I. At liberty! The very word has music in it. How full of suggestion of all that is bright and cheerful. To the captive Apostle it speaks of the bursting of chains, the angel deliverer, the restoration to friends, the recovered power of proclaiming to the people the glad tidings of the Gospel of Christ; to the nation roused at last to make a vigorous effort and throw off the long-worn fetters of despotism and superstition it speaks of the power to lift the head once more in conscious majesty to heaven, and to feel that now at length a noble future may be connected with a glorious past. To such the very word seems dearer than life itself, the only thing almost for which life is valuable, the one single atmosphere in which the breath of life can be inhaled with pleasure. And yet what advantageth freedom if we know not how to use it? The true use of freedom requires in every case, either for the individual or for the nation, moderation, thoughtfulness, self-restraint, respect for the feelings of others, definite conceptions of duty, and a deep and adequate sense of responsibility. Without these liberty is simply suicidal; with them, and just in proportion to the firmness of its hold on these principles, it grows ever more and more unto perfection.
II. Man's liberty is twofold. There is a liberty from without: freedom from all outward check or control; and there is a liberty also from within. This is the liberty without which all other liberty is valueless. Thought, speech, and action may all be free; but if the soul itself be not free also, we shall still, whatever we may be in name, be but slaves in deed and truth. The text ascends with us to this higher thought: "I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts." This is the very keynote to the music of heaven, God's will acting upon our will, the Spirit of Christ subduing and assimilating our spirit to itself; this alone is true liberty; this is taking captivity captive, and bursting the bonds of the soul in sunder. Such service is indeed perfect freedom.
T. H. Steel, Sermons in Harrow Chapel,p. 329.