July 22, 2007
Rev. Terry D. Campbell

Take the Freedom Trail
Hebrews 12:1-11 (TNIV)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ²fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

⁴In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as children? It says,

‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, ⁶because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his child.’

⁷Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline--then you are not legitimate children at all. ⁹Moreover, we have all had parents who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! ¹⁰Our parents disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

My last church camp experience—I was the Leader of an outpost camp at IndiCoSo. It was a Jr. Hi. outpost (ruffing it) camp—and we had mostly 7th and 8th graders. It was a long week and as the week kids kept getting sick—so much so that the Bedford Hospital where we were to take the kids told us don’t bring us anymore kids. It was a mystery. Then near the end of the week, around a campfire, 4 or 5 kids passed out and just dropped. What we finally discovered was that these kids had not been away from home before and they were not using the outdoor johns. They were making themselves sick, poisoning their bodies.

One of the seven signs of life is Excretion. It is an important part of daily life—not just in the bathroom, but C02, and dead skin (exfoliation). Excretion is about the elimination of toxic, harmful waste material so that the life is not poisoned to death.

Speaking spiritually, each of us have to regularly “flush away” the sin that tries to accumulate in our lives throughout each day. Sin, unless decisively dealt with, will enslave us with its poisoning effects.

I. Sin, like slavery, can bring bondage into our lives.

“let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”

If we compare life to a running race, we would say that it is easier to run if we are not carrying extra burdens, wearing chains or confining handcuffs. Try running sometime with your hands tied together or your feed in chains.

I recently read the autobiography of Fredrick Douglas, former slave and abolitionist leader in the Civil War era. That was horrible bondage! Sin is more subtle than slavery in bringing bondage but just as real. It is debilitating! Maybe it doesn’t look like it at first, but all sin is poison to our lives. God tells us in Galatians 6:7-“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” And 99% of the time, we will reap not only what we sow but more than we sow and at a later time than we sow.

Think of examples of what we allow to become hindrances in our lives: Ungodly pride—where we are unwilling to admit error on our part—or to ever be willing to change. We hurt our own growth as well as that of others around us. It can keep us from being willing to ask for help—or from being willing to give forgiveness.

Temper or self-centered living—can keep us from learning God’s purpose for which He created us—expecting us to serve rather than to just be served.

Lying—Little ones—need bigger ones to cover them up—and they need more to cover them up, and so it goes.

We’re very much aware of immoral ways to make money—greed—we see in the news Michael Vick may well have destroyed his promising career in football through abuse of dogs—to make money. Barry Bonds (chasing the “eternal” home run record of Hank Aaron-who did the impossible and caught Babe Ruth’s home run mark) will never be given the credit because of his messing around with illegal substances. Pete Rose was a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame—except that he shackled himself with illegal betting and gambling and may have destroyed his chances for the Hall of Fame.

Sin brings bondage into our lives. We should try to avoid carrying around sin’s sacks of heavy garbage as we are trying to run the race of life.

II. We should have higher goals than “slave-mentality”.

Slavery is not the life that God designed us for in the first place and that includes slavery to sin. John 8:31-36-“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

³³They answered him, "We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"

³⁴Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’”

What are you willing to sell yourself for? “⁴In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’ We like to say, “After all, I’m only human!” That is a “hindrance”, a “chain statement”. “I can resist anything but . . .” What are you willing to sell yourself for?

We have a higher heritage than just giving in to the slavery of sin:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,” Hebrews 11 is the “Faith Hall of Fame Chapter”— listing many people who lived by faith rather than sight.

Jesus is both the starter and the developer of our faith—our spiritual abilities. We can learn from Him. “²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

III. We, too, must walk the freedom trail.

Hebrews 12:14-“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Here are some helps to enable us to walk the freedom trail to overcome sin’s power in our lives.

A. Prayerspiration. Pray for awareness of sin IN your life that you can cast it off and for wisdom to be able to learn to avoid new sin. It won’t happen without your starting now to want it to happen and asking God to help you!

B. Evaluation. Ask yourself in God’s presence, “Why is this an attraction to me? What is this an un-godly substitute for? Why am I not filling my life with what God has rightly provided?” Get yourself some answer—and Godly alternatives!

C. Confrontation. Get you an spiritual accountability friend or two—spiritual people you trust and value and give them permission to be honest with you—and you be honest with them in terms of how you are doing throwing off the sin that hinders and avoiding the sin that easily trips up.

D. Perspiration—We want to say, “I couldn’t help myself.” But God tells us, “4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’ We have the power of choice!

• “let us throw off everything that hinders.” “Throw off”—cast off with force. Develop the desire and ability to say, “No!” to wrong thoughts, attitudes or actions.
• “and the sin that so easily entangles.” Use your brain—If you know you are easily entangled by it, avoid it in the first place.

E. Inspiration—Hebrews 11 gives us a whole chapter of inspiring heroes and heroines to remember—others before you who have done it. “I’m not the first to have had to wrestle with this. Other Believers have done so before me and won.”

F. Identification—Most of all, fix your eyes on Jesus! Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith—the starter and the developer. The Bible tells us that He who began a good work in you will carry it through to completion—if we will trust and walk with Him. The choice is our

What will you do now?

Will you walk with me the Freedom Trail—not being slaves on the Underground Railroad going to the freedom of Canada, but as Christians seeking to live in freedom from the lure of sins and the problems they bring to our lives? Let’s take the freedom trail in Christ and As God’s word truly says, “¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” As we shun sin and cast it away from our lives, we fill find a blest new freedom! Amen.