 I want to talk to you about the stronghold of addiction. Now, there are many different forms of addiction. There's drug addiction, alcohol addiction, porn addiction, food addiction. So many different things can become addiction. I want you to remember this about addiction. People ask me all the time, Brother David, let's just use drug addiction for an example or alcohol addiction, like a substance. People ask me all the time, Brother David, is that spiritual or is that physical? And I tell them it's both. All addictions have some form of demonic influence. How can they not think about what an addiction does? It destroys someone who carries the image of God. Every addiction, every addiction that is destructive to the life of someone who bears the image of God has some element of demonic influence in it. You just look at addiction. Look what addiction does in someone's life. In someone's life. You tell me what other kind of influence could make a parent abandon their child. You tell me what other kind of influence can make someone give up everything that God blessed them with to pursue the pleasures of the world. There is demonic influence in all forms of addiction. Period. Now, don't confuse demonic deception for other forms of demonic attack. And I want to show you how this works. Okay, in just a moment. So it's partly demonic. It's partly the sin nature. And then it's partly physiological. Now, when I say that an addiction is partly demonic, people who don't believe in the supernatural say, oh, you're crazy. Oh, you're demon obsessed. Oh, you don't know what you're talking about. Oh, you're superstitious. And they neglect the reality of the supernatural. And then when I say that there's a physiological element to addiction, the people who are superstitious say, no, it's completely demonic. And there's nothing else a part of it that needs to be addressed. Both sides are wrong. An addiction is demonic in nature. It's fleshly in nature. And it's physiological in nature. Now, when I say fleshly, I'm using that term as it pertains to the sin nature. And that word you have to watch, because sometimes when the word flesh is used, it's talking about the sin nature. And other times when the word flesh is used, it's talking about the physical body. So context will give the meaning to that particular word. You have to address all these areas. Now let me show you how addiction works. Here's how addiction works. It begins with deception that gives way to yielding to temptation. You say, how does addiction begin with deception? Well, think about this. All temptation is rooted in deception. In Matthew 4, you can go look at it later when the Lord Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The devil would tempt him with lies or the challenge to his identity, which was a form of deception, if you are the Son of God. That's deception. That's the challenging of the truth. So deception is the framework for temptation. Deception is what gives temptation its power. So deception says the sin will satisfy, the drug will satisfy, the sex will satisfy, the alcohol will satisfy, overeating will satisfy. And then that deception gives way to temptation. Or another lie could be the presence of God can't fulfill you like this can. Or this doesn't have any real consequences. These are the lies we believe that cause us to yield to temptation. The ultimate lie being that it's worth it. Temptation produces sin. That sin becomes habitual. Now watch this. At some point, the habitual sin becomes a physical problem. Hear me now. At some point, the habitual sin becomes a physical problem. Watch this now. Deception, that's the demonic aspect. Temptation, that's a combination of your flesh and the demonic. Because the Bible says that when we're tempted, we're tempted because we're carried away by our own lusts. And then the Bible also makes it clear that the devil tempts us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. That's crying out for deliverance from temptation. Temptation is demonic and fleshly. Sin is of the flesh. You choose to sin. Demons can tempt you, but you choose to sin. And then it becomes habitual. Now the flesh is getting stronger with habitual sin. Now watch this. Eventually, that habitual sin of the sin nature, of the carnal nature, begins to become addiction. Now you've got a physiological problem on your hand. You have to deal with the demonic. You have to deal with the sin nature. And you have to deal with the body. So to deal with the demonic, you have to realize that the enemy is going to seek opportunities to tempt you. Now the context here will consider it, and then I'll show you the principle that we're gleaning from this. 1 Corinthians chapter seven, verse five, do not deprive each other of sexual relations talking to married couples, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so that you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. So he's talking to married couples saying, look, if you want to fast, if you will, sexual intimacy for the sake of prayer, you can do that, but watch the warning he gives. Afterward, you should come together so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. You see the combination there? Temptation of the devil, self-control. That's you. That's the flesh. So he can only tempt you because of your lack of self-control. He can only tempt you because of the desires that you have in the sin nature. Now watch this. This also shows us that the enemy looks for opportune moments. He looks for the moments that you are weakest and he tempts you with what tempts you most. And he'll always come after you in your weak points. And so, what's the answer? You defeat the enemy. The Bible gives it clearly here, James 4-7. So humble yourselves before God or submit yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee. What does the Bible say, guys? Guys, what does the Bible say? Resist the devil and he'll fight. Resist the devil and he'll hide near you? No. It says resist the devil and he will flee. Now this has to be done from time to time. Whenever those temptations arise. How do you resist the devil? How did Jesus do it? It is written. You fight him with the word. You combat him with truth. It is written. So you resist the devil and he flees. So the temptation or the role that demons play in temptation is dealt with when you resist the devil, rebuke the devil in the authority of Christ. Simple exercise of authority. Now, then you have to deal with the sin nature. Romans 8.6-8 says, So letting your sinful nature control your minds leads to death. But letting the spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. So the sinful nature is always hostile to God. Remember, it's both demonic and of the sin nature. Addiction is both demonic and of the sin nature. I want to be clear because when I talk about the physical elements of addiction, people are going to say, You don't believe it's demonic? And when I talk about the demonic elements of addiction, people are going to say, You don't believe it's of the physiological nature? We have to address both because both of these are realities. So letting your simple nature control your minds leads to death. But the spirit controls your mind will lead to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. How do you do this? Let the spirit control your mind. You should implement practical measures like accountability, like discipline, like exercising your will to resist. And that's part of it. But I'll tell you this. While you should strive against sin, you must also surrender to the spirit. Surrendering to the spirit solves 99% of the problem. Striving against sin solves 1% of it, but you need to do both. Yes, act against it. Yes, discipline. Yes, willpower. But now you also have to surrender to the spirit. How do you do that? Renewing your mind to the word, daily prayer, asking for his guidance, being mindful of his presence, slowing down your pace so that he has time to speak to you. These are all things that matter when it comes to dealing with addiction. Now, how do you deal with the physical body? Remember this. The eventual result of habitual sin is physical addiction. Let me read something to you. This is from my book coming out in June of 2023, Holy Spirit, The Bondage Breaker. It's a fact that the body and the brain can be altered, restructured to the point where its sinful cravings can be as strong as hunger, if not stronger. In the case of drugs and alcohol, your body becomes dependent upon the substance. At that point, in extreme cases, the body's need for advice can become life-threatening. Once the addiction has reached this point, willpower and discipline alone begin to lose their strength. The body begins to act on what it's been trained to do and crave. Sadly, these cravings are so strong that men and women give up all they love to fulfill them. I've seen parents abandon children, spouses abandon spouses, and people give up everything they've worked to achieve for just one more taste of what they crave. So the nature of addiction is thus, it begins in deception. That deception makes you more vulnerable to temptation. You choose to yield to that temptation. That yielding to temptation becomes a habit. That habit affects the body and the brain profoundly enough to become an addiction. By the time the bondage has become an addiction, there are physical elements to it. Addiction is the physical consequence of a constant yielding to temptation. Let me say that again. Addiction is the physical consequence of a constant yielding to temptation. So you keep choosing to yield and to yield. The flesh gets stronger, stronger, stronger, and eventually the flesh begins to alter brain chemistry and bodily cravings to where now you're dealing with an addiction. So if it's come to this point, what do you do? Number one, and this is addressing now the physiological element. Remember we talked about the demonic, we talked about the flesh, now we're talking about the physiological element. Number one, deal with it early. James 1, 14 and 15 say, temptation comes from our own desires which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So address it while it's still a smaller problem. This may not apply to everyone, but if you're noticing it beginning to form, you have to take action now. Number two, deal with it practically and spiritually. Now remember this, God can heal anyone of anything. I've seen drug addicts, I'm talking like heroin. I'm talking meth, I'm talking lifelong alcoholics. I've seen them delivered in an instant. And I would call that a deliverance slash healing because their physical body is being touched by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I've seen them never touch drugs again, never touch alcohol again and so forth. God does that, but that's not always the case. We cannot try to fit God in our boxes. God doesn't want to be put in a box. Those who say he can't heal people miraculously don't know what they're talking about. And those who say that God doesn't sometimes require of us to walk a journey, they don't know what they're talking about either. It's both and not either or. God does not want to be put in a box. And so yes, God can heal it instantly, but if he doesn't, you deal with it spiritually. Prayer, fasting, reading the word, church attendance, accountability, all of these things. And God has nothing against the medical profession. I got to be careful with the way I say this because not all practical attempts at addressing addiction are biblically consistent. Be very careful with where you go to get the help with the physical element. Be very careful who you get counsel from. Be very careful with medication and so forth. Really pray through these things and use discernment because there's lots of confusion there on some of these issues. But generally speaking, this is not to say there are no problems with these industries. Generally speaking, Jesus is not against medical professions. Matthew 9.12 says, But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Now Jesus here is talking about the fact that sinners need him, not the people who think they aren't sinners. But context considered, he's actually speaking positively of physicians. So he has nothing against them. Even when he healed the lepers, he told them, go and have yourselves checked, of course, by the religious leaders, but he's not against medical practice. Now there are some who say, you can't counsel out demons. And I agree, you cannot counsel demons out. You have to cast demons out. You can't rebuke what needs to be counseled and vice versa. But that doesn't mean that there's no room for this. Because once you've addressed the demonic power in the unbeliever, you have to cast it out with the believer, you rebuke it so that it's silent. And then now once you're dealing with the sin nature, that's up to the individual to submit themselves to God. And then you're dealing with the physiological element. God could heal that person. Absolutely positively. I've seen him do it 1000 times and many more. But when God doesn't do that, and sometimes he doesn't move the way we want him to move, it's okay to apply practical techniques as long as you're using discernment when you do so. And then finally, you want to deal with it aggressively. Romans 13, 14 says, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, that's the sin nature, to fulfill the lusts thereof. Don't give the man of sin opportunity. If you're struggling with pornography, get rid of your phone and your internet connection. You say, David, how will we watch you? Get a friend who can show you our videos. You do what you must. You're struggling with the drug addiction. Move out of state and go live with some Christians who you know aren't going to hook you up with drugs. I'm serious. I can't tell you how many times I've sat across from someone who says, I want to be free. I want to be free. And we've rebuked the devil. They're dealing with the sin nature. They're trying. But they just can't overcome that physical element. I say, I'll pay for you to go to rehab, but you have to leave because this area is not good for you. It's not good to be around these friends. And they'll say, oh, I don't know, it seems too drastic and they don't want to do it. It's okay. Then you don't really want freedom that badly. You have to deal with it aggressively, drastically. Jesus said, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. And I'm not telling you to literally amputate your hand. What Jesus was talking about there was the severity of sin and how we should take great measures to avoid it. So you talk about the man of sin and this addiction. You're serious about this. Okay. Get serious. Prove it. Oh, you know, I want to overcome this weed addiction. I really been really been praying and I just can't. Are you serious? Prove it. Move away from where you can get the connections. Get rid of your phone. You're serious about overcoming the porn addiction? Get rid of the internet connection. Get rid of social media. You should not even be on social media. You say, well, how do you receive these teachings and so forth? Well, I'll tell you, have a friend download them for you. Get a flip phone. Make no provision for the flesh. How serious are you? You do that for a season and then when that's broken and you can handle those things again, come back to it. But if you're serious about it, you'll get serious about it. Everyone I've talked to and I need to be careful about the way I say this because there are nuances to everyone's struggle. But generally speaking, the people I've talked to who've overcome these things with the Holy Spirit's help either were miraculously and instantly healed or they took aggressive action against this thing. And until you do that, you're not serious. I told you, I'm just going to tell you the truth, guys. I'm just going to tell you the truth. So you got to deal with the demonic. Resist the devil and he will flee. All addiction has some form of demonic influence. No one can convince me otherwise. All addiction has some form of demonic influence, period. Dealing with the sin nature, Romans 8, 6 to 8, let the spirit guide your life. Let's do practical basics of Christian living. Number three, deal with the body. How do you do that? You deal with it early. You deal with it practically and spiritually and you deal with it aggressive.