(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Man, 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, 1 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, alright? And so, you had 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. It 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 gotta 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 2 years in prison. Just for having marijuana on your person in 1956, 2 to 10 years was the sentence. Minimum of 2, maximum of 10. 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. It 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 going to nail you. Okay, so 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 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 was going to 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 like 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. Because in the 50s and 60s, like I said, 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 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 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. So that 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 of 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 1 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 1 Corinthians. So the Bible is saying, look, just because something is lawful, just because something is legal, just because something is 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 going to 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 cousin, making you a loser is what it's doing. And 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 going to 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 1 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 going to give you six reasons tonight not to smoke marijuana. Go to 1 Thessalonians 5. The first few are going to be more obvious, but then I'm going to get into some that maybe you haven't thought about. But I'm going to give you six good biblical reasons tonight not to smoke marijuana. Folks, it's 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 going to benefit us. 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, 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 going to 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, Stephen, you played with toadstools in the backyard. Wash your hands before eating or you will die. And I said, Mom, am I really going to 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 going to Google it. I'm just going to trust my mom and not play with toadstools and then eat a peanut butter sandwich. I'm not going to do it. You know, my mom also said if I use the same fork for mayonnaise and tuna, I'm going to die. You know, if I put the tuna and the mayonnaise, you know, you got to 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 going to 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 going to 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 1 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, it 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 going to be sharp and clear and sober minded if you just smoke pot. And if you think so, you're crazy. And you say, well, the Bible doesn't mention smoking 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 smoking pot was around. 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 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 shall not kill. What he also means by that is you're not even supposed to be hating your brother without a cause 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. When he tells you not to commit adultery, he's also saying don't even look on a woman to lust after her. He expands those things. Obviously, if God's teaching us this principle about being sober, he doesn't have to tell us, 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 doesn't have to go down the whole list, okay? Go if you would to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2, I'm going to 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? It 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 in faith and charity in patience. The aged women likewise that they be in behavior as become of 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 blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. Isn't it interesting in this long list of things for the young men, the old men, young women, old women, the one thing that applies to all four is sober. That's the one admonition that goes for 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 just kind of sit around, just kind of hang out, and they don't even do anything. These were not people that I enjoyed hanging around with in high school. I had one buddy that I really liked, but when he would smoke pot, I didn't want to be around him because I liked him when he was sharp. And we could talk, and he was a smart guy, but then he'd just get this dumb grin. And here's what the Bible says. You're in Genesis, but the Bible says in Proverbs 19, 15, 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. 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 kind of hanging out. I just kind of chill out. But number three, marijuana is bad for your health. Go to Isaiah chapter five. Isaiah chapter five, 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 brain's developing, you can do some permanent damage. But it's known, it's well known to produce memory loss. So basically if you want to have like the mind of Joe Biden or something, then smoke pot. Where you're just kind of like, uh, you know, all men are created, you know, the thing. You know, we hold these truths to be, um, you know, I've got hairy legs, you know, you'd be like Joe Biden. All right? Smoke pot. He's like a walking advertisement why you shouldn't smoke pot. 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, uh, marijuana is bad for your health. Lung damage, memory loss, mental problems. 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 emerods 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. And by the way, in animal studies, cocaine, also talking 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 how 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 going to make you manly. 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 five, verse 22. In Isaiah 5 22, 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? Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink, right? Oh, it's going to 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 say, you know, if you want to be a rebel in 2020, live for God. Live for God. Because you know what? Smokey 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 one. Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verse one. 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. It 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. Let's 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 one, 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. 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, because there's like a liquid and they fly in, they land and they fall in the liquid. And at first there's like 10 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 going to send off that stinking saver. And so the Bible says dead flies cause 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 because 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 said, 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 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 it one time. And guess what? There are other people that when they hear that about you, and look, I have tons of church members that have smoked pot and everything, and I love them. And I, 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. Now, 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 going to impress some people by smoking pot. But then some other people are not going to be impressed. And they're going to 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 going to gravitate away from you. And then maybe the wrong people are going to 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 going to 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 kindleth. Because guess what, it's not going to stop at marijuana. And you say, no, no, no, I'm just going to 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 going to smoke marijuana, that's ridiculous. Because once you've opened that door to smoking marijuana, what is going to 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 going to 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 that's totally different. 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 don't have a prescription for marijuana either. So once you're smoking pot, what's going to 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 smoke 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 pop some Vicodin and then put the alcohol on the Vicodin, mix the two and then boom. It's like I'm double in 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 going to 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 going to try next? What's she going to do next? Where's this leading? What's next? Do not be so foolish as to think it's just going to 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 going to 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've got to be careful not to open that door. Don't open the door of that gateway drug that's going to lead you into other drugs. Now, listen, I'm going to 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 him, 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 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's still going on all four cylinders. I had very few people who lost their job over it or even got downsized. Our church has 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 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 are 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. 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. 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 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 under control. But in times of stress or crisis, you know what? Oh, 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 is 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 going to 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 Dogg told you? 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 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 is 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 can 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 going to 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, flee 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 it shows the cop like running after him. 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 seen 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. I'm 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 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 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 it. 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 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 or a wild lion or something. Would you want to be impaired or you'd want to hear every little twig breaks? 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 going to 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 cause 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 on 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, nothing. And then the professor's 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 some of these wild scientific theories come from. That's where they're coming from. Dude, these layers in the Grand Canyon. I was on a field trip with my geology professor, and it just 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 point is, think about how many people are giving you the advice not to smoke pot. Parents are telling you not to smoke it. Dr. 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, 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 going to have a safety meeting about how to use pot in moderation. The safety meeting's 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 ignoring the pastor, because you think you're so smart you're a fool. Listen to godly counsel in your life. Take advice from people who are older than you and smarter than you. Not some grey pony tailed 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 telling 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. 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. Okay. And people are constantly, well, what about medicinal use? People are just, they're just like finding whatever to get a prescription for. It's like, you know, marijuana is the answer. What was the question? You know, like, they got to go find an illness. Anybody can just fabricate pain in their body. Oh, it hurts. You know, every look when you get, I'm only, I'm only 38 years old and everything's already started 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 and have a 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 counsel of Proverbs. Help us to listen to the counsel of our pastor, our parents, every public service announcement that's tried to warn us, Lord. Help us not to harm our bodies, Lord. Our bodies are 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.