Spiritual Warfare & Sobriety: Scripture Against Drugs, Drunkenness, Hypnosis, And Mind-Altering Substances

This episode is a solo sermon on Radiating Faith, the ministry subseries of the Couple O’ Nukes Podcast. 

In it, I break down one of the most controversial and misunderstood topics in modern spirituality: the use of psychedelics, plant-based “medicine,” hypnosis, alcohol, and any practice that alters the mind or induces trance-like spiritual vulnerability. I begin by outlining the scientific effects these substances and practices have on the brain—highlighting how they distort judgment, weaken self-control, and open the door to deception. Exploring how serotonin overload, dopamine flooding, suppressed prefrontal activity, and trance-state susceptibility all directly contradict the biblical command to stay sober-minded. 

I move into the Word with passages from Proverbs, Isaiah, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and the New Testament, showing how God consistently warns believers to remain alert, vigilant, and spiritually guarded. I explore Greek and Hebrew terms such as nēphontes, sōphronismós, and pharmakeia, explaining how they reinforce God’s expectation for clarity, discipline, and self-control. I also walk through the common argument that “natural means permitted,” and demonstrate through scripture why that logic fails. Through Old Testament obedience and New Testament self-discipline, I highlight the biblical call to reject practices that weaken discernment, break down spiritual defenses, and expose believers to false spirits. 

Throughout the message, I address cultural pressure, spiritual deception, false teachers, and the modern normalization of drugs, alcohol, and hypnotic practices. I bring clarity to why these things create spiritual danger, how they impact the believer’s ability to “test the spirits,” and why God calls His people away from anything that alters the mind or invites suggestion. As I unpack the warfare described in 2 Corinthians 10:5, I emphasize how the mind of a believer is part of the battlefield—and how practices that disrupt sobriety open the gates for influence that opposes the knowledge of God. 

I close the episode by encouraging believers to stay vigilant, resist cultural trends, and protect themselves and their loved ones from deception. I challenge listeners to build prayer systems, accountability, and scriptural knowledge so they can resist temptation, support those struggling with addiction, and understand the spiritual reality behind these influences. This sermon is not designed for condemnation, but for clarity, accountability, and protection as we navigate a world filled with normalized mind-altering practices and spiritual distortions. 

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Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Radiating Faith, the Ministry Subseries on the Couple O' Nukes podcast where I deliver solo sermons. Now, today's sermon, I'm going to preface it with the air and the, you know, a head message that it is not going to be a popular one, both among believers and non-believers.

This is going to be a call out, not for the sake of judgment, but for accountability and for the fact that many people are not knowledgeable in this field. Yeah, because a lot of false prophets and shallow faith based individuals among the different denominations are not very strict or stern in their teaching of the scripture when it comes to this subject.

And so I was actually inspired because of all of the people who have been in my life lately. What I mean by that is I just got back from the new media crews on it. I encountered some individuals that aligned with individuals I've had reach out to me via email, via pod match, uh, via live in-person events, all talking about the same thing, which is quote, plant-based medicine, psychedelic quote, medicine, uh, different alternatives to the traditional medical system.

Now, I'm not someone who's a big fan of the traditional medical system. I've seen it fail a lot of people in the military and in the civilian world. However, I am anti hypnosis, mind altering drugs, anything that induces a trans like state, and we're gonna get into that today. In today's sermon that includes a lot of now commonly used and normalized drugs and other types of quote unquote medicine that we're gonna be discussing today.

We're gonna start with a little scientific background. This isn't a deep dive into neuroscience. This is literally. Just a basic understanding of why these substances qualify for today's conversation, and not just substances, but certain practices that can have an effect similar to the mind altering or trance inducing substances that will be discussing today.

Today's conversation is gonna cover drugs, alcohol, hypnosis, and we're going to get into the word, we're going to get into Greek and Hebrew as well as English, and just really look at it. The bottom line is that if you are a believer, if you are serving God, you should not be doing any of these, and we're gonna get into that right now.

I'm very excited for today's sermon. It may be on the longer side, depending on how I get through everything, but there is a lot to cover and it's important because most people, especially people of faith, lack a scriptural. Foundation of knowledge when it comes to the denial and resistance of temptation around these substances and practices.

What I mean by that, everyone is that a lot of Christians, Catholics, Baptists, whatever denomination you are, whatever believer you are, a lot of y'all, and then not everyone obviously, but there are many who partake in the use of drugs or excessive alcohol use or substance abuse or other practices that can alter the state of mind or induce a trance-like, you know, quote spiritual quest.

And it's wrong for the believers who do resist it. They don't have a good scriptural backing. They just say, Hmm, pardon me, they just talk about demonic influence. Or My body is a temple for the Lord and I shall not put any anything into it that will defile it. But unfortunately the nonbelievers, the enemy, they work and even use the scripture against us to try and convince us otherwise.

They'll say, well, Jesus said nothing that goes into the body can defile it. Only what is, you know, internal, which is an argument people use for getting rid of the kosher diet and different sermon about that coming up soon. Or they might say, well, if you're taking the drugs to get closer to God or to have a spiritual connection, then it's just like having incense in the temple or or wine at mass, stuff like that.

There's a hundred ways to twist it and they will twist the word, especially, and we were warned of this in a New Testament where they said the word has always been twisted and we'll always be twisted by false prophets and those among us and by the enemy. Again, we fight a battle of wicked principalities, spiritual warfare, and we're gonna get into that today in great detail.

That being said, let's focus on the main argument used by both believers and non-believers on why substances should be allowed, especially ones such as cannabis or other drugs made from plants, uh, naturally occurring plants, even alcohol being made from naturally occurring substances. I want to get into that because that is the number one argument, but before we do, I just want to break down today's sermon in an outline for us.

So we'll be talking about psychedelics, hypnotism, mind altering substances, alcohol, trans inducing substances, deceptive spiritual practices, and Pharmaca, right? And that's a Greek where we're gonna break down later. In general, most of these have overlaps in their qualities, in their purposes, in their deception and what they do to the body.

Then we're gonna break down obedience to God, a sober mind, self-control, idolatry, false religions and practices, and we'll be looking at the Old Testament, the New Testament in Jesus Christ himself, all tied together and I'm, I'm really excited to get into it. Like I said, we're gonna start with the substances, because before we go into the scripture, it's important to understand what actually happens inside the brain when someone uses psychedelics, drugs, alcohol, or mine altering substances, or how these practices that aren't substances can also affect the brain physically.

Again, these are just the basics, but they all work on a simple understanding that the brain and the body, but especially the brain, is an electrical and chemical system. We're gonna start with psychedelics. That can include shrooms, L-S-D-D-M-T, mescaline and other similar substances. And what they do is they overstimulate the brain's serotonin system.

Now, I'm gonna not gonna break down what serotonin is. You can look it up, but this is especially the case with the five TH two HT two A receptors. So that's Ack Hotel Tango two alpha. Essentially what this does is it gets rid of the filtering system that your, your body and brain has set up, and it kind of breaks down the walls between stuff.

So what that looks like is it can lead to hallucinations, visions, distorted reality, spiritual quote, spiritual openness, altered identity, suggestion, vulnerability, even to the level of what psychologists call hyper suggestibility. So just hold that thought for a minute again. Everyone is different. Every drug is made differently, every psychedelic is different.

So obviously you may experience all of these, some of these, none of these to different levels than the person next to you. Just keep that in mind. There's also stuff not listed here, uh, in this sermon that can affect you. And I highly recommend doing research on your own to the true nature of these substances.

Now, hypnosis in certain forms of meditation, again, I mentioned we're not just talking about substances, we're talking about practices as well. Hypnosis in certain forms of meditation can lower activity in a prefrontal cortex, which is where your brain has the decision making process, it can heighten the imagination.

It can reduce critical thinking. It can make the mind more open to suggestion. Again, every practice is different. Every one is different. Now, alcohol, that's a big one. I don't even really gotta break it down because anyone who has experienced excessive drinking or drunkenness, uh, in their life personally or because of someone they know in their life, you've already seen how it affects people, including blackouts and memory laps, how it works on a scientific level.

You've got a neurotransmitter, golf alpha, bravo, alpha gaba. I don't know if that's scientifically correct to say it that way, but gaba and, uh, what it does is it lowers inhibitions. It slows thinking, it reduces judgment. It can weaken impulse control, adults awareness, and that's just naming a few, right?

Again, if you've ever had too much alcohol or seen it in your life in other people, you understand the effect it can have on people, which, again, different for everyone. There's different levels, and we're gonna get into that. Alcohol itself is not bad. The consumption of alcohol is not evil. It is the way it affects the mind and to what level.

That is where the spiritual warfare comes in. Now, drugs like marijuana or other drugs containing THC, tango Hotel Charlie, that they disrupt the brain's communication system, especially memory, motivation, focus, judgment, and time perception. What this does to a person is it they can experience a lower drive, emotional flattening, uh, dissociation, slower thinking substances like cocaine, meth, and stimulants.

On the other hand, they'll flood the brain with dopamine. Uh, this can cause intense euphoria, tunnel vision, focus, impulsivity, aggression or hyperactivity, eventual depletion of the brain's natural dopamine, civiliz survive as well. Uh, you know, that you're, you have to get more and more. And then lastly. We already mentioned, uh, cannabis, which is used to make, uh, different types of drugs and all of those substances and practices, you saw the overlap if you didn't pick up on it.

It's all about affecting the mind and the mind's ability to be sober and alert, which are phrases we'll get into later from the scripture. But I wanna go back to the natural argument, the, Hey, it's okay. God made it. If God made it, then obviously we're supposed to use it and it's not bad. Let's break down that argument.

It's one that many people fall victim to, unfortunately, but you shouldn't. Natural does not mean permitted or good Creation itself is good, but misuse is sin. The Bible never teaches that everything natural is good for consumption or spiritual use. In fact, when God made Adam and even the garden, he gave them guidelines for what plants they could consume and could not consume.

And you can find that in Genesis. Now, there are countless natural plants and animals that are dangerous to consume to the point of lethal. It will kill you if you eat it. Uh, and they can have negative effects on the body and consumption and, and killing of them is not in alignment with the spirit or the will of God.

So it's so important to remember that people will say it's just a little weed. You know? I mean, if God didn't want us to smoke it, he shouldn't have grown it. Well, that goes back to the free will argument, right? Natural does not mean permitted. Just remember that that's number one defense right there.

Natural does not mean permit. And not permitted does not mean that it's not good. Creation itself is good in the way that God designed it and with the intention of how he designed it, it's misuse is sin. So keep that in mind, please, and I wanna partner that with one Corinthians chapter six, verse 12. Now, while this is speaking on sexual immorality, it applies quite well to the situation.

I have the right to do anything you say, but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything, but I will not be mastered by anything. Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's beneficial for you. And now here's the argument, but Mr. Whiskey, I smoke weed for medical benefits.

Physical benefits and spiritual benefits are different. They are very different, in fact, and what is of the world is not always in alignment with God's will and healing, and again, not be mastered by anything. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. If it can alter your mind. And we're gonna get into why mind alteration is so dangerous and wrong.

So we'll start with the Old Testament. Now, the Old Testament has a larger focus on just God's will and obedience. In fact, the Old Testament has an extremely strong foundation, a very frequent implementation of the knowledge and will of God against idolatry and false religions. On the other hand, the New Testament, it's more about false prophets and legalism twisting scripture.

So. In one sense, you could say the Old Testament in terms of our sermon today is very obedience focused. While the New Testament is very self-discipline focused on why it's beneficial to us. Old Testament, do it because God says so New Testament, here's why you should do it. Here's what Christ told us about it.

Now, both are are good. In fact, the Old Testament is preferred, in my opinion, uh, because we should just obey the divine Creator. But unfortunately, because of humanity's sin, because of this fallen world and because of our selfishness, that Jesus Christ had to come and explain to us why we do what we do so, and why we should do what he tells us to.

But we're gonna start with Proverbs 23. Verses 29 through 35. It's a little bit of a passage, but it has some great information on it, and we're gonna only focus on one section after reading the whole thing and it says, who has wo? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises?

Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly in the end, it fights like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind will imagine confusing things.

You'll be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. They hit me. You will say, but I'm not hurt. They beat me, but I don't feel it. When will I wake up so I can find another drink? Now I wanna unpack that scripture right there. What a beautiful, what a beautiful historical account, right?

The Bible, I don't like to say story as Dr. Lo Willis said on a recent episode of my show, because people associate with fiction. These are real historical accounts. These are real lessons by real people. So let's look at it. Your eyes will see strange sight and your mind will imagine confusing things. I wanna start right there because that goes into mind alteration.

You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of their rigging. A lot of drunken people, especially when they're drinking excessively, have trouble walking. Their balance is off. They stumble from left to right to. It's like sleeping on the high seas, the high seas. You're rocking back and forth.

If you've ever been on a ship, you know that it almost feels like you're drunk because of the way you walk. And the ending is so important. When will I wake up so I can find another drink? That addictive nature that instantly running back to it. And so this proverb really highlights the effects of alcohol.

Your eyes will see strange sight. Your mind will imagine confusing things. And it's true. Not every drink, not every amount, and not for everyone, but it can happen, especially with excessive drunkenness. We're gonna move on to one of the most popular proverbs of all time. One of the most famous passages of scripture.

Proverbs four verse 23. And just for everyone's knowledge, these are all coming from the new international version of the Bible. With this one in particular, we're actually gonna go back to the Hebrew, but we're gonna start with English. And it says, above all else, guard your heart for everything you do, flows from it.

Now, that's one of my favorite verses of scripture. One you'll find very commonly preached and a, a great one to equip people with. In Hebrew, it's micko ishma net cca. Above all, guarding guard your heart, but the word heart is now refers not only to emotions and the heart, but it. Actually refers in general to mind, thought, will, moral character, inner life, and conscious.

It's not just the heart, it's the mind. It's the inner life and the moral character. This is important because it's not just about your heart and your desires, but it's everything. Your moral character, your inner life. I like the word inner life in this context because a lot of people who are quote psychedelic practitioners or you know, practitioners of these evil crafts, what they'll say is that this helps connect you to your inner self, that you're breaking down the walls to achieve those big questions that your inner self has getting to your deepest level of subconscious.

But this right here says to guard it above all, guarding guard your inner self. Your inner life, your conscious, your moral character, your will, again, in Hebrew, that's cca. And I'm not promising, I'm pronouncing all of these exactly right. I have a pretty good phonetic ito description for them that I was studying this morning, but definitely double, double check those.

But cca, and that again means mind, thought, will more character in her life, conscious. But the English version, it says your heart, and that's because we in American and English culture, you know, associate the heart, uh, in that symbolic sense of your wants and desires and all that. We're gonna move on to Isaiah, uh, one of the best books in the Bible.

They're all great historical accounts, but Isaiah chapter five, verse 11. Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and liars at their banquets, pipes in timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord.

No respect for the work of his hands. Now again, we're seeing an overlap with Proverbs 23 verses 29 through 35, which is woe. Woe is often associated in the Bible with those who have glu excessive alcohol abuse. Right? You know, in one part of the Bible it says people their, their stomachs are their gods.

You know, not just that they, they, they worship them. They, they drive their desires in life. And in here we have who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks. This is something very common in our society. I have actually been on dates back when I was not right with the Lord, with pagan women who would wake up and consume alcohol at 9:00 AM in the morning was the first thing they did.

There are people who need alcohol to function to go to the store, to to drive. You're, you're not even supposed to drive while drinking, of course, but there are people who need alcohol to drive to go to the waterpark, the movie theaters, just to the store, just to go out and sit on their front porch and then again, staying up late at night.

And then they had no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. I think this is great too. You look at some modern people, they go partying, all night drinking, and then they wake up hung over and they're like, I can't make it at church. I'm too hungover. They put their desires before the Lord.

I mean, alcoholics often, uh, luckily the Lord is, is close to broken hearted and saves those Christian spirit, and he has saved many from alcoholism, from the, you know, the affliction of addiction. But there are still many people who put their addiction before God, before their own life. And so they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord.

And so when you're pursuing alcohol, again, you are disregarding the Lord. You, you are not respecting the work of his hands. What this also means is think of Jesus Christ who came down and sacrificed himself that we might live. And you're spending that life drinking, acting a fool. It's disrespectful. To him.

I don't believe his death was in vain, but I weep and I lament that these drunk herds and rapists and all these wicked people live and party it up all because of this man's sacrifice that God gave his one and only son. It breaks my heart. They have no respect for his death, but most people in general don't have respect for Christ.

They think he's a fictitious character, but remember that he was hated. Now moving on to Deuteronomy. Actually, we're moving backward technically, but Deuteronomy is a great passage of scripture. It really outlines God's will and plan for our lives. In my personal opinion, I really enjoy it. Not a lot of people like to read it because they think it's boring, but.

When you can step back and look at everything, it's amazing. So Deuteronomy 18 verses 10 through 12, let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft or cast spells, or who is a medium or spiritist, or who consults the dead.

Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord because of these same detestable practices. The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. Let's take a look at the word spiritist. A lot of these people who do hypnosis or are quote psychedelic practitioners, plant medical facilitators, whatever their various titles are, a lot of them attached to it that they are a spiritual catalyst or a spiritist or an oracle of some sort.

They all have. Some kind of pagan or idolatrous or witchcraft or pharmaca kind of title attached to it. And I think that's important. Right here it says, it says it straight in Deuteronomy that it's wrong and again, sacrifices their son or daughter into the fire. You can find that as well in, in Kings and Chronicles, a terrible practice.

The fact that people used to build with their own hands, these statues of wood and stone and metal and, and, you know, burn people alive and worship to them, their own children, babies. But that's a different sermon for another day. However, know divination, forry, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, cast spells medium spiritist consulting the dead hypnosis falls into that very easily.

And so do these quote, spiritual catalyst providers of psychedelics and other drugs. Deuteronomy is not the only passage of scripture that condemns this kind of behavior. In fact, most of the Old Testament and New Testament do. But Leviticus 19 verse 31, do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists for you'll be defiled by them.

I am the Lord your God. And then again in Leviticus 20 verse six, I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them. And I will cut them off from their people. And so, again, it's very clearly condemned, and all these quotes are great to have hidden in your heart and to meditate on day and night that you might be ready to combat the enemy.

Yeah. However he approaches you. Maybe it's a post online. Maybe it's a comment on one of your posts. Maybe it's an email, a text message. Maybe you're at an event and someone is offering you drugs. Maybe most commonly you're at a party or a social function, and people offer them to you and they want to argue with you about why you should have it regardless of your faith.

So keep these in your hearts like a sword. And lastly, I love this lesson from Proverbs 25 verse 28, like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. We're gonna get into demonic influences, the enemy prowling around. And you know why this suggestion, vulnerability, and these breaking down of mental walls in your mind is so dangerous.

And right here says it like a city whose walls are broken through. As a person who lacks self-control. Now looking at historical context and warfare, if a city's walls were down, they would get raided, they would get pillage destroyed. False religions would set up and take over the city. A lot of old cities had walls built around them for warfare, for physical warfare, and here that imagery is so powerful.

A person who lacks self-control, self-control and discipline puts up these mental walls. And we're gonna get into that a lot with the New Testament. So let's go ahead and actually move on. Like I said, the New Testament is a bigger focus on self-discipline, right? Again, it kind of highlights humanity's selfishness, like we need to know why this is beneficial for us rather than just obeying.

But it's so important. Jesus Christ, models for us why it's important. He tells us what we need to do. And again, remember, he was a God as a human being. He is the God as human being who lives as a perfect and righteous person. And he addresses these topics. So we're gonna start with a New Testament support before we move on to Jesus Christ.

Modeling that. Now, first, Peter is a, you know, resource hub for a lot of the scripture I'm about to pull from. First Peter, chapter five, verse eight. This is one very commonly quoted. It is probably one of the most important messages in scripture. And if you remember any quote from today, this is one that I'll put forward First, Peter, chapter five, verse eight.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil. P prowls around like a roaring line, looking for someone to devour. Here's the deal, family. We often forget that the enemy is prowling around because we're looking around, where's this eight foot tall red skin man with the black goatee in the horns and the pitch.

I think that art, I think being creators and creation is one of the most amazing things about humanity. Don't get me wrong, amen to God for blessing us with the ability to create. But again, misuse is sin. And people depicting the devil in, uh, an apocalyptic way outside of scripture has given this fictitious image.

So we forget that the devil was prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, not as this 8, 9, 10 foot tall red skin monster. But as principalities and physically, he himself is, is beautiful. If you look into the Latin Greek in in, in Hebrew, around his name, it all means light and music and just almost perfect physically.

So we're looking for this heinous monster with this fictitious image that just doesn't, isn't right. That's not to say the devil doesn't appear monstrous in certain parts of Revelation in other parts of the Bible, but we need to remember that we're not looking to confront him one-on-one. It's about what he's doing in the world.

It's about the princes of Persia, about, you know, the demonic influences over nations, behind political leaders putting sinful people in power. So how do we fight this? How do we protect against this? It says right here, be alert and of sober mind. And then again, in one Peter, chapter one, verse 13, so even before the one I just read, therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober.

I'll say that again with minds that are alert and fully sober. Set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. First Peter, chapter four, verse seven. The end of all things is near. Therefore, guess what he's gonna say? Be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray, so that you may pray.

What does that mean? Well, let's look at the word sober In Greek, naes ne fontes comes from the root word, napes, which means sobriety, clear mindedness and watchfulness. The literal meaning is to abstain from wine, to be calm, to be self-possessed, to be fully mentally present, and vigilant. Sobriety protects.

It allows discernment, prayer, self-control, resistance against temptation, awareness of spiritual attacks, right? That's what you have with sobriety. Without sobriety, the consequences, temptations feel stronger. Deception becomes harder to detect. Your emotional impulses overrule your spiritual discipline.

You lack the judgment. Again, this isn't just a single sip of alcohol, and now boom, you're susceptible to all spiritual warfare, but you need to keep this in mind when you are drinking, right? Historically, excessive drunkenness leads to drunk driving, to raping sexual assault, crime, violence, regrettable decisions, financial mistakes, et cetera, et cetera, right?

People are gonna say, well, Mr. Whiskey, I can hold my liquor. I, I am of sober and alert mind. No matter how much I drink, I'm a functioning alcoholic, or. I just have a high tolerance or the number one counter argument you'll get is Mr. Whiskey, I'm in a safe space with safe people. There is no safe space, not because your friends are wicked sinners, not because you know there's no safe place to drink, but because it is literally written that your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring line.

Looking for someone to devour

the enemy might not get you your first time being excessively drunk or the second or third or fourth time, because guess what? He's going to leave you alone when you are acting in sin and folly. He knows that all it takes is a few micro sins to slowly build up to macro sin, and then you're gonna make regrettable decisions that lead to death because those are the wages of sin.

And excessive drunkenness and gluttony are sinful as we're going getting into and will continue to get into further during the sermon. It's not always about the first time, but he knows if he leaves you alone and you continue to drink excessively, that you yourself will fail, or that something in your life will go wrong or that you'll develop addiction.

He knows that you'll continually weaken your mind, and we'll get into that more. Let's get into second Timothy chapter one, verse seven. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. Now we're gonna study the Greek for that word, self-discipline. In Greek, it's Soro, soro.

It means a saved mind, a mind made whole, a mind brought into right order, sound judgment, a mind under control, wise thinking and discipline reasoning. Again, that is the spirit God gave us. Do not throw it away. He gave it to us for a reason because he wants us to be prosperous and live great lives and not perish.

Many of you may say, Mr. Whiskey, I just lack self-discipline. I just lack so free knee smells, no, no. The spirit God gave us has that. It's just a matter of are you accessing that or not? Are you receiving it or not? It is there and it's hard to get to when you're in the midst of that substance abuse, of that mind altering substance or that trans inducing state and practice.

But that, so mouse is there and we need to practice it. We need to build it and develop it daily, and we need to pray and and ask for it. It is a gift given to us from God and we need to use it. Most of us forget that we have it or we can't see it in the midst of our sin. Moving on to Titus chapter two, verses 11 through 12, for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled upright in Godly lives in this present age. So I wanna break down what are we saying no to ungodliness and worldly passions. That's what these are. At the end of the day, these are worldly passions. They are not in alignment with God's will.

Creation is good misuse of sin, ungodliness, and worldly passion. We know it's ungodliness because the scriptures tell us over and over again that this is wrong. It's not what God intended for us, and that is, is sin. And we're gonna continue to reinforce that with more and more quotes of scripture here, and is a worldly passion.

It's of the world by the world. For the world. They'll say it's spiritual. That's the biggest selling point right there. They say this is a spiritual journey. They say, look at other religions, or they take herbs and roots where they drink these mystic teas, where they do shrooms and other psychedelic substances to connect with the ancestors or their inner selves or whatever other world religions there are, but you're not called to those religions.

Those are false practices. So do not let them justify. People will do this all the time. They'll say, don't you know that God can speak through tarot cards, through fortune cookies? Guess what He can as a test. See, most people don't know this. In Deuteronomy, believe it's Deuteronomy 13. I'll have to go check.

But in Deuteronomy, God says, go ahead and consult these false prophets and mediums and idolatry practices if you want. And they may work, but know that when they work, it is a test from God to see if you are of the faith, knowledgeable and self discipline. Right? I'm paraphrasing there, but basically what he says is I'm go ahead and try to use them.

I may use them as a test. And we've seen that biblically. Did Saul not consult with the deceased Samuel through a medium? It worked, didn't it? Samuel showed up, but it was the beginning of condemnation. First Thessalonians chapter five, verses six through eight. Don't be like Saul. First Thessalonians chapter five, verses six through eight says so.

Then let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. There's that word again, sober for those who sleep. Sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober. Putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope as salvation as a helmet.

Now, in this analogy, night is the realm of evil. Day is the realm of good, right? So they say, look, people who are sleeping do so at night, and this is encountered to being awakened, sober. This isn't talking about physically awake and asleep. It's talking about spiritually being awake and sober of alert mind sleeping and sleeping at night.

Right? Think about these altered states of mind, these trans inducing substances and practices. Sleeping spiritually means not taking action, not being disciplined, not living out the faith. It also says those who get drunk, get drunk at night, drunk being excessive use of alcohol. That also alters your state of mind.

But those who are in the daylight, who are in the realm of the good, the will of God, they're awakened sober spiritually and mentally. And so it's important to know that, and I mean, it's commanded straightforward in Ephesians. Chapter five, verse 18 through 20. Do not get drunk on wine. It's not limited to wine, of course.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the spirit speaking to one another, which Psalms, hymns, and p songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So I think it's pretty straightforward. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads, where does it lead to debauchery? Is debauchery a good thing? It certainly isn't be filled with the spirit. Instead speaking to one another with Psalms, hymns, and songs from the spirit. Now, I love this next quarter of scripture that I wanna share.

First John chapter four, verse one. It's extremely important, one of the most important scripture passages, and I know I said that earlier, but this one partners very well with it, especially in a day and age of false prophets. We have a lot of those and they're only going to continue to multiply. But in First John chapter four, verse one, it says, dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

How are you going to test the spirits if your judgment is warped? If you are in a suggestible, vulnerable mindset, how are you gonna attest the spirits to see whether they're from God? You cannot control yourself. It's, it's just, again, being awake and sober, spiritually and mentally to be able to test the spirits, to have the knowledge and scripture at hand, and to be able to quote it efficiently against the enemy.

See, those are all general guiding principles, and they're excellent. And I highly encourage you to study up on all of those. And again, meditate on them day and night. Keep them hidden in your heart like a sword. But I wanna shift into the scriptures that focus on fora. And I think it's no coincidence that Pharmaca very close to the word pharmacy.

Pharmacy is what a lot of pharmaceuticals or drugs that affect the body, and there's a huge push. Uh, nowadays for drugs that shut off the body's ability to regulate emotions, to express emotions, to kill a drive for intimacy, for love, for feelings, even though the intention is to get rid of negative feelings, it affects people in a lot of ways.

We have a pill for the ill society. And so it's interesting that the Bible speaks against Pharmaca. Again, a lot of English words you'll find in Greek words are actually pretty common. Uh, same with Latin. And so it's important to know that Pharmaca doesn't refer necessarily to pills, although that would be a great modern translation.

It talks about sorcery spells, mind altering potions and drug-based spiritism. Now. Being said, pills fall into that category, right? Pills are just a solid form of mind altering potions or you know, drug-based spiritualism. Again, none of this is actual really the spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. This spiritualism is all human-centric.

It is human-centric. There is no God at the center of it. They will say God is at the center of it as a bait and a hook, but it is false. We are seeing that in the scripture. It is so clear and obvious that this is not about how you connect with God. Nowhere in the Bible does it say, takes psychedelics to connect with me.

It says to pray to fast. It gives you a whole list of spiritual disciplines in a relationship with Christ right there, and none of it has to do with taking drugs or alcohol. Yet people will twist it and justify it to do so, to encourage. That's the plan of the enemy. Now, Galatians chapter five, verses 19 through 21, 1 of the best quotes of scripture because it gives us a clear guideline in the New Testament of what is wrong, and it says right in the, in the first words, the acts of the flesh are obvious.

However obvious is not so apparent when our society in modern day has normalized sin. We live in a fallen world that just gets more and more corrupted. Our children exposed to pornographic content at just eight or nine years old, people losing their virginity in fifth grade. It is a world of sin desensitization with gore.

Videos online, left and right with racism, hate, it's terrible, but the acts of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality. Impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

And what is a jealousy? Fits of rage, selfish ambitions, envy, and drunkenness. Those are the ones I wanna highlight because those are altered states of mind. And I'm not saying every time you have emotions, your state of mind is altered. But extreme emotions do physically change your mind and your brain's chemistry, and they can cause you to act out.

We've seen jealousy and envy lead to murder. We've seen fits of rage and selfish ambition lead to murder and rape, and we've seen drunkenness. We already talked about what that leads to, and so does sexual immorality. Sexual immorality. It is a gateway of worsening and worsening acts of sexual immorality in most cases, leading to rape, sexual assault, pedophilia abuse.

All of these things weaken your self discipline, your morality, your alignment with the will of God.

Fora is present throughout the Old Testament, as we discussed earlier with, you know, a bigger focus on idolatry and actual false religions. But it's also mentioned several times through revelation in the context of things that led people. And these aren't just individual small groups of people. These are entire nations being led astray into deception, into condemnation through from Mica.

In Revelation 21, verse eight, it says, but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts for Makaya, the idolatrous, and all liars, they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. So Pharmaca is listed with murderers, sexually immoral, the vile people wanna downplay, oh, it's just a little bit of weed.

It's just a little bit of alcohol. It's just a little bit of shrooms. No, there is a heavy moral weight to it. There is a sinful weight to it that is included in condemnation amongst the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the unbelieving, the idolaters, and the liars. If people wanna think that smaller sins are justifiable or not as bad, quote, Pharmaca is evol, it says so in the scripture very clearly, no matter how you justify it.

Let, let me ask you this. If Jesus comes the second time and pulls you aside personally, and you have to defend your case to him, to the perfect righteous man, the son of God, who has knowledge of all things, do you think you could convince him that fora was good, that it was just a little bit of weed, a little bit of alcohol?

Do you think you could personally convince the Lord Jesus Christ, don't rely on his grace and I forgive you? No, no, no. If he's gonna condemn you. As the final and true powerful almighty judge, do you think you can convince them? I want you to think about that. A lot of people don't think about the accountability that's gonna happen.

They're just thinking about their, their, their auntie and their uncle and their mom and their dad, and whoever else that they're trying to say, oh, you know, it's just a little bit of weed. Or justifying it to their pastor. No, you had to present it to God. So keep that in mind. Now, hypnosis, a lot of believers are fineing with hypnosis and they should not be.

Not at all. Romans 12 verse two, one of the most famous quotes in scripture, of course, it's used a lot online. I have seen it many times, and it's an important one to remember because it says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is his good.

Pleasing and perfect will. The world will try to conform you to its pattern, but everyone else is doing drugs. Everyone else is doing alcohol. You're weird. If you're not, you're an, you're an addict of an issue if you're not. The world has made it socially unacceptable to deny the use of drugs or alcohol when offered people judge you.

Like, what do you mean you don't want free weed? Or, these rooms were expensive, or, come on, you're such a stiff neck. We're having fun at a party. Don't you want to be funny for that girl you like? You're gonna be inundated with all these attempts of the world to conform you to its pattern, but you've gotta be strict with the renewing of your mind through the Holy Spirit, the will of God, and the grace of Jesus Christ.

Then you can be able to test and approve what God's will is. Which is good and pleasing and perfect, and it will be hard. We are outcasts as believers, and we want to do every little loophole and every small thing we can justify to ourselves and others to try and fit in. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, not to fit in, not for any other reason.

In Second Corinthians chapter 10, verse five, it says, we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Now, this quote, we're actually gonna spend a significant amount of time on this quote. I think it's really important.

It really highlights that the mind of the believer is a battlefield. The life of the believer is a battlefield. When we break down the Greek words, which we're gonna read almost the whole thing in Greek, you're gonna find the military imagery used here. Alright? This is a focus on the arguments, imaginations and mental structures that oppose God.

These are societal constructs as well as just attacks from the enemy. The believer must demolish these strongholds and take every thought captive. This requires absolute mental clarity, sobriety, vigilance, and discipline, because when you are out on the battlefield in real life, in the physical world, that's what you want to have.

Any practice that alters the mind then undermines that command and ability to do so. It exposes the believer to spiritual deception. So let's look at the word demolish. That's a powerful word already on its own. In Greek, it's

es es. It means to tear down, to destroy completely, to dismantle. Dismantle it deliberately. Again, this is military-like imagery. Because this is a spiritual warfare. These are powerful words, not a command to just casually dismiss these arguments. It doesn't say, oh, just dismiss these arguments. It says, demolish them.

Kat room test. Destroy completely. Dismantle deliberately. This is not just let it be, just ignore it. Just casually dismiss it. This is demolition, the demolition of what? Pretensions. Every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Pretension. That's. Hoops Soma, that is an elevated thing such as a high place, a barrier that exalts itself, a proud mental barrier of fortified ideology, not a good one.

These are false ideas and societal concepts that are strong, right? Oma, these powerful thoughts that are set against the knowledge of God. Look, this is hostile. This is active enemy engagement. This isn't just like a neutral or passive thought or idea. These are purposefully set against God. They set themselves up against the knowledge of God.

This is a hostile, active enemy, and we need to take captive, which is

s.

Which means to take a prisoner of war to seize forcibly, or to conquer and bring under control. Again, this is not passive casual dismissing. This is strong military imagery because this is a powerful spiritual warfare. We don't want to let these thoughts breed or multiply or grow in strength. We don't want to let them continue to exist and everyday passively influence us more and more.

We need to bring them in accordance to this military imagery and the spiritual warfare going on. We need to not just dismiss or stop these thoughts, we need to take them captive, take them captive for, for, for what? If we're taking them prisoners of war, so to speak, where we bringing the two to Jesus Christ.

The ultimate authority and we need to make these thoughts obedient to Christ. What that means is we need to align our thoughts to God's will, and if it's not that we are not gonna have communication with it only against it, these pretensions, what might they be? Again, some of the concepts we discussed earlier that it's only weed or it's only alcohol or everyone else is doing all these little tiny arguments that seem so, so unimportant, so harmless, but they are set against God on purpose.

These ideas, these false ideas, that these are a spiritual journey, no, these are not a spiritual catalyst for connecting with God. Again, he does not want you to take psychedelics or drugs or alcohol to connect with him. That's, that's falls under God delusion because it goes against the active living word of.

Hypnosis mind altering substances, trans inducing substances, they allow the entry of those mental pretensions that oppose God even more so when your mind is hypers suggestible. When you lack judgment, when you are not focused, when you're not awake and sober mentally and spiritually, evil thoughts can slip in more easily through the influence of friends, strangers, demonic presences, whatever it may be, or these loops start in your head that just continually strengthen them.

Especially as you continue to indulge in the world, you'll be conformed to the pattern of it. The more you drink and do drugs, the more and more it becomes acceptable in your mind, and it will weaken your ability to take these thoughts captive and submit them to Jesus Christ, the ultimate authority, and this word captive is used again.

Colossians chapter two, verse eight. It says, see to it that no one takes you captive. So now we're flipping the script. No one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition in the elemental spiritual forces of this world, rather than on Christ. Again, you have human tradition versus Jesus Christ.

Human tradition will say, everyone is doing these drugs, or this is a spiritual way to get closer to God or the ancestors, or to Jesus Christ. No, Jesus Christ said, I'm the way, the truth to light. No one goes through, father except through me. Not through psychedelics, not through drugs, not through alcohol, not through false practices, hypnosis, or mind altering substances or trans inducing practices through him.

Jesus, thus Christ, and you cannot access him through drugs or alcohol. Yes, he is there and you can still, you know, feel his love and grace and, and talk to him, but that's not how you grow closer with him and get to know him and have a relationship with him. You get that through prayer and fasting and having the spiritual discipline and the scriptural knowledge of who Jesus Christ is and why he came here and died for our sins.

But these deceptive philosophies are all around us on social media, in churches, through weak, non-believers and weak believers. It's all around us because the enemy is all around us trying to constantly win and take us captive. He wants to take us captive all the way to hell Christ modeled for us resisting temptation and demonic spiritual influence, how through prayer and scripture, it was the knowledge of the word and the discipline of a healthy prayer life that helped him and can help us to do all that I've just preached.

And I'm not preaching this for my sake or for my will. This is what is written. This is God's good, perfect, righteous will. Again, in Matthew chapter 26, verse 41, it says, watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The flesh and spirit are made weaker when you introduce these substances to them.

And so I hope you have found these passages of scripture very insightful, and I hope they have helped you get a better understanding. Like I said, not all believers resist the temptation of drug or alcohol abuse because they don't see it as abuse. They see it as just a casual pastime. You know, they'll use excuses like we mentioned earlier, but also like, oh, I only do it every few weeks, or, you know, I always feel closer to God when I do it, this and that, right?

There are so many excuses. They will use these excuses to justify themselves to try to justify you and convince you to take you captive. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you have found this sermon to be knowledgeable and insightful. If you are not in the midst of using any mind altering substances or any practices that induce a trance-like state, I want you to think about the people in your life.

Nowadays with the way our society is, I think very few of us can name or rather not name someone who is under those influences or partaking in those practices. Very few of us could say, I've never met someone who smokes weed, or, I've never met someone who has gotten drunk. This isn't supposed to be a fear mongering message, a condemnation.

But I don't shy away from reality and wake up calls or what the scripture says. If you're a believer partaking in any of these, I hope this has highlighted and exposed the demonic presence in your life, and I hope that it has set you up to research further and to establish support systems, prayer systems, and spiritual disciplines to resist all of these evil false practices.

Everything inundating you from social media to the people physically in your life. If you're someone who this was just a reinforcement of what you already believe, I highly encourage you to pass it on. Pay attention to the scripture that was quoted today, not for the sake of just, you know, the sermon, but that you may pass it on.

Planting seeds for a tree whose shade you may never sit under, right? Remember. You might not see a person quit drugs or alcohol right away, but what you say may influence them to do so years from now. Preferably it's overnight, but it doesn't always happen that way. Remember though that every seed of scripture we plant will not return empty.

It will have an effect somewhere along the way. So thank you for listening today's sermon. Like I said, so many people in my life have come toward me with offers of psychedelics, of other mind altering substances or trans inducing practices, and I realized that I always had the ability to say no, but I felt like I was lacking a very strong, scriptural foundation for why I think many of us are.

So I wanted to do this sermon for myself and for others that we might have the word well equipped for us to resist the. And to educate the people in our lives, not condemn them, but hold them accountable and educate them on what God's will is, especially if they're believers who are conforming to this world in small ways that they don't even recognize.

Ladies and gentlemen, God bless you. I will be praying against the infirmities of addiction against all the false prophets, and for everyone who is struggling to quit. I pray for strength and spiritual discipline for them and revelation and knowledge that they might be able to do so. And if you are someone who wants to get into scripture, I pray that uh, an application online or a Bible nearby or someone in your life will be able to provide you with knowledge and resources to do so.

And I again, just pray that this has been a fruitful sermon for you or anyone in your life. God bless. Thank you.