A.Addiction is a terrible thing.Many Americans are plagued with addictions, and most will not be able to overcome them without a great deal of help.
B.Addiction to substances is just one form of mastery that has no place in the life of Christians, for Christians are not to be mastered by anything outside of Jesus Christ.
II.DO NOT BE MASTERED BY ANYTHING
A.A person is mastered when he is brought under the control of a force outside of himself.
1.A master has power over his subject, who becomes his slave.The master exercises control and authority to dictate what his slave may do or may not do.
2.Consider some examples from Scripture of ways in which people have been mastered (enslaved) by other people throughout history:
a.By being purchased (Gen. 17:12; 37:28);
b.By birth (Ex. 21:2-4);
c.By volunteering (Ex. 21:5-6);
d.By capture (Deut. 20:1-14);
e.By debt (2Ki. 4:1);
f.By arrest (Ex. 22:2-3);
g.By inheritance (Lev. 25:46).
3.These historical examples demonstrate how some people have become masters, but not all masters are people.
a.A master can be any object or habit that controls a person’s behavior.
b.In truth, there are many objects and habits that master people.
i.Some people are mastered through addictions to tobacco, alcohol, drugs, caffeine, and other substances.
ii.Some people are mastered by habits and situations that are not physically addictive but are mentally and physically captivating.These habits and situations can be in relationships, forms of entertainment, peer pressure, or various means of self indulgence.
B.People are mastered by things and habits only when they choose to be so.
1.We usually think of slavery as a forced condition, but no object or habit can force itself onto a person.
a.An inanimate object or habit has no will or personality to take control over a human being.No such thing can ever enslave a person by force.
b.Instead, the object or habit is empowered and comes to life through a person’s willingness to indulge a desire or lust.
i.Consider Philippians 3:18-19 – "For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
ii.When a person’s appetite becomes his god, he has been mastered by the object of his appetite.He is a slave who serves his own lusts and cravings.
2.Most people choose their masters and voluntarily become slaves.
a.This principle is stated in a discussion of sin and righteousness from Romans 6:16 – "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”(More on this later…)
b.Notice that "you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience.”It is a person’s choice to obey the appetite he has for an object or a habit and thus make himself a slave to his chosen master whom he obeys.No one forces him to do this.
3.A good example of this is found in the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22.
a.When the young man asked the Lord what he should do to obtain eternal life, Christ told him to keep God’s commandments, to sell his possessions, to give to the poor, and to follow Him.
b.However, the young man did not heed Christ’s words.Notice verse 22 – "But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”
c.In this story, which was the master – the young man or the property he owned?The property was his to keep or sell, but he had yielded control over his eternal soul to these lifeless possessions.They had become his master by his own choice.
C.Christians must not be mastered by anything outside of Christ.
1.God has given to us many good provisions for our lives on earth, but none of these things are to become our masters.
a.Notice 1Corinthians 6:12 – "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.”(The ASV says, "All things are lawful for me; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me; but I will not be brought under the power of any.”)
b.By this, we understand that there are times when we should abstain from even "lawful” things.One of those times is when a thing becomes a master to us.
2.If at any time we feel that we cannot abstain from any worldly thing, it is then that we must cease from it.In such a case, the thing has become a master, and we must not be mastered by anything.
III.BE MASTERED BY ONLY CHRIST
A.If you are a Christian, then Christ is your only Lord and Master.
1.Jesus Christ is the "one Lord” named in Ephesians 4:5.He is the one chosen by the Father to be both Lord and Christ, who was seated at God’s right hand in heaven (Acts 2:22-36).
2.Jesus invites all people to freely come to Him and accept Him as Lord and Master (Matt. 11:28-30).Christ does not force anyone to become a subject against his will, but those who deny the Lord will pay a terrible penalty in the judgment (2Thess. 1:6-10).
3.If you have chosen to have Jesus as your Lord, then you must follow His will in everything.The Lord said Himself, "Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).
B.Mastery by Christ is freedom from all other masters.
1.Jesus declared this freedom in John 8:31-32 – "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
a.In this same passage, Jesus went on to explain that He alone was able to free men from the slavery of sin (vv. 33-36).
b.Moreover, freedom in Christ means that Christians have liberty in every area of life.No object, habit, peer pressure, trend, fad, custom, fashion, or mandate can control the mind and heart of a person who is in Christ.Indeed, the truth of Jesus Christ has set us free from such things.
2.Slavery to righteousness through Christ is freedom from sin and death according to Romans 6.
a.Because we have been united with Christ in the likeness of death through baptism, "we should no longer be slaves to sin” (v. 6), for we have been "freed from sin” (v. 7).
b.Notice verses 12-14 – "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
c.Through Christ, we have exchanged masters. Notice verses 17-18 – "But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
IV.CONCLUSION
A.There is a foolish notion in the world that Christianity is restrictive and oppressive for those who practice it.Nothing could be farther from the truth, for Christians enjoy more freedom than anyone in the world.
B.If you have not submitted to the Lord and Master Jesus Christ, then you are still mastered by the sin you have chosen to serve.Choose a new Master today, and let Him set you free from your dreadful captivity.
