Please turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus. The book of Titus chapter 2. We have been through 15 commitments that are given to us in the covenant of Colonial Hills Baptist Church. This evening we come to the 16th of those commitments. And it's on the theme tonight, the non-medical use of drugs. Turning to Titus chapter 2. where the Word of God reminds us of what the grace of God does in the life of a believer. There are those who lay hold of the doctrine of God's grace and the sureness of it to take a position that I can do anything. As far as even living in sin, I know that they would dispute the way this pastor is presenting their position, but some find themselves in the land of libertinism And they do so because of their position on the grace of God, that God is gracious and that His love is unchanging and therefore I can live as a libertine or live without concerns regarding sins. Now again, I know that I've overstated, but I've overstated with a purpose as we open our Bibles to the book of Titus chapter 2. We discover in Titus chapter 2 that real grace teaches us The Bible says, for the grace of God, verse 11, that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Now what does real grace teach us? It teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust so that we would live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world and look for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." There's a position that needs to be taken that understanding real biblical grace ought to be demonstrated in the life of a believer through a zealousness for good works. These things speak, verse 15, and exhort and rebuke with all authority Titus is being told when you're involved in a conversation about the grace of God and how the grace of God ought to teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and live soberly, righteously, and godly. Don't give up. Don't give in. Don't capitulate. These things exhort. Preach. And not only preach, but do it with rebuking and all authority and don't let anybody despise you. A strong position is to be taken when it comes to what God's grace does in the life of a genuine believer. We're going to be looking this evening at the commitment of our covenant regarding no non-medical use of drugs. So let's ask the Lord to bless as we look into His Word. Father, now I pray that You'd give us wisdom as we look into Your Word together this evening, that we would look into this law of liberty and thus be freed to think righteously. O God, I pray that You'd help us in a world filled with temptation, that having done all, we would stand, having our loins girt about with truth, that we would understand Your calling upon us, Your desire for us to walk free from sin, that we would walk in this present age with sobriety in order to share the gospel glorious with those who are in desperate need. And so this evening, Lord, give me clarity, biblical wisdom, as I share from Your Word what we together have committed to as a congregation as it comes to the matter of drugs. We'll thank you for it in Christ's name. Amen. When Colonial Hills Baptist Church began, there were two documents that were very important, and those two documents really remain important. the doctrinal statement of the church, and then the church covenant, those promises that members of a church make in order for there to be all things done decently and in order. Sixteen folks signed the original covenant of Colonial Hills Baptist Church in 1957. beginning this ministry is a covenantal relationship. And since that covenant was written so many years ago, there really are only a few words that have ever been adjusted in it. Nothing has been removed, to the best of my knowledge. But recently, in a consideration of our covenant, There were several words that were actually added to it. Back in 2014, six words were added. Those are the words we consider this evening. Colonial Hills Baptist Church is members engaged to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating drink as a beverage and from the non-medical use of drugs. Back when Nancy Reagan was the first lady, she had a campaign in our country under the heading, Just Say No. Well, the language of our covenant is far more specific than just say no when it comes to the non-medical use of drugs. The language of our covenant is necessarily specific because there are some religions that teach no modern medicines at all. If you're ill, don't go to a doctor, and certainly if you're ill, don't seek surgery or any kind of medical intervention, just pray. And so it's important for us to notice as we look at this particular statement in our covenant that it's stated very specifically. We turn our attention this evening to the thought that we will commit to no non-medical use of drugs. Now that statement was not added that specifically because we have members of our church who work at Eli Lilly. And it wasn't added that specifically because we have some in our church who are pharmacists. No, it's added that specifically because we believe it demonstrates really a parallel to what we learn in God's Word. As you study God's Word, you discover along the way that there are quite apparently medicines that are being enjoyed by people throughout the ages. So for instance, you'll find Job in chapter 2 sitting in the ashes. Have you ever wondered why Job sat in the ashes? Sitting in the ashes would help a man with boils. to see them dried out. There was a medicinal purpose for him sitting in the ashes. Jeremiah chapter 8 speaks of the balm, which was used medicinally, of Gilead, and references that balm in a positive manner. Hezekiah was sick, and in 2 Kings chapter 2 you'll recall that Isaiah prescribed a date poultice for Hezekiah's wound or illness, and the king was cured as medicines appropriate to the era and time were applied. 1 Timothy chapter 5, Timothy is told, now take a little wine for your stomach's sake, which teaches us two things. One, it teaches us that Timothy was not drinking wine, or he would not need to be told to do so. And secondly, it teaches us that Paul was actually encouraging Timothy to use wine in a medicinal fashion. Even so, you find in Luke chapter 10, the good Samaritan who finds a fellow who's been buffeted and bruised, pours upon him in a medicinal way, wine as a curative and a cleanser and oil to soothe the wounds of the one that he's found. Why do you say all that, Pastor? Because there are those who will teach no medicines ever, and in balance there are also those who will teach, well, we'll only use medicines that seem to find their history in the pages of God's Word. Let's be careful here this evening, even before we get into the heart of our message, to understand that The passages that we've considered tonight demonstrate that throughout the ages people have been wise enough to use medicines in their times that are curative to the illnesses that they consider. That does not mean you're out of God's will to use prescription drugs today. Let me just go into it a little further. There are those who may reason, well, we only do what the Bible says when it comes to specific things in culture. So for instance, Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem on a donkey. So the only right transportation for today would be a donkey. Well, wait a minute. There would be those who perhaps would say, when Christ cooked fish, he did it in the open air by the Sea of Galilee. So the only kind of fish that we can eat would be a fish that's been roasted in open fire. There might be somebody who would say, you'll discover that the mills were grinding with the pestle and mortise in the Old Testament. And so for us to make bread that God would bless, we need to have a pestle and mortise and grind our own wheat. Now, what we're saying here is there are examples in the Old Testament of people using medicines in their time. And so as we move throughout time, we can enlarge upon that with wisdom. But let's do so with wisdom. In Mark chapter five, physicians were actually given credence by the Lord. And you recall that Luke was a physician in his day and he traveled with the Apostle Paul. So Paul is endorsing Luke's medical practice and medical background even by referencing him as Dr. Luke. I've been in ministry long enough to see Christians who take unusual views as they interpret scripture. And so in the Old Testament during the time of Passover, yeast was forbidden. I remember back in the early 1980s there were people in our church who were on yeast-free diets, because after all, it must be good for you, God, for bad yeast in the Passover, so it must be good for me today. I remember one time my wife was asked by our church pianist to go to her house during the five o'clock hour and pick up a piece of sheet music that she'd forgotten. And this church pianist had the whole family on a yeast-free diet. And when my wife knocked on the door, no one answered. So assuming that no one was in the house, she opened the door and the husband was standing there with a McDonald's ice cream cone in his hand. And Linda was startled first to see him at home. She didn't think he was home. But then she was more startled when he said, please, please don't tell Carol about this ice cream cone. It was filled with yeast. She had a spiritual desire to bring a yeast-free home together. There are others that have discovered the Hallelujah Diet. I had a pastoral staff member who got on a cabbage diet for a while. If you've ever done that, that can be a difficult thing. He was on his cabbage diet so long that he got a bit of diverticulitis. Ended up in the hospital. I was working with another pastoral staff member, Bob Brenneman, who's quite a quite a kidder. And so I said to Pastor Bob, listen, I can't go up and see Joe this morning. Why don't you go up and but first start, stop at Rite Aid and get him a can of Beano and tell him that's the curative for what he's got. He wasn't doing it from a biblical perspective, but today, you know, I hear of people who are into biblical oils or essential oils. And I want to be careful. I'm not trying to pick on anyone here. But having been in ministry long enough, I know that when we talk about anything having to do with medicine, all kinds of strange ideas come and go. But let's come to this conclusion. The Bible is okay with medicines being used. The Bible ratifies the use of physicians. And as history has moved along, thank the Lord for developments in medical science, we shouldn't find ourselves bound by only using dates when we need a poultice. We have other things that have been discovered for our benefit and God gives to us all things richly to enjoy. So with that disclaimer, if you don't mind, we look this evening at a covenant that is very specifically drawn up to say the non-medical use of drugs should be far from our thinking, far from our practice. We abstain from the non-medical use of drugs. And that's an important position to take because we're living in a culture that's obsessed with drugs. In November of 2013, Christianity Today noted that the United States is the most medicated country in the world. We have today a cultural obsession when it comes to the matter of drugs. The statistics are indeed staggering. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, deaths by overdose rose 100% from 1999 to the present. I have to say when I share that statistic, I didn't know that. And I don't think that's something that's widely communicated in our news media. But from 1999 to the present, deaths by overdose increased 100%. Drugabuse.gov, which is a credible website, notes that 27.2% of high school students use drugs in a non-medical way in 2014. As to high school seniors in America today, 6% of high school seniors in America smoke marijuana daily. 21.2% of high school seniors in America smoked marijuana in the last 30 days. The statistics are staggering. According to the Center for Disease Control, 9.4% of America's 12-year-olds have been exposed to illegal substances in the last month, or the last 12 months rather. And so while we enroll our children in a Christian school, and while we enjoy the benefits of a wonderful youth ministry, while often we send them off to Christian college, or we encourage them to be surrounded by Christian friends, those of us who care about the next generation need to be warned. The drug problem has not gone away. It's only become an increasingly enlarged epidemic. And not simply looking at the younger generation, there are those in this room this evening who in the workplace know that perhaps tomorrow someone will be talking to you about the benefits they're enjoying from the non-medical use of drugs. Prescription medications and non-prescription medications are here to stay. They are not going to go away. And so while Colorado has legalized marijuana, and while Ohio has recently said we won't make marijuana legal, the state of Indiana is faced with an increasing problem when it comes to drug abuse. Indiana's battle with substance abuse has made national news of late. We have, according to what the newswriters tell us, a heroin epidemic predominantly in southern Indiana, That heroin epidemic has been so pronounced that officials have worked hard to allow for needles to be supplied that would be clean, and they realize that this is an enormous battle that we are undergoing. With all that in mind, we ask this question tonight, and I confess to you, this is the first time that I've ever, in an adult service on a Lord's Day, spoken on the topic of the non-medical use of drugs. But it's an important topic. It's a topic for our times. It's a topic that we as believers need to be sensitive about. So let's ask, what is the biblical instruction on this matter? One of the wonderful proofs that the Bible is God's Word is the proof of its universal applicability. that in every age the Bible has the answer. I love the song that says, The Bible stands, though the hills may tumble, it will firmly stand. When the earth shall crumble, I will plant my feet on its firm foundation, for the Bible stands. 2 Peter 1 says in verse 3 that God has given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness. Let me enlarge on that for just a moment before we look specifically at the Bible's instruction on the matter of illegal drugs. The Bible has given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness. And so God's Word is sufficient. As I look into the mirror of God's Word, I discover in God's Word that He has given to us instructions about problems before the problems have ever been known. He's given to us instructions about situations before the situations have ever been encountered. In every societal challenge, there is a biblical answer. He's given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness. I find that a remarkable proof of the integrity and the inspiration of God's Word. So as we look for biblical instruction this evening, we begin by considering biblical principles. You see, words like marijuana and LSD and heroin and cocaine and Methamphetamines and spice and all these things, you're not going to find those words in the Bible. So if you look with accordance, you're going to say, well, I guess the Bible has nothing to say about drugs. No, that would be very wrong. The Bible gives to us all things pertaining to life and godliness. And so we look in the Bible at principles. And from those principles, we come to conclusions regarding the non-medical use of drugs. We begin by noticing that the Word of God over and again says Christians are to be clear-minded. Christians are to be clear-minded. Let me just cite some references for you this evening. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13. The Word of God says, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober or clear-minded, and hope unto the end. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. Be sober or clear-minded. Vigilant. For your adversary the devil like a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour. Titus 2 and verse 6. If you're still open to the book of Titus, you can look at the sixth verse. Young men likewise exhort to be sober or clear-minded. The problem that we face in America with illegal substances and people who are anything but clear-minded and even legal substances being abused is a problem that is worldwide. I remember first traveling to India and asking about the many people who had strikingly yellow teeth. It reminds me of a story my wife's mother tells about a friend whose little girl was sitting in the baby cart in the grocery store, and as she pushed that little girl through the grocery store in the baby cart, she was holding a yellow purse. And the lady who was checking out The mother of this precocious little child said to the little girl, that's a beautiful yellow purse there, little girl. And she looked at the lady checking her out, and she said, yes, it's lello, just like your teeth. But in India, their teeth are yellow and almost orange, really, because of the abuse of betel nut. A betel nut is a mind-altering substance, and they chew it as regularly as some people chew juicy fruit spearmint gum here in the United States. My wife and I were in Africa. We were accosted by little ones, five, six, seven, eight-year-olds in the public market. They were asking for money. The missionary demonstrated that rather than giving those little ones money, they always break open a banana, hand them a banana with the top of it already broken down so they can't sell that banana. so they can eat it because these little ones need nourishment and these little ones are carrying around in their pockets little bottles and they put glue in the bottles and six, seven and eight year olds are in the streets of Africa sniffing glue as a mind altering substance. This is not just an American problem. It is a problem born out of our sin nature. Because we are sinners living in a world filled with sin that groans. Our minds quite naturally want to be in an altered state so that we don't have to think of life and eternity. But the Word of God says in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 6, let us watch and be sober or clear-minded. And 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 8, let us who are of the day be sober. Clear-minded. Ephesians 5 and verse 15, we are to walk circumspectfully in this present age. As we await Christ's coming, we're to await the coming of our Savior with laser-sharp attention. We're to be clear-minded. We are to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. The very nature of the non-medical use of drugs is to allow the mind to be altered away from clarity into a trance-like state often. And you recall that when Christ on the cross was offered the myrrh and the vinegar, He turned it aside. And most who study that context would immediately respond that He was being offered something that was a sedative that would take away His pain, but would also take away His ability on the cross to be clear-minded. So we do indeed have an example in all ways when it comes to the high priest of our faith, though he was tempted in all his temptations, he sets for us an example. So we begin with this biblical principle, Christians are to be clear-minded. And then we continue by noting that Christians are to be controlled by the Spirit of God. Not long ago, we dealt with our covenantal commitment to abstain from the use of alcohol as a beverage. The Bible says, be not drunk with wine or in his excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Christians are to be Spirit-controlled people, not spirits-controlled people. And those who are controlled by spirits, according to Proverbs 25 and verse 28, are like those cities whose walls are broken down. They're without defense. in the day of adversity. We're to be controlled by the Spirit of God. The Bible paints no favorable picture of those who enter into a state that's anything but clear-minded. When Noah came out from the ark, The Bible says that he was drunken and his sons saw him in that inebriated state. That's not a favorable picture being painted of Noah. And all the challenge it brought into his family. And the pain that's described in the book of Genesis that would last for generations. When Lot came out of Sodom, this man that we discovered just last week, who had a righteous soul that was vexed over seeing and hearing, is found to be in an inebriated state He's been enticed into that state by His daughters. You remember the story? It's not a flattering end, is it? Even so, throughout the pages of God's Word, there's always a consistency about God speaking of the woe that comes to those who seek to sedate their fears and their thoughts by substances that remove the mind from anything but the control of the Spirit of God. The Christian's body is to be committed to God. Take your Bibles and go to Romans 12. Romans 12. A Christian's body is to be committed to God. In Romans 6, the 19th verse, as you have yielded your members, servants, to uncleanliness and to iniquity, even so now yield your members as servants to righteousness and holiness. As you once yielded yourselves in this way, And now no longer, for Romans chapter 12 says in verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Don't be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I've told the story before, but it was a remarkable experience that God gave me in having the privilege of leading to Christ a young man by the name of Matthew. Matthew's wife, Tiffany, had come to church for quite some time when she came to me and she said, I married Matthew when we were still teenagers. In fact, we began living together when we were teenagers. And when our daughter was coming along, I told Matthew we ought to get married. She said, he married me out of obligation. And then I trusted Christ as Savior and he left. I haven't seen him in months. It may have been over a year. She said, he's totally addicted to substances. He's 20, 21 years of age now. He's in such a bad group of people that are taking substances that I fear for his life. I said, I can't wait to meet Matthew Tiffany. When he calls you or contacts you, would you come by and visit with me? I want to meet your husband. She said, I'll do that, Pastor. The day came when he called. He said, Tiffany, I've been incarcerated for felony drug possession. Tiffany said, well, before you come to visit me, can we make an appointment to visit with Pastor Phelps? She took it very seriously. I've never seen the Lord work in such a wonderful way, really, in a person in such desperate situations. He'd been detoxed in the jail. He came into my office with great big ear spreaders about the size of silver dollars, tattoos in every place that I could see it looked like. His teeth were missing. He was 21 years of age. He would later explain that he lost his teeth because of substance abuse. As we sat in my office, he shared with me that he had had 23 friends who'd already died from overdoses or in other ways. He'd been involved in just about every drug you could be involved in, and he'd been involved in those drugs since junior high. But now he genuinely needed a Savior. He understood his sin. And so I said to him something I'd never said before. I said, Matthew, before we get on our knees and you pray and ask Jesus to be your Savior, when you pray, I'm going to ask you to pray and ask God to give you victory over heroin, cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, your music. He paused right there. He said, my music? I said, yeah, Matthew, what do you listen to? He went, oh, yeah, my music. He got on his knees and he prayed and I said, now before you pray, I think there's some kind of a drug you can take that will make you sick if you're using other drugs. He named it right away. I said, ask God to give you a spiritual dose of that. He prayed and he said, Lord, help me get off this and help me get off that. If I ever go back to it, give me a spiritual dose of this drug, then I just get sick, violently ill, if I ever take those drugs again. He prayed, he got up off of his knees, he still had some hearings in front of him and some other challenges, but he meant it. He was serious. And so week by week, I'd meet with Matthew and he'd come in my office. One week he came in and he said, Pastor, I've had a bad week. One of my friends overdosed and I went to his wake, the visitation, and my other friends were there. And so they were passing around a bottle and I drank. I said, oh, Matthew, that's too bad. And he said, no kidding, too bad. I got violently sick. I said, well, praise the Lord, Matthew. And then he said this. He said, well, everybody else was doing it to remember our friends, so I went out and got two new tattoos. I said, oh, you did? I handed him my Bible, and I said, read this verse for me. And he read, what? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? And you're not your own? You're bought with a price? And he looked up at me, and he said, whoa, I shouldn't have got those tattoos. It's like I put graffiti on God's body. He understood. And even so must we be clear in what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that when Jesus redeemed us, He redeemed our bodies. He bought them. They're His. The Christian's conduct, you see, is to be different from the world's. Jesus prayed in John 17, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. They're not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And just as a Christian who takes a vow of abstinence when it comes to alcohol becomes a testimony, unexpected testimony may I add, for even the world expects Christians to take seriously certain parts of their lifestyle. Even so, when a Christian turns his life over to the Lord, they don't act like the world. For they put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts. They become renewed in their mind and they put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness. If you turn to Romans 13, you're close by, Romans chapter 13, specifically when it comes to illegal substances because some Legal substances are abused. Prescription drugs are abused. And non-prescription and illegal drugs are abused. And we're reminded that we're to be subject, verse 1, to the higher powers. There's no power but that of God and the powers that be ordained of God. Those that resist the power resist the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. And so when the government says, this is an illegal substance, Then the believer says that I bow to the authorities that God in His grace has placed over me. Now there are times when the authorities who are placed over us do wrong, such as Pharaoh who said all the sons of Israel need to be placed in the Nile and we obey God rather than man at that time. Folks, when it comes to reasoning biblically, we go through God's Word and we say we're to be clear-minded, we're to be controlled by the Spirit, Our bodies are to be committed to God. Our conduct is to be different than the world. We're to obey the civil authorities, and at that point we ought to be able to say right there, I'll take a commitment. I'm not going to be involved in any non-medical use of drugs. But I find it interesting when we build a case for this commitment within our church covenant. As we build that case, we come to realize also that the Bible shares for us prophecies that we ought to be contemplating. Take your Bibles and go to the book of Romans, or Revelation rather, chapter nine, the book of the Revelation chapter nine, Revelation chapter nine. We're gonna turn to a couple of places very quickly. If you're going to the book of the Revelation, once you get there, Revelation nine, backtrack just a little bit and come back with me to Galatians chapter five, Galatians chapter five. We're going to look at two passages quickly here and then go through an order of passages in the book of the Revelation. Galatians chapter 5. 2 Timothy chapter 3 warns us. Hear the warning. Evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse. Often think of the times in which we're living like a whirlpool in the bathtub, if you ever watch a whirlpool. It starts big on the outside of that circumference and as it goes down further into the drain it wraps more tightly and its force is far more evident. Even so, the times in which we're living, as we see ourselves as a culture circling down the drain. It shouldn't surprise us to see in the end times greater force toward evil, for evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse. And so in Galatians 5, the works of the flesh are considered. Galatians 5, verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident. You shouldn't argue about this. It's just clear. They're evident. Well, what are the works of the flesh? Adultery. My, the hurt that comes into the home where the marital vow has been violated. Fornication. My, the hurt that comes into the life of the person who even before the marital vow has been enjoyed has been involved in immorality and uncleanness and lasciviousness, that party spirit. Life's just a big party, eat, drink, and be merry. And idolatry, and witchcraft, and hatred, and variance, and emulations, and wrath, and strife, and seditions, and heresies. Come back up in verse 20 to that little word, witchcraft. That's an interesting word. Most of us don't feel like we're tempted with witchcraft very much, but this is called a work of the flesh, witchcraft. You're going to see back in the book of Acts, A word in Acts chapter 8, Acts chapter 13 in particular about sorcery or witchcraft. That in the book of Acts is the Greek word magos. We get our word magic. But if you're circling Galatians 5 and verse 20, the word witchcraft here is not magos. It's not the word magic. The Greek word in Galatians 5 and verse 20 that references the works of the flesh is a Greek word pharmakia. That sounds like a familiar word, doesn't it? The works of the flesh are evident, they are these, idolatry and pharmacia. Pharmacia has a direct word, of course, to our English word, pharmacy. But as it was being used in the times in which the Apostle Paul was being inspired to write, sometimes the word is going to be translated sorceries. It has the idea of those who are servants of Satan who are relying upon hallucinogens for the accomplishment of their magical arts. Let me say that again. Pharmakiah is a word that speaks to those who are servants of Satan, who are relying upon hallucinogens for the performance of whether it be the religious or their magical arts. Mind altering has always been part of a sin sick culture. And so the works of the flesh being referenced in Galatians 5 and verse 20, specifically Pharmakiah. When we were young, when I was young, we were taught to listen carefully to the themes being developed in rock music. Don't just listen to the beat. Ask honestly the question, what is rock music singing about? And the answer? Rebellion, sex, drugs. Those are the big themes and they continue to be the big themes. Why? Because Satan is a monster. He's a murderer from the beginning. His desire is to create a culture that shakes its fist at God, and the songs of our culture represent the hearts of our people. So we're in Galatians 5 and we're discovering that these hallucinogens are part of the works of the flesh. So isn't it interesting then as you page over to Revelation, the ninth chapter, that the word is most frequently used, the word pharmakia is most frequently used in the book of the Revelation. Four times this word is going to come up in the book of the Revelation. The Revelation speaks of end times. As evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, it shouldn't be a surprise to one who knows God's Word to discover that these works of the flesh are going to get worse and worse. So if you're asking me what Bible book speaks most to the topic of illegal substances or mind-altering substances or the non-medical use of drugs, I'm going to tell you right up. It's the book of the Revelation. Now we learn some very important principles. We turn to the book of the Revelation and in the ninth chapter we're in tribulational times as God is raining judgment upon the earth. The four angels that were bound in the great river Euphrates, the 14th verse, are loosed. They were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year to slay a third part of the men, and the number of the army, the horsemen, were 200,000. I heard a number of them, and I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat upon them, and the breastplate of fire." He's now vividly describing the judgments of God being poured out, so much so that in the 18th verse, There was a third part of men killed by fire and smoke and brimstone which issued out of the mouths of these four horsemen that come out of the Euphrates. How would you respond if a third of the world were to die right now? Two, over two billion people, almost three billion people on the planet are gone. From the United States, a hundred million people gone. I think your attention to be riveted. I would hope that those who are seeing such carnage and such judgment and such change in this globe that God has created for us, their attention would be riveted and their hearts would be open. But that's not what happens. The book of the Revelation tells us in the 20th verse, the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk. Now watch it, verse 20, neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries. That's Pharmacia. What did they not repent of? Their murdering spirits. Okay, listen to the news tonight and ask the question, how's the murder rate doing? And don't forget when you ask that question that you ought to page back in your mind immediately that God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth in the times of Noah, that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, repented God that he'd made man, and specifically he's going to say over and again in Genesis 9, the wickedness was violence in the earth, violence in the earth, violence in the earth. And I am one who believes that that which we watch on video screens will impact how we look at culture round about us. There is violence increasing in the earth, and much of that violence, talk to any police officer, they'll immediately say, once a person's involved in a mind-altering drug, they're in another state altogether. Whether it be suicide or domestic violence or murder, Almost every time when somebody shows up at the scene, something of a substance that altered the mind has been involved. So the 21st verse, the Bible prophecy contemplates drugs in the end times, and it says, these who are knowing the hand of God upon them will not repent specifically of their sorceries, their pharmakia, and so they'll not repent, we discover, in the tribulation times of their addictions. their use of those things that are very addictive. Come over with me to the book of the Revelation, the 18th chapter. Remember, the book of the Revelation uses the word pharmakia more than any other book in the New Testament. And so when we ask about the non-medical use of drugs, we ought to know that it's going to increase. Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse. And we ought to know that it would be expected then that this word, this concept, this problem is more evident in the book of the Revelation than any other book. Galatians 5 names it as the work of the flesh. But as we go to Revelation 18, the Bible talks about Babylon the Great being destroyed. And you remember this passage, the 17th and the 18th chapter, Babylon. that has enriched the world with its economic prosperity, that has governed the world with its political prowess, is destroyed, and as the ships and their captains look on to the coast, they see it in all of its blazing destruction. Look what it says in the 23rd verse. And the light of the candle shall shine no more at all in thee, Babylon. For the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more. There will be no more festivities, no more joyful occasions. Families have been demolished. For thy merchants, which were great in the earth, and by thy sorceries, all the nations were deceived. In her was found the blood of the prophets and the saints and all that were slain upon the earth. In the tribulation, number one, those being judged will not repent of their use of addictions or drugs. Number two, those who sell these drugs have power, according to Revelation 18, to deceive the nations. That's how great this force is. Come over to Revelation 21. Revelation 21. There are two more passages for us to see as God's Word reveals to us the impact of the non-medical use of substances we'll have in the end times. Revelation 21. The eighth verse. The fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Well, there's that word again. And this time we're learning that drug addicts, the sorcerers listed in verse 8, are part of the list who ultimately are condemned to the lake of fire. That's a very strong verse. Most people don't argue when it comes to the matter of murderers. Murderers should not have part in heaven unless they've repented of their sins. And how about whoremongers, those who are sexual abusers? Well, obviously, they're forbidden from the streets of gold. We look in this passage, well, what about those who are idolaters? Well, that's why we want to reach them for Christ. Pause. Well, what about those who are involved in drugs. Come over with me to Revelation chapter 22. Revelation chapter 22. The 14th verse, blessed are they that do this commandment, they that have right to the tree of life and enter through the gates into the eternal city. Verse 15, for without are dogs and sorcerers. There's that word again. And where are they? They're outside the gates of eternal life with the whoremongers, the murderers, the idolaters, and those that love and make a lie. In John 8 and verse 44, Jesus said, You have your Father the devil, and the lust of your Father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. He's a liar. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own. He's a liar and the father of it. He's a murderer and he's a liar. Satan's a murderer. And anyone who would be wise among us would have to say one of his chief instruments in murdering a culture, a people, young and old, internationally and nationally today, is the non-medical use of drugs. Now wait, pastor. Are you saying that everyone involved with drugs is going to hell? I didn't say that. There are Christians who are adulterers, There are Christians who are whoremongers, but they don't continue in it. Are you still with me? 1 John reminds us that those who are truly believers do not continue in sin. And when they seek to continue in it, Hebrews 12 makes it very clear. Whom the Lord loves, He chastens. He scourges every son that He receives. Now if you be without chastisement, if you can continue in that lifestyle and there's no chastening hand of God, Hebrews chapter 12 says, then are you bastards, you're illegitimate, you're not really sons. So I believe a Christian can be involved in every sin an un-Christian person can be involved in. That's why we're being told what the works of the flesh are and the works of the Spirit. And the works of the Spirit happen as we yield ourselves to the Spirit of God. There ought to be that sanctifying change. And I do believe there are those who have deceived themselves. They pray to prayer, but there's been no evident change in their life. And they ought to be challenged to make their calling and their election sure. And I do believe that there are believers who have involved themselves in ways that are wrong and sinful, and God in His grace chastens them. One of the ways He chastens them, according to 1 Corinthians 11, For this cause, many are sick among you and many sleep." I do believe that God reserves the right to call His children home in what we would think to be prematurely. Haven't you read the book of James, the first chapter? When lust is conceived, it brings forth sin. And when sin is conceived, it brings forth death. Next phrase, don't be deceived, my beloved brethren. That pattern that brings death is held up before the believer to caution us that yes, Christians can do things that they ought not to do, but they can't do that without God chastening. So I'm thrilled to be part of a church where I can preach the message I preached tonight. Where we can commit ourselves together to a covenant that says no non-medical use of drugs. And that while we can commit ourselves to that covenant, we're responsible to one another, to exhort one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching, to challenge one another of what God would have us to be. And not to be weary in that well-doing. We're in a battle, folks, for the souls of those round about us and those in our community. Satan is a roaring lion who has gone about seeking whom he may devour. May God help us this evening to realize that in a drugged culture, damnation follows. Not just find it interesting that it's the book of the Revelation that speaks of it most frequently, but also find it alerting that this is the time in which we live. And isn't it wonderful that God's Word is available to us for answers in every time? And may God help us to make a commitment on the matter that we've considered this evening to live a life that is drug-free.