Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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From a sermon by Pastor John
To walk in this way of holiness, God does not require that you stop drinking; He only requires that you change brands. He has “new wine” for those who love Him enough to quit drinking wine made by man. Paul explained what I am talking about when he wrote, “We all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1Cor. 12:13).
On the other hand, to walk with God in the Spirit of holiness, you do have to stop smoking! This is because God wants you to be on fire. He is not satisfied with the appearance of being on fire (smoke); He wants to light you up with His power and glory! The whole world is smoking with religious activity; the world is so clogged up with the thick smoke of religion without God that people can hardly breathe! But Jesus baptizes people with the holy Ghost and FIRE! Every one of us, with watery eyes, had to fight our way through the thick, choking smoke of man’s religion to find God. We grew weary and stumbled and fell many times, but we kept struggling toward the light we could so dimly see.
Fire experts tell us that most people who die in house fires do not die from the fire itself but from the suffocating smoke. If people can only find a way to survive the smoke, they usually come out to the light of day! So it is in the spiritual world. Those who survive the smoke will come out to the light and live!
I don’t preach against drinking. Not at all! In fact, I heartily endorse drinking – if a person is drinking God’s new wine. But I certainly do preach against smoking. People who merely smoke, instead of being on fire for God, are like the men Peter described as “clouds without water”. They are people who seem to be something they are not, and God is not pleased with the mere appearance of godliness.
To the smokers of his day, Jesus said “Woe to you, Pharisees! Hypocrites! For you are like white-washed sepulchers which certainly appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness!”
The saints who meet in my house are not allowed to smoke. Well, not for long anyway. We can have patience with anyone because God has had patience with all of us many times. So, we can wait and hope that the wind of the Spirit will fan someone’s smoke into flames. But God’s waiting, and ours, for the smoke to clear and the fire of the holy Ghost to ignite can only last for so long because after a while, the air around smokers gets hard for children to breath, and I have to ask the smokers to go outside. By design, there is no designated smoking area in my house.
To sum things up, the rule for the saints who gather in my house is this: Keep on drinking (and increase it if possible) and quit smoking altogether. If you do those two things, you will live happy and free in Jesus.