Well, it's great to be here tonight. I always enjoy preaching in Sacramento, California my hometown
And so it's always a pleasure to be back here with my good friend Pastor Jimenez
He and I have been very good friends now for what 18 years and so our friendship has reached adulthood now
And so it's always good to be a Verity Baptist Church
I couldn't believe how many people came you know just in spite of everything that's going on
And it's great such a huge turnout last night and tonight praise the Lord for that so tonight
I'm preaching on the subject of marijuana and
Marijuana is a big subject right now
Because of the fact that it's becoming legal all over the United States and because it's becoming legal all over the United States
There are all kinds of billboards popping up because a lot of people want to capitalize on this opportunity
They want to make money
dispensing marijuana and so with all the billboards going up and all the
Advertising it's in front of people's minds and when people see that advertising
You know people are paying for that advertising for a reason because it works
And so marijuana is just being put in front of us every day and young people
Could see that and be tempted to partake of that. There's a lot of culture that glorifies marijuana
There are movies that glorify using marijuana music
Etc and so I want to get up tonight and preach against marijuana because I don't want young people
Smoking marijuana and so you need to hear about how bad it is how wicked it is and how harmful it is to you
So that you're not tempted by all the advertising and glamour
surrounding it in
2020 so let me start out just by giving you a little bit of history of
Marijuana use in the United States. Okay, so if we go back to the late 1800s early 1900s
Smoking marijuana in the United States was not really a thing the drug that people were typically addicted to was opium
in fact opium addiction became such a big thing in this country that by
1914 one out of 400 Americans were addicted to opium. I mean this is when people were literally
drinking
Opium cough syrups with you know literally I saw where heroin
Was originally patented as a cough syrup as a cough medicine non-addictive all right
And so you have people that were addicted to opium and in the early part of the 20th century
The first people to use marijuana in the United States were bringing it up from Mexico
So it wasn't really a thing in the mainstream American culture, but among Mexican immigrants
It was a thing they brought it up from Mexico into the United States
And they smoked marijuana for the first 20 years or so
wasn't until the 30s that it started to spread a little bit outside of the Hispanic community and
in
1937 the federal government passed the marijuana tax act
Where they wanted to basically tax it and make it harder for people to get access to it, but in the 1950s
Is when the government really cracked down on marijuana, and they said hey we got to put a stop to this and so the
penalties that they enacted in
1956 for possessing marijuana any amount of marijuana if you possess any amount of marijuana in
1956 the minimum sentence was two years in prison
Just for having marijuana on your person in
1956
Two to ten years was the sentence minimum of two
Maximum of ten not even for selling it not even for smuggling it I'm talking about just for possessing marijuana on your person
So this was serious. I was talking to my dad about this before the service because the
1960s is when marijuana entered the mainstream culture through the rock and roll culture was around
1967 that this became a big thing you know my dad grew up in Los Angeles, California
Not exactly a backwater or anything like that. He's in a major city, LA
Stone throw from Hollywood, and he said it was around
1967 that marijuana hit the scene and before that no one in his junior high smoked marijuana
No one in his high school smoked marijuana and from one year to the next it just exploded on the scene and
He talked about getting pulled over in the late 1960s because the laws were strict back then
And he had police literally go through his car with a magnifying glass
combing the carpet
Because if they found one marijuana seed I mean if they found anything they're gonna nail you okay?
So the the laws against marijuana used to be very strict in the 1950s and 60s and so forth it
exploded on the scene in the late 60s
partially because of the the wicked
Spiritual practices of the rock-and-roll crowd of the late 60s you see bands like the Beatles and the Beach Boys
They went over to India and started hanging around with a bunch of devil-worshipping Hindus
Okay, and they're over there playing the sitar and guess what the Hindus have been smoking pot for thousands of years
There's nothing new under the Sun and they thought it's gonna open their mind to a spiritual experience
If you study the Hindu scriptures they talk about taking all kinds of mind-altering drugs
And so they got the Beatles and the Beach Boys and people like that
Smoking pot taking drugs, so they could kind of open their mind to this other experience folks
It's of the devil is what it is and then
Obviously when people see the Beatles doing it and everybody else doing it then they get into that pot smoking
Hippie culture and so forth so that's when marijuana use really exploded in the late 60s
in the
1970s this is just a little history lesson before we get into the sermon
But in the 1970s is when the marijuana laws started to relax a little bit
You know cuz in the 50s and 60s like I said, you know
They're searching with a magnifying glass if they catch you with any you're going to prison for two years and my dad actually
Knew of a guy in the valley there with him that ended up getting caught with $10 worth of marijuana
Two years in jail. So this was something that was actually being carried out
So in the 70s the law is kind of relaxed and in
1996 of course
California legalized marijuana for AIDS patients and cancer patients and and very sick people and then since then
It's been a domino effect where a lot more states have made it legal and now you don't have to have AIDS or cancer
You just go in and just say it hurts everywhere, you know
And you just get a prescription for pot today now if you would turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 6 1st Corinthians chapter 6
so I was just kind of a brief history of
Marijuana use in the United States. It was promoted in the 60s by the rock and roll stars
And today it's promoted by the hip-hop culture. I mean, dr. Dre Snoop Dogg
They talk a lot about smoking pot every single day
That's a big part of their culture and so that's made it popular, you know when people see that they think it's cool
They follow that lead
But the reason why this has become such a big deal in the last couple years is like I said as it has become legal
Now all of a sudden people think well if it's legal it's okay to do it
And let me tell you something just because something is legal does not make it right
Just because something is illegal doesn't make it wrong. Okay, the government is not God
God is God and the Bible decides what's right and wrong not just what some legislator somewhere says that something is legal
Look what the Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verse 12
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient
All things are lawful for me
But I will not be brought under the power of any flip over to chapter 10 of 1st Corinthians
So the Bible saying look just because something's lawful just because something's legal just because something's allowed
Does not mean that it's good for you expedient is something that's helping you succeed. It's helping you become a better person
Hey, marijuana is not making you a better Christian. It's not gonna make you a better employee at your job
It's not making you a better husband
It's not making you a better child or brother or cuz make you a loser is what it's doing
It's not expedient unto you and Paul said hey, it might be legal, but it's not good for me
And not only that I'm not gonna be brought under the power of it
Whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin and marijuana is addictive people are addicted to drugs today
Now the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 10 23 all things are lawful for me
But all things are not expedient all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not it's not building you up
It's not making you any smarter. It's not making you healthy. It's making you a fool now
I'm gonna give you six reasons tonight not to smoke marijuana go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 the first few are gonna be more obvious
But then I'm gonna get into some that maybe you haven't thought about but I'm gonna give you six good biblical reasons tonight
Not to smoke marijuana folks is tempting and not only that but
our kind of preaching and our kind of churches has over the years attracted a lot of people from the truth movement and
Here's the thing a lot of people in the truth movement are into smoking pot
Because they think oh this is alternative medicine the pharmaceutical companies don't want us to know
How this is gonna benefit us and where folks do not believe those lies
Marijuana is garbage and you say oh well God made it
You know God created every green herb to be meat for us, but here's the thing about that though
There are a lot of uses of the cannabis plant that are legitimate
in fact throughout the
1700s and the 1800s in the United States of America like I said before pot smoking was even a thing
Before that had even really been introduced in the 20th century as a recreational drug in the 1700s
And in the 1800s, it was widely used as a textile
It was used to make a plant-based fabric who here has ever seen or worn or used
cannabis
Clothing or hemp clothing, right? It's it's a you know, just like in the Bible
There's linen which is a plant-based textile. Well, guess what? There's the hemp or cannabis type clothing
There are legitimate uses for it. You could use that plant
I'm not gonna go into all the legitimate things you could use but you know what it doesn't mean that God intended you to
Light it on fire and smoke it and poison your mind with it and let me tell you something
God made a lot of other things God made toadstools also, but you know what if you eat toadstools
My mom told me I was a little kid you will die
She said Steven you played with toadstools in the backyard wash your hands before eating or you will die
and
I said mom am I really gonna die if I do it?
But you know what that was just the devil on my shoulder saying you should not surely die
You know and my mom's like look she's like maybe I'm exaggerating but it's poisonous, okay, just don't do it
Don't be a smart aleck and you know what?
I washed my hands with soap because I didn't want to eat with toadstools on my hands because toadstools are poisonous
Okay, I don't know how poisonous they are to this day. I'm not even gonna Google it
I'm just gonna trust my mom and not play with toadstools and then eat a peanut butter sandwich. I'm not gonna do it
You know, my mom also said if I use the same fork for mayonnaise and tuna, I'm gonna die
No, if I put the tuna and the mayonnaise, you know, you gotta use separate, you know, she was good on food safety. Amen
But look the point is
There are poisonous things out there. There are berries that if you eat them, they're poisonous
Everybody knows that there are plants and animals and
Funguses and things that if you eat them, you're gonna die. It's like no man. God made these toadstools
It's all supposed to be meat for us, man
That's just stupid
Okay, God made dirt. Don't go eat dirt
You could eat all kinds of junk in this world just because God made something
Doesn't mean he intended for you to roll it in a joint and smoke it that's a stupid argument
But you know, obviously people who want to sin they're just gonna come up with some reason why it's okay
So, you know you can find a Bible verse to prop up whatever your sin is if you approach the Bible with a wicked mind
You can find something to take out of context and you can find a pot smoking verse in Genesis chapter 1 or whatever
Well, let's see what the Bible actually says. Look at 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 5
You're all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness
Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober
Now the Bible tells us over and over again many verses be sober be sober be sober
now a lot of people will say well when the Bible says be sober just means like be serious and
Obviously that's part of sobriety is being serious
But let me prove to you that when the Bible mentions sober
It's also referring to an absence of alcohol
Because look what the Bible says in verse 7 for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that be what?
Drunken are drunken in the night, but let us who are of the day be sober. So let's not be drunk. Let's be sober
Isn't that what sober means according to the Bible? Well, what sober actually means is your mind is sharp
It's clear you have a clarity and guess what whether you're drinking alcohol or
Smoking pot. There's a lack of clarity there. You are not sober
You're not gonna be sharp and clear and sober minded if you just smoke pot and if you think so, you're crazy
Okay, and you say well the Bible doesn't mention smoke pot and look you're right. The Bible does not mention smoking pot and
Someone would say hey, I don't think smoking was around back then. I don't think smoky pot was around
But there's nothing new under the Sun. I'm sure it was around
but God
Focuses more on alcohol because alcohol is the most commonly abused substance that there is and so
He expects you to be smart enough to take the principles that he taught you on being sober and abstaining from alcohol and
Obviously carry that over to drugs. Well, you didn't tell me to shoot up heroin
You know, you didn't tell me not to shoot up heroin. I mean, can you show me the Bible where snorting cocaine is wrong?
Isn't that kind of a dumb attitude?
you know Jesus he took the commandments of God and the Ten Commandments and he expanded on them and
Explained hey, look when the Bible says thou shalt not kill
What he also means by that is you're not even supposed to be
Hating your brother without a car without a or you're not supposed to be angry with your brother without a cause if you hate your
Brother you're a murderer and so forth. Okay, when he tells you not to commit adultery
He's also saying don't even look on a woman to lust after her, you know, he's he expands those things
Obviously if God's teaching us this principle about being sober
He doesn't have to chose
Oh and by the way
Also don't snort cocaine and also don't smoke pot and also don't sniff Elmer's glue
He says have to go down the whole list
Okay
Go if you would to titus chapter 2 titus chapter 2
I'm gonna hurry on that point because I think most people have seen that in scripture that the Bible teaches us not to be drunken
But to be sober and a lot of people say well the Bible doesn't say not to drink
It just says not to get drunk. What else says to be sober?
Be sober over here is sober over here is drunk
And then there's a gray area in between where you're not quite sober and you're not quite drunk
Well, you know where I want to be
I want to be all the way over at sober where God told me to be
Titus chapter 2 verse 1 but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine that the aged men be
Sober grave temperate sound and faith and charity and patience the aged women
Likewise that they be in behavior has become as holiness not false accusers not given to much wine
Teachers of good things that they may teach the young women to be sober
To love their husbands to love their children
To be discreet chaste keepers at home good obedient to their own husbands that the Word of God be not blaspheme young men
Likewise exhort to be sober minded isn't interesting in this long list of things for the young man the old man young women
Old women the one thing that applies to all four is sober
That's the one abinition that goes for the the elder women teach the younger women to be sober
Old men be sober young men be sober. Hey, that's the one thing that all four get told be sober be sober be sober
God is serious about this thing of sobriety go if you would to Genesis chapter 47
And you say well where exactly in the Bible does it tell me that smoking pot is a sin
I'll give you chapter and verse on it right now the thought of foolishness is sin
the
Thought of smoking pot is stupid and being stupid is a sin there you go
Okay, now if you would go to Genesis chapter 47 and while you're turning to Genesis 47
Let me point out that not only does number one
smoking pot
Cause you not to be sober so you're violating God's command to be sober
but secondly marijuana
Takes away your ambition and makes you apathetic
This is the biggest thing I've noticed about pot smokers is that they're not motivated to do anything. They don't care
They're just kind of sit around just kind of hang out and they don't even do anything
Okay, these were not people that I enjoyed hanging around with in high school
I had one buddy that I really liked but you know when he would smoke pot
I didn't want to be around him because I liked him when he was sharp
You know and we could talk and he was a smart guy, but then he just get this dumb grin
you know
And here's what the Bible said you're in Genesis, but the Bible says in Proverbs
1915
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep and an idle soul shall suffer hunger
You don't want to be idle an idle mind is the devil's workshop, and you know what you notice about people that smoke pot
They're not that motivated to do stuff
Okay
Look down at your Bible in Genesis 47 verse 5 and Pharaoh spake unto Joseph saying thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee
The land of Egypt is before thee in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell in the land of Goshen
Let them dwell and if thou knowest and I love this phrase if thou knowest any men of activity among them
Then make them rulers over my cattle isn't that what employers are looking for men of activity
Men of activity and you know what smoking pot does not get you motivated about furthering your education
it doesn't get you motivated about picking up that extra shift and working extra hours and
Putting in that extra effort on your job and getting that extra training and going out and building that business
Hey, it makes you apathetic and not care and it makes you lazy and slothful and idle
I want to be a man of activity
I want to be around men of activity. I love that term men of activity. I like to always be doing something
I don't want to just sit around and do nothing
I want to build something be something make something preach something do something with my life
I don't want to be a pot smoking loser who sits around just like just kind of hanging out man. I just kind of chill out
But number three marijuana is bad for your health go if you would Isaiah chapter 5 I
Isaiah chapter 5 marijuana is bad for your health now first of all any
Harmful effects that you can think of for cigarettes those apply for marijuana, too
Just like bringing tobacco smoke into your lungs is bad for your lungs guess what?
Marijuana smoke is just as bad for your lungs some people even think it's worse some people say well
It's not quite as bad anytime you're bringing these burning particles into your lungs
You're damaging the tissue in your lungs. It's not designed to be inhaled
That's not what God created it for so obviously there's the lung damage. That's involved, but not only that the memory loss is
Something and especially if you do this as a teenager while your brains developing you can do some permanent damage
But it's known it's well known to produce memory loss
So you basically if you want to have like the mind of Joe Biden or something then smoke pot
We're just kind of like you know the thing all men are created you know the thing
No
No, we hold these truths to be
You know you know I've got hairy legs. You know you'd be like Joe Biden
All right
Smoke pot don't he's like a walking
Advertisement why you shouldn't smoke pot okay?
I don't know if he ever smoked pot or not or if he just got dropped on his head or something. I don't know
but anyway
Maybe his mom smoked pot while she was pregnant with him or something. I don't know but anyway
Marijuana is bad for your health lung damage
Memory loss mental problem, but you know what there are all kinds of other
Just harmful health problems that you can find being associated with smoking pot like here's one that I found tell me if this sounds fun
Smoking marijuana has been tied to testicular cancer
Sounds great a new study
Published in the journal cancer, so this is in a scientific journal called cancer is
The third study in recent years to link marijuana use to the development of testicular
Cancer, so if you want to get emeralds in your secret parts smoke pot
And it says here men who said they had ever smoked marijuana had more than twice the risk of aggressive
testicular Tumors compared to men who did not smoke marijuana in
And by the way in animal studies cocaine
Also, it talked about cocaine also harming. It said this is what researcher Victoria Cortez's PhD said
That cocaine has really devastating effects on the testicles
They get smaller and smaller
Well, that sounds great. That sounds cool. Hey you teenage boys. You want to be cool, right?
You want to show a manly you are?
You want to impress your buddies? How worldly you are and how cool you are and how manly you are yeah?
This is gonna make you manly
oh
Well, just ask Dr.. Victoria. If it's going to make you manly
She said they just keep getting smaller and smaller, but look what the bible says in isaiah chapter number 5 verse 22 and isaiah
522 you know God addresses this idea of people thinking that they're tough or cool because they abuse substances
What does the bible say in isaiah 5 22 whoa unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength?
To mingle strong drink right oh, it's gonna
Make me so tough if I show how I can drink a beer hey look how tough I am man
I'm rolling a joint man. I'm edgy. I'm cool. I'm a rebel
Folks it's not cool
It makes you a loser, and it does not make you any tougher or manlier to abuse drugs and alcohol
Okay, a beer belly doesn't just make me just oh man. That's the power right there
Okay
Do not be one of these people that's mighty to commit it
You know if you want to be a rebel in 2020 live for God
Live for God because you know what smoky pot doesn't make you a rebel. It just makes you like millions of losers
That's all it does it doesn't make you edgy or cool. Hey, you want to be edgy and cool
You know why don't you get a king James bible and get a sharp haircut and be faithful to church and go win some souls
To Christ you're gonna be a rebel
You're gonna be an outlaw. I know I'm serious. I've done it all right
But number four not only that go to Ecclesiastes chapter number 10 verse 1
Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 1
Number one we said that marijuana takes away your sobriety. You're not sober when you're under the influence of Marijuana number two
It takes away your ambition and makes you apathetic look be a man of activity be a woman of activity
Be somebody who's doing stuff. You know one of the best ways to stay out of trouble is to do stuff
Get involved in something productive
Learn something do something build something join something work for something get a job
Get a hobby get something that keeps you busy so that you're not just sitting around
What do we do? What do you guys want to do? I don't know what you smoke some pot
There's nothing cool about that, but not only number two does it take away your ambition not only number three
Is it bad for your health, but number four marijuana ruins your reputation it ruins your reputation
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 1 dead flies in the ointment of the apothecary
Excuse me dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking saver
So does the little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor and you have to remember in the ancient world
any kind of an ointment
Any kind of a lotion or any kind of a perfume was a lot more expensive than it is now
These things weren't being manufactured in a chemistry laboratory
I mean these things had to be derived from natural substances
And so you remember in the Bible when they open up that box of myrrh. I mean that was some costly ointment
That was some expensive stuff
It was an incredible amount of money that went into that ointment and the Bible is saying you could have this
costly ointment a whole bunch of money went into it a bunch of effort went into it and
flies could land in it and die in it and
They could cause it instead of being a beautiful perfume to send forth a stinking saver
And have you ever gotten those fly traps from Home Depot where it's like a little plastic bag
And you hang them up from a tree who knows what I'm talking about those things are great
I mean they work great, but you know what after a few weeks those things are full of flies and
We've had those things hanging in our yard before where they get filled with literally hundreds of flies they work
Okay, and they smell so bad you know when you need to change them
You know cuz there's like a liquid and they fly in they land and they fall in the liquid and at first
There's like ten corpses or whatever, but you know you get busy about your life, and you know time flies
No pun intended and then like two three weeks later. You're like
What's that smell and?
You look over and there's no more liquid yet
It's just this genocide of just it's just like it's literally just like four inches of just solid dead fly corpses
And it smells horrible, and you know what honestly though
Just one fly if it dies and decomposes is gonna send off that stinking saver
And so the Bible says dead flies caused the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking saver so does a little folly
Him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor so basically you could spend you spend your life building a good reputation
You're doing good works
You're excelling at your job
You're smart
you're talented and then you could just do a few stupid things that just ruin your reputation with people and
smoking marijuana will ruin your reputation you know I remember I was dating a girl in high school and
I found out that while I was dating and this is a Christian girl while I was dating her I found out
That she went to a party and just tried
marijuana one time
And you know what I was just done with that girl done. I
Heard that about her that she tried marijuana
I verified it that it was true
And I said I want nothing to do with that girl cuz that was a red flag to me
You know I don't smoke, and I don't chew and I don't go with girls who do
All right, and so the fact that that girl and look I'm just being honest with you
That as a young teenage boy
I want to date a Christian girl and when I found out that even though she's a well
I just tried it one time. I just experimented with it. I'm just thinking like well. I don't know what you're gonna try next so
I'm just gonna move on that's trashy
Now look I'm not saying if you've tried pot one time you're a horrible person
I'm just saying that the teenage pastor Anderson didn't want to date you if you tried at one time and guess what there are other
people that when they hear that about you and look I have I have tons of church members that have smoked pot and everything and
I love them
And I'm you know obviously I don't care what they did 10 years ago 15 years ago 20
But look when I was looking for somebody to marry though
You know and I'm looking for somebody to spend my life with I don't want to marry a pot smoker
Here's the thing about that you know
You could ruin your reputation
And you could lose out on important friendships or relationships because you think it's cool to go smoke pot
And you know what you're probably gonna impress some people by smoking pot
But then some other people are not gonna be impressed
And they're gonna want to distance themselves from you
And you know what you could end up with some wrong friends and losing some good friends when you're a young person
And they find out that you're into smoking pot you know what they're gonna gravitate away from you
And then maybe the wrong people are gonna gravitate towards you and look
I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong for people to think that about you
But I'm just telling you that's how people are gonna think about you
Don't ruin your reputation by smoking pot okay because smoking pot has a stigma
Associated with it of being sinful trashy wrong so don't do it
Amen
Guard your reputation on that front
but number five
Marijuana is a gateway drug
Marijuana is a gateway drug. Don't let anybody tell you that marijuana is not a gateway drug
and
The Bible verse that came to mind on this was behold how great a matter a little fire
kindleth
Behold how great a matter a little fire
Kindle it because guess what it's not gonna stop at marijuana, and you said no no
I'm just gonna smoke marijuana, and that's it wrong because sin always takes you further than you want to go
It keeps you longer than you want to stay and it costs you more than you were willing to pay
And if you think you're just gonna smoke marijuana
That's ridiculous because once you've opened that door to smoking marijuana
What is gonna stop you from going to the next thing I mean stop and think about it
Let's say you've already smoked pot, and you've already opened that door and said that you're okay with that okay?
Then what's gonna stop you from taking say a prescription drug like Vicodin and mixing it with alcohol I?
Mean how can somebody really get up and say well? That's way worse than smoking pot or well
That's that's totally different. That's bad
That's not as bad as smoking pot or that's worse folks really isn't it all kind of the same
Type of thing and here's the thing once you've smoked pot, and then you say well
Hey, why don't I get my buddy's prescription from oxycodone?
Maybe a little Percocet after all these are legal drugs. You know I mean, I don't have a prescription
But you know I'm prescription for marijuana either
So what you know once you're smoking pot? What's gonna stop you from abusing prescription drugs? Can you tell me that?
Well, you know I smoke pot, but I would never touch
Vicodin or Percocet and guess what the people I've talked to that smoked pot
You know what they also did they took Vicodin, and then they go to the bar and drink because then they said hey
I could drink two beers and get as drunk as if I had drunk four or five
So they said it was a savings of money for them
Instead of having to buy five six seven alcoholic beverages
I popped some Vicodin and then put the alcohol on the Vicodin mix the two and then boom it's like I'm
Doubling the effect. It's like it was like a discount coupon for them
I'm not kidding. I mean people have explained this to me
Now
Folks once you smoke pot it opens the door
It's called a gateway drug because once you cross that line
You're gonna do other stuff on the other side of that line. That's what made me nervous about that girl in high school
It's like well if she tried pot. What's she gonna try next?
What's she gonna do next? Where's this leading? What's next do not be so foolish as to think oh?
It's just gonna stop there and by the way if you're abusing alcohol all the time
What's the big deal about smoking a joint at that point?
That's why alcohol can be a gateway drug and by the way if you're constantly smoking cigarettes all the time
Then it's probably gonna not be as big of a deal to you to smoke a joint because you're already smoking like a chimney anyway
With tobacco so the point is you got to be careful not to open that door
Don't open the door of that gateway drug that's gonna lead you into other drugs now listen
I'm gonna tell you a story
That is just it's horrific of a story
And this is about this is someone that I knew personally and this is from the year 2020. This is not some old
illustration that I'm pulling out
But I was preaching somewhere, and I was talking to a guy
And this is a guy that I know and of course I would never reveal who this is
But I was talking to this guy, and this is a Christian
soul-inner
Baptist I mean and this guy is saved. He's a real
Christian it's the real deal
so I'm talking to this guy and
He was basically justifying marijuana to me. You know because it's the big thing right now, and he was talking about
Oh, it's not a big deal. I have a prescription
And it's just it's just only something I do rarely
It's not that bad
It's not a big deal
And he was kind of just justifying it to me that it was just a minor thing to just smoke a little bit of pot
Every once in a while totally legal totally on the up-and-up
And he was basically trying to justify and I was telling like no like do not smoke pot
And I was explaining to this guy that he shouldn't do that right okay? Well. Let's fast forward
You know maybe a year or six months
I don't remember how long it was but let's fast forward to this year
And you know the whole coronavirus thing happened and and let's face it the coronavirus
pandemic or
Crisis or whatever you want to call it
You know what we've been going through as a country in the year 2020 for some people
It hasn't really been a big deal, but some people have been affected by this dramatically
Now in my church very few people have been affected by it financially
Virtually everybody in my church said you know no my job still going on all four cylinders
I'd very few people who lost their job over it or even got downsized
It's like our church does like 400 people, and it was like I could count them on one hand okay
But it's not just the fact that people's livelihood could be affected
You know some people are just kind of freaking out right now
You know my dad was telling me it seemed like people are driving
Like almost like Mad Max or something on the roads like like in Sacramento people are driving kind of crazy
And I've kind of noticed that too because people are just upset. They're perturbed. They're agitated so people are driving bad and
Also, just a lot of people just from being kind of cooped up
You know sheltering in place, or you know their routines have been upset. You know they're used to going to school now
They're not going to school anymore
They were used to working at the office now. They have to work from home. Maybe that's causing friction with the family
I mean look a lot of people are going through a lot of hard things right now
And a lot of people who aren't going through anything or just kind of mentally freaking out right now
even if nothing's going on in their life just because they're just kind of freaking out because things are weird right now and
I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that things are a little bit weird right now in our country
We're going this is the weirdest year ever
Okay
so
You know
this guy
You know he was a little bit upset freaked out. He's struggling because of what's going on with coronavirus
And so he decided to not only
smoke pot
But he decided to up the ante and snort some cocaine
And remember this is the guy who is you know christian soul-winning baptist guy and he was justifying the pot
But then when things are going roughly in his life when he's going through a hard time and look
Stressful times is when we could be tempted to sin the most when we're going through stressful times. We're out of our routine
We're freaking out. You know, that's when you got to be on your guard. You got to be vigilant
Against these things and and look this is how it starts people will have a little sin that they're kind of playing with
And they've got that sin under control
They've got just a little bit of alcohol going on
But they got it under control a little bit of pot got it under control
But in times of stress or crisis, you know what?
Ah, let's drink the whole bottle. You know what I mean? Just because of the fact that they're under pressure
So this guy
Instead of just smoking pot
He snorted some cocaine and let me tell you something cocaine's a hell of a drug. All right, this guy snorted cocaine
And he totally freaked out
Not sleeping at night
freaked out paranoid
Everybody's after him the police are after him. Everybody's after him in his mind. Totally crazy. He takes a sharpie
And goes outside of his apartment complex and starts writing sharpieing on his door
You know bleep you cops and bleep you police. He's writing on other people's doors. He's freaking out
He's saying all these wild things. So eventually he caused a big disturbance at his apartment complex because he's completely losing his mind
So then the cops show up
And he's obviously freaking out acting crazy they end up arresting him
Taking him down to the jail. He's freaking out in the jail cell
He ended up getting the snot beat out of him
By the other people in jail with him because he was starting stuff with them because he was just out of his mind
folks the story ends
With him being put into a solitary cell right because he got beat up in the main cell. He caused problems
He was freaking out. He ends up getting put in a solitary cell
He uses the restroom on the floor of his solitary cell both number one and number two
On the floor of the cell sits down and begins to eat his own
waste
Why would someone do that
But you know what I don't think that's what he had in mind
When he just got that prescription
And started smoking a little bit of pot. Do you really think that he thought you know what a year from now six months from now
I'm gonna be sitting in a jail cell
confused
Not knowing what's going on
Just got beaten up and i'm eating my own dung
Do you really think that that's where he expected to be and let me tell you something is that what dr
Dre told you it was like
Is that what snoop dog told you?
Huh, is that what the movies and the billboards and the music told you?
Hey, this is what it's like. It's fun and let you say well, I'd never snort cocaine
But you know what when you smoke pot you've opened the door and next thing, you know, you're taking pills next thing, you know
You're doing this that and the other and you know what once you're already impaired from alcohol once you're already
impaired from marijuana
Your good judgment's the first thing to go and then you're gonna say hey, why not snort a little cocaine?
And you know what you think this couldn't happen to you. Let me tell you something
It could even happen to a christian person. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
It's a stupid doctrine that teaches all christians don't sin
Oh these people that get into sin, they weren't really saved or something really, okay
Well, if that's true then why did the bible spend so much time telling us not to sin if we're just automatically not gonna sin
If being saved is enough to just automatically make you walk in the spirit and not sin
Then why does he have to tell us be not drunk with wine?
flea fornication
Why does he have to warn us over and over again to be holy and not to be with the wrong friends?
And not to fall into these wicked temptations. It's because we all are susceptible
to temptation
Okay, every single one of us has the capability to commit sin
And you know what if I started drinking or if you started drinking any of us could become a drunkard
Well never happened to me
You know, I remember when I was a kid they used to have these commercials that would say like, you know
I'm gonna be a track star when I grow up
Who grew up in california and saw the commercials i'm talking about, you know
I'm gonna be a track star and they show this guy running and then shows the cop like running after him
And puts a hand, you know, and he wasn't actually running track
He was actually being chased by the police and then they're like no one ever says I want to be a junkie when I grow up
You seeing those commercials
Or they'll show like some dirty filthy public restroom and say, you know, nobody wants to lose their purity here
But that's what's gonna happen if you take drugs. Well, guess what that is what happens if you take drugs every crack whore
every junkie every derelict on the street, you know what they started out with just
with some friends
teenagers
Having a little fun. Let's break into mom's wine cellar. Let's break into dad's booze cabinet
Let's grab some prescription drugs
It starts when they're 12 13 14 15 years old with just a little bit of kids having fun
It's normal to experiment at that age fast forward 25 years later, you're a dirty toothless crack whore in stockton, california
Serious
It's like how did I get here
You know what you get there by going through that first door of the gateway drug
The gateway drug and you know, you say i'd never eat my own excrement
Well, you know what? No one in their right mind would ever eat their own excrement
But you know what somebody who snorted a bunch of cocaine they might eat their own excrement
You know people who've taken lsd have jumped off buildings because they thought they could fly
You know, I I mean I could tell all the horror stories
But look i'm talking about what a christian did and you know what that guy now he's totally clean totally sober
You know, he's back in his total right mind and and he's telling me this story
Telling me, you know, I don't even know why I would do such a thing
I can't even believe as i'm telling it to you now. It sounds so crazy, but he said it's because I was on drugs
I was on drugs. I didn't know what was going on. I was confused
Folks do not play with drugs
And my last point is this so we let me just do a quick review number one
We said and look all six of these are good reasons not to smoke pot
If you don't like one or two of my reasons just pick one that you do like
Any one of these is a good enough reason
Number one you're not following god's command to be sober
Number two and by the way, forget god's command. Don't you just want to be sober? Why do you want to be an idiot?
Hey, you know why I want to be sober because the devil
As a roaring lion is walking about seeking whom he may devour
So I want I mean look if you knew that there was some dangerous killer on the run
If you knew that there was some wild beast
Let's say you're out hiking and you knew there was a wild bear a wild lion or something
Would you want to be impaired?
Or you'd want to hear every little twig breaks or you'd want to be alert
Well, guess what spiritually that's what's going on
The devil's a roaring lion be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil. That's why
Why hey, why why should I be sober because the devil that's why
And as soon as you're impaired, he's gonna be like gotcha
Gotcha. Oh, you're a little bit impaired. You're all gleeful and you're high
Okay. Now let's just get you to snort a little cocaine
Now let's get you to pop a few pills
Now let's get you to drop a couple tabs. Let's get you to do something. He'll get you to take the next step
So number one, it takes away your sobriety
Number two
It takes away your ambition. It makes you apathetic and lazy and idle number three. It's bad for your health
Number four it ruins your reputation
Number five. It's a gateway drug and number six you are not listening to advice when you smoke pot
You're not listening to counsel go if you would to proverbs chapter number
11
Proverbs chapter number 11 the bible says
In proverbs elsewhere the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth to counsel is wise
You know a lot of times you just think that you know everything especially teenagers know everything
Teenagers think they're so smart and they've got the world by the tail when they're 16 17 18 and they don't know jack about life
Okay
They don't know anything about life compared to people that are my age
Okay, people that are 30 40 50 know a lot more about life than a teenager
But teenagers think they know more if you talk to them
And I know because i've been a teenager when I was a teenager. I knew more too
But now I realize no I did not know I was wrong on many things
And the thing is the way of a fool is going to be right in his own eyes
Well, yeah i'm right
But he that hearkeneth to counsel is wise so when people are giving you advice listen to them
Here's the kind of people you should listen to in your life your parents
Your pastor
Successful people godly christians
And what does the bible say in proverbs 11 14 where no counsel is the people fall
But in the multitude of counselors there is safety
Go to chapter 19 verse 20
Elsewhere it says without counsel
Purposes are disappointed but in the multitude of counselors
They are established proverbs 19 20 hear counsel
And receive instruction that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end
And let me tell you something if you smoke pot
You are not listening to counsel
Because everybody's telling you not to smoke pot
Everybody's telling you not to smoke pot. Your parents are telling you not to smoke pot
Your pastor's telling you not to smoke pot. The bible's telling you not to smoke pot
People that are godly
Christians pastors your teacher at school is telling you not to smoke pot now if you're on a university campus
They might be telling you to smoke pot. I was talking to a buddy of mine at faithful word
and he said
That back when he was at arizona state university, he went on a geology field trip
With the geology class he went on a field trip and at this time in his life he smoked pot
And so, you know, they're camping
Checking out the rocks and the layers and whatever
And he kind of broke away from the group to smoke a little pot
So he kind of sneaks off from the class, you know, he doesn't want to get busted because he's not a school outing
And he's just getting ready to pull out his joint and smoke pot and the teacher walks up
And he's kind of like oh, you know puts it away and the professor the geology professor is like, what are you doing?
And he's just like oh, you have nothing
And then the professor like oh, okay professor just pulls out a pipe and starts smoking pot
the professor
So then he's like, oh, okay, you know, so then he starts smoking pot, too
You know, you want to know where all some of these wild scientific theories come from
That's where they're coming from
Dude these layers in the great canyon
I was on a field trip with my geology professor who's really opened up to us, you know
It's not the flood man, it's like billions of years man. I saw it
I saw billions of years man. All right
But the but the but the point is
Think about how many people are giving you the advice not to smoke pot
Parents are telling you not to smoke it the doctor vanessa or whatever her name was victoria. She's telling you not to smoke it
All right
Your parents your pastor your teachers school, you know
All of these authorities in your your job's telling you
I mean, I don't think your job has a safety meeting on monday morning. It's like all right, you know
We're gonna have a safety meeting about how to use pot in moderation
The safety meeting is going to tell you not to use pot at all
Everybody's telling you not to smoke pot. I mean for crying out loud. How many tv commercials did we see?
Warning us and telling us. Hey, this is your brain. This is your brain on drugs any questions?
We've all seen it
Okay, how many times did we go to the video arcade?
And right when we died and lost our last man, what did it tell us?
winners don't use
insert coin to continue
Everybody's telling you not to do drugs and you know what if you smoke pot you're ignoring your parents
You're ignoring the doctor. You're enjoying the pastor because you think you're still smart. You're a fool
Listen to godly
Council in your life take advice from people who are older than you and smarter than you not some
Gray ponytailed hippie at the university
But take advice from the pastor from your mom from your dad from your grandparents from godly
Christians from a video game for crying out loud from a tv commercial tell you don't do drugs
Do not do it
If you smoke pot i'm telling you you'll do the next thing as well
Once you cross that line
It's not going to edify you oh it's legal now
You know what? I don't care if it's legal make it legal make you know what they can make whatever they want legal
It's not going to be in my house
I don't care what laws they pass
They can legalize heroin for all I care. It's not going to be in my house
As for me and my house, we will serve the lord
I'm going to preach against it. I'm going to speak against it and you know what if you think
That the new ifb is somehow friendly toward marijuana because we're part of the truth movement or whatever you're wrong
Because i'm sure my fellow pastors all hate marijuana just like I do
None of them think that that's legitimate
And you say well, I just need it for medicinal use. You know what?
It's not worth it, right?
Okay, and people are constantly well, what about medicinal people are just they're just like finding whatever to get a prescription for
Right
It's like, you know marijuana is the answer. What was the question?
You know like they they gotta go find an illness
Anybody can just fabricate pain in their body is oh it hurts, you know
Every look when you get i'm only i'm only uh, 38 years old and everything's already starting to hurt
Should I go smoke some pot?
Absolutely not
Okay, and so do not get sucked into this it's stupid it's wicked
It's on par with drunkenness and in many ways it's worse and leads people into worse things
Because it's that gateway drug
Do not smoke pot. Amen. Let's bow your heads in that word of prayer father. We thank you so much
For all the warnings that you give us lord help us be smart enough to listen to counsel
Help us to listen to the council of proverbs help us to listen to the council of our pastor our parents
The every public service announcement that's tried to warn us lord
Help us not to harm our bodies lord our bodies of the temple of the holy ghost lord and help us to
Respect that and lord if there's any young person here today
That has dabbled in this lord. I pray that they would just decide right now that they're never going to smoke pot again
And lord if there's any young person here that has not smoked pot and they were maybe
Considering that or thinking about that lord. I pray that they would just make a decision tonight that they will never
touch
Marijuana in their whole lives in jesus name. We pray. Amen