Are You Chained Or Are You Anchered

ARE YOU CHAINED OR ANCHORED 1/27/03

Hebrews 6:19-20

Are you chained or anchored? What is the difference?

To be chained means that you are bound to something. Remember the master of Magicians, Houdini, would chain himself in some form or another and hang upside down, or submerged under water and he would escape the bounds that hold him. Or the old chain gangs where they would take the prisoners and let them work or the roadways chained with one another to prevent escape. Then I’m sure you heard the old slang about the ball and chain. (Usually when referring to the spouse) This refers to the weight of a heavy round ball chained to a person’s leg becoming a hindrance to ones movement.

Then you have anchored. I have a boat and when I want to stay in a certain place to prevent drifting, I will drop my anchor. This allows me to cast my line in a particular place in order to catch the big one. You see when you drop your anchor it prevents you from drifting. When you drift it can cause you to move from where you want to be to some place you don’t.

I think from the description I just gave, you can see where this sermon is going. So today we will look at some of the sins that bind us and look at what we should be anchored to.

Sins that chain us (2 Peter 2:18-20)

ADDICTIONS

1. Drugs and Alcohol

I’ve heard stories about Mom’s willing to sell their children for a few dollars so that they can get that next hit. I’ve seen people to be so addicted to a drug that they throw away their whole lives for that next high. A friend of mine, who made six figures, had the nice house, the nice cars, the Rolex, the wife and four kids. He threw it all away for a drug call Oxeye Cotton. Alcohol is a drug to. A legalized drug that has been the death of many a home. Some feel that you cannot be addicted to beer. Ask the liver Doctors about that. Substance abuse of any kind binds you from the relationship that God desires.

2. Sexual

Sexual sins are one that shows no prejudice against any race, person, or religion. It has seeks out the young and the old and everybody in between. It has destroyed ministries of some of the largest churches. It has destroyed many a marriage because of some short time fling. Pornography is no longer a situation where you have to go to some sleazy bookstore to get the material. With a click of a mouse you can have all you want in your own privacy. Satan uses this tool to reach our children. I had a friend of mine who recently found her husbands addiction to pornography was to the tune of $ 1,000 per month causing their home to almost be foreclosed.

1 Corinthians 6:18, Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body; but he that commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Do you understand what the word flee means? Run, get out of there. Don’t let yourself think that you are strong enough to take it. Don’t let yourself be put in those situations. How many lives have been ruined because something got started and they just couldn’t stop. Many affairs started with innocent flirtation.

3. Gambling I recently had an invitation to the opening of the new section of our local Dog track. Because of the relation of my other job and them being a loyal customer, I accepted. Upon my arrival I found not only a nice free meal, consisting of Prim Rib, but also an open bar with all you could drink. I stood amazed wondering how it the world they could afford to give all this away. Then I looked at the people at the slots machines, dropping in dollar after dollar, and I saw how they could afford it. By giving the alcohol away, they were making the people not think properly and not worry about that car payment and those bills. They were going to win that money back and more. I know of a person that lives in this valley who has lost his home(s), his business and everything because of the addiction of the dog track. People use the lottery as their retirement plan. They have their food stamps in one hand and bark out numbers with the cash in the other. Gambling can bind you and can control you.

Habits

1. Your Mouth

What comes out of the mouth is caused by habits. I’ve had people use bad language in church before. People have said, “I can’t believe they used that language in church”. It doesn’t surprise me because that is just part of their vocabulary. They have the habit of using foul language to the point that they don’t even realize what they are saying. Some people have the habit of gossiping. You hear something and you feel that is your duty to make sure everybody else knows about it. We all need to make the habit of only good things coming out of our mouth.