How to Overcome Addictions — Jim Van Gelderen

Romans chapter 6 if you take your Bibles tonight. Romans in chapter number 6. I'm going to turn my microphone on here. So we're all set Romans in chapter number 6. On Sunday night when we dealt with the least commandments, I made the mention that Lord willing on Monday or Tuesday I thought it would be Monday, but the Lord gave us a different direction last night Monday or Tuesday.

The Need for Victory Over Besetting Sins

We deal with some truth that can help us in regard to being obedient to God's Commandments to God's least commandments or God's great commands for that matter. Tonight I believe the Lord would have us dive into that particular subject and tonight We're going to look at Romans chapter 6 and I know that Romans chapter 6 is a well-visited chapter in preaching and in Perhaps even in Bible study, but let's revisit it tonight.

And I'm going to entitle the message of something a little bit different to perhaps kind of again jar our thinking for a moment. But before I title the message, I want to give you a little story. It was I guess about nine months ago I was asked at my home church up in the Milwaukee area to speak on our Friday night a faith-based addictions program.

We just started a chapter of what's called reformers unanimous. Some of you may be familiar with that ministry and and It's based out of Rockford. But in a local church there and and so we started a chapter at our home church and it was just getting started.

So three-quarters of the people that would be there would be our own church folks who were learning the program and and getting used to Things and and about a quarter of the people would be people who were who were would call themselves Functioning addicts who come in to define deliverance through the Word of God and and so I was asked to speak on that Friday night.

And I thought to myself what can I preach on that will hit everybody? I don't want to just preach to the addicts. I really want to preach to our workers too. And as I was sitting there really wrestling over the Lord Opened my eyes to a thought and the thought of simply this.

You know friends all of us have addictions. You know what? The Bible calls them besetting sins. There are sinful things that are all too common and happen all too often in our life. That night I got up and I said let's go look at Romans chapter 6 and I'm gonna entitle the message how to overcome addictions.

Respectable Addictions and Self-Despair

How to overcome addictions, but before you dismiss the message. Recognize that you know, we think of the big addictions, you know drugs alcohol tobacco. Pornography those kind of and those certainly are addictions in a sense and I realized there's a technical issue here.

We're speaking in a sense a little bit differently here. Not a chemical addiction, but a habitual addiction. Okay, so so understand that but but anyway, I began to think you know, there's a lot of other.

How do we call it respectable addictions? You know some Christians I know are addicted to worry. I mean, it's just something that constantly reoccurs on their life. Some other Christians are addicted to an unbelieving response.

In other words when something bad happens, their initial response is always one of unbelief. I My grandfather who I never knew I am told had that problem, you know things would go wrong. He just get frustrated.

In fact, my uncle told me that one day he remembered my his father. My grandfather why I never knew was trying to put on a screen door and he says he remembers that his dad got so frustrated. He couldn't put it on.

He had this memory of the screen door on the floor and his dad jumping up and down on this green door. I Can relate with that. I got his genes, but anyway. But you know some some are addicted to an unbelieving response or addicted to frustration or addicted to irritation.

Some are addicted to anger. Just an angry response of you know, why did that happen. Some are addicted to blame always blaming somebody else for all the problems that occur. Summer how about this one are addicted to griping and complaining?

Always got a gripe about this. You know, they're second in line at Walmart. They're griping. Ah, you know, that's just the way we are. And so. Yeah, that one that one resonated. Okay, so My folks my friends tonight, let's just be honest you might be out here and say well, you know preacher I don't know if I really have any addictions.

Just go home and ask your spouse. I'm sure She in most cases would be glad to tell you. We men sometimes have a lot of blind spots, but and if your spouse can't tell you I'm sure your kids can't. They know what buttons and know what levers and certain responses are extremely predictable.

Okay, face it folks all of us I don't matter who we are all of us whether it's in our private lives or even in our family life or even outside the Walls of Rome we all too often recognize there are certain sins that get us all too often and They defeat us and we get discouraged about it sometimes which we shouldn't be in a moment.

We'll see that that self-despair ought to lead you to God dependence. Self-despair should not lead to discouragement. Okay, Satan wants self-despair to lead to discouragement. God wants to lead to God to dependence.

That's another message, but I throw it out there just for your thinking right now. So let's go in the Romans chapter 6 and let's see. How can we have victory? You know, in other words we have to come to a conclusion.

Is this just something you know? Well, I guess I'll just have to you know. This sin was just gonna have to defeat me the rest of my life. Do we just have to accommodate or is there in the Bible a provision of victory is there friends?

I? Mean what about the verse? Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph and here's the key in Christ. What about that verse? You know that teaches me friend every time you and I and I'm gonna put myself right in this.

Every time you and I fall prey to the best-setting sins. We have failed the provision of victory that is in Christ. You know, none of us when we sin have any excuse. None, you know, why. Because every time we're tempted there's a way of escape.

And you might get out here and say oh, you know if my wife wouldn't do this, I'd be a good Christian. You know friends that that's just not gonna work. That's not the way it is and you can blame somebody else and sometimes we get addicted to blame or whatever.

But bottom line every time we sin we failed a provision of victory. Now let's look at the provision of victory folks. Because I'm convinced this is absolutely essential because I'm convinced this is not only essential for our children to see but it's essential for our Friends neighbors and others to see the transforming power of Christ is living and it is real.

Knowing the Right Facts

So let's look at a passage of Scripture that I'm afraid sometimes becomes all too often head knowledge and it does not change our hearts in Our lives. I'm gonna warn you if you listen tonight this passage of Scripture will confront you.

It confronts me. So if you do not want to be confronted tune out. But if you do do not mind God confronting you with truth tonight I encourage you there are some gems here in Romans chapter 6 that I have been stirred by.

I hope to be a help to you. I'm sure That others could could do this and point out other aspects. I'm just going to show you what God has illumined my heart with. Let's begin by simply saying there are three actions that God in His Word here says we need to do.

Number one I'm gonna give you the outline ahead of time. Number one. You've got to acknowledge the right facts. Number two, you've got to account the right facts. Number three. You've got to actualize or act on the right facts.

Okay. Now first of all, the Bible says three times it uses the word no. Verse three no you not verse number six knowing this verse number nine. Knowing that so God says there's some things you need to know now face it folks.

There's a huge debate and I'm not getting to the politics of it. There's a huge debate on whether or not our country should have gone to war in Iraq and it's all based on did we have? Enough factual information.

Now I personally think we probably did but that's beside the point. That's not the point. The point is that there's a debate and every time you and I make a decision. We want to have all the facts don't we you want to know everything so that you can make the right decision now with all that aside tonight.

There is what God is saying here is if you're when it comes to the area of victory, you've got to know the right facts. In fact, I'm convinced that many times our defeat simply comes from wrong thinking or could we say wrong theology?

So let's get the right facts down and as we're gonna see it's very important that we got the right facts. And we're not off on our facts. In fact, it reminds me a cute little story. Some of you may have heard this there was a policeman sitting by the side of the road.

And he had his little radar gun with him, you know. And he's zapping people as they go by. I've always kind of thought that would be fun, you know. Is that people going down the road? I'm not sure what a radar gun looks like but.

But anyway, now they're going down the road and he's you know, zapping them off. So a car starts puttering by going real slow. He said boy, that's unusual. So he aims it zaps and 22 22 miles an hour the policeman thought boy, that's dangerous.

That's certainly not breaking the law, but that's dangerous. So he turns his lights on, you know. He doesn't have to go very far to pull it over, you know. And and he pulls over the car and and he gets out he walks up and he notices three older ladies in the car.

And and the driver rolls down the window and says officer. Is there a problem? And the officer said no ma 'am. There's not a problem. It's just that you're going far slower than the speed limit. The lady looks back and says Oh No officer.

We were going the speed limit. She said a bit proudly. We were going 22 miles an hour. Well, the policeman kind of chuckled to himself he said ma 'am and that's not the speed limit that's the route number.

Well, the lady apologized. She all of a sudden got embarrassed and she apologized to the officers and I'm sorry officer and and the officer said, you know Ma 'am before you go, I've got to ask you one more question.

I've noticed that ever since ever ever since I've approached your car I've noticed these other three ladies in here have not muttered a peep the entire time. They look like they're stunned like they've seen a ghost is is something wrong and the driver says, oh no, nothing's wrong.

We just got off route 119. You got to know the right facts, don't you? Some of you teenagers worse the route number wish the route number was a speed limit interstate 95 would look pretty good wouldn't it but Gotta have the right facts.

Now let's look at this passage of Scripture and let's get the right facts now folks. Let's look at verse number three. It says no you not that so many of us as were baptized literally immersed put into Jesus Christ.

We're baptized immersed put into his death. Now what that is simply saying is this the moment you and I got saved. We were put into union with Jesus Christ the book of Proverbs says for we were made partakers With Christ that's in the perfect tense, which has the idea that at the moment of salvation We were brought into union with Jesus Christ.

We will be with you in union with Jesus Christ into eternity. So if you're saved tonight, whether or not you feel it or know it you are put into union with Jesus Christ. Which simply means that since you were put into Christ don't miss this his history has become yours.

So that when he died You died with him. That's what is simply trying to help us. Is what we have in Christ our position now continue reading in verse number four. Therefore we are buried with him by this immersion and in a sentence, maybe I could put it this way.

It's like a sponge you put it in the water. Water is in the sponge and the sponge is in the water folks when you got saved you're in Christ and Christ is in you. The only problem is you can pull a sponge out and dry it and that's the only problem with the analogy for us that union Is inseparable now continues on in verse number four.

Therefore we are buried with him by this baptism is immersion in the death. That like us Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. Even so we also should walk in newness of life. So what God is saying is listen you were put into Christ so that when he died you died don't miss this and when he was resurrected you were too and that brings us a Possibility and this particular last phrase of verse number four is in a mood that gives us it's a possibility.

So the fact that we are identified with Christ we were buried with him when he died. We were raised with him when he resurrected gives us the possibility that friends If you're saved you can walk in newness of life.

In other words, you can walk animated energized Enabled by him who is life. Life is not an it it's a he Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. See resurrection life is capital R capital L. It's the name of a person Christ who is our anybody know life.

See, so the idea here is when we were put into Christ and Christ was put into us. It gives every believer out here the possibility that you can walk this Christian life animated energized and Enabled by him who is life.

Okay. Now you may not get all that right now just kind of put it in the back of your mind and let's move on. Okay. Verse number five reiterates what we just said our union with Christ and his death and resurrection.

Verse number six knowing this that our old man is crucified with him. That the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin. So now we've got a second possibility. So our union with Christ his death and resurrection accesses the possibility of walking in newness of life.

Number two it Accesses secondly the possibility that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth We should not serve sin. You say what does that mean? Well, they're obviously when we think of the word destroyed, especially in our day.

We almost think of terrorism. Obliterated if I came to you after the service and said hey I hate to tell you this one of the teenagers got out of their cages and destroyed your car. Okay, you would imagine that some teenager out there lit a stick of dynamite threw it in your tailpipe and your car became spare parts.

That's what you'd think. Well, let's just imagine that went out there and simply took the battery cables off your battery. It might be overkill to say it was destroyed. But the word here simply means don't miss this rendered powerless rendered inoperable.

Rendered ineffective. So what has been rendered in affection the body of sin now now I know there's some debate on what the body of sin means. Personally, I believe the body of sin is talking about all Sinful possibilities.

In other words, you've heard of the phrase the body of truth. Okay, that includes everything that is truth. I Believe that what this is talking about is the body of sin. In other words, it's like this when you got saved you were put into Christ and that union with Christ Excesses the possibility that every sin out there might be rendered ineffective.

In other words friends. There's not a sin on this planet that Christ in you can't be. All sin has lost its ability to boss you around in Christ, okay. So this is a possibility then what does it say? That's why the reason I believe this because the next phrase says that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Now let's just for a moment think about this for a moment. Because our union with Christ is death and resurrection access is the possibility that sin no longer Can bar our sin no longer has authority to boss us around?

Okay, it's just authority has been broken. Now. Let me illustrate it this way. Let's imagine you were a slave in the Civil War. Let's imagine that your taskmaster your slay and your owner was very cruel.

He demands you work 12-hour days he whipped you periodically he never encouraged you he only criticized you and let's imagine after a time life became unbearable and You came to despair of life itself and you said something has to change.

I cannot go on this way. There would only be two ways out of that slavery number one. There are out of that that relationship with that cruel taskmaster number one for the master to die. And hope you got a better one.

Number two don't miss this for you to die. Let me just tell you friends when you got saved before you got saved you had a cruel Taskmaster and his name was sin and he had authority over you and he bossed you around.

But when you got saved don't miss this the taskmaster didn't die you did in Christ so that the moment you died Sins authority as Taskmaster was broken. Listen friend if you're saved tonight. The boss the old boss the old taskmaster the old slave master sin his authority has been broken.

Why because you in Christ died? Okay. So see that our union with Christ really is important here because it accesses the possibility of walking in this resurrection life. Animated by him who is life. Number two it accesses the possibility that the body of sin all those sins out there Can be rendered ineffective so that we don't have to be bossed around by sin anymore.

In other words sins Authority has been broken. In fact, it goes on and says for he that is dead verse number seven is freed from sin. Have you ever thought about this it takes a body to sin? Do you know the dead people don't sin?

For instance the town drunk dies and they bury him in the cemetery. Do they have to send down the sanitation department every week to clear up all the beer bottles around the grave? Do they do that? No, the town drunk will never drink again.

He is free from sin. When the town gossip dies and they take her down her. I don't know why we use the female pronoun there, but but anyway I'm in trouble. Okay, just let me finish. Okay, but the town gossip dies and they take her down and they bury her, you know.

The phone company doesn't say she doesn't have anything else to do. We're gonna make a million. No. They don't install a phone line down to her. I mean, you don't see the ladies gathering a buyer gray and friends a shake lattice.

Yeah, you're the latest no. They don't do that anymore. Why you know what if you're dead you're free from sin. See what God is simply saying is when you got saved because you are identified with Christ who died to sin.

Sins authority has been broken. Now, let me give you one other illustration before we move on. Let's go in a modern day. Let's imagine. Did you have a boss or have had a boss and I won't ask you to raise your hands though?

Some of you probably could who is very unreasonable. Maybe call you up in the middle of night get in here never complimented. You only showed out showed you what you'd blown, you know, and constantly on your back critical, etc, etc demanding.

One day you get another job. And you absolutely relish the day you walk off the job and you say to that boss. Goodbye. That boss's authority has now been broken. Let's imagine two weeks later in the middle of night the phone rings your pick up and there's your old boss in the phone.

He says get in here. Yeah, you know, I need you in here right on the double. Can you imagine how foolish it would be to get up get dressed and going in? She's a preacher. Why would you do that? You don't work for the guy anymore.

His authority is broken. Why would you listen to him? And that's exactly what God is asking each believer in this room sins authority has been broken. Why you're letting sin boss you around. You say okay preacher.

I I see that I I see that so so what's the next thing we do? We got to know the right facts. We got the right and again, we're taking a rocket ride through Romans 6. We can't deal with every little nuance here.

We just want to get you the overview. So let's go to verse number 11, which gives us the next step. You've got to account the right facts. It says likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed in the sin, but alive on the God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It's not in a certain sense knowledge is agreeing in your mind. Now we're going to reckon we're going to reckon it to be true. You say well, what does the reckon mean reckon is an accounting term? It has the idea it has nothing to do with the future, you know faith and hope they have something to do with the future.

Reckon does not. Reckon has only to do with what is. What has been or what is for instance if you're balancing your checkbook and and You you don't you put down what is you know? You don't you know write a check and and then put down the different amount.

No, we recognize what accounting. Let me give you this illustration. Maybe this would be even a better one. Let's imagine I was doing to get my wallet out here. Let's imagine we were doing I was doing a Kind of an audit of my assets and so I'm going down, you know.

Here's what I gotten in the checking account and here's what I got here and blah blah blah and so I want to be accurate so I get my wallet out and I put a little line wallet and So I open up my wallet and count up the money which I know there's a lot of ones in here.

But anyway, okay, I found a 20. That's pretty good. Okay, so let's just I won't count it up. Let's just say it's $29. So I put down the line 29 that's accounting if I put down $2 ,500 that's wishful thinking see what we're trying to do here.

What reckoning is. Saying okay God according to your word. I'm in Christ. Christ is dead to sin. I gotta understand reckoning. We're let's put it down folks I in and of myself am not dead to sin my deadness to sin is only in my union with him who is dead to sin.

See and so that's what we got to count the right facts. And by the way sins not dead to us. Sin is very well and alive. Okay, we all know that. But we Christ is dead to sin and we are in the one who is dead to sin and alive on the God.

Okay, so reckoning is simply is simply saying okay God and many times I find praise really helps you reckon. Sometimes I'll go. Hallelujah Christ is dead to sin. Is he? Yeah, hallelujah Christ is dead to sin and I'm in Christ.

That means I'm dead to sin and hallelujah Christ is in resurrection life. Is he? Yeah, he is and hallelujah, I'm in resurrection life. I'm in Christ that means I'm in his resurrection life you say, yeah.

Okay preacher, but you know, it sounds so simple, but you know, it just it's not that easy. I mean, there's times, you know. And the kids get all bent out of shape and I just I just can't help it. I just I just it just feels so alive to sin.

I just can't help blowing up. I Just can't yes, I get so frustrated. I just I just can't help it. You might be out here and say wait a second preacher. This is nice theology here, but let's get down to reality.

There may be a dear gentleman out here. Who's is defeated in your mind with with lustful thoughts and you say well preacher just seems to overwhelm me. It just seems like there's there's no victory there.

What do you mean this reckon? I mean, how does this work? Now folks that is a very valid question. And that's why many times people just push off Romans chapter 6 because they say well, that's just not my that's not the way.

It is in my experience. Folks we're forgetting one thing and do not miss miss this. Satan is a master illusionist. You know, I'm convinced that Satan's greatest power is his power to deceive. In fact in Isaiah 14 when the Bible talks about Satan being cast into hell.

It quotes somebody who says is this the man that made the earth to tremble that did shake kingdoms. In other words, there's going to be in hell evidently. I don't know how this is gonna happen, but people are gonna say you've got to be kidding me.

That's the devil. Why because my friend some of his greatest power is simply his power to deceive. He's an illusionist. And you know what he wants to do. He wants to weave around your experience so that you feel.

Like you can't help it, but I will tell you the Bible says you can help it. You can do all things through Christ was strengthened of me and you know the great tragedies whenever a Christian says I can't help it.

You know what they're doing. They're reckoning to deception. You see friends when when that moment of temptation comes and you just says well, I just so overwhelmed I just got a sin. You know what you've just done.

You have reckoned to a lie. You have believed a lie. So so in our experience I put it this way in our our experience is either delusion or reality. You know every Christian every moment of your life is either in delusion or you're in reality every moment of your life and Satan is constantly weaving the delusion the illusion so that we buy into it and In doing so, of course, we reckon with error.

We buy in to lie you say oh, yeah, okay, I see that good because sometimes I just feel so overwhelmed and I just think I am and we believe our experience instead of believe in the word and Experience because I mentioned can be delusion.

Now let me illustrate this way because some of you are saying well, wait a second preacher. I mean, that's out there. Can I get it down? Okay. Let me give you an illustration. About two years ago. I went with our homeschool group at my local church.

We went to IMAX to watch a documentary on flight. I've never been to the IMAX before and I'd heard about it and I knew it was kind of an eggshell type thing. You know and kind of gave you the feel that you were there.

So I thought well, I'll go and see what's going on. So we sat down and there we did one on flight and they put a camera on the bottom of a Blue Angels jet. So that you felt like you were flying in this jet.

I mean you really did and There's several things about the Documentary but but one thing is they took that jet and they put it in a barrel roll. At the end of that presentation my two girl two older girls told me they saw two teenagers at the garbage can losing lunch.

Do you know why those guys were losing lunch? Don't miss this because they had reckoned a lie. They had believed a lie. They had believed don't miss this an illusion. They weren't going around and around but they believed that they were and They threw up I Mean that that proves they hit they hit they really fell for it folks.

They went toward me. Okay, I'm trying. This is a teenage audience. We'd go a little farther there, but we'll just leave that alone. Okay now You say well preacher what about yourself? Now normally, I don't talk to myself.

I'm convinced that everybody everybody has a little bit of compartmental insanity. But we'll leave that one alone, too. But I don't normally talk to myself. But I'm gonna make up a little conversation with my stomach and my brain because in a certain sense there was thought Processes and and so I'm kind of overdoing it to illustrate the point, but you'll get what I'm saying.

I'm looking at the screen. It's going around head around and around and my stomach starts to say, you know I think we're in trouble and my brain says to my stomach listen stomach. Don't you have a brain?

And my stomach says no and my brain says listen stomach. We're not going around around. It's just a picture on the ceiling we are seated in a stationary seat. And my stomach said I don't care what you said.

So what you say we're in huge trouble and we're gonna be in real trouble soon. If you don't do something about and so my brain says to my stomach now listen, let's get logical about this. He said I'm going to prove to you that we are not going around and around and so I took my eyes off of the Screen and I put them on the chair sitting next right next to me.

You know what my stomach said, you know, we're not going around and around. I'm feeling better about this already and my brain says should have listened to me in the first place and So, uh, I'm feeling a little bit better.

So I take my eyes off the seat put them back on the screen. It's still going around around and my stomach says we're in trouble again and my brain said I'm not arguing with you this time back to the seats and Immediately my stomach felt better now friends.

Don't miss this. You know, I was doing I was looking at illusion and the illusion began to affect my experience and I I knew it wasn't reality. But I here I am. I'm getting effect by illusion. And so, you know right when I took my eyes off the illusion put on the chairs, you know what I was doing.

I was reckoning. See here. You are a preacher. I just feel so overwhelmed like I got a blow-up or I just feel so overwhelmed with with lust. Or I just feel so overwhelmed with that frustration. Friends you're in the middle of an illusion.

So take your eyes off the illusion and put them on the Word of God that says you're in Christ. He's dead to sin. You're united with him who is dead to sin, which means you're dead to sin in Christ. And you're in resurrection life because he's in resurrection life in your in him.

That's truth. Folks, I'm convinced the moment you continue to look at truth is the moment. You know what happens your experience will catch up with you watch my Nina's book the normal Christian life put it this way.

He had mr. Fact mr. Feeling and Let me say mr. Fact mr. Faith and mr. Feeling we're on a brick wall walking on the wall as long as mr Faith kept his eyes on mr. Fact everything was fine. But when mr. Faith turned around to see how mr. Feeling was getting along they all fell off the wall.

And that the way it is. And reckoning my friend is keeping your eyes off the feeling and keeping your eyes on the fact and don't miss this. Reckoning is not an emotional decision. Reckoning is an act of the will.

It is saying I am I may I feel like I can't help it. I feel overwhelmed. I feel like I got a sin, but the Bible tells me I don't have to and so I choose to believe Romans chapter 6. It's reckoning. Okay.

Say okay free try. I think we're getting reckoning down a little bit. And by the way folks really to be honest with you we all understand this to some degree. Because if you let's just say you were in a beautiful garden and you walk out in this beautiful garden and you have your eyes closed.

You are not experiencing the beauty of that garden, but it doesn't change the fact that the garden is beautiful. You know friends you may be a defeated Christian. But it does not change the fact that you're in Christ dead to sin in Christ a lot.

You're in the resurrected one. It does not change that. That's the fact you just had your eyes closed and Reckoning is opening your eyes. So you see reality. It doesn't see when we reckon it doesn't make us dead to sin.

It just realizes that we are. It stops believing the lie and acknowledges what we are in Christ. Okay now hopefully you get it see reckoning doesn't make us dead to sin. Some people say I'll make me that this no no.

You're already dead to sin. Okay now with that in mind you say okay pretty sure I get it one last thing now friends. And we're done with this number one got to know the right facts number two. You got to count the right facts number three don't miss this you got to act on the right facts.

Acting on the Facts of Union with Christ

So wait always is in the Bible faith without works is. Okay, so we're gonna see now that the step of faith is followed up by some very important action. Okay, so let's look at it look what says in verse number 12 let not sin therefore Reign in your mortal body that she should obey in the luster of now look at that fourth word let not sin tell me.

No, that's that's that's not the that's not the next word it says wait a second. Let not sin. Third fourth word let not sin tell me. Therefore okay, you say why is that so important. Because everything we've just learned you pack into therefore.