A couple of weeks ago I preached a message on the Christian views on legalizing marijuana in America. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t very supportive of the idea. The notion that we can legalize sin and somehow make state sanctioning of sin a good thing despite the fact that legalizing marijuana will simply encourage more drug abuse.
You may also recall that the message wasn't just about the Christian views changing towards the legalization of marijuana but I was really talking about the underlying sin issues related to marijuana abuse. And how the pro legalization crowd pushes for medical marijuana use and then uses that to work towards the legalization of recreational use of marijuana.
But the problem goes much deeper than just whether people should be able to smoke pot if they want to. The deeper issue is that we as Christians are supposed to know better. We should know that God wants and expects better from us, His children. God knows that nothing good can or will ever come from marijuana abuse or drug abuse in general.
The enemy on the other hand is glad that we as Christians are split on the issue of marijuana legalization. He is excited about the fact that many Christians now hold the opinion that state sanctioned misery, sin and bondage is a good idea. He is glad that many Christians are turning away from sound biblical doctrine and are being misled by the world’s opinions on this subject.
And I don’t know about you but whenever satan is happy, I’m not.
Satan loves for people to be in bondage, in bondage to sin, in bondage to ungodly things, in bondage to worldly thinking. But what is bondage? What does this word really mean to people and especially to those of us who are Christians? Bondage means to be enslaved by something or someone, it means that your freedoms have been taken or given away. Simply put it means that you are no longer in control of yourself.
Who here wants to be in bondage to anything in this world? There are multitudes of things that people can find themselves in bondage to. Things like cigarettes, drugs, food, alcohol, gambling, clothes, shopping, etc. you get the idea.
There are basically two types of people when it comes to being in bondage to something. Those who know that they’re in bondage to something and want to get out and those who don’t yet realize that they’re in bondage and don’t know that they need to get out of it.
The latter of these two are the ones who generally want to legalize marijuana because they don’t even know that they’re in bondage to it. And yet they will willingly try to tell other people that “hey, come on into bondage, it’s a great place to live!” Living in bondage to anything in this world is never a good place to live.
In fact, Jesus came and died on the cross to do what for all people? Set them free from the bondage of sin. In Galatians chapter 5 verse 1 we read this: It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
No truer words could we find to dispel this notion that we as Christians should support legalizing any illegal drug like marijuana.
How many of yall have been in a specific kind of bondage such as drug or alcohol abuse? Smoking? Well, I was at one time. I was in severe bondage for about twenty years to drugs and alcohol and even swearing. I know that most of you here have heard my testimony before but all of our testimonies should be heard and reheard throughout our lives if for no other reason than to remember all the great things that the Lord has done for us and is still doing in us to this very day.
I started with marijuana and later as my addiction grew, a couple of things happened, one was that my inhibitions towards drugs in general went down because I thought that if pot was good then some of the other drugs that my so called friends were using had to be good too. So I tried them without nearly the trepidation that I had about marijuana when I first came in contact with it. To be honest the first few times that I saw my friends smoking pot I was scared of it. How I wish that I had been just a little more afraid of it!
The second thing that happened was that marijuana just didn't get me high enough anymore. It was still my drug of choice but it wasn't the same to me later in my addiction as it was at the beginning of it. Therefore I moved on to stronger drugs like speed, cocaine, and crack. And at this time satan was really having a field day with me and my life. I was in severe bondage and it all started with smoking a little pot. Now the legalization crowd wants us all to believe that smoking pot is harmless and benign. That’s like saying that playing with a rattle snake is harmless because not everyone who handles one gets bit. If you play with a poisonous snake long enough you’re going to get bit. Period!
There is nothing harmless or benign about being in bondage to anything. We talk about freedom today somewhat cheaply. We want people in other countries to be free and that’s a good thing. We talk about freedom in America too. But I ask you do we really want to be “free” to put ourselves in bondage to drugs? Many Christians have become Christians because they were in bondage and slavery to drugs and/or alcohol. I would like to see a poll conducted asking people like me who have come out of a background of addiction whether or not we support the legalization of marijuana or not.
I would be willing to go out on a limb here and say people like me would not ever endorse or support the legalization of marijuana if for no other reason than the fact that we have already been down that road and there is absolutely nothing good down that road and we would do all that we could to keep others from making the same mistakes that we did. I told Brian and Jason what I used to do partly so that they would be able to make the right decision about not using drugs because of all the heartache it caused in mine and Diane’s lives.
I asked yall a question earlier in this message and that question was have any of yall been in bondage to something specific. If any of yall answered yes to that question, after you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and were set free from the bondage of sin, would you ever want to go back to being in bondage to anything again ever? I know that I wouldn't want to go back.
In the Book of Galatians chapter 4 verses 9-11 Paul wrote this: 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
10 You observe days and months and seasons and years.
11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.
Paul is trying to get the attention of believers here. He is not asking why lost people are going back to what they used to do but he is asking believers why would you allow yourselves to be enticed by the flawed ideas of the world to put yourselves and others back into bondage to sin or as we’re talking about here today, bondage to drugs.
Paul asked a great question in verse 9, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
What a great question to ask all of the Christians who believe that marijuana ought to be legalized! I bet that these same Christians would tell you that I don’t want to smoke pot but I believe that others should be able to if they want to. So let me get this straight, they don’t want to become addicted to drugs but they support the choice of others to become addicted to drugs? How is this sound biblical doctrine? Them Paul says at the end of this passage, “perhaps I labored over you in vain.” What a sad thing for him to have to say to the church in Galatia.
And Peter also wrote about the returning to bondage issue too in 2nd Peter chapter 2 verses 17-22:
17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.
18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,
19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilement's of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”
Peter is even more to the point about this issue than Paul was in Galatians. Peter also calls out the saved here in this passage of Scripture. Peter talks about Christians speaking words of enticement of the flesh.
How sad it is that Peter had to call out Christians like this. They were, in his day telling other people that it was okay to what felt good even if it was ungodly.
The Christians today who say that it’s okay to legalize marijuana would be well served to re-read this passage of Scripture. Because in a way they think that they’re promoting freedom of choice but in reality they are enslaved to corruption.
Some say that marijuana is not addictive but I say and believe that it is from experience, because I believe what Peter says when he wrote “for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” Far too many people have been overcome by drugs and alcohol and we as Christians have to stand up and say enough is enough. Enough families have been destroyed by addictions, enough people have died from addictions, drugs have laid waste tour society and now we want to make satan happier by allowing more people to have easy access to a harmful drug? Enough!
Like I said peter is very blunt here and he gets even blunter at the end of this passage.
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilement's of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”
In these three verses Peter really gets to point here. He tells us that Christians in his day were being entangled in the defilement of the world. In other words, he was telling them that the world was influencing them too much and that they should have known better.
Not only influencing them though, they were choosing to participate in worldly activities and in so doing they were giving up the freedom that Christ had given to them when they got saved and going back into bondage. Peter goes on to say that it would have been better for them if they hadn't gotten saved at all than it would be if they had gotten saved and then returned back to their old ways, like Christ’s dying on the cross meant nothing to them.
But just like it was in Peter’s day it’s the same way today. It seems that we have Christians who feel that being in bondage wasn't so bad after all. In fact, it’s might even be good for some people and some of these Christians may even try a little pot if it becomes legal. How sad it is that Peter had to write harsh words like he did in verse 22. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”
In closing, how sad it is that Christians have to be spoken of in this manner. I for one will not be the dog who returns to his vomit or my old sins and addictions because I truly love and appreciate what Jesus Christ, my Savior did for me first and foremost on the cross but also what He did for me that day in August of 1996 when He saved me and set me free from all of my addictions.
And because of His saving grace shown to me that day I cannot in good conscience be swayed by the will of the world to allow millions more of my fellow Americans be led into bondage by the enemy. Because like it says in the Gospel of John chapter 8 verse 36: … If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
In Romans chapter 12 we read this: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Allowing the legalization of drugs is not good, acceptable or perfect. Amen!?
