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

well you can't say the Bible's boring that's quite a story here in a second Kings chapter 9 we've got I mean it's better than any adventure book you could read it's better than anything they could put on the screen here I mean there's action adventure treachery you name it especially this is a great story in the Bible there's a lot to learn here I'm going to ask you to keep your place in second Kings chapter 9 we're going to come back to this story about mid sermon but I'll apply it to what we're talking about but this morning let me just tell you what the topic of this morning sermon is and hopefully you know this sermon doesn't apply to you directly this morning but you know there's this mainstream thinking today on this topic this morning that I want to preach about I want to preach a sermon this morning on the idea or the topic of marijuana this morning and it's it's super irritating to me this this topic because it is becoming very mainstream today become it's been happening for I would say in my life for about 15 years maybe you could say 20 years that this has just been getting more and more people are playing down the dangers of this and you know just the consequences of marijuana over the last few years and it's just getting really part of the culture today which is really irritating I want to preach on it I want to talk about what the Bible says I want to talk about actually that it is not something we should have in our culture you know the culture today is teaching that marijuana is harmless marijuana is I remember maybe 15 years ago there was this idea that started being impressed that you know marijuana was actually better for you than alcohol and all these different things it's natural you know versus you know alcoholic things and you know the thing is you know then it you know started in 15 20 years ago about being a good medicine right it's a medicine that people can use so that again pushed this culture of you know marijuana being this harmless thing that actually it can be good at times and I want to show you that that's completely false this morning in Genesis after you turn to Genesis chapter 1 I've actually heard the Bible used to justify marijuana I've actually heard people you know people that don't know the Bible you know try to misquote a verse or two mainly this one about marijuana and use this for marijuana the Bible says in Genesis chapter 1 in verse 29 the Bible says and God said in verse 29 behold I give you every earth-bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed to you it shall be for meat meaning you know you're gonna eat it right first of all like and then people like see marijuana you know and you're just like what are you talking about first of all this is before the fall you know where people just did you know this before the fall before there was like you know before creation was cursed right I mean I don't think that in the Garden of Eden there's poison oak all right I mean there that's not the Garden of Eden that I I read about in the Bible but you know that doesn't mean I mean you think about after the fall and creation was cursed you know this certainly doesn't mean you should go out and eat every mushroom and every opium plant every poisonous if you poison oak you'll die you know it probably kill you if you eat poison oak it's so bad chemically that you know but so it's just it's just stupid and and wrong to apply this pre fall you know verse two that you can just go and smoke weed I mean it makes no sense at all so you know somebody in my family asked me this week when I told them I was going to preach on marijuana they said well how is how is the sermon on marijuana gonna be different than like an alcohol sermon and I'm gonna show you that it's gonna be very different and I said you just have to wait and see but it's gonna be very different this morning but first of all I'm gonna give you three points this morning on you know marijuana and how the Bible says that we should not be anywhere near this and that the dangers and the effects of it it is not harmless okay it is not harmless it is much worse than alcohol in my opinion and you know I think Bible will show us that as well but first of all it does have some application to alcohol the Bible doesn't mention marijuana the Bible doesn't mention you know even drugs you know the Bible does say that you should be sober though and this is what the parallel with alcohol is turn to 1st Peter chapter 4 1st Peter chapter 4 so the the first point is a simple one and it is the exact same point of you know why no Christian should drink alcohol is that the Bible says that you should be sober so yeah the Bible has different types of wine there's non alcoholic wine sometimes it's talking about strong drink you know wine that does have alcohol in it and the Bible is very clear that no Christian should be anywhere near strong drink or alcoholic beverages but the Bible moreover the Bible clearly teaches that we should not be drunk that we should be sober clear-minded not under the effect of some chemical you know controlling our brains look at 1st Peter chapter 4 verse number 7 1st Peter 4 verse number 7 this is the simplest point that we're going to get into that the very specific points with marijuana this morning but the first one is the Bible is very clear in saying you know be sober and these are I mean we could read dozens of verses talking about this I'm just gonna give you a couple look at verse 7 says but the end of all things is at hand be therefore sober and watch unto prayer now go to Galatians chapter 5 so inevitably people say yeah when the Bible says be sober it's just saying be serious you know it's not talking about you know not being drunk so let me just prove that wrong for you look at Galatians chapter 5 in verse number 21 Galatians chapter 5 look at verse number 21 the Bible 7 Galatians chapter 5 verse 21 it's talking about these pretty serious sins here it says envying murders drunkenness revelings so the Bible is clearly teaching against drunkenness in the opposite of drunkenness is sobriety is being sober being completely without you know the influence of something on your brain now turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and look at verse number 11 so now I want to point out something in the case of sobriety how alcohol is actually not as bad as marijuana look alcohol is bad Christians should not drink alcohol I'm not going to reprint repreach that sermon but the point is look at 1st Corinthians chapter 5 look at verse number 11 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 11 is talking about six things that are so bad they will literally get you kicked out of church now no church follows this today except this one because I mean you say well you've done it yes we've done this here people have been not allowed to come back to this church because of one of these six things okay any of these six things look at 1st Corinthians chapter 5 look at verse number 11 the Bible says this but now I've written unto you not to keep company that means they can't come to church these people that's what that's saying if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such in one know not to eat so the Bible Paul is explaining to the Church of Corinthians that at court that these things cannot be allowed in the church the whole context of the chapter was somebody that literally got kicked out put out of the church because he was in fornication and the Bible is saying you can't have Paul is teaching you know the administration of the church here saying you can't have these things in the church because they will spread to everybody else in the church and the only way for those these people to get right is to be put away put out from you know their brethren and the idea is that they would get better that they would get that sin out of their life and then they would be brought back that's 2nd Corinthians right there they would be brought back into fellowship in the church but notice a couple things here first of all it says any man that is called a brother so any man that is called a brother meaning it's not like a first-time visitor is gonna come in here like with his girlfriend and you know say you know he's you know hi how did you find out about the church he shakes my hand after the church service and he's like oh my girlfriend and I you know we live together and and you know he kind of you know says they're in fornication which is completely normal today for the world and it's not like we pick them up by the belt straps and Chuck them out the front door like their first-time service all right any man is called a brother meaning anybody that is you know getting involved in the church that is becoming a regular you know to the church and you know that's kind of my I draw that line you don't have to draw that line I draw that line and that line will be drawn and these are not comfortable conversations to have these are not things that no a pastor enjoys doing but these are things that if we're gonna have a biblical church must be done they must be followed or you endanger the other people especially the children of the church I mean I can stand up here and preach about drunkenness and you know fornication and covetousness and then we have all this in the church and like it's just gonna be the preaching would be a joke that's why you know we cannot be hypocritical you know with the church that's what Paul is teaching here but here's the difference between marijuana and drunkenness the Bible doesn't say the Bible says someone that is a drunkard here so somebody look I don't think you should ever drink alcohol but somebody that and this is a rare person in my experience in life but somebody that goes home on Friday night and has a beer after work one time and has one drink after work is not a drunkard by any measure okay and look that's a rare person in in in my life experience but you can be someone that occasionally has an alcoholic beverage and not be a drunkard the difference between marijuana and alcohol is every single time you do it you get drunk or get high with marijuana so there will be no person in this church that is a user of marijuana as far as I am concerned you know so that is a it's a different measuring stick because of the nature of you know that that drug really right so somebody that occasional user of marijuana they're only doing it to get high and I believe most people that drink alcohol are only doing it to get drunk don't get me wrong but there is a different severity there in in the case of marijuana or any drug by the way so the first one is the Bible clearly teaches be sober all right so the Bible clearly teaches that so we can just pray and just you know start fellowshipping right away as far as the Bible is concerned but we'll keep going and I want to show you some things where marijuana from the Bible especially marijuana is actually much worse than alcohol okay we kind of see the one with alcohol and and you know the just that the level of sobriety there is already more severe but turn to Proverbs chapter 20 so the first point is a simple one it's the same point as why you know one of the reasons you should never drink alcohol is because the Bible says be sober but turn to Proverbs chapter 20 the second point is this the second point is this so I'm going to kind of give you some I'm gonna I'm gonna give some bombastic statements here in the second and third point but I'm gonna back it up with research and what the Bible actually says the second point of why no one should be anywhere near marijuana is because it makes you an idiot it turns you into a well what the Bible would say if we're gonna use Bible language it turns you into a fool turn to Proverbs chapter 20 and look at verse number 1 Proverbs chapter 20 in verse number 1 will apply a drink or a drinking alcohol you know application here but the Bible says this it says wine is a mocker strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise so the Bible is saying here I'm just trying to prove the point to you right away from the Bible that you can make decisions in your life that will make you more wise or less wise so you can literally do things that make you a fool the Bible is clearly teaching here alcohol being one of those things but what if this has a dual meeting what if this has a dual meeting where it literally you know what if this means that being not sober can literally make you stupid I mean that's another application of this verse right here is it being not sober not being sober can literally make you dumb what if that's true now let's look at some research from marijuana here first of all they're gonna use IQ as a test here in all these scientific tests so what is IQ IQ is it stands for intelligence quotient it's a it's a it's basically a benchmark or a test on how what your cognitive abilities are I guess is a good way of saying it they measure it's a measure of intelligence that's commonly used in scientific studies so it's going to be mentioned in the studies that I show you here now I have a mixed opinion about the the app the actual mainstream idea of IQ and I'll tell you what my opinion is and where it kind of differs from mainstream and I'm pretty sure that I'm right but you know you can make your own decision on that but basically there's such a thing as an IQ test and what they do they test verbal comprehension they test like visual spatial skills if you've ever seen or taken an IQ test they'll have like shapes that they're being rotated turned and all these different things and you have to like say okay you know here's a pattern of shapes and what it would be the next position of this shape according to this pattern you know visual recognition fluid reasoning memory is one of them and then just simply how fast you can do it is another one which just how fast you can figure things out they'll give you simple little tasks and just see like how fast can you figure this out so I'm IQ tests are kind of a thing out there are they valid here's what I would say yes and no I would say that they are valid in the sense that turn to Proverbs chapter 1 and I'll show you from the Bible why I think this and I've also seen this in my life and and with with other people as well but turn to Proverbs chapter 1 are they valid I believe that they are valid as a benchmark for a scientific test I do believe that they are valid in that case but this idea that your IQ is your IQ is just simply false you can increase your IQ I've seen it I've seen it happen you can increase your IQ and by that same logic you can also decrease your IQ you see where I'm going with this all right couldn't Proverbs chapter 5 1 and look at verse number 5 the Bible also teaches this by the way the Bible also see it teaches that you can increase knowledge you can increase wisdom or you can decrease it it's up to you look at verse number 5 the by the Bible says this it says a wise man will hear and will what increase learning and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels to understand a proverb and the interpretation the words of the wise and their dark sayings look at this verse number 7 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge meaning that's where it starts meaning that knowledge in your life can be much increased but where does it start it starts with the fear of the Lord so if you don't have the fear of the Lord you can't even get off the finish line this is why you see so many godless people waste their lives looking for aliens or looking for you know black holes with dark matter all this stuff they just waste their complete lives on these silly things that produce nothing because they didn't start with that fear of the Lord all right that's why so many great inventions so many great things in the Industrial Revolution were were invented by people well I'm not saying they were saved but they had the fear of the Lord but they at least fear God that's why you see these great things throughout history it was people that feared the Lord that's the starting line so the point is is this is kind of a biblical proof right here that you can increase or decrease your mental ability all right and I mean it's true it's true I mean just think about it like there's a lot of chess games that get played here okay and look I've never claimed to be great at chess but I remember when we first started playing chess like I sat down and played chess and I did I did pretty okay amongst you know that I didn't beat everybody but I mean I did pretty good and then the guys of the church they just played chess for like five months straight and like I just sat and visited with everybody and I didn't play any chess and I sat down last week to play chess I got smoked I'm looking at brother Edwin I'm like what's happened I'm like what is going on your knowledge has greatly increased but you can get better at things you can get better at recognizing patterns and getting strategic and linear thinking these are all things you can get better at how by practicing I don't want to give the sermon away but you can get better by practicing these things your brain is like a muscle you do nothing but lay on the couch and and and eat Cheetos for five years and then try to get up and play football everything's gonna break you're gonna hurt yourself you got a train all right but look marijuana decreases your ability to think I'm gonna show you some scary studies you know this morning that prove this look a large one that longitudinal study in New Zealand found that persistent marijuana use with frequent use starting in adolescence was associated with a loss of average of an average of six and up to eight IQ points so I mean at least it's a benchmark I'm not saying I mean it's talking about a Delta here so I mean I believe the study because it's talking about somebody who had an IQ at this level and I you know I'm not saying they can't increase it or decrease it by something they're doing in their life but what we know is that the Delta from using marijuana was it dropped in this study measured into mid-adulthood now look at this those who use marijuana heavily as teenagers and quit as adults so they used it as teenagers and when they got over 20 years old they stopped using marijuana they did not recover the lost IQ points it makes you stupid it makes you dumb permanently I'm telling you I have seen this in my life I have seen this in my life so the Bible is clearly teaching you can increase knowledge and wisdom and the Bible gives advice on how to do that but you can see here even from science that you can decrease it to marijuana decreases your ability to think is what this study is saying permanently I mean that's scary now think of this for a second 76 percent of doctors approve of medical marijuana use you're like what in the world you know you're gonna get think of that you're gonna give somebody medication that has permanent cognitive side effects for pain relief I mean this is one of the reasons I don't have much faith in modern medicine look at Proverbs chapter 31 the Bible is ahead of the curve on this medical decision to look at Proverbs chapter 31 look at verse number six this is totally applicable to what's happening with medical marijuana today think of it three-quarters of doctors are just like yeah you know you're having a headache here you go damn it give yourself brain damage that's what we're talking about just just killing off your ability to think look at Proverbs 31 verse number six the Bible says give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts look this is how marijuana should be used the Bible is not you know you can apply this spiritually or you could apply this physically but either way whether you apply it spiritually or physically it's not saying give unto him that is going to perish it's ain't given to him that's ready to perish like somebody's just like on their deathbed somebody that's like just like ready to just die hey let them it's like the the morphine with the soldier on the battlefield at least make them feel good he's he's done that's what the Bible is teaching here it's saying that is the application for these things that destroy your brain is just somebody that is just they don't have any hope anymore is that what's happening with all these kids with all these young adults smoking marijuana they just don't have any hope spiritually or physically no that's not what's happening at all even some middle-aged person that goes to the doctor oh I have migraines here you go they're not ready to perish let's just get them drunk high and have them damage their their brains now turn back to second Kings chapter 9 so the first one is the Bible says be sober the second one it applies more quickly to marijuana because of the permanent effects that it leaves on people look and you will notice this with people that even used to smoke marijuana tell me that you do not see this tell me do they not do they not talk different are they not slower are they not like moving it it's almost like they're in a different dimension some people that have heavily used marijuana in the past in their lives it's scary turn to second Kings chapter 9 second Kings chapter 9 the third point is this and this is very specific to marijuana as well the third point is it turns you into a loser you say what do you mean by that I'm gonna get specific look at second Kings chapter 9 we see this this amazing story in the Bible so the story let me just some are summarize the story of what's happening here for you there's a lot that happened before this there's a lot that's going to happen after this chapter but basically you had this wicked King Ahab who came out of this dynasty was the third dynasty in the northern kingdom of Israel in this wicked King Ahab just God hates him he wants his whole family gone he wants Ahab's seed every male child that is connected to this family wiped off the face of the earth that's what God thinks of Ahab all right but the problem with Ahab and it reason it got so serious is because Jehoshaphat befriended Ahab and Jehoshaphat was a good king of the lower kingdom of Judah and what actually happened was and you wonder you know there's a lot of sermons you could do out of second Kings chapter 9 but you wonder like oh why shouldn't I have friends that are kind of I got this one friend and you know I know a lot of problems but you know all this the dangerous for your children the dangers for the next generation because Jehoshaphat got right Jehoshaphat he got right he almost died going into battle with Ahab like God spared his life and then sent a prophet to rebuke him but his son married Ahab's daughter so when it says there's two kings in second Kings chapter 9 who Jehu is hunting down here Jehu is hunting down Joram and it's a little confusing because not only did they marry into each other's families but they named their kids the same names so there's there's more than one Ahaziah there's an Ahaziah on each side and there's a Joram on each side but what happens here is Ahaziah is going to visit his uncle the King Joram of the northern kingdom of Israel so it's not like they were just buddies at this point they're family and God hires Jehu or tasks Jehu to become king to clean up this mess and it is a mess that needs to be cleaned up completely God wants this tie broken between these two kingdoms he does not want so much for your our diversity is our strength no God wants his people separated God wants his people separated unto him he doesn't want them with any ties to this wicked northern kingdom of Israel and Jehu was picked by Elisha to be the man to take this task home and he does it and he does it now I'm going to show you there's a reason he was chosen for this look at second Kings chapter 9 look at verse number 16 the Bible says so Jehu now he's he's the king even though no one knows this Jehu wrote in a chariot and went to Jezreel this is the place where Joram lay there and Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram this is this this is Ahaziah's uncle he's coming to visit his family the king of Judah and the king of Israel and there stood a watchman in the tower in Jezreel and spied the company of Jehu as he came and said I see a company and Joram said take in horsemen and send to meet him and let him say is it peace so he sees all these riders coming from the tower he's saying it you know go and see what they want and so there went on one one on horseback to meet him verse 18 and said thus say it the king is at peace and Jehu said what has thou to do with peace turn thee behind me and the watchman told saying the messenger came to them but he cometh not again so you have I mean you got to understand the picture here you got the guy watching from the tower and he's watching the messenger go out to Jehu and Jehu's company Jehu's Calvary or whatever he's bringing with him and the watchman goes or the watchman is watching the messenger go and the messenger all he sees he doesn't see the conversation we only get the conversation from the Bible he just sees that the messenger goes there and joins him I mean basically what Jehu said he said what you know what is it peace get thee behind me he's saying you get get with me or I'm gonna kill you is what Jehu was saying then went out a second so now he watches we better send a second messenger something weird happened with that first one all right which came to them and said thus say the king is at peace and Jehu answered and said what has thou to do with peace turn thee behind me and the watchman told saying he came even unto them and cometh not again so now they now we know it's not a fluke see now the watchman looks and say okay what maybe it was a traitorous messenger or whatever they send another messenger maybe a more reliable messenger this next time and he joins Jehu as well the watchman at the tower is going like we got a problem here is what he's thinking about all right and this is what he says he says and he coming now he's reporting to the king he said the second messenger didn't come back either and he said and hit and the driving look at this this is the key right here he says in the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi why for he driveth furiously notice what he says here notice what he says he says the driving is like Jehu the son he's like I think it's this guy he doesn't say it's Jehu and Jehu is driving furiously he says I know it's him because of how he's driving because I know that it's this man because of the way what he's talking about the way it's coming at them the way he's riding he's not like I mean he is driving furiously he is coming to accomplish a mission he was literally identified by this meaning what meaning that this was Jehu's way this was how Jehu was identified how he was riding his horse because he was like this all the time he was like this in the things that he did this is how Jehu drove always and this is why God had Elisha anoint him because he had this herculean task in front of him and he knew he needed someone like Jehu who drove furiously he wanted it done right say what does it have to do with marijuana well let's go back to our scientific studies here from psychology today you know how much I love psychology today here's an article does long-term cannabis use stifle motivation habitual use of marijuana is linked to lower dopamine levels what does dopamine dopamine is that that that that chemical in your brain that that makes you feel good right you just get done running two miles and like you just feel really good after you you're done running two miles you just get done exercising and you know you feel really good you know you you it's it's something that makes you feel good and this is what drugs and alcohol does it gives you that those false dopamine hits in your head alright but that the study here is showing that researchers have found that levels of dopamine are lower in long-term cannabis smokers and those who began using the drug at a younger age lower dopamine in part of the in a part of the brain called the stratum is linked to less ambition and motivation so what it's doing is it's giving you these fake dopamine hits but then it's actually just crushing your ability to even create dopamine in your head things making more sense to you now you ever met somebody that smokes marijuana that has smoked marijuana for more than you know like one time that is like a regular user of marijuana you run into these people and you will know them right away you don't even have to see them smoking marijuana and meet one of these people and know you use marijuana why it's because of this right here this is the main reason there's literally let me read you this this another another one from a UK study the buyer not the Bible this UK study says this the cannabis users in a study I'm sorry I'm sorry researchers used pet brain imaging it says the way they they can like scan your brain to look at dopamine production in the striatum of the brain in 19 regular cannabis users and 19 non users of matching age and matching sex the cannabis users in the study had all now listen to this too this is a side note the cannabis users a hundred percent of them in the study had all experienced psychotic like symptoms while smoking the drug so the first thing that's a side note right here because everyone thinks that all marijuana just relaxes you and I've read I read this statistic in many of the different studies that brought up every single person that is a regular user of marijuana experiences psychotic episodes at some point every single one it's like a hundred percent you say what is that it says it's experiencing strange sensations or having bizarre thoughts like feeling as though they are being threatened by an unknown force that's just an example of this study so all of the marijuana users in this UK study had all experienced this psychotic a hundred percent of them at least you know occasionally okay the second point is this so what they were looking for is they thought that they would have they would measure higher dopamine levels in the psychotic in the regular cannabis users because psychotic episodes are usually with people that have high dopamine levels okay just for your information okay researchers expected that dopamine production might be higher in this group since increased dopamine production has been linked with psychosis instead they found the opposite effect it was significantly lower so it lowers the ability of the brain to produce dopamine this this reward center of your brain there's actually a syndrome out there that you can google and you can find that just it's so common now there is literally a syndrome describing you know what I'm calling is point number three is it makes you a loser and the syndrome is called a motivational syndrome you could read for hours and hours and hours on a motivational syndrome it's so common in our population today among people that smoke marijuana they've given it a syndrome name you say what is the here's here's the definition of a motivational syndrome here's what it produces so this the scientific reason is that you know your your brain loses the ability to produce this dopamine and then you get a motivational syndrome which produces this feelings of apathy or emotional numbness meaning what you just what's apathy it's like you just don't care tell me this isn't the marijuana smoker today they just don't care they're emotionally numb nothing gets them excited feeling detached indifferent or disinterested that's kind of the same blunted or restricted emotions that's kind of the same look at this one lack of motivation to complete tasks or engage in activities withdrawal from activities and routines routines like I don't know getting out of bed at a certain time like I don't know going to work every day at the same time at the same place trouble focusing and concentrating I mean I would relate that back to point number two where it's just totally like jacking up your brain just totally just wrecking your brain problems with memory and short-term amnesia which by the way in people that started out as a teenager and smoked marijuana into their young adult years they lose this permanently in many of these studies imagine just not being able to remember things not having short-term memory having damaged short-term memory because of something you did when you were 16 or 17 or 18 years old becoming more withdrawn or less active productive and social the problem with with point number three is it turns you into a loser what does it mean it robs your normal desires and your your normal drive and it also as alcohol it lowers testosterone men and lowers testosterone and increases estrogen production you know I mean this is you know it's turning men into women this look folks this is a life killer right here this a motivational syndrome this is why J who was chosen by Elijah why he was chosen by God the importance of drive in your life ladies young ladies you meet some young man that smokes marijuana you run like the wind you run like the wind because that is going to bring you into a life of poverty and destruction this drive this motivation is necessary for anyone to have folks look in order to achieve any goal in your life you need to have drive you need to have motivation I mean the more and the more of it you have the more you will achieve I don't care if you're talking about spiritual things or regular things this is why so many people accomplish so much than this point right here you wonder like oh you know you know I mean I wonder I see people that just can't accomplish anything they can't get anything done and I wonder I'm like don't they look around and see people that are able to accomplish things and think hey what's the difference there it's not because they're taller and they're better looking and you know whatever or it's not even because they're faster it's not even because they're smarter it's because they're more motivated than you are that is the one thing it's because they drive like J who and whatever they do that's why people succeed at accomplishing goals that they set for themselves right well you know I just don't have any I just don't have any drive some people don't some people don't have drive but you know what you know you can get drive you know you can you can have you can you can change the way you are and you can get to be a motivated driven person you know that that's possible the Bible tells us that that's possible you say how can I get drive I'm not driven in my life I'm not motivated in my life I'm not accomplishing any of the goals see people that aren't motivated usually have things that they want goals they usually have things like oh I want to be here it's just like they're just completely unmotivated they just float around they float around until they're 60 and they accomplish nothing but you can get motivation you can get drive the first way is this stay away from drugs and alcohol because it'll rob that especially marijuana will rob that from you it'll steal it from you I was in college my freshman year I was in college my freshman year and I remember this specific person I remember his name I won't say it now but he was one of the smartest people in our freshman engineering class and I remember I transferred schools a year and a half later two years later and then I remember going back to visit that school my junior year and I remember seeing him and I do remember him in the dorms I do remember he was a he smoked weed it was kind of surprising to me because nobody really from my small town really it wasn't a thing that was like common like alcohol was common marijuana was not common and I remember this guy and his roommate were into smoking weed and they're like I didn't like think he was a bad person or whatever I was just like oh that's strange and I remember I saw him as a junior he was not in the engineering program anymore and I could not believe what I was looking at he's one of the smartest people in the class I saw yeah you know bro say it's all good bro just be you bro it's all he's like I'm just like what what what's going on here who am I talking to but that's what it is just like man you you meet these people at soul winning but met this lady she's watching like six kids and she's she is high or used has been high too much in her life and she's just like hey hey for coming by you be you love you she's just like I mean it just like just everything's dulled down well look it's it's a life killer how are you gonna be a good mom if that's if that's your motivation right there I mean I walked away I think I was with Garrett eternal walked away just appalled I'm like here's these little kids they're walking around this house and their moms is this dog down just high all she cares about is drugs and she's got no motivation to do anything much less be a mother it's pitiful but look that could be taken from you permanently that's the scary thing you have to have drive I don't care if you're a man a woman a young lady a young man you have to have drive in your life or you will fail at everything so the first thing is stay away from marijuana especially stay away from drugs and alcohol you say how do I get drive if I don't have any I've met plenty of nice people that just don't have any motivation just don't have any drive but guess what when you get married you start having kids and then you don't have any motivation you don't have any drive I don't think you're a nice person anymore I think you're a bum that's what I think so it's such a nice guy yeah you know support your family see what the Bible says about that see what the Bible says I don't care how nice you are in a conversation you're not doing what you're supposed to do when you have those responsibilities you're not a nice guy you're a bum and that's what this marijuana will do to you it'll give you I mean it'll take away your drive you won't drive furiously in a part of your life say how do I get drive how do I get drive look at Proverbs chapter 16 look at Proverbs chapter 16 the Bible teaches that you can train your body and your mind the Bible very clearly teaches that the Bible says this look the Bible here is teaching in Proverbs chapter 16 in verse number 3 the Bible is teaching that you can use head knowledge to become driven look at the look at the Bible it says commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established now look we got a you've got to look at this timeline here your thoughts are not established at this point you're not driven you're not motivated what does the Bible say you should do commit your works the Bible says you know it what it's perfect example with your spiritual life but it works for every other part of your life you say I don't know how to be a hard worker I don't feel like working hard I get up in the morning and I just want to continue laying there it's the Bible here is saying is like no you need to commit your works you know you're supposed to go and work hard so you have to do it anyway you have to force your body to do it even if you don't feel like doing it if you're driven by your feelings you are going to fail in everything in your life you have to commit your works before your heart is in it that's I mean think about just an example of working out look you're out of shape and you're overweight you don't want to work out and all you do is eat junk food you look you got to set a goal and then work out four times a week and you're like well I feel sick when I do it you just need to keep doing it over and over and over again and then guess what then it will start to feel good then your heart will be committed to it but you have to force the work at the beginning that's how everything works that's how you become driven tell me the Bible will not make you successful the Bible saying commit your works first I know you're lazy the Bible is saying I know you're a bum and you're fat and you don't want to do anything but go and do it anyway and then your heart and your thoughts will catch up behind you and then pretty soon you're not gonna want to eat the junk food and it's not gonna taste good to you and you're gonna just want to go out and you want it you're like I got to do this and you start doing it five times a week this is what will happen but you have to commit the works first the Bible saying just do it and the heart will follow I mean all you really need folks is that beginning desire to get motivated and they just follow this path stay away the drug will destroy yourself and your thoughts will follow marijuana is a non-starter it'll literally make you not get off the finish line because it robs the desire from you I mean 99% think of this one think of the spiritual application 99% of the people in this world should be concerned that they're not saved they should be concerned that if their next heartbeat doesn't come they're gonna end up in hell but they're not this is the problem today is we care more about people's salvation than they do well this is what marijuana will do to your entire life on this earth marijuana is totally a tool of Satan big-time now it's an especially good one every area of your life you should be driving furiously every area I mean at work it worked you should drive furiously at work you should go to work and you should drive furiously you know what you go to work you drive furiously especially in this day and age you're gonna make people mad you can't care about that you can't care about that because the people that do matter will like that you drive furiously the Elisha's and God himself will like it look the critics don't like those that strive valiantly they don't like those people but the critics don't matter the critics are not who matters the people that do matter they will like that you drive furiously all the goals me think of young men and young women young men you want to get married you have to drive towards that goal furiously you have to understand you can't just go flopping around in life and think that you're gonna get somewhere if you're married you should be pursuing your wife furiously if you're a wife you should be pursuing your husband furiously you should be just studying how can I be a good wife how can I be a good husband how can I do this better the answers there are in the Bible but once you know the answers drive furiously everything is is depending on how hard you drive towards these goals and look turn to Psalm chapter 63 and we'll land the plane here but your spiritual life you should pursue it furiously your spiritual life should be pursued furiously look at Psalm chapter 63 you know there's a trend I like trends there is a definite trend to some young man that can't get his life together to him being successful in the Christian life I have never seen a young man and I mean I'm being biased because I'm more you know I'm a man but I've never seen a young man who can't hold a job and can't get you know things right in his life and then just be totally successful in this spiritual life I've never seen it the spiritual life always follows that same trend why because they don't drive furiously at one thing so they're not going to drive furiously at the most important thing it just it just doesn't happen that's why you see that trend I mean there's a definite people that can't hold a job succeed at tasks they just they fall out of the Christian life they may make it a year maybe two years but eventually this is a killer for their Christian life look at Psalm chapter 63 how should I pursue how should I sue my Christian life look at verse number eight okay look at what the psalmist says here he says my soul followeth hard after thee thy right hand upholdeth me that is how we are supposed to follow the Lord that is supposed to be the drive that now you know in our lives but especially in our Christian lives and guess what and guess what if you like I don't know how to follow the heart of my Christian life why don't you just do it why don't you just never miss a church service why don't you start reading your Bible every single day why don't you start putting some time aside in your life to have a prayer life every single day why don't you actually just start doing the works and see if the Bible's true and see if the the thoughts and the heart follows those things but people will never commit the works because they don't have the motivation for it but the Bible say fall hard after the Lord drive furiously after the Lord look I should preach seriously that's why you need to get up here and you preach and you see people wreck their eyes it makes me angry it makes me upset because the Word of God is being told to you you have no excuse you know just commit the works look I've seen that work so many times I can't count where people like man I'm just not in there I'm just like just do it just do it and then they do it pretty soon they love it reason like this is what my life is supposed to be like it's true joy comes from it even when you're being persecuted you can experience joy in this Christian life it's the weirdest thing but it's true the Bible says follow hard after these things and guess what you know what maybe if you figure out how to follow hard in one area of your life maybe that'll spill over into the things don't matter as much maybe that'll spill over into other areas of your life maybe it'll spill over into your marriage maybe you know I don't know maybe it'll rub off on your kids you're like I mean these people are just like just gonna be a bum and then you think I'm just gonna raise awesome kids like what in the world you raise a bunch of bumps if you don't have any motivation in your life marijuana is not harmless it robs this it robs the the desire to follow anything hard it is super serious and if you've ever met somebody like I said young ladies you find somebody or a group of people that is into smoking marijuana you get out of there that is a that is a life sentence for you if you marry into that as Jehoshaphat's kids married into that there's a life's fit I mean he killed both kings here he killed Ahaziah and Joram it is not possible to drive hard at anything when you were doing this to yourself so once again folks I hate to break it to you this morning but the narrative out there is not true the mainstream narrative on this is is not a true one if you fall or if you follow this narrative in this area in your life you will fail in all areas it is not harmless it is not I mean it is not something that you can use you know without consequence because it's natural why don't you just go eat a bunch of poisonous mushrooms it's ridiculous that you know the whole the thought process on that and the idea that it's medicine is insane you know why don't you just go you know you're you have a headache why don't you just go huff a bunch of gasoline and and pass out then you won't have a headache anymore I mean what what's next what's next I mean are they teaching this in medical school they're probably all high in medical school it's extremely dangerous poison it'll wreck your spiritual life I mean it'll get you thrown out of church think about that it'll wreck your spiritual life you know it'll take away all your motivation it'll make you stupid and the Bible says be sober let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer