Historically, this is an interesting sermon for apostolics to read.
Doctrinally, it is a unique message for oneness pentecostals to consider.
Sermon: Baptism In the Name of the Lord Jesus
Preacher: William Crowther
Text: Acts 19:5
Delivered: Artillery Street Chapel, London, England
Date: August 27, 1867
Originally posted on https://thepillarandgroundoftruth.blogspot.com/2013/11/baptism-in-name-of-lord-jesus-william.html
Text: John 8:31-38
(31) Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
(32) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
(33) They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
(34) Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
(35) And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
(36) If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
(37) I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
(38) I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Freedom’s Hope
She is the Statue of Freedom and she is bolted to the top of our nation’s Capitol Dome.
FREEDOM: Achieved[1]
[A]ll persons held to service or labor within the District of Columbia
by reason of African descent are hereby discharged and freed.”
— D.C. Emancipation Act, April 16, 1862
T he Statue of Freedom was cast from Crawford’s plaster model at Clark Mills’ foundry in the District of Columbia. In 1859 an Italian craftsman demanded more money for the job. Mills then turned to one of his enslaved men, Philip Reid, to separate the five sections of the plaster model. Reid then worked on casting the sections in bronze. Once the casting was completed in 1862, workmen erected the statue section by section atop the Capitol Dome. The final section was bolted in place on December 2, 1863 with thirty-five guns firing a salute to Freedom. If Philip Reid was present on that day, he was there as a free man. The D.C. Compensation Emancipation Act had ended slavery in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862.
FREEDOM: Phillip Reid and the Statue of Freedom[2]
“I have endeavored to represent Freedom triumphant.”
— Thomas Crawford, 1855
The nineteen-foot six-inch bronze statue of Freedom crowns the cast-iron Dome of the Capitol. Sculptor Thomas Crawford’s second design represented Freedom as a female figure clad in classical robes, bearing a sheathed sword and shield, and wearing a liberty cap.
Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, a slaveowner from Mississippi who would later become president of the Confederacy, objected to the liberty cap “as the badge of a freed slave” and suggested that Crawford change the statue’s headgear to a helmet. The sculptor followed Davis’s instructions, and Freedom wears a helmet composed of an eagle’s head and feathers. Neither Davis nor Crawford could know that an enslaved African American would play a critical role in casting the statue.
The statue of Freedom was cast from Crawford’s plaster model at Clark Mills’s foundry in the District of Columbia. After an Italian craftsman in 1859 demanded more money for the job, Mills turned to one of his slaves, Philip Reid, to separate the five sections of the plaster model. Reid then worked on casting the sections in bronze.
Once the casting was completed in 1862, workmen erected the statue section by section atop the Capitol Dome. The final section was bolted in place on December 2 with thirty-five guns firing a salute to Freedom. If Philip Reid was present on that day, he was there as a free man. The D.C. Emancipation Act had ended slavery in the District of Columbia on April 16, 1862.
What a juxtaposition, a contrast, an irony…
The sculptor, Thomas Crawford, designed her, and Jefferson Davis had him make changes to her because of the symbolism of freedom her first design represented to the slaves.
The Italian who cast her mold was greedy and demanded more money. So, Clark Mills, the owner of Mill’s Foundry, turned to his slave, and in between 1859 and 1862 this slave worked on Freedom.
Philip Reed, a slave, was responsible for separating the molds and then casting the five sections in bronze.
Those sections were then bolted, one section at a time, to the top of the capitol dome.
On December 2, 1863, the last section was bolted and Freedom stood “triumphant in war and peace.”
By the time the last bolt was tightened Philip Reed, and all the slaves in the District of Columbia were freemen and freewomen.
The U.S. Congress freed them on April 16, 1862.
Could the Hope of Freedom been the force behind Philip Reed’s careful and expert work of the Statue of Freedom.
Perhaps, Freedom as an ideal moved him along his given path.
He was enslaved bodily, but his mind and heart and soul were free.
I’m not free, yet, but one day…
Then that one day came and was free.
What does it mean “to be free?”
Thayer’s Greek Definitions:
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries: “unrestrained (to go at pleasure), that is, (as a citizen) not a slave (whether freeborn or manumitted), or (generally) exempt (from obligation or liability): – free (man, woman), at liberty.”
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/free:
Freedom is Liberty
There is a freedom beyond chains and physical bondage.
It comes only from Jesus Christ.
The Lord has planned our release, and it is foreshadowed in the Old Testament in the way:
“At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’S release….And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day” (Deuteronomy 15:1-2, 15).
But, Israel didn’t keep the Law of Release, the Law of Freedom, and they were judged for it:
Jermiah 34:17, “Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.”
Isaiah 58:6, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”
True Freedom has happened when:
Freedom is here for you today: Luke 4:16-21
(16) And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
(17) And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
(18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
(19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
(20) And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
(21) And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Today is your Day of Hope, your Day of Freedom – Freedom’s Hope
After his freedom, Philip Reid signified his new found freedom by changing the spelling of his last name to “Reed.”
Today, you can also have a name change as you receive your freedom.
John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
[1] SOURCE: https://uschs.org/explore/from-freedoms-shadow-freedom/. Accessed: 7/3/2022.
[2] Ibid.
Text:
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 15:12-17, “(12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (17) These things I command you, that ye love one another.”
Proverbs 18:24, A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
Perhaps the most well-known line in the New Testament stems from John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world…”
It is essential that we receive His love if we are to be productive and successful in the purpose He has set before each of us.
“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you…”
Jesus is simply saying that considering the friendship He has offered and the sacrifice for us that He has made, we reveal the true depth of our love by “observing His commands from a principle of love”[1]
His love, His mercy, His Grace and His friendship has so influenced us that our return of affection and attachment to Him is displayed by our loving faith and obedience to Him and His Word.
But we have an adversary, who is daily opposing you to destroy you.
This enemy uses every tactic available to get you to lose heart and push away the friendship that Jesus has given to us, by disregarding His Word and losing faith in His purpose for us.
Peter’s epistle is clear, “(12) Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: (13) But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (14) If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified” (1 Peter 4:12-14).
We sometimes need to get a new perspective of what’s going on when we battle the adversary.
We are not the first person to suffer trials
We won’t be the last
Rejoice! Your trial – as long as you are living in obedience to God’s Word – is a sign that you are in the perfect will of God.
We are tempted to retreat when the enemy makes his moves on us.
To turn and run in the day of battle
But God is our strength and a very present help in times of trouble.
Jesus doesn’t abandon you. He is with you.
If you have the Holy Ghost, it’s His Spirit in you that gives and grants you power of overcome the most deadly situations.
God is you friend.
He said, “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).
Therefore we can say with boldness, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:6).
You’ve Got A Friend –Carole King
When you’re down and troubled
And you need some lovin’ care
And nothin’, nothin’ is goin’ right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest night
You just call out my name
And you know, wherever I am
I’ll come runnin’
To see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there
You’ve got a friend
Now, ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend
When people can be so cold?
They’ll hurt you, yes, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them
Oh, but don’t you let them
Don’t let the enemy take your soul, your hopes, your dreams, your faith.
That ‘ol slew foot devil is no stranger to ripping apart friendships, and he has several strategies he employs:
All that this enemy wants to do it destroy your friendship with God, but he is already a defeated foe.
Our friend has already defeated all the works of the devil.
You’ve Got a Friend!
No, Not One –Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1926)
There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!
None else could heal all our souls’ diseases:
No, not one! no, not one!
Jesus knows all about our struggles;
He will guide ’til the day is done:
There’s not a Friend like the lowly Jesus:
No, not one! no, not one!
A Word about Dreams:
Small dreams are accompanied by small struggles and little results.
The great dreamers all suffered heartbreak and were tempted to despair and give up on their dream.
To be tempted to toss aside their faith and lose hope because the opposition to the dream is so great is a normal temptation, but the dreamer who keeps moving forward is placing his trust in something bigger than himself.
Joseph held onto the dream God gave him throughout all his struggles, all his disappointments, all his opposition. If he’d given up on his dream…his purpose…his family would have possibly died in the famine, Egypt would have become a dust bowl, and God’s dream for Joseph…His purpose…would have been thwarted.
Opposition is a compliment. It is a sure sign that you are heading in the right direction.
So, don’t allow the carnal voices of the unsaved, the ungodly, or the unspiritual distract you from your purpose, or get you to lose heart and give up your faith in the dream God placed in you.
He called you to it, He will take you through it.
[1] John Gill
[2] Diffident. OxfordDictionaries. Oxford University Press.
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