authoritative guide for conduct. God's Word does not make an allowances for opinion based on human emotion, logic, or reason. Jesus died to overcome the sin of our own pride and rebellion. If we want to live the life of Christ in God, we must put down desires of the flesh. Romans 8:13. Here we must stand: “ When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss; and pour contempt on all my pride.” If the organized church is to survive the satanic assault of the “ now generation,” it must refuse it any recog nition until rebellion gives way to godly submission. In the center of all this, augmenting rebellion by blotting out reason, is the issue of narcotics. The Bible has much to say concerning the use of drugs and God's universal condemnation of them. One of the most startling signs of the return of Christ, and the imminent outpouring of God's wrath on mankind, centers in the approval of society and the so-called church, of drug abuse as an acepted way of life. The word sorcery, translated from the Greek word phar- makos or pharmakia, is found four times in the A.V. of the New Testament. In all other references, the Greek word is magos or magia, which render sorcery as feats of magic, sleight-of-hand, or witchcraft. The two former words are the basis for our English words pharmacy or pharmaceutical. Pharmakos literally means one who uses any artificial means to produce physical effect; hence, one who uses drugs (Bull- inger). The four references are Galatians 5:20 (witch craft), Revelation 9:21, 18:23, and 21:8. The first and last deal with God’s judgment on those who use these, while Revelation 9:21 and Revelation 18:23 deal with this act historically and prophetically. To establish a further basis for God’s total condemna tion upon anything pertaining to the use of drugs, we must also refer to the Old Testament. There, the word sorcery, sorcerer, etc., is from the Hebrew kaw'- shaf which simply means what the English word im plies. However, it is singular to note that the seventy Hebrew scholars who traditionally made the Septua- gint translation three centuries before Christ render kaw'shaf as pharmakos. Thus we find that this same condemnation and/or prophecy concerning a drug- bent society predates the “ now generation” by sev eral centuries. The passages thus treated in the Septuagint Old Testament are Exodus 7:11-22, 8:7 and 18, 22:18, which deal with the problem either historically or in God’s condemnation of it. In Isaiah 47:9-12, the issue is treated prophetically concern ing the use of narcotics, potions, or drugs, and the judgment for it. I would like to compare the reference in Isaiah with Revelation 18:23. In the former we read of his torical Babylon (see verses 1, 5, 7-16 of Chapter 47) where verse 9 clearly defines God's reason for im pending judgment. “ But these two things shall come to thee in a moment, in one day: the loss of children, and widowhood; they shall come on thee in their per fection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the THE KING’S BUSINESS
triarch was Joshua, God’s faithful servant. Verse 10 says: “ And there arose another generation after them who knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel.” On the surface this may seem to be the result of a communication gap between generations as is often linked to the crisis presently confronting us. But this was not the case, and it is not now! Verse 7 gives us the key: “ And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that He did for Israel.” Then verse 12 says: “ And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers.” Here is the fact of the matter. Col lectively, this generation turned away from all that their forefathers had taught them. They refused the godly example that had been set for them, yielding themselves to the desires of their lower nature and worshipping false gods. This text indicates a willful abandonment of purpose. Today, there is the same lack of purpose, rejection of truth, and gratification of the flesh, which can only be attributed to a mass rejection of God. We have lived to see the fulfillment of David's words in Psalm 2:1-3: “ Why do the nations make a tumult and the people devise an empty scheme? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers consult together against the Lord and His anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their restraining bands apart, and let us cast their shackles from us’ ” (Berkeley). The restraining bands of God and His shackles on all people are moral restraint and con science. It is these the “ now generation” would shed. By and large, the so-called church has hastened to accommodate this trend. They excuse youth as mis guided, and very often change their approach to con form to the standard of rebellion, giving in to the voice of dissent and tolerating excesses of dress and speech. They even pick up the satanic beat of their music, saying, “ We must communicate in their lan guage.” But this watered-down Christianity has no power to offset the evil effect. In a recent church service, I saw a long-haired mustachioed young man take over for forty-five min utes, interrupting without regard the planned pro gram, with a tirade against “ the establishment,” while blatantly professing to be “ turned on to Christ." Tragically, there are those within the organized church who encourage this. The philosophy that the end justifies the means, distortions of truth notwith standing, are becoming the accepted norm. Phillips translates II Corinthians 6:17, “ For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether— the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.” Regeneration produces an outward evi dence of an inward experience. In a recent advertise ment for one of the “ new breed ministries,” a long haired young man was depicted giving his testimony. He concluded by saying, “ Before I met Christ, I was a rebel without a cause. I am still a rebel, but now I have a purpose for my rebellion.” This is an anti thesis of Biblical teaching! The Word of God is the 16
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