{"id":44029,"date":"2011-07-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/president-lincoln-tells-former-slaves-how-to-live-free\/"},"modified":"2011-07-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-04T00:00:00","slug":"president-lincoln-tells-former-slaves-how-to-live-free","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/president-lincoln-tells-former-slaves-how-to-live-free\/","title":{"rendered":"President Lincoln Tells Former Slaves How to Live Free"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the last days of the Civil War, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia, fell to the Union army. Abraham Lincoln insisted on visiting the city. Even though no one knew he was coming, slaves recognized him immediately and thronged around him. He had liberated them by the Emancipation Proclamation, and now Lincoln&#39;s army had set them free. According to Admiral David Porter, an eyewitness, Lincoln spoke to the throng around him:<\/p>\n\n<p>&quot;My poor friends, you are free&mdash;free as air. You can cast off the name of slave and trample upon it &hellip;. Liberty is your birthright.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<p>But Lincoln also warned them not to abuse their freedom. &quot;Let the world see that you merit [your freedom],&quot; Lincoln said, &quot;Don&#39;t let your joy carry you into excesses. Learn the laws and obey them.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<p>That is very much like the message Jesus gives to those whom he has liberated by his death and resurrection. Jesus gives us our true birthright&mdash;spiritual freedom. But that freedom isn&#39;t an excuse for disobedience; it forms the basis for learning and obeying God&#39;s laws.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3447,3738,3937,4018,4051,4082,4088,4318,4341,4343,4366,4367,4552,4782],"tax_ctp_topics":[384,386],"class_list":["post-44029","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-assurance","tax_ctp_tags-death-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-faith-works","tax_ctp_tags-freedom","tax_ctp_tags-gift-of-salvation","tax_ctp_tags-good-works","tax_ctp_tags-grace","tax_ctp_tags-justification-by-faith","tax_ctp_tags-law","tax_ctp_tags-lawlessness","tax_ctp_tags-liberty","tax_ctp_tags-license","tax_ctp_tags-obedience","tax_ctp_tags-redemption"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>President Lincoln Tells Former Slaves How to Live Free - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/president-lincoln-tells-former-slaves-how-to-live-free\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Lincoln Tells Former Slaves How to Live Free - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the last days of the Civil War, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia, fell to the Union army. 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