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Transcript 210E — Gaining Victory over Smoking
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALI.ER: Yes. I'm a Christian. And I became a Christian about two or three years ago But my problem is, I still can't give up smoking. And I was wondering, does that mean that I'll go to hell for doing that!
HC: That's a very good question, and I'm glad that you raised it. Not because we want to pick on smoking. We could have any kind of a sin in our life that we're troubled by. But you see, if we're a born again believer, and we have a besetting sin of some kind that we don't get victory over, pretty soon those doubts come into our mind, don't they? "Am I really saved? How can I live this way if I still like this sin so much?"
And so we begin to wonder, "Well, why can't I get victory over it?" I would wager that you have prayed many many times, "Oh Lord, forgive me." And you really wish that you didn't smoke any longer. Now the problem is that we like our sin very much. And so while we know that it's bad, we know that it's got to go, and we feel very remorseful every time we commit that sin again, yet we don't want to give up that sin.
And so what we're really doing is praying God that He'll kind of quietly remove that sin when we're not looking. We don't want to repent. We don't want to turn from it. But God doesn't work that way. God works through repentance. God says we must repent. We must turn away.
Now if you really mean business with the Lord, and really recognize that that is a sin, then you want to show your repentance by turning away from it. There's nothing in the world that can keep you, right now, from going through your house and taking every pack of cigarettes and throwing them in the garbage can, is there? There isn't at all.
And if you don't do that, and you pray tonight, "Oh Father, I don't want to smoke any longer," and yet you haven't repented, you haven't taken those cigarettes and thrown them into the garbage can, you're kidding yourself and you're kidding God. You're not leveling with God.
Now the same thing is true tomorrow. You throw the cigarettes into the garbage can tonight. Nobody can keep you from doing this. And since you've come to that point where you're wondering if you're even saved, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment. I'd want to get victory over that sin. I've had it. I don't want to sin any longer.
And then tomorrow, when you begin to think about how good a smoke would be, there's nobody that's going to make you go down to the grocery store and buy another pack. Nobody is going to make you do it. You'll do it of your own volition. Now you'll do it if you coddle that sin. Sin begins most frequently in our minds.
And If you wake up tomorrow morning, and you're drinking your first cup of coffee, or whatever, or whenever you ordinarily smoke your first cigarette, and right then and there, it s going to hit you, "My, a cigarette would really taste good right now! But I don't want to smoke. But boy! It would taste good." And you begin to savor that in your mind, and you begin to play with it and to fondle it, and lick your chops, mentally speaking, for that cigarette, pretty soon this will become such a big thing that nothing is going to keep you from rushing out to buy a pack, or to find someone who will lend you one, because you've let it grow in your mind.
Now the place to stop it is right at the beginning. The moment the thought comes into your mind, "My, it sure would be good to have a cigarette right now," you cry out "Oh, Father! Oh, Father, have mercy on me. I'm walking the wrong path again. I don't want to go that way. Turn me away from that. Give me a hatred for that sin. I don't want to sin anymore." And start doing something altogether different. Preferably, start reading your Bible, so that you are strengthened by the Word of God itself.
Or run around the block, or take a cold shower. Do anything at all to break the menta1 process that's developing in your mind. You don't want to continue that kind of thinking.
Now repentance involves drastic action. You can't feel sorry for yourself This is what gets us into sin. We feel sorry for ourselves. We think we're entitled to this relapse from service to God. We think we're entitled to this little concession to our senses, our sensual nature. And so because we feel sorry for ourselves, we accommodate ourselves and fall into sin.
Now repentance involves dealing very ruthlessly with our self-pity. Nonsense! I don't have to feel sorry for myself. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my Savior and Lord. I don't have to live with sin. Why do I want to be troubled in my conscience any more with this sin? Why do I have to doubt my salvation? God has saved me, and I've got victory over sin, and I'm not going to smoke anymore. As God strengthens me, I will be able to continue to turn away from it.
And this is the way it will work in your life. The next thing you'll find, if you mean business with the Lord, is that the desire has been taken away. But you must repent. You must repent.
I hope this will help you.
CALLER: Thank you very much.
HC: You're welcome. Good night.