you
Amen, let's go back to our seats
Let's start our second service by turning our turning our name books to him number 22
Let's sing the song are you washed in the blood him number 22? Let's sing the song
you
Let's wait your everything door for the first series
And I pray that your best also the same service
I feel like you bless each and every part of our service from the convolution of singing
From the preaching of the word and also the reading of the word Lord
I pray that your best a fellowship and also give us good word for the this afternoon and
For the soul winning and I prayed Lord that you would help us understand the sermon and remove the hindrances that we have and well
I love all these things we were asking in Jesus name we pray. Amen
On our second song. Let's turn to him number three
Him number three that's saying the song Jesus
In number three, let's sing the song Jesus paid it all
Oh
All right, everyone, let's take out our bulletins and welcome to the second service at Verity Baptist Church and Happy New Year
And so let us count up salvation's but obviously we had the turning of the year
So if you have salvation's from Monday through Friday anything before Saturday to report
Anybody before Saturday?
One. All right
Two. All right. Anybody else? One.
Two. All right. Anybody else? Everyone's like shy just hold it up with boldness, right?
All right, so let me just put the lady anything for Saturday yesterday that I don't have reported anything that I'm not aware of
anybody anybody
Losing my voice. So anyways our total for 2021 is
Seven thousand one hundred eighty five here as a church
Which is just under a hundred forty salvation's per week, obviously fifty two weeks
So seven thousand one hundred eighty five and then for all of our ministries
We do have a total in Pampanga because we had a great week. So we ended with seven ninety
I am still gonna have to wait to hear back from the other ones but
seven nine thousand one hundred and thirty one combined
Possibly more so great job everybody
Great year. I
believe that's our top year and you know
Obviously things have been very up and down the last two years with there's times were so winning
We'd maybe get 20 saved a week there and praise the Lord for that, right?
But obviously now things are more open so things have been going really well recently
So keep up the great work everybody great job this year and let's see other announcements quickly
We do have a prayer meeting in two weeks
We took a bit of a break because we had the anniversaries and Christmas and everything
But in two weeks, we'll have our prayer meeting our monthly meeting and in four weeks will be our chess tournament
so I think next week all list a website you can go to if you want to practice on a blitz game because as
I said a blitz game a quick game is very different than a long chess game
So you really need practice, right?
And so we're giving you four weeks because we want to have a competitive
Tournament where people are ready and at their peaks and everything. So that should be a fun time. I love chess
Maybe not everybody does but you know
Anyone who wants to play is welcome to obviously it's open for men and women boys and girls anyone who wants to play
We'll have a great time. And anyways, we are in the middle of our New Testament Bible reading challenge
And so we gave out charts last week. If you need one, let me know. I'll send it to the group chat
I didn't do that yet
But hopefully you started and there was two different schedules one of them gives you two days of grace period
One gives you one day of grace period right? So if you're like man yesterday was New Year's I didn't do any reading
I haven't done it yet today
Well, then maybe you have to do the the nine chapters a day one
So, you know, you're not behind schedule, right?
But you still have time to catch up tonight after church if you get behind
but it's just good at the start of a new year to get back in the routine of reading the Bible because I think for
All of us it's very difficult during the holiday season
Because when you have a routine going it's easy, but it's easy to once you get out of that routine
It's tough to get back into it. So let's get back into it for January
And as we said, we're gonna give you a prize if you do finish the New Testament in January
And so on the back there is a place for sermon notes, and I believe that's it for announcements at this time
We will have brother Marlon lead us in another song
a
Man that's turn our hymns to him number five. Let's sing the song when I survey the wondrous cross
In number five
Bay offers
Oh
Let's take our offering
Oh
Amen for scripture reading please open your Bible to the book of Philippians Philippians chapter 3
Philippians chapter 3
And
Philippians chapter 3 and is our custom wheel during the entire chapter
Philippians chapter 3 3 please say amen if you're there
Amen
Philippians 3 verse 1
Finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you to me indeed is not grievous
But for you it is safe
Beware of dogs beware of evil workers beware of the concision for we are the circumcision
Which worship God in the spirit and rejoicing Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh?
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh if any other man thinking that he hath were of you might trust in the flesh
I am more
Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of the Hebrews is touching the law of Pharisee
concerning zeal
Persecuting the church touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless
But what things were gained to me those I counted loss for Christ?
He doubtless and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them, but done that I may win Christ and
Be found in him not having mine own righteousness
Which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith
That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made to inform wool unto his death
If by any means I might attain into the resurrection of the dead
Not as though I had already attained either rule already perfect
But I follow after that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus
Brethren I count not myself to ever to have apprehended
But there's one thing I do
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before I?
Pressed over the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus
But as therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded and if in anything you be otherwise minded
God shall reveal even this unto you
Nevertheless words we have already attained let us walk by the same rule let us mind the same thing
Brethren be followers together of me and mark them which which walk so as you have us for an example
For many walk of whom I have told you often and I'll tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ
Whose end is destruction whose God is their belly and his glory is in their shame who mind earthly things
For our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ
We shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like into his glorious body
According to the working whereby is able even to subdue all things unto himself
Let's read of God's word. Let us pray
Lord God in heaven and thank Lord for the state you've given to us and a privilege would give us good weather for our soul
Any later on and bless Lord be the preacher and the preaching of your word Lord the state. We love you
All right
We are here in Philippians chapter 3 and the name of the sermon is how to break addictions in
2022 how to break addictions in
2022 and so let me just give you a couple definitions of the word addiction or addicted and it says addicted
Physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance and unable to stop taking without incurring adverse effects now
Many times you think about being addicted you think of drug addiction, right?
That's probably the number one thing you think about and it gives us an example there another definition here is in physically devote
Enthusiastically devoted to a particular thing or activity example
He's addicted to computers now being addicted is not
necessarily a bad thing because our text verse talks about being addicted to the ministry and Paul is
Complementing right so it's not necessarily a bad thing what I'm saying how to break addictions in 2022
I'm basically talking about breaking bad addictions bad habits and problems in your life, okay?
Now here's a list of the top 10 addictions according to this website
And there's also a lot of other ones you could think of these are not necessarily in order
But one thing listed is drug addiction right another thing is alcohol addiction now
We use the Bible word of being a drunk as being an addicted to alcohol, but it's essentially the same thing
smoking
parentheses cigarettes or tobacco
gambling sex addiction social media video games food coffee
Workaholic and of course there's any manner of things you could be addicted to I think these are kind of basically
Making kind of an umbrella with categories for example
I didn't read pornography addiction that has to be under sex addiction because that's one of the biggest addictions in this world. I would say
There's other things that might not be listed here directly
But they're probably underneath one of these things social media probably includes cell phones
Which is one of the big addictions in 2022 anything online Facebook things such as that
So there's a lot of different addictions you can look at now with this list some of these are inherently sinful
For example the Bible condemns drinking alcohol
I would say if you drink alcohol you sinned because the Bible says you should not drink alcohol
It doesn't just say don't get drunk. It says you shouldn't drink it
So if you drink alcohol, that's a sin a lot of these things on the list are not necessarily sins though
I mean one of the things listed is food is it a sin to eat food well
I would say no. I would say you need to eat food to survive however
I do believe at some point you would cross a line
Depending on how much you're eating and what you're eating if it's all unhealthy food
We're basically you have an unhealthy lifestyle, and you're not protecting your body
Which is the temple of the Holy Ghost at some point?
I do believe it could cross over and you would say that it's a sin coffee
I don't think drinking coffee is a sin
I don't think drinking pop or having caffeine is a sin however if
You're drinking like 10 cups a day and no cups of water a day at some point. I think you cross the line, right?
Even when you look at something like smoking
I don't know that you could technically say smoking one cigarette would be a sin
Because it is unhealthy and that's the big argument our bodies of the temple of the Holy Ghost
Well, there's a lot of things we do that are unhealthy that are not necessarily sinful in the Bible for example
They eat cakes you know they eat things that are desserts. That's not healthy, but it isn't a sin however
I don't know of any single person that only smokes one cigarette a year usually
One cigarette means like a pack a day, right?
There's usually no in-between what I'm saying is on a lot of these things that you might have an addiction on or a bad habit
I I can't necessarily say where the exact point is where it's a sin
But it's something where you're admitting. This is not good for me
Right it's not helpful for me is being on Facebook a sin
I don't know of any Bible verse that would say it's a sin to be on Facebook
However if you're on for four hours a day it certainly does not benefit your life
Right so we're talking about addiction. We're talking about things that basically have control over you
You can't get rid of them
It's a bad habit, and it's not helping your life, and I want to help you in this sermon here today
Help you break your addictions
Now there's what it says in Philippians 3 verse 18
For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ
Whose end is destruction whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things now
The Bible speaks about their belly, and it says minding earthly things and the Bible is representing the earthly things here
But it's using this example because all of us can relate to food
Right and it uses belly to represent the things that you're bringing inside of your body now
What is the biggest New Year's resolution every single year?
something related to food
Something related to diet right it's the biggest New Year's resolution right and look I think New Year's resolutions are good
So I'm not criticizing that but it is the biggest one and see here's the thing the idea is this that
Immediately when you desire something you immediately eat it you immediately drink it because your flesh desires it right now
Look, I don't think any single one of us in this room
100% just eats what tastes the best to us because we know just
Intuitively from experience that if you eat junk food you feel like garbage
It's not good for you now. Maybe little kids in this room. They haven't figured that out yet
Right the little kids in this room one years old two years old threes ice cream for breakfast yes
Right, but we know that if you eat that sort of diet pop an ice cream for breakfast
You're gonna feel like garbage during the day right it's not good for you
And so I think all of us at least to some degree
Deny what we want to eat something a little bit healthier, and that's a good thing to do
But isn't it a hard thing to do you go on a diet, and you try to resist the cookies
It's hard
You try to resist the food that you don't want to eat, and it's hard you say
What is that well it's basically an addiction where it's got a hold of you right now go to Luke 8 Luke 8
Luke 8
Now what I want you to do in this sermon is just kind of think in your head ahead of time
About a couple things or at least one thing
That you are addicted to that you would like to get rid of if you could press a button and no
longer have a desire to do that
No longer have a desire to eat that or drink that or no longer do this thing in your lifestyle if you could do it
You would do it right
I want you to think about that because I want to help you in this sermon break that addiction in
2022 I want to put you on that road where you can basically get victory in that way right point number one in our sermon is
Admitting there's a problem you must admit. There is a problem before you can fix the problem
Right Luke 8 verse 15
But that in the good ground are they which in an honest and a good heart having heard the word keep it and bring forth
Through with patience the Bible speaks about people that hear the word of God, and it says they have an honest heart
What is that called? It's called admitting that you're guilty
Admitting that you have a problem
right
There's an organization in the u.s.. Called alcoholics anonymous, and I am neither
Criticizing or promoting them. I don't know much about it
But it basically tries to help you get over alcohol addiction and drug addiction and the first step that they have is we
Admitted we're powerless over alcohol that our lives had become unmanageable and the first step to overcoming an addiction
Is just admitting that you're addicted
Now here's the thing about it being addicted
Everybody else can tell if you're addicted to it because you're talking about it. You're thinking about it
You're eating sleeping breathing it all day long
But oftentimes a person who is addicted is not willing to admit it to themselves
I know many people that used to be addicted to drugs and drinking alcohol
And they would say that when they were addicted people told them and they didn't believe it. They said no no no
I'm not a drunk
I just drink you know from time to time to have fun to loosen up to socialize not a drunk though
Right, but everybody else was telling that person. Hey, you know what you're drunk
Right you need to quit drinking you need help
But it doesn't matter how many people say it until that person individually admits. They have a problem
Now I will say this as advice if a lot of people tell you something about yourself, and you don't realize it look
They're probably telling you the truth if a lot of people have said it
Right I mean if ten people come up to you and say you are the most arrogant person
I've ever met look you need to look in the mirror and realize okay. It's probably true
Right if people tell you if a lot of people tell you you're just a really lazy person
You need to realize that even if they said it in a rude way. It's probably true
It's one thing if one person tells you this, but if person after person after person comes up to you and says hey
You're a drunk
No, I'm not a drink. I just drink from time to time well obviously everyone else thinks you're addicted to it
Right if somebody does come up to you and tell you tell you something you ought to be humble enough to at least
Consider it in your mind and think about it
The first step though to overcoming a problem is admitting that you have a problem right go to Hebrews 4 Hebrews chapter 4
Hebrews 4
You say brother Stuckey
I cannot think of a single thing in my life that I have a bad habit or I have an addiction
I can't think of anything. I need to change
Okay, I'm going to try to get you to step one in this sermon
Right because I I can think of things in my life that I should change I can think of things that you know what they
Don't benefit me right because there are things that are just sins that you need to get rid of that thus saith the Lord
But we also have many things in our lives that maybe they're not sins
But they're bad habits or things that you could change and look I can look at myself
honestly and say there's things that I would like to change about myself and
The reason why I haven't changed them is because it's hard
right
There's things in our lives that you know what it would benefit us to get rid of them
But we don't get rid of them why it's difficult if it was easy. You wouldn't be doing it to begin with right
First step is admitting you have a problem Hebrews 4 verse 12
For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword
Piercing even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart the Bible says the word of God is a way to get to the inside get to your heart and
It basically has a way to convict you and reprove you and try to motivate you to make changes in your life
But when that word of God comes on the inside you must be willing to admit. Okay. I'm guilty and not make excuses
Brother Saki, I'm not gonna do the New Testament Bible reading challenge. You don't understand my schedule is too busy
I don't have time. It's just I can't do it
I would love to but I can't well, you're not admitting that you have a problem
Right. It's just like the first step in making a change is just admitting that you have a problem go to James 1 James 1 I
Would hope that everybody would be humble enough to admit that they have things in their lives. They need to change
I'm not asking you to tell them to me. I'm not a Catholic priest. You don't have to confess to me your problems
I'm just saying to yourself right individually to yourself. Can't you look at your life and think about things that are like, okay
That's not a good thing. I should change this. This is a bad habit
I'm sure if you're honest with yourself, you can think of things that you know what you could improve and
If you don't need to improve at all, why are you here?
I mean if you're just perfect and you don't need any help at all and your life's perfect
Then you don't even need to be at church
But I personally believe I need church. I
Personally believe that I need this kind of preaching now
It's a bit different for me because I preach the sermons but you know what when you write a sermon you're preaching against yourself
Left and right is like ouch ouch
It's like I get hit hard when I'm writing this sermon. It's like man. Wow, that's powerful, right?
Look, I think we should be able to admit to ourselves that there are things that we could change and we should change to better
Our life and I'm trying to help you become a better person in
2022 this could be related to health which is a common thing for resolutions
It could be related to living a godly life. It could be related to a besetting sin that you have
It could be related to you know
Your mental well-being or emotions or whatever any manner of things but think of at least one thing
That you know what you have an addiction or you have a problem that it's got a hold of you and you need to get
Rid of it right James 1 verse 22
But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves for if any be I'll hear of the word and not
A doer he is like on a man beholding his natural face in the glass
For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner many was
But who so looketh into the perfect law of Liberty and continue with therein he being not a forgetful here
But a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed
So the Bible speaks about is a man who looks in a glass
What it's referring to is a mirror
Okay, he's looking at a mirror
He's looking at this glass and why is it that you look at a mirror?
You look at a mirror to see if there's anything you need to fix
Right many of us woke up this morning and we went in front of a mirror to kind of check
You know if everything's right my hair is down my ties correct or whatever. You know, there's no problems on my shirt
No stains. I mean you look at a mirror and see is there anything I need to make a change?
Right now, let me ask you a question
Let's say you're a man in this room and you looked in their mirror this morning and yet a big ketchup stain on your shirt
All right. Let's say you had a white shirt on you have a big ketchup stain and you're like, it's not worth changing the shirt
Well, why'd you look at the mirror to begin with then?
Isn't the whole point of looking at a mirror to see if you have a problem?
Wouldn't it be foolish to look at a mirror and see a major problem and just be like, eh
I'm not gonna worry about it
Right. The whole point of looking at a mirror is to make the change necessary and see the Bible saying that is how we are
Spiritually speaking when the Word of God is preached
We're bit what I'm basically doing is shoving a mirror in front of your face and say hey look at yourself and fix it
Because it's up to you if you're gonna fix it
All I'm doing is putting the mirror there and trying to show you. Hey, this is what you need to fix in your life. I
Would hope
that you could admit that there's some things right now that you could change if you had a
Spiritual mirror in front of you and God was revealing how good you are all these different things
I'm assuming I'm hoping you can admit that there's at least one thing I need to change
You don't have to tell me what it is
But I'm hoping that you can admit to yourself because here's the thing
The first step is admitting there's a problem and I am willing to say even as the preacher of this church that I have areas
In my life that are not perfect
I'm I'm able to say as Paul the Apostle as we talked about in Philippians 3. I'm trying to press toward that mark
You know what that means? I'm not at the top right now. I'm not at the top of the mountain
I'm on that upward climb, but I'm not gonna claim that I'm perfect and I have no problems. I have areas
I need to fix okay turn in your Bible to Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11
So step one is just admitting there's a problem now that's not that complicated is it I mean it's very simple
Just admit you have a problem and you don't have to admit it to me
Right. This is just you individually admitting to yourself
Hey, here's an area of my life that I'm not perfect I need to make a change
point number two
aspire to change
Point one is admitting there's a problem point to aspire or desire to make a change because you can admit there's a problem
But not actually want to fix it
There are people that admit they have problems in their lives
But they say well
I really don't want to fix it though and
Just choose to just do the same thing notice what it says in Hebrews 11 verse 24
Hebrews 11 verse 24
By faith Moses when he was come to eat years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season
Now Moses was basically
raised in royalty
Right. I mean he was a Hebrew by birth
Obviously at some point he believes and gets saved however, he's basically living the life of a king
I mean he's living as world so he's got nice things, but he chose you know what I'd rather suffer affliction with the people of God
Than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He said you know what I've got this problem in my life
I'm not open about what I believe I need to just line up with God's people and whatever the consequences are
I'll take them and he said you know what I'm gonna just admit. I'm not an Egyptian
I'm not gonna fake it, but I believe in the Hebrew God
Right he aspired to make a change in his life
He said I am not content with just living here on earth and having all the nice things and living a long life
I want to serve God and do right and he said you know what it might mean affliction
It might mean problems it might mean persecution, but I want to do what's right
What is that called?
Inspiring to make a change in your life. I mean for a lot of people coming to this church
Lining up with God's people it could mean persecution
Right many people get persecuted for being on board with our church
Persecuted by family persecuted by old church members. You know I'm not the most well-liked person in the Philippines
Right I'm a hate preacher
Because I'm showing people what the mirror is and people don't like that
right
Moses said you know what I want to line up with God's people and it says verse 26
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had respect under the recompense of the reward
By faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible
And he said you know what I'm gonna forsake Egypt, and I'm going to serve God
Okay, go to Acts 28
Acts 28
So
You can admit that there's a problem you can realize there's problems in your life
But instead of actually desiring or aspiring to make a change you can just say well
I do have this problem, but my sin is not as big as somebody else's sin
Or I do have this problem, but you know what I go so any I do more than most Christians
Or I have this problem in my life, but it's just like my little thing to help me relax or whatever
It's not good for me
But but you know what I'm not gonna make that change see you can admit
There's a problem without actually wanting to make a change
Right you must be willing to make an emotional decision saying I want to make a change
And look if you're not willing to make a change you don't want to make a change
Then it doesn't matter if you admit. There's a problem. It doesn't matter if you look at the mirror
It doesn't matter if you see the problem unless you actually want to make the change
Unless you're willing to make that change now none of us like to make changes because it's hard
It's not fun
Look if I look at a mirror, and I see a stain on my shirt. Oh, I got to change shirts
It's not like it's fun
It's not like I want to do it
But you have to do it because there's a problem, right?
But spiritually speaking what a lot of people do is they just put a blanket over their head and just pretend nobody sees me
Nobody knows
Right like a little kid that gets in trouble
And then they figure they'll just hide underneath a blanket and mom and dad don't know about it. It's like no we know
Right you still got chocolate all over your face
Right we know what you've been doing right you did exactly what we told you not to do right
But see people do this spiritually speaking they basically hear the word of God
And then they just basically try to prevent from actually seeing it
It's like they got a mirror, but then they basically put something in front of it. No. No. I don't want to see
And look this is why people don't like it like they don't like a church like this
They would say they want to know the truth
But the reality is they basically want to just pretend and just block it out
So they don't see the mirror because they don't want to see problems
Why it's not easy, and it's not fun to make changes. It's difficult
Acts 28 verse 1 and when they were escaped then they knew that the island was called Melita and the barbarous people showed us
No little kindness for they kindled the fire and received us everyone because of the present raining because of the cold and when Paul
Gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire
There came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand so basically a poisonous snake just gets a hold of Paul
Okay, verse 4
And when the barbarian saw the venomous beast hang on his hand they said among themselves
No doubt this man is a murderer who know he hath escaped the sea yet vengeance suffereth not to live
So the immediate reaction of people is if a snake bit him
He must you know be a murderer that deserves the death penalty right now later on which we won't look at
They change and say he's a god
You know sometimes there's an in-between position of not a murderer and not a god right like just a normal person
That bad things happen to people that did nothing wrong
Right, but that snake fastens a hold upon his hand and what the Bible says in verse 5 is and he shook off the beast
Into the fire and felt no harm now
I don't know for sure I would imagine though that if a snake fastened to your hand
It's probably hard to shake off. I would say I've never been bitten by a snake, which I hope I never do
Right, but I'd imagine if a snake gets a hold of you or an animal gets a hold of you
I mean I can imagine a dog you know dogs
You know I've been bit by dogs before and if a dog gets a hold of you
It's hard to kick it off right I'd imagine the same is true with a snake
But at the same time wouldn't be foolish to just let the snake hang out because you don't want to put in the effort to
Get rid of it
It's like oh man well all right and just go about your day
Right obviously you got to shake off that snake
Well the same thing is true for us
Spiritually speaking we have addictions and things that have fastened themselves on us, and we're trying to shake it loose. It's hard isn't it?
You must be willing you must aspire to shake off that beast it is not good enough
Just to see the snake on you and to know you're addicted. You must actually try to shake it off
Romans 13 Romans chapter 13 Romans 13 I
Don't think most of us would want to say that we're addicted to something right. I mean it's got a very negative connotation
We think of drug addicts and no I don't have an addiction to this thing
It's just kind of but you know if we were honest with ourselves
There are things that we are addicted to and what I mean by that is they have control over us
And we do not have freedom from it
There are things that are bad habits in our life, and we haven't kicked those things, and we don't kick them because they're hard
right
being free
Means that you have freedom to make the choices you want to make
But when you're doing things that you don't want to do all the time
You're in bondage to whatever that is whether it's a sin or a bad habit or a bad activity or whatever and look there are
Things that we are in bondage to there are things that we are addicted to that. We don't have control over them
They have control over us, and here's the thing I hope
You can admit that you have a problem in some area. I would hope that you'd aspire to change though
I want to become a better person in 2022 than I was in 2021 I
Mean isn't that a basic goal that you should want to have so in your head?
What is that addiction that you have that you need to change?
Romans 13 verse 12
The night is far spent
The day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light now
casting off the works of darkness is
Like shaking off the beast right getting rid of that sin getting rid of that problem
Getting rid of that addiction and the Bible says cast off the works of darkness
And let us put on the armor of light and the indication is this if you are addicted to bad things
It's going to prevent you from doing the good things
This is why we need to get rid of the addictions because they're preventing us from doing things that are better
If you spend two hours of your day on your cell phone just on Facebook
No, whether or not that's technically a sin. I don't know but I can say this you could be doing better things for two hours
I'm not saying it's a sin to be on Facebook. I have a Facebook account
I respond to messages, but I would say that if you're on for hours and hours
There are better things you could be doing with your time and what I would say is whether you believe it or not
You are addicted to it
Right I mean you're doing something that is not helpful for your life
Obviously you're addicted to it
It's something that's got control of you
You don't have control of it
Romans 13 verse 13
Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and oneness not in strife and ending
There are certain things that are just plain sins drunkenness is a sin rioting is a sin and the Bible says you know
We need to cast off these works of darkness
then it says in verse 14, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and
Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof
Now what does that mean make not provision for the flesh what it means is do not give yourself the opportunity
To do wrong
Don't put yourself in a position where you provide an opportunity you make provision for your flesh
If you have an addiction or a problem you must remove the opportunity to do it
It's not enough just to say well. You know what I'm just gonna be aspire to change and be motivated
You must remove the opportunity
Go to Leviticus 14
Leviticus 14
See point one is admitting there's a problem point two is aspiring to change point three is arranging to change
Meaning you've got a real plan
You've got a real plan of what you're trying to do
Because look as I said the biggest New Year's resolution is related to diet
I don't think there's any question. It's the biggest New Year's resolution people have look if your New Year's resolution in
2017 was to eat healthier and then lose weight in 2018. It's the same in 2019. It's the same 2020
It's the same 2021. It's the same, but it hasn't happened
You need to change your plan
You said better suck you I know I should read the Bible 2017. I'm gonna read the Bible in 2017 doesn't happen 2018 starts
I'm gonna read the Bible doesn't happen 2019. I'm gonna read the Bible
Obviously being excited about it's not enough
It's not working
You need to change something
They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different results if it didn't work in
2017 if it didn't work in 2018 if it didn't work in 2019 2020 2021. Why would it work in 2022?
I'm not saying this to try to make you feel bad because I want to help you make that change. I
Want to help you get over this
You say brother sucky. I don't need help
Well, obviously you do if you're addicted to it and you can't change it and you want to change it. It's not working
Don't be stubborn and say I'll just figure it out on my own
Well, good luck then
Right because I think that if you didn't get it done in five years or ten years or 15 years
Then it's not going to be figured out on your own. You need to actually have a plan
formulate a real plan
Basically make not provision for the flesh don't give yourself an opportunity to commit that sin if you go on a diet in
2022 I'm trying to lose weight quit eating sugar eat healthy. No more ice cream. No more cookies
But then in your house right now
You've got Oreos
ice cream
chips ahoy
Whatever the candy
Right, and it's all in your house right now, but you're planning not to eat that
Well, I'll be honest. I don't think you're gonna be successful in your diet
You say why you're making provision for the flesh?
What you're doing is forcing yourself to have to always emotionally make the right decision throughout the day
here's the thing though if you go home and
You don't have any junk food. It's pretty hard to eat junk food
Right now, of course, it's possible to stop at a 7-eleven get junk food
Obviously you there's still you know things in the way that could prevent you from having your goal
But I'm just saying it would be easier if there's no junk food in front of you
Everybody knows that if you go on a diet and for six days you eat really well
But that seventh day you just blow it. Well, you just canceled out seven days of work
Right, you got to remove
the opportunity
To make that decision you got to remove the junk food if you're gonna go on that diet and I use diet as an example
Just because it's something we all can relate to and the Bible use that example with Philippians 3 but any addiction you have
Right notice what it says in Leviticus 14 verse 33 and the Lord spake unto Moses and on to Aaron saying
Leviticus 14 verse 33 and the Lord spake unto Moses and on to Aaron saying when he be coming to the land of Canaan
Which I give to you for a possession and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession
And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest saying it seemeth to me it there it
It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house now
Let me just quickly give you a brief overview of Leviticus 14 because this is one of those chapters you read and you're like
I don't know what's going on
Okay
I lived at an apartment a long time ago more than 10 years ago and I had a small little room that had a water
Heater in it. That's all it had. Okay was a water heater. It's not a room. It's not a door
I opened it was like a closet without any clothes. What's the point of opening it, right?
Well, then all of a sudden I noticed one day that there was moisture underneath the bottom of the door and
I was curious about it and then all of a sudden I saw you know
Like, you know, I think was blue or red strakes on the bottom of the door and I was like, what is this?
And I opened it and I'm like, whoa is a disaster now when I moved into that place
There was no problem
But then all of a sudden there's a massive disaster and what had taken place
Was the upstairs water heater in somebody else's apartment was slowly dripping
And it was dripping and dripping and I never noticed it because I never opened that door and it wasn't loud enough for me to
Notice it now all of a sudden I got all kinds of mold and I have a plague in my house as the Bible is
speaking about Leviticus 14
So this chapter has always been near and dear to my heart because I am the only one I know that is actually like lived
Through a Leviticus 14 situation, but just similar sorts of things. Let me just say when you've got mold and things like that
It's very dangerous for you
Right people that work, you know around
unhealthy unclean environments their whole lives they oftentimes develop diseases
These are things they've learned especially, you know in the last hundred years about the dangers of being around mold and things such as that
So I did what any Bible believer would do I started to really study Leviticus 14
Right. I can say that I memorized the last half of Leviticus 14 because I said I got to understand this
Right and I went to my landlord and I eventually moved into a different place
But this this is actually describing what I experienced and it's describing a plague in a literal house
symbolically speaking a plague in
Your house as in the temple of the Holy Ghost
There is a physical and literal application
there is a symbolic and spiritual application the Bible is trying to tell us a
plague in your house an addiction in your house a
Besetting sin in your house a problem in your house
And what happens is this man calls the priest the spiritual leader and says hey, I think I have a problem
Can you check it out for me?
And then the priest is going to go to this house this literal house and check to see
Does this line up with what the Bible says about a plague? What should we do verse 36?
Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priests going into it to see the plague
That all that is in the house be not made unclean and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house
So the priest commands that they empty the house and that's basically what I do when I preach sermons
I command you to get the sin out of your life
Right empty the house get rid of the problem right remove the problems in your life
And he shall look on the plague and behold if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes
greenish or reddish which inside are lower than the wall then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and
Shut up the house
Seven days. So basically everybody's got to be removed for seven days because this house has a major problem in it
This is the sort of house that gets condemned because it's a health hazard, right?
verse 39 and the priest shall come again the seventh day and
Shall look and behold if the plague be spread in the walls of the house
Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is and they shall cast them into an unclean place
without the city
so
Here's the thing about this
You can have a plague in a literal house
And you know what you can cover it up by painting and just make it look like it's new
That doesn't get to the root of the problem though. The plague still exists
They have to actually find out what is causing this plague and if they cannot remove that then they just merely got rid of the symptom
It's like drinking water when you have a headache
Right
I mean, well that that would probably be the best thing
I mean, it's like taking Tylenol or Advil or paracetamol or whatever when you have a headache, you're basically masking the problem
What's causing the headache? It could be a lack of water could be a lack of sleep
It could be a lack of diet
But if every single day you're getting a major headache
Then there's probably something that your body's indicating there's a problem and you got to get to the root of that problem
Otherwise that problem might get worse
Right
It's the same thing with this house
Well, basically you got to find out what the root of the problem is and get rid of that
Otherwise, it's gonna keep springing up over and over again, right?
What it said in verse 40 was
Command that they take away the stones in which the plague is
So get rid of this problem and cast it into an unclean place without the city
So basically take what has the infection and remove it without the city way away from your house into an unclean place
Right, the analogy I like to give is basically taking something worldly putting in the trash can take it into an unclean place without the city
Right. That's the symbolic thing that the Bible is trying to reference here that we can illustrate from this
We're basically find what the problem is and remove it far from your presence
Otherwise, it's gonna keep springing up
right
But then notice this in verse 41
And he shall cause the house to be scraped within roundabout and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city
Into an unclean place now in verse 41
It's basically similar to verse 40
But you're going to another extreme to really check if you still have a remnant of that infection
Have you gotten rid of all the plague right?
verse 42 and they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones and he shall take other mortar and shall
plaster the house
The Bible says here in verse 42 that you take other stones
Clean stones and put them in the place of the stones you removed
Okay, see many people aspire to change and get excited and try to make some changes, but they keep failing and
This could be the reason why because they don't have a good plan
Here's what I'm trying to tell you if every single night you watch movies for four hours and you say brother Stuckey
I need to get a hold of this. I need to get rid of this
If you remove that from your life
You've got a place without stones left of four hours. What are you going to do with your time?
You can't just remove the stones. You've got to replace those stones
with something
This is what I've I've heard called the replacement doctrine now. I understand there's a different replacement doctrine
Being an IFB for a long time. I've heard this as replacement theology. This is like a different replacement theology. I
Believe in both. I'm all for replacement theology, right? But basically when you get rid of something you got to replace it
Right, and here's the thing if you as a Bible believe in Christian want to serve God
You're probably gonna have to replace a lot in your life. You're probably gonna have to get rid of a lot
You got to figure out what you're gonna replace it with because if you do not replace it with something
You're gonna be sitting around looking at the wall. Just what am I gonna do with my time?
Right, and you're probably gonna end up doing it again or doing something else that could be better could be worse
You got to figure out what you're gonna do
Got to have a real plan of what you're gonna do if you're getting rid of something, right?
I mean if you if you spend 500 pesos a week on cigarettes
I hope you get rid of that habit. You're destroying your health. You're wasting your money
But here's the thing. You're gonna have 500 extra pesos per week
Here's what I'm saying think about what are you gonna do with that money now a smart thing would probably be save up that money
What I'm saying is you got to have a plan if you get rid of a stone if you get rid of something
That is a problem or an infection. What are you gonna replace it with?
Because they need the stones in that house for survival
Right. So here's the thing. What I'm telling you is this when you're getting rid of something
You also have to consider what am I going to replace it with?
If you're getting rid of a bad habit that takes up hours and hours of your day
You got to have a plan to replace it with something
Right now I personally have selected a couple things, you know things
I want to change and replace this year in 2022 and you know what if I'm successful I have extra free time
You know what? That means I got to replace it with something right?
Otherwise, I'm gonna be sitting around like man. What am I gonna do now?
Right, you got to have a plan and if you don't have a plan you're probably gonna fail
I mean if you need a bunch of junk food and your goal is to get rid of junk food in 2022
You're gonna have to eat something and replace it that
Otherwise, you're gonna get very very thin. It's not gonna be healthy for you
Right and look it's good to get rid of the junk food, but then you got to replace it with something
right
Turn to 1st Corinthians 16 1st Corinthians 16
One of the most one of the most direct applications would be if you get rid of worldly music
How about replacing it with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs?
So you don't have to have the attitude
Well, I got to just get rid of all this stuff and just live without it
But you know replace it with something obviously in your flesh
You have a desire for something replace it with something good take away the bad and replace with something good is what I'm saying
It's good to have the attitude
I want to make a change but you have to actually have a real plan of how to do it. Okay?
1st Corinthians 16 verse 15
I beseech you brethren, you know, the house of Stephana said is the first fruits of Akkiah
If they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the Saints
The Bible speaks about a household a group of people that addicted themselves to serving God
Now look, of course
This is kind of our goal in life to be addicted to serving God now
I don't know whether or not God would look down at me or other people this church say you're a ministry addict, right?
That's kind of the goal to become a ministry addict in 2022, right? Where you're just addicted to serving God you wake up
You're like man. I want to pray and read the Bible and memorize the Bible
That's what you desire you meditate on God's Word day and night. That's the goal. I
Don't know if I'm at that level, I don't know if any of us are at that level, you know
It's something we're striving for though to basically meditate on God even more every single day
That's the goal to be addicted to the ministry. That's a good thing
Right that God would say that about you that you're addicted to serving God. What a great testimony to be said about you
Right being addicted is not necessarily a bad thing
See you can get be addicted to something bad and replace it with something good and be addicted to that
I mean if you're addicted to reading the Bible, we're basically you're reading and then throughout the day. It's just like man
I I've already done my reading for my Bible reading plan. Let me just read something else. I love this
It's awesome
Memorizing the Bible man that memorization schedule and I already finished Psalm 23 through 41. I want to memorize more. That's great
Right
Look if you do that you memorize in a chapter outside of our schedule
Let me know you're allowed to get you know, chip or candy for you
No, you don't have to let me know I trust by word that you say that if you memorize extra
You're welcome to get a prize
That would be great if it could be said about you that you're addicted to reading the Bible addicted to memorizing the Bible
Addicted to preaching the gospel everyone you encounter. You know what? They're gonna hear the gospel
They're gonna hear it right when you see them, you know, you're say hey, you know, can I show you what the Bible says?
I mean, that'd be a great thing
Right being addicted is not necessarily a bad thing
However, usually being addicted is a bad thing. I would say most of our addictions are
Harmful, they're not helpful. Go back to Leviticus 14 Leviticus 14
Leviticus 14
This this is a basic problem people have with memorizing the Bible or I'm reading the Bible I should say
People people that are saved every single saved person knows they should read the Bible. Isn't that true?
Every saved person knows that
Right when I preach the gospel
Sometimes I talk to people when when they're struggling to understand
About how salvation is free and how you don't have to do good works and I'll tell them, you know
Let me give you three examples from the Bible of how easy it is to be saved
Jesus says I am that bread of life getting saved is like eating a slice of bread. Is that easy or hard?
easy
Jesus said I'm the living water drinking water easy or hard
Easy, right? I mean my daughter is less than two
She's still one turning to this month in a few weeks, but she can eat bread or on her own
She can drink water on her own now. Sometimes there's a mess afterwards, but she can do it on her own
I am the door. Jesus said I am the door opening a door. Is that easy or hard?
easy
What about always being a nice person always patient never angry always reading the Bible always memorize the Bible
They're like, oh that's hard
I say what you think you should do spend an hour on Facebook or spend an hour reading the Bible an hour reading the Bible
What do you do? I'm on Facebook, right?
That's what they'll say right? Look it's hard to do, right?
It's hard to do what we should do
Right. We have to make a real plan if you're gonna read the Bible you say brother second
I know I should read the Bible, but I'm not successful
What's your plan to read the Bible?
What's your plan?
Like oh, I don't I don't know. I don't I don't have a plan. Well, that's why you're not successful
I'm talking about a good old-fashioned Bible reading plan
Right. We give you the January charts. You say why we want to make it as easy as possible to read the Bible
You say brother sucky. I don't I don't need a Bible reading plan
Well, look if you're successful in reading the Bible without a plan then you know what keep doing what you're doing
Praise the Lord for that. I will just say I think there's very few people that are successful unless they live their life by routine
That's how you're successful. I
Have a Bible reading plan and it tells me every day. This is what you read right now
I did a Bible reading plan in 2021 at the end of January
I'll make a new one for myself the rest of 2022 and look
That's what makes me successful because I have a chart and it's like, okay
This is what I read today instead of waking up in the morning and saying what should I read?
That's why you're not successful
It's really that simple. You just don't have a plan
And look if you're gonna be successful at any area you have to have a plan
You want to be successful and work and be successful at your company. You got to have a plan. What's your plan?
What are you gonna do to be successful you got to have a plan and if you do not have a plan
You're gonna fail in whatever area of life you try
Now the reason why people don't like using a plan is because they want to just kind of be stubborn and feel like oh
I can just do it on my own. I don't need help. I've got it all figured out. Well, I hope you do
I hope your life is just awesome in all areas
But I would just say I try to live my life by routine and that's really what keeps me doing the things I should be doing
Living your life by routine just a structured organized plan where it's basically like on Monday
This is what I do on Tuesday. This is what I do. This is the time I wake up
This is when I do my Bible reading. This is the time I work out. This is the time I go to work
This is the time I study this that's how you're successful at anything
And if you don't have a plan in any area unless you really really really enjoy that activity
Then you're gonna probably fail at it
I would say this, you know, even though I like to work out and that's really one of my big hobbies
It's not if not my biggest hobby if I didn't have a structured plan
I just I just wouldn't work out because it takes effort it takes time and it's very easy to be like I just tomorrow
I'll just I'll just work out twice as long tomorrow and then the next day three times as long
Well, I'll just run a marathon today
You gotta have a plan to be successful
Point number one you're in Leviticus 14 point one
Admit there's a problem. I hope you can think of at least one thing you want to change point to
Aspire to change not just realize it but want to make that actual change point three arrange to change
meaning get a structured organized plan
Now it could be if you've never used plans or tried to live by routine before it could be that you make a plan in
A week later. You've got to adjust it a little bit
Isn't that true when you make plans you make a plan try to be detailed and then you realize I've got to make some changes
along the way, right
But come up with some sort of plan. Otherwise, you are not going to get rid of that addiction. It's not going to happen, right?
point for
Assure the plan and what assure the plan means is basically provide backup. So your plan does not fail
So basically formulate a plan and then basically fortify it strengthen it
So it's a lot easier to follow that plan and not mess up. Okay, Leviticus 14 verse 43
and
if the plague come again and break out in the house
After that, he hath taken away the stones and after he hath scraped the house and after it is plastered
So here the plague comes back they do all this they remove the stones the plague is back verse 44
Then the priest shall come and look and behold if the plague be spread in the house
It is a fretting leprosy in the house
It is unclean and he shall break down the house the stones of it and the timber thereof and all the murder of the house
And he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place
so this is basically symbolically speaking an example where you try to fix the problem and you're failing and
This could be said about a lot of us with some of our addictions. We try to fix the problem. We're failing
You got to take it to another extreme level and look sometimes you got to go to an extreme level
It might be difficult to get rid of the problem. I'll give you an example my old preacher in West Virginia
You know, he told this story about someone who was saying hey, you know what pastor I need help
I need to get over this problem
I have he's like I'm always driving to work and there's all these billboards and I just I
Keep looking at those women. I'm trying not to lust after them, but I'm struggling with it
I cannot control my eyes. I don't know how to do it. He's just like I'm going there
It's just like I always look at I try not to I know I shouldn't and I always look at it
the pastor said is there another route to work that you can go and
He's like, yeah, actually I could go this this other route
He said it would take me a little bit longer than pastor said go that route and then he did that and he fixed the problem
Now here's the thing the quick route would be easier
I mean it takes five less minutes, but the long route is what got the job done
Here's what I'm saying. Make it change if you keep failing you've got to figure it out
What are you doing wrong?
You might have to go to a bit of an extreme to get right with God in that area or get rid of the addiction
Look if somebody's a drug addict
They're gonna have to go to extremes to get rid of that problem and I'm not an expert at this sort of stuff
But when people are addicted to drugs with withdrawals and stuff like that, it's it's very hard for people
You got to go to extremes and I don't even know all the answers to get rid of that addiction
But what I'm saying is whatever addiction you have it's gonna be tough
You're gonna have to cast off that work of darkness. You're gonna have to shake it off
Shake off that beast you might have to go to some extremes
You might have to really stop and literally just sit here and think in your chair for an hour tonight and just ask yourself
What can I do to get rid of this?
Because here's the truth what you're doing right now is not working
as
Long as you admitted that you're addicted to it to yourself. What you're doing is obviously not working now
Look, I'm not just preaching to you. I'm not standing up here saying look at me. Look at how great I am
I'm saying there's things that I want to change in
2022
that I'm addicted to
Things that are bad habits things that are not good for me. And you know what? I'm struggling to get a hold of it
I want to become a better person in 2022
now
Go to 1st Corinthians 7. We'll close up. I
Can say that for me personally when it comes to things I want to change in my life
the biggest reason I want to change them is my son's about to turn four years old and
It's just like I don't want him to struggle with things that I've struggled with my whole life things that I grew up with
Things that I was around things that give me good childhood memories
But things that at this point in my life, I'd say even though I have fond memories of these things
I don't want my son to have that same sort of attachment
And so I just think to myself my son's getting to the point. He's about turning about to turn four
I mean he looks at everything I'm watching on YouTube
He wants to be just like dad if I'm working out he's working out right beside me if he's around me and everything
It's just like I need to make sure I'm living my life in a way as he tries to emulate his father
Where it's a good example, and I was like man
You know what there's a few things where it's like I want to cut them out now because otherwise this might get a hold of
my son
Right and look I would say that if you're a parent and you have kids whether you realize it or not your parent your kids
Are going to emulate what you do?
Right you know that they say with you know I'd say every parent tells their kids don't smoke don't drink
But what they say is you know if the parent smokes the kids gonna smoke even if the parent says don't do this
It's probably gonna happen
Now there's exceptions my dad's father was a smoker and my dad
Doesn't smoke he never smoked smoke when we were growing up. I think the big reason he made sure it's like hey
I'm gonna have kids. I don't want to pass that on but here's the thing my dad
Also knew that his father died in his 40s
I never met my grandfather on my dad's side because he died at such a young age
It's like that's the effects of being addicted to smoking cigarettes
Right and my dad didn't want that to be passed on to us, so he's like and look as a parent
That's honestly the biggest thing it shakes you into reality. I need to make changes
It's like I'm okay with with having bad habits myself. I don't want to pass it on to my kids though
That's the way that I feel I want to make changes in 2022 because I don't want to pass it on to my kids
I want them to be better than I am
And you know what I hope if you're in this room, and you have kids
That's the way you feel so how do we assure this plan you say brother Stuckey? Okay? I do have problems
I admit there's a problem I
Aspire to change
I've arranged to change. I've got a plan, but how do I assure that plan to make it work?
Well the best way. I think to assure that plan is to get an accountability partner
Someone who also is trying to make a change and
Basically you confide in each other hey, this is the thing I'm working on this is the thing you're working on
Can we work on this together? Can we be accountability partners you say brother Stuckey is this biblical?
well have you read James 5 before confess your faults one to another and
Pray for one another that you may be healed it is a biblical thing now of course we preach against confession
But at the same time there's also a balance between we're not talking about confession
But we are talking about having accountability partners can be a helpful thing
It's like this in any area of life look you got a big exam you're studying for for college
Why is it you study with other people because it's hard to be motivated on your own
Right it's hard to be motivated to study for hours and hours, but if you have other people they're drowning in misery and
Complaining and upset about it
It's easier
right
Having an accountability partner will help you make a change
now
Let me read you a verse and then I'm going to spend a couple minutes
Just kind of explaining this to try to help you out in 2022 first Corinthians 7 verse 5
It says this defraud ye not one the other except to be with consent for a time
Let's talk about in a marriage in terms of a physical union
That you may give yourselves to fasting in prayer and come together again that Satan tempts you not for your incontinency
And so it talks about if you would make this decision to consent for a time
It should only be if you're fasting and praying and it should be something that you agree upon because as husband and wife
To become one flesh and so the purpose is for fasting in prayer and things such as that
let me just give you a basic example if you decide as a guy that you're gonna go on a fast for a spiritual reason and
you don't tell your wife and
Then she cooks you a meal and you don't eat it and she spent time doing it
Right
You have to actually involve your wife in a decision like that because otherwise, how are you gonna go without eating food, right?
If you're married, here's what I'm trying to tell you. Your accountability partner should be your spouse
They should be it should be your spouse
You say brother sucky. I'm excited. I'm a wife in here and there's so many problems in my husband
I want to fix this is great or I'm a husband in here
I want my wife to make some changes
But but here's the thing point number one was on an individual level admitting you have a problem
It's not about you telling your spouse what to change. It's about them admitting to themselves the things they need to change
Here's the thing if your spouse makes one change for the better, even if it's not the top one on your list
That's gonna make them a better spouse for you
Right, I came up with things I told my wife I told my wife, you know what it's up to you what you pick
Now look if your spouse opens up to you and says hey
Can you you let me know what you think I need to work on? Well, then by all means you can have that honest conversation
Maybe some people will do that. Maybe some won't but what I'm saying is this if you are married, it should be your spouse
Sue become one now it's up to you what you want to do. You don't have to listen to me
You don't have to take my advice. You can try to kick all these bad habits on your own and that's fine
And I wish you success. I
Have trouble thinking that you're gonna be successful though if you fail over and over again
Right now I hope you are successful. I hope you prove me wrong and by all means
Praise the Lord if you do I'm saying though an accountability partner is a biblical thing. It's actually a helpful thing
We're basically you just admit say, you know, honey. This is something I want to work on. It's a change
I want to make and then they also say that to you and then you can be accountability partners
Meaning that you can kind of ask each other every few days
How are you doing on that and look the path to success is probably going to be a lot of failures along the way
If you kick a bad habit, you know what you're probably gonna fail along the way a few times
Because if something's like an addiction or a habit you just do it without thinking
It's gonna take time to realize. Oh, wait a minute. That's right. I shouldn't do it. I'll give you an example
In college, I I made just kind of like a friendly bet with one of my friends
We're basically he was addicted to drinking pop coke Coca Cola Pepsi, whatever you want to call it
We call it pop in West Virginia, right soda pop coke, whatever and he was addicted to whether a coca-cola Pepsi or whatever
And he just couldn't live without caffeine every single meal always drinking it
So we made a bet and I said well all we'll see who can go longer me without food
Are you without drinking pop and I won the bet and the reason why I won the bet is he?
Accidentally drank a pop without thinking about it's like ah, I got you I won because just by habit just addicted
He just didn't even think about his
He's like best two out of three. It's like no I've gone long enough without eating. Okay
so
If you're addicted to something you might fail along the way
but
Two are better than one
They have a good reward for their labor and a three four fold cord is not quickly broken now
Here's the thing if you're not married or if you chose to do it with somebody else as an accountability partner
You can go up to someone that you're very close friends with and say hey, would you like to be accountability partners?
You know in this challenge because I'm challenging you to pick at least one thing you want to get rid of in
2022 a change you want to make and basically you can open up to one another here's the thing though
If you are somebody's accountability partner do not repeat what they tell you
That is very important. If somebody tells you hey, I've got this addiction
Don't go around telling other people at church
If someone says hey, I'm addicted to cigarettes, you know what I need to get rid of this
Don't tell other people at church. Don't embarrass them. Don't shame them
If someone tells you I'm addicted to pornography don't tell other people at church now that that's a sin
But I'm not gonna kick somebody out of church for that sin because that's not something listed in first Corinthians
You don't have to tell me about that, right?
It's like if somebody chooses you as the partner and and they open up to you don't repeat
To other people what they told you in confidence
Privately because they're trying to get rid of the habit and you embarrassing them is not going to help them
If somebody trusts you enough to pick you as an accountability partner do not break that trust
Do not tell other people what it is now. Look I would say this
Obviously you use wisdom somebody says I struggle with killing people
It's just like brother Alex, you're my accountability partner. I murdered five people this month. Okay. Well use some wisdom
We gotta go to the cops
That person's a psycho. It's like that. That's a whole nother level somebody if somebody says something that's super criminal
Obviously, that's a little bit different
But if somebody just comes to you and says hey, I struggle with this sin. I struggle with this world enos
I struggle with this bad habit. I struggle with not reading the Bible enough not, you know memorizing the Bible not praying
Whatever it is, right. I struggle with being lazy. I struggle with
Whatever it is. I struggle with a bad diet whatever they can fight and you don't embarrass that person and look
I'm being honest that if somebody came to me and confided something in me, I'm not gonna repeat that even to my wife because
There's really not a purpose for it
If you confide in me, I'm being honest
I won't repeat that to other people the exception would be if you tell me you're a murderer or pedophile then
Yeah, then that's a little bit different
But if it's just something you struggle with the sin
it's just like you know what I'm not gonna kick you out of church because you struggle with this center this worldliness you're trying to
Kick because the truth is all of us whether we admit it or not are addicted to at least a few things
I'm willing to admit that I have bad habits. I do not want to pass on to my son
I'm admitting there's a problem in my life. I have things that I need to change
Right, and here's the thing if you're successful in 2022 and kick one bad habit
2023 you can take on another one. I
Mean, we're in an uphill climb
I mean if you're gonna serve God your whole life then it could be a slow steady growth of of
Getting rid of some of the weights and the sins. I mean because the Bible says in Hebrews weights and sins
Some things are sinful some things are just kind of weighing you down things that are not necessarily sinful
But they're also not helpful
Right and so basically getting rid of those problems and slowly making changes in your life
Now the reason why this is difficult is because having an accountability partner you have to humble yourself
That's not fun
That's not easy to make yourself vulnerable where you admit. Hey, you know what people aren't aware, but I struggle with this and
Look, it's up to you whether you want to do this or not. You don't have to I am participating in this
I think it's a great thing having an accountability partner is biblical because James 5
Confess your faults one to another now. That doesn't mean confess to every single person at church
You don't have to do that. But just having an accountability partner. It's gonna help you. Look when I was in college
Me and my friends, you know, we would try to challenge each other working out and various things
We're real close to one another look having other people
Helps you get better having a workout partner helps you because you motivate each other
So if you wake up and you don't feel like going to the gym
Your accountability partners like hey, no, we're going to the gym. Remember we said 6 a.m
it's like can I sleep today and it's like no because
You got an accountability partner to help you
The Bible says two are better than one and a three four fold cord is not quickly broken
So first admit that you have an addiction or a problem
next aspire to change
Next arrange to change meaning make a structured plan a real detailed plan of what you plan to do
Look, if you don't read the Bible on a daily basis, you got to come up with a plan to change that
right and
Assure that plan by basically
Primarily having an accountability partner to help you with that and once again don't repeat other people's problems or sins
I wouldn't want somebody embarrassing me with problems
I have I wouldn't want them to repeat everything that I would say neither does anyone in this room don't repeat other people's problems
But it's a good thing. It's a biblical thing for an accountability partner to help you make changes in
2022 let's close in a word of prayer dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for allowing us be here today and getting to see your word in this topic
God and I ask you to help us to get rid of some of our addictions and some of our problems
God help us to all be humble enough to admit that we have areas of our life. We need to change
Help us to have that real strong desire and aspire to make a change God
help us to really sit down and take time to arrange a change in our life formulate a plan God and
and help us to be able to humble ourselves and feel comfortable with
Assuring that plan with an accountability partner that will help motivate us in that goal. God. We just pray these things in Jesus name. Amen
Amen for our last song let's turn to him number 64
Turn your hems to him number 64. Let's sing the song shall we gather at the river
Lift up your voices on the first verse ready sing
Oh
Amen we're dismissed
You