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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Taurus Montgomery

Victory Over Sin: How to Overcome Addicitons

But I'm excited this morning and we're going to go into the word of God this morning.

And so before we do that, I want to invite you to close your eyes, bow your heads as we seek the Lord in prayer this morning.

Father, in the name of Jesus, I just want to say thank you for this opportunity.

The Bible tells us that your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

And I pray this morning that as we look at different passages of scripture that you will indeed lead us and guide us in the path that you will have us to take concerning this topic, O Lord, how to have victory over sin and overcome the addictions that are in our lives.

So I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable in your sight and encouraging to your people.

This is my prayer in Jesus' name and all of God's people said amen.

So we're going to, we're going to, thank you sir, we're going to begin by just a quick review of the message that I shared on last night, the message that I shared on last night, with this definition, with this definition of addiction, this definition of addiction, and the definition is this.

Addiction is bondage to the rule of a substance, activity, or state of mind which then becomes the center of life, defending itself from the truth so that even bad consequences don't bring repentance and leading to further estrangement from God.

That's a loaded definition because oftentimes we limit definition to a substance, whether it is alcohol or whether it is some drug or whether it is any of those things, but it can actually be an activity or a state of mind which becomes the center of one's life.

1 of my professors used to say all the time that idolatry is when a good thing becomes the ultimate thing.

And the only ultimate thing, or the only ultimate person, is Jesus.

So this is how we are defining addiction and with this definition we want to discover, we want to unpack how to overcome such addiction, how to overcome the power of addiction.

And on last night, on last night, I shared that overcoming the power of addictions is as simple as A-B-C.

And I used that as a way to help us understand the 3 steps that I want to share with you today.

Now mind you, this presentation or this message is really a part of a three-part series and I'm trying to condense this as much as I can.

But step number 1 is first of all, you have to acknowledge that you are addicted.

In other words, you have to be willing to look yourself in the mirror and acknowledge the fact and admit the fact that I have a problem with pornography.

I have an issue with this thing, and that's not a very easy thing to do.

Nobody likes to look themselves in the mirror, it's not like an exciting thing, I'm looking at myself in the mirror and I'm telling myself that you have a problem.

For the Christian, it's by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us where God begins to reveal to us the problems that we have, the issues that we have, and it takes His power, it takes His strength for us to own up to it.

And in admitting it and owning up to it begins the first step towards healing and overcoming that addiction.

I don't know what you're struggling with.

But what I do know is that you first have to acknowledge it.

You first have to recognize it and admit it before you can move forward towards overcoming it.

Whether it is alcohol or whether it is, watch out now, whether it is Facebook.

Some people, listen to me now, some people are like this when it comes to Facebook.

Now, if I ask, if I ask, if I ask, can I have a show of hands of those individuals who are like this when it comes to Facebook, nobody would raise a hand?

Well, I don't, you know, What do you mean I'm addicted?

What do you mean I only look at it when I'm driving?

That's the only time when I'm just driving.

That's the only time I, when I'm just driving, you know, that's the only time I look at it.

Whether it's social media or whether it's, whether it's food.

You know, I might not look like it, but I have a problem with food.

I've noticed, I've noticed, I've noticed, rather I should say it's Something that God has given me the victory over.

You know, that would be times where when I get discouraged, I just want to eat.

My favorite team lose and I was just rooting for them so hard and they lost and now I feel bad.

Vegan cheese, I'm still trying to get with the vegan cheese, but man.

Vegan cheese don't do the, it doesn't do cheese justice.

I'm just, you know, it doesn't do cheese justice.

My taste buds need to be re-baptized, I know that.

I've discovered that our addictions are usually centered around things that we have to do.

The thing, the natural inborn, the necessities of human life are the things that the enemy often use to push us into excess of.

And so it's easy to be deceived by this thing because it's something that you have to do.

And so, you know, just because you have to sit down and eat a meal doesn't mean that you have to sit down and eat a whole box of pizza.

You know, ice cream in and of itself is not bad, but the whole, I mean, the whole bucket of ice cream in 1 night, that's a problem.

Especially when, hear me now, especially when it is attached to a feeling of disappointment or pain or some negativity.

And so now you're running to ice cream rather than running to Jesus.

You're running to the refrigerator rather than running to your prayer closet.

For others, it might be, not I want to eat, but I won't eat.

Because I'm addicted to people's perception of my shape, how I look.

We're talking about addictions and the power of them, but the good news is that they can be overcome.

Then you have this 1 that is just damaging lives, destroying families.

And you know, there's a saying out there that says, hey, 99% of men struggle with pornography.

Now, that may not be 100% true, but there's some truth to it.

Because it's a real struggle even among Christians, even in the church, even among pastors.

And I would dare say, I would dare say, according to the research, inside of this room right now, at least 1 out of 3 men in this place have gone through some addictions with pornography.

And if we were honest with ourselves, if you were honest with yourself, there may be someone in this place right now.

You didn't know what the message was going to be about.

You didn't know the content of what was going to be shared today, I want you to know that the struggle that you have right now, the issue that you have in struggling with pornography right now, it is possible to be overcome by the blood and the power of Jesus Christ.

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Victory Over Sin: How to Overcome Addicitons

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