Peter Marshall once prayed the following prayer before the United States Senate: “Lord Jesus, thou who art the way, the truth, and the life; hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make all free. Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved but also to be lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs too much to be hoarded. Help us see that our liberty is not the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to please to do what is right.”
No doubt Peter Marshall in this prayer was primarily referring to the liberty we have as Americans. He was praying for us as citizens to exercise that liberty in an honorable, unselfish way. But from this prayer it is clear that Dr. Marshall understood that the only way we can live out our liberties in a righteous way is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because it is only the truth of Christ given through His Spirit that can really set us free.
In today’s text we will be studying what I call “Our Magna Charta” contained in Acts 15, and we should learn some important lessons about how this freedom we have in Christ really works. So may God bless this important study today,
George