We Shall Overcome

Topic: We Shall Overcome

Text: Matthew 22:37-38

Date: February 7, 2021

Faith Community Bible Church

Introduction:

How to handle addiction? Whether you’re the one addicted or someone that you love is addicted, that’s a question that you’ve either asked yourself or thought about it at some point in our life. We tried several ways to address it. Several ways to handle or overcome it, but lots of times, we’ve find ourselves jumping right back into those same habits only to have the same results which in lots of ways leads us to think that addiction is something that we can’t overcome.

Tell story of Mom...

Church, when we allow people, things, or situations to occupy us so much so that we come habitually connected to it, addiction has found itself overwhelming our heart. When tend to down-play addiction by making statements like, “I can stop when I’m ready” or “stopping is easy” or we make attempts to justify our addiction as if it’s something that God approves or gives us a green card to continue in.

What I would like to share with you today family is that (Main Point) “God is the only person or thing we can and should occupy ourselves with habitually.”

Being addicted to anything or anyone other than God is idolatry. To be obsessed with anything other than God draws us away from God and displeases Him. Truth is, God alone is worthy of our complete attention, love and service. To offer that attention, love or service to anyone other than God is idolatry. Addiction is an unnatural obsession with anything other than God: (be it) drugs, alcohol, sports, work, shopping and/or acquiring “stuff,” even family or children.

In our culture today, addiction is a huge issue. Even in biblical times, addiction was a huge issue. The bible teaches us alot about addiction.

It shows us that addictions are a real problem people face in this world. Scripture teaches that church leaders could not be addicted to much wine (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7). It also teaches us about Sexual purity highlighting the addictive nature of sexual sin (1 Corinthians 6:18).

While we can see from scritpure that addiction is a real problem, we can also see that we need help to overcome it. We need help from God. This help ultimately comes from God as we replace old habits with new ones.

Colossian 3:8-10:

"But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."

Yes! We need help from God, but let me tell you this truth, we also need help from one another. We’ve gotten into this habit of wanting to do things on our own thinking that we can get over it when ever we want. (Well, if you can, how come you haven’t?) We tend to think that we don’t need help from others, but that couldn’t be far from the truth. Even Jesus needed help carry His cross up to Gogotha Hill. He’s 100% man, 100% God and He still had help. Why do you think you don’t? Yes, we do need God, but we also need one another.

Galatians 6:1-2:

"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

James 5:19-20:

"My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

Addiction is real and to overcome it, Yes we need the Lord, but we also need one another.

“God is the only person or thing we can and should occupy ourselves with habitually.”

How do I handle or overcome addiction?

Scripture shows several ways, but I want to specifically highlight to you Matthew 22 verses 37-38. Here we find Jesus having a conversation about the greatest commandment. Jesus here answering the questions of Pharisee who was considered to be an expert of the law.

It’s interesting that we live in a world full of experts. Have answers for everything, but the world is still in the shape that it’s in. Listen family, the world doesn’t need anymore experts. This broken world needs a Savior and that savior is Jesus Christ. That’s why he’s the only one, thats why he’s the only thing that we should be addicted to because he did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. (share the Gospel)

“God is the only person or thing we can and should occupy ourselves with habitually.”

Jesus’ answer to the question about the greatest commandment gives us a great view of how we as believers are to handle addiction. Our text shows us 4 ways to ensure that we are addicted to God and nothing else:

Know Love:

To ensure that we are addicted to God and nothing else, we must Know Love. Right before Jesus answered the question of the Pharisee, he was in a deep conversation answering the question of the Sadduces about the resurrection. Those who heard his answered to the questions of the sadduccees were amazing by his answers. But, when the Pharisees heard that he shut down Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them who happened to be a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus first 3 words to His answer changes the trajectory of the entire conversation… “You must Love….”

Part of the reason why we have a difficult time embracing what the bible teaches about addiction or even overcoming addiction is because we dont have a biblical view of love. I know we’ve been in church for a while, met Jesus and even get excited when we reflect on His love for us, but do we really know what Love is?

When talking about love, we see words like “sacrificial” and “supernatural” jump out at us. Ultimately love comes from God and is seen most clearly in the death of Jesus on the cross as He takes on Himself the sins of the world. Now I need to be clear. I’m not saying lost people, non-Christians, cannot love. Sadly, they sometimes love better than some Christians do. Christians sometime have this it's all about me mentality. Thinking that because they have a relationship with God that they are the best thing since little Debbie honey buns. Believer, let me share with you that there's no way you can really experience the love of God and stay the same. When you experience the love of God, you are:

Transformed

Changed

Made new

Why, because His love transform believers. When you are transformed by the Love of the Lord, then and only then will you know what real love us. WHy? Because God is love.

1 John 4:7-12

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

“God is the only person or thing we can and should occupy ourselves with habitually.”

To handle addiction, we must first know love.

II. Know the Lord:

Not only must we know the Lord. Answering the Pharisee, Jesus said you must Love the Lord your God.

Knowing God requires involvement.

In mind, will, and feeling. Packer says, “To get to know another person, you have to commit yourself to his company and interests, and be ready to identify yourself with his concerns.” A meal may look good, but until we sit down and eat it, we’ll never really know.

Contrary to what some teach, knowing God is emotional. To know God is to get emotionally involved with the things he’s emotionally involved with. To think his thoughts. To act in his ways. (Even though his thoughts and ways are far above ours.)

Truly knowing God involves our commitment to obey what we read in the Scriptures. We were created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) in order to be part of God's plan of continuing to reveal Himself to the world. We carry the responsibility to live out the very faith that is required to know God. We are salt and light on this earth (Matthew 5:13-14), designed to bring God's flavor to the world and to serve as a shining light in the midst of darkness. Not only must we read and understand God's Word, we must apply it obediently and remain faithful (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Knowing God is personal.

Just like knowing a person is, well, personal. It is you relating to someone and he relating to you. It’s not just knowing theology

Knowing God is a matter of grace.

And that grace always, always begins first with God, not us. He initiates everything.Because he knows us. He knows what we need.

And what we need is for him to love us first and show us what that means.

When you come to know the Lord, you realize that “God is the only person or thing we can and should occupy ourselves with habitually.” To handle addiction, we must know the Lord.

III. Know Yourself:

Third, to overcome addiction we must know yourself. He says love the Lord with all with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Now, I know that sounds crazy! First i tell you that in order for you to handle addiction, you must know that Lord, but now I’m telling you that you must know yourself. Let me ease your pain… You must know yourself because when you do you realize that you can’t love nor know the Lord on your own.

If you really want to know who you are, scripture reveals it to you..

Ezekiel 36:26

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

The fact that we need a new heart tells us that something is wrong with the one that we have. Because something is wrong with it, shows us why we can’t love the Lord on our own. It shows why we can know the Lord on our own. Romans 3 helps us to see what’s wrong with us.

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 3:23

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Knowing yourself, you know the condition of your heart and the need for the Lord to tranform your heart. It’s through having a tranformed heart that has been rocked by the Gospel of Jesus Christ that empowers you to overcome or to even handle addiction.

When you know the yourself (you are a sinner in need of a savior) you know that God “God is the only person or thing we can and should occupy ourselves with habitually.”

You must Know Love, Know the Lord and Know yourself.

IIII. Have a changed Mind:

Finally as I close, to handle/overcome addiction, you must have a changed mind. Jesus answer here to the question of the Pharisee was priceless. You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, all your soul, all your mind. With everything that’s within you, you must love the Lord your God if you desire to overcome / handle addiction. You can’t love him with all your heart, soul and mind isn’t changed.

Here’s what I mean, we can’t be comfortable with addiction knowing that God isn’t the object of our affection. You can’t overcome/handle addiction when you place something else before the Lord. Let me share this with you, whatever you place before God is an idol. Believer, God has empowered you with Holy Spirit to give you power to overcome any addiction that may come your way, but you must surrender to Him.

Holy Spirit helps provide power against addiction. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:18, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." The solution to addiction to a substance or practice is to replace it with an "addiction" or focus on God. This is also the teaching of Deuteronomy 6:5 that adds, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Family, we have a false view of freedom. (Addiction Replacement)

I’m letting go of crack cocaine, but I’m going to pick up marijuana

I’ll stop over indulging in Alcohol, but I’ll replace it with cigarettes

I’ll stop watching porn, but I’ll just masturbate off of my thoughts

Replacing one addiction with another still isn’t freedom. It’s still addiction.

Conclusion:

“God is the only person or thing we can and should occupy ourselves with habitually.”

Addictions are a very real issue, but they are not impossible to overcome with the help of God and God's people. Scripture offers much encouragement regarding the reality of addiction, God's power to fight addiction, the importance of other believers to help, and the strength of God's Spirit for the believer who seeks to fight against addictive struggles. How do I handle/overcome addiction, scripture gives us a clear map on how to do so:

You must love the Lord your God will all heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.

Know Love

Know the Lord

Know Yourself

Have a changed mind