF ourselves. A
vigilance which is exercised with as
great sincerity and faithfulness In meas
uring the needs and rights Of our neigh
Dor as we use in estimating and de-
handing what we consider our own
rights and needs.
IF we would know what true liberty
or freedom Is we must turn to the
Divine author Of liberty" as we sing
It in our grand national hymn,
america" We must search not in
man to find its genesis and compile
ton. but in God, and in Gods Son,
Christ Jesus. We want to talk of the
Christians freedom, for in that freedom
is found the essence of all true freedom.
For freedom did Christ set III free"
Whom did He set free? What does
the term as here used mean? The
freedom which Christ obtained for
mankind is a universal freedom, and
while primarily it implies a spiritual
freedom from sin and its conse-
uuences, it nevertheless includes as
well freedom as connected with the
various secular relations Of life. Sin
is the great enemy of freedom. God
gave man the freedom of choice at the
time OF creation and sin entered in
and robbed man of the freedom to en-
Joy the blessing and the fullness
which were to be found in the garden
where God had placed man. And that
was only the beginning. Sin ever
since has been robbing man Of the
freedom which it vas Gods desire and
purpose he should have. Trace to its
every forfeiture of freedom,
every oppression which denies tbs
rights and freedom Of others. and you
find the tell-tale mark of sin.
And when for freedom Christ did set
free He struck at the very root of
the trouble. He put away sin in
His body on the tree, and thus gave
to man the freedom which is the be-
ginning of all freedom.
WHAT are the conditions and re-
wv strfetions of freedom? The condi-
ton of freedom implies union with God,
for, as we have already said, true free
dom cannot be known apart from Gods