INTRODUCTION – The Trap That Looks Like Freedom
We’re going to talk about drugs and alcohol today—not because it’s comfortable, but because it’s crushing lives. Some of you in this room are caught up in it. Others are one decision away. And all of us need the Word of God to stay clean, stay clear, and stay close to Jesus.
I’m talking about all of it—not just the street drugs, not just the bottles behind the counter. I’m talking about the pills in your cabinet that are clouding your mind. I’m talking about the “just one drink” lie that opens the door to addiction. I’m talking about anything that messes with your head, your heart, or your walk with God.
This isn’t just a message—it’s a warning. It’s a rescue mission. It’s a wake-up call from the Lord.
So listen closely today—not just with your ears, but with your heart. Hear the Scriptures. Hear the truth. And let’s get this right before sin gets you.
Proverbs 23:29-32
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
They say it’s just a drink, just a hit, just one time. But it never ends there. That “one time” becomes a lifestyle. That “one hit” becomes a habit. And that drink? It starts as a promise of peace but ends in pain, regret, broken relationships, and wasted purpose.
Satan doesn’t sell chains—he sells “relief.” But his product is laced with death.
I. How People Get Trapped
1. How People Get Trapped: It Starts in the Mind
James 1:13-16
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
It usually starts small. A question in the mind:
- “What’s it feel like?”
- “Just once won’t hurt.”
- “Everyone else seems to enjoy it.”
Curiosity opens the door. That little bit of desire walks through that door. And sin slams that door shut behind you.
Satan whispers, ‘Just one time. This will be fun’ Then he tightens the noose.
2. How People Get Trapped: Pain Relief Turns into Addiction
Remember, we’re talking about how people get trapped. I don’t want you to get trapped.
Proverbs 31:6–7
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. 7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
At first glance, this passage almost sounds like advice to medicate your misery. But in context, this was the desperate cry of someone dying—someone with no hope, no future, and no way out. It was never a prescription for the living. It’s for a person who is perishing.
And that’s exactly what drugs and alcohol offer today—temporary relief for people who feel like they’re dying inside.
People don’t always reach for the bottle because they want to party. They do it because they want to forget.
- Forget the trauma.
- Forget the betrayal.
- Forget the stress.
- Forget the guilt.
- Forget the person in the mirror.
They don’t know where else to turn. So the devil hands them a drink or a pill or a drug and says, “Here—this will make it go away.” But what starts as a band-aid becomes a ball and chain. And that ball and chain gets bigger and bigger.
- A shot of liquor might blur the pain—but it magnifies the damage.
- A painkiller might numb the moment—but it kills your future.
- A high might make you forget last night—but it steals tomorrow.
The misery always comes back—stronger, darker, and deeper than before. The buzz fades. But the debt, the damage, the guilt, and the grief stay.
Hosea 4:11
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
Addiction doesn’t just mess with your body—it takes away your heart. Read the perfect word of God again. “Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.” You’re losing your very own heart. It deadens your conscience. It silences your prayer life. It crushes your ability to feel conviction.
Don’t lose your own heart. Don’t destroy your own soul.
Satan’s goal isn’t just to get you drunk—it’s to keep you numb so you never serve God.
Maybe you’re not hooked on drugs—but you’re always “needing something” to cope. Whether it’s the bottle, the vape, the pill, the cigarette, or the hit… the pain is real—but the solution isn’t in the substance. It’s in the Savior. And many times, the pain being so bad is in your head. It’s not actually that painful. Watch what Jesus says:
Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
He doesn’t say to go to the drugs, the alcohol, the nicotine. He says to go to God.
What liquor offers in lies, Jesus gives in truth. What drugs promise temporarily, Jesus delivers eternally.
People run to drugs and alcohol to forget the pain—but the pain always comes back worse.
3. How People Get Trapped: Peer Pressure and Culture
Listen, this is big. People will pressure you to do something you know is wrong. You take that first sip. You keep drinking. People pressure you to do more when you’re weak.
Proverbs 1:10-11
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
This is how it starts:
- “Come on, bro—just one drink.”
- “It’s not that serious. Everybody does it.”
- “Don’t be so uptight. You need to live a little.”
- “Try this. It’ll help you relax.”
And here’s what happens next:
- You take the sip you said you’d never take.
- You go back the next weekend.
- You start ignoring that little voice inside.
- And before long, your standards aren’t just lower—they’re gone.
The world doesn’t just tolerate sin—it pressures you to celebrate it. It mocks purity. It mocks sobriety. It mocks holiness.
But here’s the twisted part:
The same people who pressured you to drink, smoke, and party will be the same ones who laugh when your life falls apart.
This world cheers while you jump off the cliff—and then mocks your fall.
- They say you’re boring when you’re clean.
- They say you’re judgmental when you walk away.
- They say you’ve changed when you get right with God.
- And they say, “You’re not fun anymore.”
Good. You weren’t saved to entertain demons. You were saved to glorify God.
Don’t be surprised when the world turns on you for doing right—it turned on Jesus too.
John 15:19
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
You don’t need their approval—you need God’s power. You don’t need their acceptance—you need conviction. You need this church with you.
If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Don’t follow the crowd—follow Christ. Don’t be pressured into destruction. Be persuaded by the Word.
This world mocks you for being clean but laughs when you’re broken.
The devil loves to cheer you off a cliff. People join in with that. Don’t let people pressure you into doing drugs and alcohol.
4. How People Get Trapped: Neglect of God’s Word and Church
Hebrews 10:25
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
No one wakes up one day and says, “I think I’ll ruin my life today.” No, it starts with spiritual neglect. What does that mean?
- You skip a Sunday. You skip a Thursday. You skip more and more.
- You stop reading your Bible.
- You stop praying.
- You stop surrounding yourself with people who sharpen you.
And little by little, you go cold. Little by little, your fire goes out.
And when that happens, Satan doesn’t even have to push you—you fall all by yourself.
People don’t backslide into a bottle—they drift out of the Bible. They fall out of fellowship before they fall into addiction.
The devil’s strategy is isolation. Satan is a wolf, and wolves hunt the stragglers—the ones who drift from the flock. He wants you alone, tired, discouraged, and disconnected from truth.
That’s when temptation gets loud. That’s when your flesh starts talking louder than your faith.
Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
You stop reading the Word—now you’re walking in darkness. You stop going to church—now no one’s encouraging you. You stop seeking God—now you’re seeking relief somewhere else.
- You think you’re just “too tired for church”—but that’s when you need it most.
- You think you’re “too busy to read the Bible”—but that’s when you’re wide open to attack.
- You think you’ll be fine without fellowship—until you’re not.
You’re either being fed by God—or being hunted by the devil.
Addiction doesn’t begin with a bottle or a blunt—it begins when the Bible starts collecting dust. It begins when you walk away from the very things that kept you strong.
Stay in the Word. Stay in church. Stay around people who push you toward Christ—not toward compromise.
Psalm 1:1-2
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
People don’t backslide into a bottle—they stop showing up to church, they stop reading their Bible, and they start hanging around the wrong people.
II. How To Get Out of the Trap
1. How to Get Out of the Trap: Come to Jesus Just as You Are
John 8:36
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Jesus doesn’t say, “Fix yourself first.” He says, “Come to Me, and I’ll set you free.”
You don’t have to detox your past before He delivers you. You don’t have to pretend you’re strong—He sets captives free, not the fake righteous.
The chains you can’t break are the ones He died to destroy.
2. How to Get Out of the Trap: Burn the Bridges to Sin
Acts 19:19
Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
They didn’t sell it. They didn’t store it. They burned it.
You want to walk in freedom? Delete the contacts. Flush the pills. Pour out the liquor. Don’t leave sin in the drawer just in case your flesh gets hungry again.
You can’t walk into your future while leaving the door cracked to your past.
Sometimes it’s not a party or a friend pressuring you—it’s your own parent.
- A mom saying, “Just take a sip. You’re old enough now.”
- A dad handing you a beer and calling it bonding.
- A family that makes sin a tradition.
But listen: just because they raised you doesn’t mean they’re right. And just because they offered it doesn’t mean you have to take it.
Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
You don’t have to carry your family’s chains. You can break the cycle. Hey, burn the bridges to sin. Not the bridges to your parents. But the bridges to sin.
- Respect them—but don’t follow them into sin.
- Set a boundary. Say: “I love you, but I don’t do that anymore.”
- Let your changed life preach louder than your words.
- Pray for them—but don’t compromise with them.
Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Even when it’s your mom. Even when it’s your dad. Obey God. Give them the Gospel. Get them saved. And then help them to get the drugs and alcohol out of their life too.
3. How to Get Out of the Trap: Replace the Substance with the Spirit
Ephesians 5:18
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Sobriety alone isn’t victory—it’s a vacuum unless you fill it with something stronger.
Getting sober is a start—but it’s not the solution by itself.
Emptiness is dangerous. Jesus taught that when an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it walks through dry places—and if nothing fills that space, it comes back with more demons than before.
Sobriety without the Spirit leaves you clean on the outside but still vulnerable on the inside.
You don’t just need to stop drinking—you need to start walking with God. You don’t just need less of the world—you need more of Christ.
You didn’t get addicted by accident—and you won’t stay free by autopilot. You need the fire of the Holy Ghost to fill every room where addiction used to live. How do you do that?
Read your Bible. Pray without ceasing. Get to church with us. Surround yourself with believers. Worship with all your heart. Fill your life with what God gave you to replace the poison.
Don’t just get clean—get consumed by Christ. That’s how you stay free.
III. How To Stay Free And Strong
1. How to Stay Free and Strong: Be Accountable and Plugged In Here at Your Church
Make this your church. We are God’s people. We are here for you. It is no mistake that God sent us to you out there. It is no mistake that you are in here right now. God put us together.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Isolation or being alone is the devil’s playground. Fellowship is the firewall. Remember, we’re here on Sunday morning, Sunday Evening, and Thursday Night. We are around here other days too. Please get here with us as much as you can.
This will keep you free and strong.
2. How to Stay Free and Strong: Fill Your Life with the Right Things
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
You can’t just stop doing wrong—you’ve got to start feeding your mind the right things. Your thoughts become your actions. Your actions become your habits. And your habits shape your life. Horrible music leads to a horrible life. It does.
If you fill your eyes with filth, your mind will be dirty. If you fill your ears with trash, your heart will be heavy. If you fill your time with nonsense, your spirit will feel numb.
If your mind is a trash can, don’t be surprised when you feel like garbage.
But if your mind is set on the Word of God, the things of God, and the people of God—freedom will feel natural.
You become what you think about. So think on truth. Think on purity. Think on Christ.
3. How to Stay Free and Strong: Daily Walk, Daily Word
Psalm 119:11
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Victory is daily. Don’t look for a one-time fix—look for a lifetime walk with Jesus. I die daily. Put all the drugs and alcohol away.
Victory isn’t one giant moment—it’s a hundred small ones every day.
You don’t beat addiction by one trip to church. You beat it by walking with Jesus every morning, every hour, every time the temptation whispers.
Read your Bible when you don’t feel like it. Pray when you’re tired. Show up to church when it would be easier to stay home.
Because every time you do, you’re building strength. You’re gaining ground. You’re filling your heart with the Word of God—and that’s what keeps sin out.
Don’t look for a one-time fix—look for a lifetime walk with Jesus. That’s where the power is.
When someone tells you that your child needs drugs to fix Attention Deficit Disorder, this means the child needs your attention. This means the child needs you, this church, and more of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not drugs. Trust me on this. It’s the situation and the environment, such as public school, that leads to this. It’s not the child.
Trust God. Trust his words. Stay sober. Get off the drugs. Get off the alcohol. Or, your next breath might not come. And I want you to be here with us for a long time.
CLOSING CALL – The Devil Is a Drug Dealer, but Jesus Is the Deliverer
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
You don’t have to stay a slave to drugs and alcohol. Those things are dead things that lead to death. You don’t have to stay ashamed. You don’t have to stay addicted.
You get saved, and you got a new man. That new man was never addicted. Your old man was and he’s still there. But he’s dead. Don’t let people tell you that you’re still an addict. God says you’re a NEW MAN. You’re a NEW WOMAN.
Hey, let’s do this together. Let’s drop all that dead trash out there like the drugs and the alcohol and the cigarettes. And let’s stay with the LIVING GOD. He’s worth it. Put your eyes on God above. When you’re having those thoughts, I want you to look up.
Psalm 121:1–2
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
There is no one and nothing STRONGER than the Lord God ALMIGHTY. You can say this with me: “My help comes from above. My help comes from the Lord which made heaven and earth.”
Look, you’ve got it all now. You’ve got everlasting life. You’ve got the Lord. You’ve got a great church to be here for you. You’ve got everything you need.
Don’t let the buzz break you. It’s nothing.
Let the world keep its bottle—You’ve got the Bible. Let the world stay drunk—You’re filled with the Spirit. Let the world spiral—You’re standing in the STRENGTH of Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.
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