Smoking

 

By Dr. Ken Matto

 

Exodus 20:13-15 (KJV)

{13} Thou shalt not kill.

{14} Thou shalt not commit adultery.

{15} Thou shalt not steal.

 

One of the most wide-spread voluntary habits today is smoking.  I am speaking about smoking cigarettes which is found to be the habit of numerous Christians.  Unless otherwise noted, when I speak of smoking it will refer to cigarettes.  Many claim to respond to this habit by stating there is nothing written in Scripture concerning smoking.  I have listed three of the Ten Commandments above which properly correspond to the habit of smoking which will be discussed in this pamphlet.  At this point I wish to eliminate the idea that smoking is a disease.  Here are my eleven assertions:

 

If Smoking is a Disease, It is the Only Disease That:

1. is contracted by an act of the will.

2. requires a license to propagate it.

3. is sold by packs or cartons.

4. is sold in stores and machines.

5. produces revenue for the government.

6. is habit forming.

7. provokes crime by avoiding the state tax.

8. is allowed to be spread by advertising.

9. is not caused by a germ or virus.

10. has no human corrective medicine.

11. is voluntary.

 

These eleven descriptions of smoking will put to death any personal excuse that smoking is a disease.  Smoking of cigars and pipes also fit into this category and are no better than cigarettes because they increase your chance to develop oral cancer.

 

Statistics on Smoking

One thing that the tobacco companies will never tell you is how dangerous their products are.  Oh yes they have a warning on the side of the pack that smoking is hazardous to your health and will cause many diseases but how many really pay attention to such a nebulous warning.

 

438,000 Americans die from smoking related disease every year.  That comes out to 1200 people per day dying from smoking.  From the American Lung Association, there is also another related statistic and that is second hand smoke which is responsible for 41,000 deaths per year  My father smoked from the 1930s to 1963, I was born in 1953 which means I had 10 years of inhaling second hand smoke.  Lung cancer and Prostate cancer finally took him.  I personally saw him go from 254 pounds down to 90 pounds when he died. 

 

Cigarette companies engineer cigarettes so they are much more highly addictive.  They add ammonia to the tobacco to lessen the bite of the tobacco making the taste more pleasant.  They also design filters in such a way which causes the smoker to ingest more nicotine keeping up the level of addiction.  It also affects the brain which makes it harder for a person to quit.  Smoking causes lung cancer (which is on the rise), emphysema, heart disease, acute Myeloid Leukemia, oral cancer, esophagus cancer, larynx cancer, stomach cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, and pancreatic cancer, low birth rate in newborns, cervical cancer, reduced fertility.

 

Children exposed to second hand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, severe asthma, and reduced lung function.

 

Cigarette Toxins

This information comes from the website of the American Lung Association:

https://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/whats-in-a-cigarette.html 

 

There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous.

 

Many of these chemicals also are found in consumer products, but these products have warning labels. While the public is warned about the danger of the poisons in these

products, there is no such warning for the toxins in tobacco smoke.

 

Here are a few of the chemicals in tobacco smoke and other places they are found:

Acetone – found in nail polish remover

Acetic Acid – an ingredient in hair dye

Ammonia – a common household cleaner

Arsenic – used in rat poison

Benzene – found in rubber cement

Butane – used in lighter fluid

Cadmium – active component in battery acid

Carbon Monoxide – released in car exhaust fumes

Formaldehyde – embalming fluid

Hexamine – found in barbecue lighter fluid

Lead – used in batteries

Naphthalene – an ingredient in mothballs

Methanol – a main component in rocket fuel

Nicotine - used as insecticide

Tar – material for paving roads

Toluene - used to manufacture paint

 

As you can see that cigarette smoke is not just a harmless blue smoke where you can fascinate children by making smoke rings, instead it is a deadly toxin invading all parts of your internal organs delivering death with each puff.  God designed our lungs for air and oxygen and not carcinogenic toxins.  If the oxygen level in your blood drops below 92 for any extended period of time, your organs will be starving for oxygen and will eventually begin to deteriorate bringing death to your body slowly and you won’t even notice the deterioration until it is too late.  That is why you see many people walking around with oxygen to bring the level up in their blood so their organs will have the oxygen it needs but if your lungs are damaged, even oxygen may not be able to help if they cannot get the oxygen into your bloodstream.  Cigarettes, which contain carbon monoxide, reduce the oxygen levels in your blood thus reducing the amount your organs can get and this happens with every cigarette so even if you smoke only one or two per day, you are causing oxygen depletion in your body.

 

The following information is from Drugs.com:  Once inhaled, carbon monoxide passes from your lungs into your bloodstream, where it attaches to the hemoglobin molecules that normally carry oxygen. Oxygen can't travel on a hemoglobin molecule that already has carbon monoxide attached to it. As exposure continues, the gas hijacks more and more hemoglobin molecules, and the blood gradually loses its ability to carry enough oxygen to meet your body's needs. Without enough oxygen, individual cells suffocate and die, especially in vital organs such as the brain and heart. Carbon monoxide also can act directly as a poison, interfering with cells' internal chemical reactions.

 

https://www.drugs.com/health-guide/carbon-monoxide-poisoning.html  

 

Smoking and the Christian

We have just looked at much medical evidence that smoking is a literal door to an early death.  Back in the 1950s when the tobacco companies were getting away with their secrets and making billions in profits off the health of smokers, there was no medical opposition, in fact, even in hospitals they would come around to your bed and sell you cigarettes.  Well those glory days of non-opposition are over.  The truth has come out about smoking and armed with the truth, the tobacco companies should be out of business but unfortunately they are still making billions in profits.  So what is the Christian’s response to an industry like this?  Is it alright to smoke since there is no passage that states “thou salt not smoke?”  As Christians it is our responsibility to search out a matter.  Proverbs 25:2 (KJV) It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.  Who are the kings?  Revelation 1:6 (KJV) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  According to the Scriptures, God has made Christians kings and priests and therefore as a king, we need to search out a matter even if it seems to be of a secular nature, especially if it concerns Christians.

 

Since cigarette smoking is highly addictive, the Bible gives warning about being overcome with things that are detrimental to us.

 

Romans 12:21 (KJV)   Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

In Romans 12:21, we are told that we should not be overcome with evil and cigarettes definitely fit into the mix.  Once a Christian becomes addicted, they are overcome by the evil of smoking and we saw that cigarettes affect not only our bodies but also those around us.

 

2 Peter 2:19 (KJV)   While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

 

2 Peter 2:19 takes it a step further that when a person is overcome by something, it means they are in bondage.  The word “bondage” in the Greek carries with the meaning of “enslave.”  Today’s cigarettes are so engineered that it causes people to become slaves to cigarettes and if you look at the history of slavery in civilizations past, you will find that slaves were not freed by themselves but had to be freed by others from the outside.  That is how it is with smoking, there are patches and prescriptions because the cigarettes are potently addictive and will not free you without a fight.

 

Exodus 20:13 (KJV)   Thou shalt not kill.

Commandment number six speaks about killing which is murdering.  We believe that only applies to murdering others but the reality is that the commandment is not limiting it to other people, it includes ourselves.  We have seen that cigarettes contain many toxins and all of them are delivering death to your body and with every puff you are, in reality, killing your body.  1 Corinthians 6:19 (KJV) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  1 Corinthians 6:19 states plainly that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost and they are a gift from God and we are not our own.  So we have no right to intentionally introduce anything into our bodies which will cause it to die and that means, biblically speaking, we have no right to smoke cigarettes since we are not our own.  We disdain abortion because it is murder and yet light up a cigarette which is also murder.  In both cases, the bodies are not their own but belong to God.  Cigarette smoking is a violation of the sixth commandment.

 

Exodus 20:14 (KJV)   Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Commandment number seven speaks about committing adultery.  When a man or woman is married and then they start going behind their spouse’s back and getting involved sinfully with another person, then they are committing adultery.  However, there are other forms of adultery which a person can partake of and one is spiritual adultery.  As a Christian, the Bible teaches that we are the bride of Christ.  Revelation 21:9 (KJV) And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.  When our spiritual focus is diverted to other things rather than Christ and our position in Him, we are committing adultery.  I am not saying that going to work or even going on vacation is sinful, I am talking about something which permeates our life and causes dual allegiance in our life.  Cigarette smoking is just such a diversion because of its addictive nature.  How many times does a smoker think more about having a cigarette and satisfying the craving than they do about spiritual things and the gospel?  Remember the verses from Roman and 2 Peter?  They both spoke about being overcome which means that it is possible for a Christian to be overcome and be a slave to the second master.  When Christ went to the cross, he cleansed our soul but the flesh remains susceptible to temptation and sin and it does not take too much to get the flesh addicted to something.  Cigarette smoking is also a violation of the seventh commandment.

 

Exodus 20:15 (KJV)   Thou shalt not steal.

Deuteronomy 8:18 (KJV) But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.  Whenever we smoke cigarettes we must purchase them and the price of them is through the ceiling.  Deuteronomy 8:18 reminds us that the LORD is the one who gives us the strength to make wealth and that does not necessarily mean millions of dollars but it means enough to live on and buy our necessities.  2 Corinthians 9:7 (KJV) Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.  When we look at the chapters of 2 Corinthians 8 & 9, they focus in on giving and that is giving so the gospel goes forth all around the world.  We have a different calling than the world and we need to be focused on spreading the gospel worldwide in the Great Commission.  Those of the world want to build wealth which will stay here after they are dead.  Our responsibility is to invest in the kingdom of God and send it on ahead but let us take a look at the reality of those who smoke and are actually stealing from the LORD. 

 

Using the cost of tract production at World Missionary Press, let us look at the real cost of smoking.  At $9.00 a pack, which is the approximate machine cost and single pack cost in most stores, the exchange would be for 180 tracts per pack. If someone smokes 1 pack per day, over the year they would have exchanged 65,700 tracts. Keep in mind that in many foreign countries a single tract is read by many people so 65,700 tracts could constitute a possible reading audience of 100,000 or more. If a person smokes at this rate for 10 years then the exchange rate would be 657,000 tracts with a possible reading audience of 1,000,000 or more.

 

If you live in New York City, then you pay $13 per pack which is the machine cost in 2018 and that comes out to 260 tracts.  If you smoke a pack a day for a year that exchanges 94,900 tracts with a reading audience in excess of 150,000.

 

Now you say, but I buy my cigarettes by the carton. I looked at a website called Discount Cigarettes and 1 carton of Marlboro Red Box is $36 which translates into 720 tracts per carton. So how have you gained? At 1 pack per day at $3.60 it translates into 26,280 tracts per year with a possible read of 100,000 or more. If you smoke at this rate for 10 years, you will have missed out on evangelizing at least 500,000 people. Just think of the ripple effect if many of those people become saved. They in turn witness to others which means the witnessing radius increasing tremendously. That 500,000 could turn into a witness of 5 million or more.  Money that could be used to minister to others, goes into the pockets of an industry selling death and that is stealing from the Lord.

 

Then what else do cigarettes steal?  They steal the people we love as they cause death at a much faster rate thus taking our loved ones away from us.  Even if you do not realize it, you have made an impact in the lives of people, some you may not even know and cigarettes will shorten your life and your influence on others.  Your life for a cigarette is not a balanced exchange.  Cigarette smoking violates the eighth commandment.

 

Summary

We have seen that cigarettes are detrimental to a person’s health thus they ingest death at every puff.  It also causes Christians to commit spiritual adultery, steal, and commit murder.  Smoking is a satanic habit designed to kill people.  What other purpose does it serve?  Christians have a different calling in life, rather than ministering to the flesh, they are to concern themselves with sending forth the gospel to the entire world.  Romans 13:14 (KJV) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.  We are to resist those things which could build up a base of lust in our lives and lust does not only apply to sexual situations but to anything we set up as a stronghold in our bodies that causes us to lust for more such as cigarettes or even alcohol.  It is possible to quit smoking and it can be done.  Why would you want to continue smoking when it ruins your testimony?  How could you witness to someone with a Bible in one hand and a cigarette hanging out of your mouth or even a pack in your pocket which is visible to the person you are witnessing to?  Worldliness is what is killing the strength of Christianity and cigarettes are killing Christians!  Start taking the money the Lord has entrusted to you and use it for the kingdom of God and not to enrich the coffers of the death industry.

 

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