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Open your Bibles with me to the 16th

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chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter

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16.

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I'm going to begin reading at verse 21.

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This is a frequently observed passage of Scripture

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because it's here in Matthew 16 that Jesus

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declares his high purpose for his church.

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And it's having declared the triumph that his

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church would experience that he goes on into

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further discourse with his disciples, explaining the price

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of that would be the giving of his

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life.

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And that offended Peter's taste, and he speaks

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what perhaps you or I might have been

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tempted to say on that occasion.

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And in the wake of those remarks, Jesus

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speaks some highly important words, which are relevant

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to the crux of what I have to

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say this evening.

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And if you have verse 21 placed there

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in your Bible, would you hold your finger

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there for just a moment and also open

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your Bible to the 12th chapter of John.

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And in a few moments we'll begin reading

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from verse 20, and I'm going to read

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a significant passage there that is significant of

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length, 10-15 verses.

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Now that you have the 12th chapter of

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John, John 12, beginning at verse 20, now

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hold that and return to Matthew 16, and

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we'll read that first and then the other

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passage.

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Verse 21, Matthew chapter 16.

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From that time Jesus began to show to

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his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem

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and suffer many things from the elders and

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chief priests and scribes and be killed and

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be raised again the third day.

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And then Peter took him aside and began

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to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from

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you, Lord, this shall not happen to you.

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But he turned and said to Peter, Get

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behind me, Satan, you're an offense to me,

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for you're not mindful of the things of

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God, but of the things of men.

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Then Jesus said to his disciples, will you

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read with me now?

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If anyone desires to come after me, let

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him deny himself and take up his cross

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and follow me.

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For whoever desires to save his life will

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lose it, and whoever loses his life for

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my sake will find it.

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For what has a man profited if he

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gains the whole world and loses his own

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soul?

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Or what will a man give in exchange

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for his soul?

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The twelfth chapter of John, beginning in verse

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20.

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Now there were certain Greeks among those who

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came up to worship at the feast, and

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when they had come to Philip, who was

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from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying,

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Sir, we wish to see Jesus.

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Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn

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Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

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But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has

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come that the Son of Man should be

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glorified.

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Most assuredly I say to you, unless a

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grain of wheat falls into the ground and

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dies, it remains alone.

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But if it dies, it produces much grain.

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He who loves his life will lose it,

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and he who hates his life in this

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world will keep it for eternal life.

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If anyone serves me, let him follow me,

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and where I am, there my servant will

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be also.

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If anyone serves me, him my father will

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honor.

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Now my soul is troubled, and what shall

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I say?

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Father, save me from this hour, but for

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this purpose I came to this hour.

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Father, glorify your name.

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Then a voice came from heaven, saying, I

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have both glorified it and will glorify it

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again.

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Therefore the people who stood by and heard

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it said it had thundered.

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Others said an angel has spoken to him.

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And Jesus answered and said, This voice did

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not come because of me, but for your

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sake.

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Now is the judgment of this world.

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Now the ruler of this world will be

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cast out, and I, if I am lifted

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up from the earth, will draw all peoples

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to myself.

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This he said, signifying by what death he

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would die.

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The people answered him, We have heard from

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the law that Christ remains forever, and how

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can you say the Son of Man must

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be lifted up?

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Who is the Son of Man?

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And Jesus said, A little while longer the

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light is with you.

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Walk while you have the light, lest darkness

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overtake you.

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He who walks in darkness does not know

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where he is going.

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While you have the light, believe in the

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light, that you may become sons of light.

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These things Jesus spoke and departed, and it

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was hidden from them.

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The sin of suicide.

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The selection of the title of this message

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this evening is a very difficult one.

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Difficult to select words that would sufficiently state

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what I felt most needed to be said,

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and so brief a statement as a title

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allows.

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But it is a rule in general of

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preaching that what you have to say, if

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it can't be reduced to a sensible title

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and effectively set forth there, then you really

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don't have very clearly in mind what you

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want to say.

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And I want to talk about that.

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I want to talk about the sin of

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suicide.

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I could talk about any one of the

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numbers of sins that characterize the race, sins

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of which all of us are guilty in

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different degrees.

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And this evening, among other things, I'm going

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to say that there's probably none of us

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in this room that are not guilty to

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some degree of even the sin of suicide,

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but that waits to be elaborated in a

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bit.

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I want to begin by looking at these

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two texts of Scripture and making just one

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or two comments.

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Before we do that, I would like for

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you to understand my heart in speaking with

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this title and on this subject.

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The title needs to be what it is.

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There is such a tendency in our relativistic

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culture to justify almost anything because it suits

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our tastes or our feelings.

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The church is more threatened than generally realized,

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the church at large, by the philosophical relativism

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of our time.

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That is only one of the forces that

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threatens us.

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The concept of relativism is essentially that there

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are no absolutes, that every situation is different,

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and so there cannot be a conclusive set

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of guidelines that would dictate priorities and dictate

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righteousness.

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It essentially is a philosophy that flows from

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the denial of the existence of an eternal

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God and consequently the denial that there is

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any revelation of that eternal God's will to

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be found in any written material, such as

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we do have the revelation of the heart

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and the truth of the eternal God in

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the sacred Scriptures of the Bible.

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There are other forces that threaten us—humanism, which

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makes man God, relativism, which makes man's reason

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the absolute, which being no absolute justifies anything

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to suit the convenience of the individual, hedonism,

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hedonism, which is the pursuit of pleasure as

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a God.

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It's another terribly threatening thing in our culture.

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All of them have to do with a

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denial of revealed truth in the Word of

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God.

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And the great challenge that every believer has,

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every thinking believer, is to heed the injunction

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of Scripture, Romans the 12th chapter and the

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first verse, where the Bible says to give

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ourselves entirely to the Lord and don't let

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the world shape us in its own mold,

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to be not conformed to the world.

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And then it tells us how to be

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transformed.

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And interestingly, it doesn't say by trying to

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effect a new kind of conduct, but it

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touches the place where we need first to

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be transformed.

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It says that you may be transformed by

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the renewal of your mind.

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Our problems are not simply emotional.

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People live wrong because they think wrong.

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They live crooked because they don't think straight.

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And in order to walk the narrow way

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that Jesus Christ has called us to, he

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has not called us to narrow-mindedness, but

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he has called us to clear thought.

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In other words, it isn't a narrow-minded

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bigot that makes a person who walks in

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the narrow way, but it is a person

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who is focused on one Lord, one Master,

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and one revelation of his truth, and who

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bothers to let that become dominant in their

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life.

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In the approach to relativism, there's flowed out

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an entire ethical system.

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That ethical system is called situation ethics.

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And this evening, I want to say from

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the onset that I am not going to

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make any references in this message to any

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specific cases, least of all to the most

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recent very painful circumstance that happened in our

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own congregation.

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I'm not going to make reference to situations.

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Every one of us, in one way or

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another, have been touched by the impact of

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suicide.

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There are people that often we deal with

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in private counsel whose lives were shattered by

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the death of a loved one who took

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their own life in suicide.

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We so many times deal with people in

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their grief who, if it's someone they work

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with, they're shocked and amazed at what they

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do feel as a result of having encountered

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some expression of suicide.

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Everybody is touched by it.

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I'm going to talk in a little bit

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about the temptation to commit suicide that, in

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one time or another, I think approaches most

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people.

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At least it's been my experience in talking

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with people that's so.

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Sin of suicide is not being tempted toward

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it.

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Sin of suicide, as I'm going to discuss,

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is not necessarily a damning sin that violates

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some aspects of church tradition.

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Doesn't violate the scripture, I wouldn't say it.

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But as we come to deal with this

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subject, I don't want to surrender to, and

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I urge you not to, surrender to that

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practice in the whole flow of the situational

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ethic, which is the ethical and moral system

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that flows out of relativism.

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In other words, the situational ethic says, since

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there are no absolutes and anything goes according

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to what suits the situation, then the situational

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ethic is there are no binding moral principles

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in any given situation.

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The situation will dictate what moral principles ought

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to be observed.

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And the formulation, and it is a practice

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among the relativists, the moral relativists, the formation

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of moral or ethical problems in an attempt

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to convince the person who holds to an

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absolute system that his absolute system really won't

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work.

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But that formulation of problems for the purpose

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of dissuading an individual from absolute convictions is

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called casuistry.

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Casuistry means that an individual develops a hypothetical

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situation, or it can be a very real

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situation.

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But usually it's hypothetical and built on some

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sort of thing that happened like that one

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time, one place, somehow, somewhere.

275
00:12:05,380 --> 00:12:09,160
They say that since you are challenged to

276
00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,880
compromise the moral values you hold or the

277
00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,180
ethical principles you hold in the face of

278
00:12:14,180 --> 00:12:16,980
situation I propose to you, you are verifying

279
00:12:16,980 --> 00:12:22,400
yourself the inadequacy of your system in its

280
00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,820
absolutes to handle the changing affairs of a

281
00:12:26,820 --> 00:12:28,400
world and all of its problems and the

282
00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,100
complexities of the society around us.

283
00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,480
I'll give an example of casuistry.

284
00:12:35,060 --> 00:12:39,260
Casuist would present a situation saying, imagine now,

285
00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,940
it's World War II, a Nazi soldier is

286
00:12:41,940 --> 00:12:43,440
broken into a woman's home.

287
00:12:43,900 --> 00:12:45,020
She has a young child.

288
00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:47,520
At bayonet point on the neck of the

289
00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,460
child, the soldier threatens the life of the

290
00:12:50,460 --> 00:12:53,620
child to the mother and only if she

291
00:12:53,620 --> 00:12:56,640
will submit to his sexual advances will he

292
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,060
surrender and allow the child to continue to

293
00:12:59,060 --> 00:12:59,360
live.

294
00:13:01,300 --> 00:13:05,520
A situational ethicist will say to you, that

295
00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:06,780
what do you think about that?

296
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,220
And our minds all wrestle with that.

297
00:13:09,540 --> 00:13:11,920
Everything in a person of any moral value

298
00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,220
says the woman should not submit to immorality

299
00:13:15,220 --> 00:13:16,080
on any terms.

300
00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:18,240
The Lord didn't say thou shalt not commit

301
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,140
adultery unless your baby's life is on the

302
00:13:20,140 --> 00:13:20,980
line.

303
00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,140
But after all, isn't God loving and wouldn't

304
00:13:24,140 --> 00:13:26,120
God make room for that possibility?

305
00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,620
And so certainly the mother should sacrifice her

306
00:13:29,620 --> 00:13:31,920
moral purity because she can be forgiven of

307
00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:33,600
that in order that the baby's life may

308
00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:34,120
be saved.

309
00:13:34,460 --> 00:13:36,420
Or if the mother did go ahead and

310
00:13:36,420 --> 00:13:37,900
do that, would you be the person to

311
00:13:37,900 --> 00:13:39,220
stand in judgment on her?

312
00:13:40,660 --> 00:13:45,300
And such situations are posed one after another

313
00:13:45,300 --> 00:13:47,440
in order to challenge a person to come

314
00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,120
to terms with the complicating difficulty of trying

315
00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,040
to deal in absolute terms in a world

316
00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:55,780
that has so many different situations.

317
00:13:57,500 --> 00:13:59,500
When we come to the subject of suicide,

318
00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:01,020
that's exactly what you face.

319
00:14:02,300 --> 00:14:04,920
Inevitably, people will want to talk about their

320
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,100
specific situation that they know about.

321
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:10,520
They want to appeal, as every one of

322
00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,400
us want to appeal, to the mercy of

323
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,140
God, to the forgiveness of God.

324
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:18,080
And I am not arguing for a moment

325
00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:19,680
against that or else I would not have

326
00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:21,060
made the remarks I did before.

327
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:22,760
We just sang the hymn that we did

328
00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:24,740
and I selected the hymn we just sang

329
00:14:24,740 --> 00:14:27,600
because I wanted us to recognize that God's

330
00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,560
love and his mercy and his forgiveness are

331
00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:31,060
at the heart of everything of the gospel

332
00:14:31,060 --> 00:14:32,400
in the revelation of his word.

333
00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:38,380
But there is a terrible, a terrible, creeping

334
00:14:38,380 --> 00:14:40,620
paralysis in so much of the body of

335
00:14:40,620 --> 00:14:41,100
Christ.

336
00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:43,940
The paralysis is the result of a spinelessness

337
00:14:43,940 --> 00:14:47,960
that is coming directly resulting from a lack

338
00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:53,520
of principle of commitment to abiding absolutes in

339
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,600
the word of God and they're yielded to,

340
00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,500
the circumstances are yielded to, and the absolutes

341
00:15:00,500 --> 00:15:04,560
are required to bend in order to serve

342
00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:06,660
our own concept of justice.

343
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,900
We say, for example, in the episode that

344
00:15:09,900 --> 00:15:13,780
I just contrived from the casuist proposal, well,

345
00:15:14,060 --> 00:15:16,080
certainly you wouldn't ask the mother to allow

346
00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,160
her child to be killed before her very

347
00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,900
eyes just so she could save some kind

348
00:15:20,900 --> 00:15:21,660
of chastity.

349
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,220
It really isn't my call to solve that

350
00:15:27,220 --> 00:15:32,280
situation, but neither is it that mother's call

351
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,760
to violate, if she has convictions about the

352
00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,840
word of God, violate God's law on the

353
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:42,320
supposition that she is ever able to be

354
00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,220
the final judge and preserver of the issue

355
00:15:45,220 --> 00:15:47,440
of her life, the issues of her life.

356
00:15:49,350 --> 00:15:52,230
The changing of values for the purpose of

357
00:15:52,230 --> 00:15:56,370
suiting what would seem right to us inevitably

358
00:15:56,370 --> 00:16:00,130
has to do with people taking the issues

359
00:16:00,130 --> 00:16:03,290
of life into their own hands rather than

360
00:16:03,290 --> 00:16:06,070
walking according to what God has revealed and

361
00:16:06,070 --> 00:16:08,830
leaving the issues of life with him.

362
00:16:10,210 --> 00:16:12,170
And when we come to the issue of

363
00:16:12,170 --> 00:16:16,170
suicide, we're dealing with as consummate example as

364
00:16:16,170 --> 00:16:18,750
there is of a person taking their life

365
00:16:18,750 --> 00:16:22,290
into their own hands rather than, as Jesus

366
00:16:22,290 --> 00:16:25,070
said, losing their life for his sake.

367
00:16:25,870 --> 00:16:28,050
For I hasten to say, unless there would

368
00:16:28,050 --> 00:16:30,050
even be one person, our having just read

369
00:16:30,050 --> 00:16:33,690
this passage, who would through the subtle capacities

370
00:16:33,690 --> 00:16:36,790
of the human mind to distort and pollute,

371
00:16:36,890 --> 00:16:39,770
even unintendedly the truth, I hasten to say

372
00:16:39,770 --> 00:16:41,690
that we have not read these words of

373
00:16:41,690 --> 00:16:44,390
Jesus who said, he that saves his life

374
00:16:44,390 --> 00:16:45,910
shall lose it and he that loses his

375
00:16:45,910 --> 00:16:46,870
life for my sake.

376
00:16:46,970 --> 00:16:49,770
That it's as though somehow the person who

377
00:16:49,770 --> 00:16:52,090
took their own life has in some noble

378
00:16:52,090 --> 00:16:54,650
way lost their life for Jesus' sake.

379
00:16:55,770 --> 00:16:58,310
Because it is actually entirely the opposite.

380
00:16:58,550 --> 00:17:00,930
They didn't lose their life, they saved their

381
00:17:00,930 --> 00:17:03,270
life for themselves on their own terms.

382
00:17:04,630 --> 00:17:07,170
And what happened is exactly what Jesus said

383
00:17:07,170 --> 00:17:09,630
would happen when you take your life into

384
00:17:09,630 --> 00:17:11,630
your own hands on your own terms, whatever

385
00:17:11,630 --> 00:17:14,609
the situation, whenever you violate what is the

386
00:17:14,609 --> 00:17:17,869
revelation of God for your own convenience or

387
00:17:17,869 --> 00:17:21,650
for your own momentary comfort or self-serving,

388
00:17:21,810 --> 00:17:25,190
no matter how pointed the situation may be,

389
00:17:25,210 --> 00:17:26,690
up to the point of a bayonet at

390
00:17:26,690 --> 00:17:27,610
the baby's throat.

391
00:17:29,170 --> 00:17:32,750
Inevitably there is loss, not gain.

392
00:17:34,010 --> 00:17:36,210
You save your life, you lose it.

393
00:17:37,170 --> 00:17:41,170
But if you lose whatever it is a

394
00:17:41,170 --> 00:17:43,510
person may clutch to for the sake of

395
00:17:43,510 --> 00:17:46,690
response and obedience to what God has said,

396
00:17:47,550 --> 00:17:50,530
the Lord says, you won't understand it going

397
00:17:50,530 --> 00:17:53,850
in because human reason never can discern the

398
00:17:53,850 --> 00:17:54,490
ways of God.

399
00:17:54,690 --> 00:17:57,450
But he said, they will find something for

400
00:17:57,450 --> 00:17:58,290
having done that.

401
00:17:58,350 --> 00:17:59,510
They will make a discovery.

402
00:18:02,050 --> 00:18:04,170
We have a society that is moving toward

403
00:18:04,170 --> 00:18:04,950
euthanasia.

404
00:18:05,790 --> 00:18:09,150
The essence of the acceptance of euthanasia is

405
00:18:09,150 --> 00:18:11,690
that there are situations that are so desperate

406
00:18:11,690 --> 00:18:15,030
and hopeless by reason of physical infirmity.

407
00:18:15,170 --> 00:18:17,050
I'm not talking about pulling the plug on

408
00:18:17,050 --> 00:18:19,410
someone that's already clinically dead and merely being

409
00:18:19,410 --> 00:18:20,570
supported by systems.

410
00:18:20,590 --> 00:18:22,810
I'm talking about a person who is still

411
00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:24,970
very much alive but the situation is so

412
00:18:24,970 --> 00:18:27,690
hopeless and the pain so intense that the

413
00:18:27,690 --> 00:18:30,370
human argument is, well, let's put them out

414
00:18:30,370 --> 00:18:30,870
of their pain.

415
00:18:30,930 --> 00:18:32,110
It would be an act of mercy.

416
00:18:32,250 --> 00:18:34,750
And I understand the pathos and the pain

417
00:18:34,750 --> 00:18:36,790
of a loved one who is watching another

418
00:18:36,790 --> 00:18:39,690
one suffering so deeply.

419
00:18:40,850 --> 00:18:42,630
And I'm not heartless toward that.

420
00:18:42,890 --> 00:18:44,870
But to take the issues of life and

421
00:18:44,870 --> 00:18:47,070
death into our own hands is in direct

422
00:18:47,070 --> 00:18:48,970
violation of the Word of God.

423
00:18:49,750 --> 00:18:53,230
And the person who refuses to save life

424
00:18:53,230 --> 00:18:58,010
and find that something's lost will, in denying

425
00:18:58,010 --> 00:19:01,970
themselves that right, make discoveries that this room

426
00:19:01,970 --> 00:19:03,450
is full of testimonies about.

427
00:19:03,610 --> 00:19:05,950
And that's people who have chosen the harder

428
00:19:05,950 --> 00:19:08,530
path of submitting to the absolutes of God's

429
00:19:08,530 --> 00:19:11,370
Word in situations of their own life where

430
00:19:11,370 --> 00:19:13,170
it would have been so much easier to

431
00:19:13,170 --> 00:19:15,410
choose a path of least resistance.

432
00:19:15,630 --> 00:19:18,210
But once having made that choice, where it

433
00:19:18,210 --> 00:19:20,710
appeared it was the more painful of the

434
00:19:20,710 --> 00:19:23,190
pathways to take, when they began to move

435
00:19:23,190 --> 00:19:26,050
in that pathway of sorrow or pain, they

436
00:19:26,050 --> 00:19:29,530
found a partnership and a fellowship with one

437
00:19:29,530 --> 00:19:31,810
who walked the path of sorrow well before

438
00:19:31,810 --> 00:19:34,230
us to a degree we cannot even fathom

439
00:19:34,230 --> 00:19:36,150
at the cross and leading to it.

440
00:19:36,510 --> 00:19:38,230
And they found a fellowship with Him and

441
00:19:38,230 --> 00:19:40,230
a presence of Him they never would have

442
00:19:40,230 --> 00:19:43,270
discovered and somehow discovered life in its real

443
00:19:43,270 --> 00:19:46,350
power because they didn't opt for a simpler,

444
00:19:46,690 --> 00:19:47,790
more convenient way.

445
00:19:49,780 --> 00:19:52,040
And the call of Jesus Christ is to

446
00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:56,320
come and follow Him and not to take

447
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,740
the path of lesser resistance.

448
00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:03,060
Does the mercy of God cover people who

449
00:20:03,060 --> 00:20:04,400
take the lesser path?

450
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:07,520
And that's the whole purpose of the message

451
00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:08,020
this evening.

452
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,440
Is the sin of suicide one for which

453
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:12,380
there's no forgiveness?

454
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,820
For there are segments of the body of

455
00:20:14,820 --> 00:20:16,360
Christ that hold that position.

456
00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:20,160
And with that I hasten to begin by

457
00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,740
saying no, I will not declare that dead

458
00:20:22,740 --> 00:20:25,240
tradition as being truth because there's no place

459
00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:26,620
in the Word of God that can support

460
00:20:26,620 --> 00:20:26,820
it.

461
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,280
The line of reason goes something like this.

462
00:20:29,820 --> 00:20:32,900
Since suicide, one's last act when committed, is

463
00:20:32,900 --> 00:20:35,020
a murder, a violation of one of the

464
00:20:35,020 --> 00:20:37,540
Ten Commandments, it is obvious then, they conclude,

465
00:20:37,620 --> 00:20:40,560
that a suicide is an eternally damning act.

466
00:20:41,660 --> 00:20:44,260
I hasten to say that is not conclusively

467
00:20:44,260 --> 00:20:46,460
true on any scriptural terms.

468
00:20:46,780 --> 00:20:47,640
I want to say it again.

469
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,940
Because a person commits suicide does not mean

470
00:20:50,940 --> 00:20:52,840
that because their last act has been a

471
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,600
violation of the revealed commandments of God that

472
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,780
therefore conclusively and categorically they are damned and

473
00:20:58,780 --> 00:21:00,560
they have damned themselves by that very act.

474
00:21:01,100 --> 00:21:03,620
That cannot be verified by the Word of

475
00:21:03,620 --> 00:21:03,920
God.

476
00:21:04,700 --> 00:21:06,760
I'm going to take an extended period of

477
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:08,300
time now to say some things that are

478
00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:10,660
so very basic that to some of you

479
00:21:10,660 --> 00:21:13,320
it may feel that I am skirting the

480
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,340
issue and simply dealing with the obvious.

481
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,460
But it's amazing to me how many obvious

482
00:21:18,460 --> 00:21:20,700
things aren't really that obvious anymore to people.

483
00:21:21,330 --> 00:21:24,600
And how many fundamental points of truth, foundational

484
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:26,300
points of truth, aren't understood.

485
00:21:27,380 --> 00:21:30,140
And until the foundation points are understood you

486
00:21:30,140 --> 00:21:31,520
can't build a system of life.

487
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,140
So I want to begin by saying why

488
00:21:34,140 --> 00:21:35,140
it is not true.

489
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,000
Why it is not true that a person

490
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,240
who has committed suicide is automatically automatically damned.

491
00:21:42,180 --> 00:21:44,740
And I want to say before I go

492
00:21:44,740 --> 00:21:46,640
any further that I am not saying that

493
00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,180
a person who commits suicide is necessarily automatically

494
00:21:49,180 --> 00:21:50,080
saved either.

495
00:21:52,580 --> 00:21:55,240
First, let's look at the scriptures and the

496
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:55,660
Word of God.

497
00:21:55,740 --> 00:21:56,760
I'd like to ask you at the very

498
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,160
least to jot down scriptures and you may

499
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:07,990
want to write down additional points of notation.

500
00:22:09,890 --> 00:22:13,290
First, salvation is not based on our works

501
00:22:13,290 --> 00:22:16,350
but on the work of Jesus Christ.

502
00:22:16,850 --> 00:22:17,950
Romans chapter 3.

503
00:22:19,750 --> 00:22:21,810
Over in the overhead screen we have the

504
00:22:21,810 --> 00:22:23,510
text, salvation is not based on our works

505
00:22:23,510 --> 00:22:24,710
but on the of Jesus Christ.

506
00:22:24,790 --> 00:22:25,830
Read aloud with me, will you?

507
00:22:25,890 --> 00:22:27,330
The words are here behind us on the

508
00:22:27,330 --> 00:22:27,610
screen.

509
00:22:28,330 --> 00:22:30,770
But now the righteousness of God apart from

510
00:22:30,770 --> 00:22:31,070
the law.

511
00:22:31,110 --> 00:22:32,730
Let's start all over and read together.

512
00:22:33,170 --> 00:22:36,110
But now the righteousness of God apart from

513
00:22:36,110 --> 00:22:39,330
the law is revealed being witnessed by the

514
00:22:39,330 --> 00:22:42,430
law and the prophets even the righteousness of

515
00:22:42,430 --> 00:22:45,490
God which is through faith in Jesus Christ

516
00:22:45,490 --> 00:22:49,090
to all and on all who believe for

517
00:22:49,090 --> 00:22:52,210
there is no difference for all have sinned

518
00:22:52,210 --> 00:22:54,630
and fall short of the glory of God

519
00:22:55,190 --> 00:22:58,810
being justified freely by his grace through the

520
00:22:58,810 --> 00:23:01,210
redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

521
00:23:01,490 --> 00:23:03,070
Let's go directly to the next one and

522
00:23:03,070 --> 00:23:06,350
read Romans chapter 4 verses 5 to 8.

523
00:23:06,570 --> 00:23:07,310
Shall we read together?

524
00:23:07,930 --> 00:23:10,250
But to him who does not work but

525
00:23:10,250 --> 00:23:14,030
believes on him who justifies the ungodly his

526
00:23:14,030 --> 00:23:18,030
faith is accounted for righteousness just as David

527
00:23:18,030 --> 00:23:21,150
also describes the blessedness of the man to

528
00:23:21,150 --> 00:23:24,790
whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.

529
00:23:25,690 --> 00:23:28,430
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven

530
00:23:28,430 --> 00:23:30,650
and whose sins are covered.

531
00:23:31,470 --> 00:23:33,570
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord

532
00:23:33,570 --> 00:23:35,350
shall not impute sin.

533
00:23:36,130 --> 00:23:39,090
In Romans 5 one and two, read with

534
00:23:39,090 --> 00:23:39,630
me please.

535
00:23:40,030 --> 00:23:43,790
Therefore having been justified by faith we have

536
00:23:43,790 --> 00:23:46,950
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

537
00:23:46,950 --> 00:23:50,510
through whom also we have access by faith

538
00:23:50,510 --> 00:23:53,750
into this grace in which we stand and

539
00:23:53,750 --> 00:23:56,590
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

540
00:23:57,830 --> 00:24:02,150
Simply three brief passages taken from one segment

541
00:24:02,150 --> 00:24:05,970
of one New Testament epistle but the theme

542
00:24:05,970 --> 00:24:07,790
could be pursued ad infinitum.

543
00:24:08,850 --> 00:24:10,910
The revelation of the word of God concerning

544
00:24:10,910 --> 00:24:12,710
this great principle that it is not within

545
00:24:12,710 --> 00:24:15,590
the power of man to either initiate inaugurated

546
00:24:15,590 --> 00:24:17,750
salvation or to perpetuate it by his own

547
00:24:17,750 --> 00:24:20,310
works is perfectly established in the word.

548
00:24:20,450 --> 00:24:22,490
We are saved by the work of Jesus

549
00:24:22,490 --> 00:24:25,470
Christ on the cross and there are no

550
00:24:25,470 --> 00:24:29,110
works that we contribute to that saving process

551
00:24:29,110 --> 00:24:31,170
and since that's the case that there's nothing

552
00:24:31,170 --> 00:24:34,390
we contribute to our salvation then the argument

553
00:24:34,390 --> 00:24:36,630
can be extrapolated from that that there are

554
00:24:36,630 --> 00:24:39,270
basically no works that can alter it as

555
00:24:39,270 --> 00:24:42,150
long as abiding faith in Jesus Christ the

556
00:24:42,150 --> 00:24:45,250
Son of God is maintained intact.

557
00:24:46,430 --> 00:24:48,630
Now the problem with that is that there

558
00:24:48,630 --> 00:24:51,090
comes the response of people who say well

559
00:24:51,090 --> 00:24:52,770
then you mean you can put your faith

560
00:24:52,770 --> 00:24:55,130
in Jesus Christ and live any way that

561
00:24:55,130 --> 00:24:57,490
you want and that by reason of having

562
00:24:57,490 --> 00:25:00,390
claimed faith in him that your works not

563
00:25:00,390 --> 00:25:03,190
having contributed to your salvation and not perpetuating

564
00:25:03,190 --> 00:25:06,810
and eventuating in your salvation that consequently then

565
00:25:06,810 --> 00:25:08,730
it's up to you to do what you

566
00:25:08,730 --> 00:25:10,670
want whatever you feel like and your faith

567
00:25:10,670 --> 00:25:13,990
in Jesus Christ covers it all and theoretically

568
00:25:13,990 --> 00:25:16,970
that makes a theological case a person can

569
00:25:16,970 --> 00:25:19,770
argue but it doesn't make an operational case

570
00:25:19,770 --> 00:25:22,410
because as we study the scriptures becomes very

571
00:25:22,410 --> 00:25:24,910
clear that the person who truly has done

572
00:25:24,910 --> 00:25:28,470
that who truly has put their faith in

573
00:25:28,470 --> 00:25:31,410
Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit of God

574
00:25:32,130 --> 00:25:36,650
has birthed something in them that renders them

575
00:25:36,650 --> 00:25:42,730
incapable of indifferently pursuing sin on a relentless

576
00:25:42,730 --> 00:25:46,230
continual basis that's why the Bible says in

577
00:25:46,230 --> 00:25:48,830
1st John for example chapter 3 that he

578
00:25:48,830 --> 00:25:50,990
that is born of God does not commit

579
00:25:50,990 --> 00:25:52,890
sin because the seed of God is in

580
00:25:52,890 --> 00:25:55,550
him I used to think in the old

581
00:25:55,550 --> 00:25:57,290
King James where it said and he cannot

582
00:25:57,290 --> 00:25:59,310
sin for he's been born of God I

583
00:25:59,310 --> 00:26:02,490
used to feel embarrassed and frightened in front

584
00:26:02,490 --> 00:26:04,210
of that passage of scripture because I thought

585
00:26:04,210 --> 00:26:07,270
but I still do sin until I came

586
00:26:07,270 --> 00:26:11,250
to understand the obvious thing that any thinking

587
00:26:11,250 --> 00:26:13,750
person probably would have known but my fear

588
00:26:13,750 --> 00:26:15,410
that I was violating a letter of the

589
00:26:15,410 --> 00:26:17,190
word missed the spirit of the word and

590
00:26:17,190 --> 00:26:19,210
the tense of the verb that is in

591
00:26:19,210 --> 00:26:22,810
that passage essentially says the person who is

592
00:26:22,810 --> 00:26:26,330
born of God doesn't keep on sinning I've

593
00:26:26,330 --> 00:26:27,850
put it in these words in other times

594
00:26:27,850 --> 00:26:29,110
and many of you have heard me say

595
00:26:29,110 --> 00:26:31,330
it now once Jesus saves you have you

596
00:26:31,330 --> 00:26:34,090
noticed how he he ruins you for being

597
00:26:34,090 --> 00:26:37,450
a decent sinner anymore have you noticed that

598
00:26:37,450 --> 00:26:41,330
it's just thought that not that you're incapable

599
00:26:41,330 --> 00:26:43,330
of sin but you don't seem to be

600
00:26:43,330 --> 00:26:45,070
able to sin with the same degree of

601
00:26:45,070 --> 00:26:50,870
effectiveness fulfillment excitement or joy Jesus messes us

602
00:26:50,870 --> 00:26:56,970
up for sinning right and people you find

603
00:26:56,970 --> 00:27:03,630
who become indifferent toward their sinning then there

604
00:27:03,630 --> 00:27:06,490
is reason for them if you find any

605
00:27:06,490 --> 00:27:10,690
point of indifference toward sin self-justification of

606
00:27:10,690 --> 00:27:14,150
a pathway of life that you select of

607
00:27:14,150 --> 00:27:16,610
extremely common in our culture today is the

608
00:27:16,610 --> 00:27:21,750
pursuit of sexual promiscuity or let's if promiscuity

609
00:27:21,750 --> 00:27:23,690
is defined let me give it a definition

610
00:27:23,690 --> 00:27:25,870
I'm going to define sexual promiscuity as any

611
00:27:25,870 --> 00:27:30,890
sexual exercise outside of marriage and sexual promiscuity

612
00:27:30,890 --> 00:27:32,650
some is the reason I give that definition

613
00:27:32,650 --> 00:27:33,690
there are people that say well if you

614
00:27:33,690 --> 00:27:35,390
just continue on with one partner a real

615
00:27:35,390 --> 00:27:37,270
sense of commitment to them and even though

616
00:27:37,270 --> 00:27:39,330
you're not married it's not promiscuous because you

617
00:27:39,330 --> 00:27:41,090
are committed to one person even though you're

618
00:27:41,090 --> 00:27:43,730
not living within well you know I I

619
00:27:43,730 --> 00:27:46,610
mean the uh I know the bible says

620
00:27:46,610 --> 00:27:47,970
this but I mean we feel so good

621
00:27:47,970 --> 00:27:49,950
and we kind of joined hands before God

622
00:27:49,950 --> 00:27:52,430
and said Lord kind of marry us and

623
00:27:52,430 --> 00:27:55,250
all those sorts of things and and we

624
00:27:55,250 --> 00:27:57,090
chuckle about it but the sad thing is

625
00:27:57,090 --> 00:27:59,250
it's not really very funny because it's happening

626
00:27:59,250 --> 00:28:01,810
all over the place among people who claim

627
00:28:01,810 --> 00:28:04,870
Jesus Christ is their savior and somehow feel

628
00:28:04,870 --> 00:28:07,790
that because they feel good about it and

629
00:28:07,790 --> 00:28:10,210
everything's all right that it therefore is not

630
00:28:10,210 --> 00:28:13,210
sin I'm going to tell you right now

631
00:28:13,210 --> 00:28:15,110
that there's some kind of a spiritual time

632
00:28:15,110 --> 00:28:17,610
bomb that's ticking in those people that their

633
00:28:17,610 --> 00:28:19,970
conscience is being numbed by the spirit of

634
00:28:19,970 --> 00:28:21,850
the world and they are headed a path

635
00:28:21,850 --> 00:28:25,070
toward the loss of their eternal soul and

636
00:28:25,070 --> 00:28:26,250
I'm going to talk about that in a

637
00:28:26,250 --> 00:28:28,310
little bit people don't lose their soul over

638
00:28:28,310 --> 00:28:30,590
a single act of sin or even some

639
00:28:30,590 --> 00:28:34,890
particular ongoing continual sin they lose their soul

640
00:28:34,890 --> 00:28:37,570
when their conscience their spirit becomes so numb

641
00:28:37,570 --> 00:28:40,510
and neutralized by things they've surrendered to in

642
00:28:40,510 --> 00:28:44,130
continuum that they finally reach a point of

643
00:28:44,130 --> 00:28:47,490
of terrible terrible decision and I'm going to

644
00:28:47,490 --> 00:28:51,010
talk about that later it's not suicide but

645
00:28:51,010 --> 00:28:53,470
it is a very real spiritual suicide that

646
00:28:53,470 --> 00:28:59,310
they perform salvation is through Jesus Christ alone

647
00:28:59,310 --> 00:29:02,710
and a person who knows Jesus Christ who

648
00:29:02,710 --> 00:29:07,090
takes their life for whatever reason has not

649
00:29:07,090 --> 00:29:11,810
by that single act overreached the power of

650
00:29:11,810 --> 00:29:13,910
the covenant of God to save their eternal

651
00:29:13,910 --> 00:29:18,850
soul it is a violation of understanding of

652
00:29:18,850 --> 00:29:22,630
misunderstanding a miscomprehension of the breadth of the

653
00:29:22,630 --> 00:29:24,770
scope of what Jesus Christ has done in

654
00:29:24,770 --> 00:29:27,230
the crowning work of Calvary there is nothing

655
00:29:27,230 --> 00:29:30,910
in the cosmos that begins to approach the

656
00:29:30,910 --> 00:29:33,050
marvel of what took place at Calvary we

657
00:29:33,050 --> 00:29:35,590
cannot begin to lay hold of in our

658
00:29:35,590 --> 00:29:38,770
minds that cosmic event that took place at

659
00:29:38,770 --> 00:29:41,250
the cross where all the sins of mankind

660
00:29:41,250 --> 00:29:44,550
and all the warpedness of the universe according

661
00:29:44,550 --> 00:29:46,690
to the scripture for according to Romans chapter

662
00:29:46,690 --> 00:29:48,830
8 there is something that will touch the

663
00:29:48,830 --> 00:29:51,250
entire universe as the result of the cross

664
00:29:51,250 --> 00:29:53,990
but the whole of creation has been groaning

665
00:29:53,990 --> 00:29:56,210
and that something was released at the cross

666
00:29:56,210 --> 00:29:59,330
and is intended by God to penetrate through

667
00:29:59,330 --> 00:30:02,290
we who receive the work of the cross

668
00:30:02,290 --> 00:30:05,470
affected in our lives there's something that's to

669
00:30:05,470 --> 00:30:08,050
be worked in us that will have cosmic

670
00:30:08,050 --> 00:30:13,410
implications in time there's something so magnificent so

671
00:30:13,410 --> 00:30:15,730
magnitudinous we can hardly lay hold of it

672
00:30:15,730 --> 00:30:20,010
and the pusillanimous peanut views of the cross

673
00:30:20,010 --> 00:30:23,630
that would lock anyone into the chains of

674
00:30:23,630 --> 00:30:27,850
eternal darkness because for one single act or

675
00:30:27,850 --> 00:30:31,030
even a set of specific acts which as

676
00:30:31,030 --> 00:30:34,330
violating of the principles of believing discipleship as

677
00:30:34,330 --> 00:30:36,270
they may be that on the grounds of

678
00:30:36,270 --> 00:30:38,310
those acts alone a person says they've lost

679
00:30:38,310 --> 00:30:41,450
their eternal soul they don't understand the bigness

680
00:30:41,450 --> 00:30:44,930
of the cross but i've always i've already

681
00:30:44,930 --> 00:30:47,170
argued against the notion that on those grounds

682
00:30:47,170 --> 00:30:51,580
we become indifferent i've had to deal with

683
00:30:51,580 --> 00:30:53,580
in the years of my pastoral experience a

684
00:30:53,580 --> 00:30:57,080
few cases not very many thankfully and i

685
00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:58,340
think there's a reason we haven't had to

686
00:30:58,340 --> 00:30:59,780
deal with very many and i don't say

687
00:30:59,780 --> 00:31:01,700
this as credit to ourselves at all i

688
00:31:01,700 --> 00:31:03,820
just simply think that when people understand the

689
00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:06,460
redeeming scope of God's grace when they understand

690
00:31:06,460 --> 00:31:08,300
the spirit of deliverance and the truth of

691
00:31:08,300 --> 00:31:10,680
the word when they understand those things you

692
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,860
reduce the likelihood of people taking their own

693
00:31:12,860 --> 00:31:15,340
lives but we will not take a position

694
00:31:15,340 --> 00:31:19,980
of attempting to thwart people and indulging themselves

695
00:31:19,980 --> 00:31:23,680
in suicide by suggesting something the bible doesn't

696
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,720
say that is to say to them you

697
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,760
will lose your eternal soul because you commit

698
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:35,880
suicide salvation is only secured then through Jesus

699
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:40,820
Christ the securing of salvation through Jesus Christ

700
00:31:40,820 --> 00:31:45,480
is essentially an important point that needs to

701
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,880
be mentioned now because there is the such

702
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,000
deep emotion when a takes their own life

703
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,420
there are some who would argue other grounds

704
00:31:54,420 --> 00:31:59,120
a good feeling their sorrow somehow finding a

705
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,840
way to hope they can neutralize the the

706
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,180
pain nullify the pain that's taking them over

707
00:32:04,180 --> 00:32:06,000
and say well i i just somehow feel

708
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,800
God must have have received them have taken

709
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,020
them i i feel that something i i

710
00:32:11,020 --> 00:32:13,260
just i just hope that you know God

711
00:32:13,260 --> 00:32:17,800
God God is merciful isn't he pastor and

712
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:19,240
there are times that i have faced the

713
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:21,700
difficult situation of looking eye to eye with

714
00:32:21,700 --> 00:32:23,520
a person that's left where a loved one

715
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,400
has committed suicide and there is no reason

716
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,760
whatsoever to believe that that person knew Jesus

717
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,760
Christ is their savior and you will never

718
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,460
find me say to that person no they

719
00:32:36,460 --> 00:32:41,060
are not with God i will never say

720
00:32:41,060 --> 00:32:43,240
that to anyone because i am not the

721
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:48,340
final judge but i will i will hold

722
00:32:48,340 --> 00:32:51,720
before every honest heart the word of God

723
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,620
these words he that hath the son hath

724
00:32:55,620 --> 00:32:58,680
life he who hath not the son of

725
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,100
God hath not life but the judgment of

726
00:33:01,100 --> 00:33:04,840
God abides upon him neither is there salvation

727
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:06,420
in any other for there is no other

728
00:33:06,420 --> 00:33:08,640
name under heaven given among men whereby we

729
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:13,320
must be saved God did so love the

730
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,500
world he gave his only begotten son and

731
00:33:15,500 --> 00:33:18,820
whoever believes in him shall not perish but

732
00:33:18,820 --> 00:33:21,580
shall have everlasting life but hear me loved

733
00:33:21,580 --> 00:33:24,340
ones the inverse of that scripture is the

734
00:33:24,340 --> 00:33:25,880
God who so loved the world and gave

735
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:27,920
his only son that people need not perish

736
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,740
if they believe in Jesus Christ that those

737
00:33:30,740 --> 00:33:32,640
who do not believe in Jesus Christ will

738
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,160
perish God did not send his son into

739
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:37,540
the world to condemn the world but that

740
00:33:37,540 --> 00:33:41,480
the world through him might be saved and

741
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,060
this is condemnation that light has come into

742
00:33:45,060 --> 00:33:47,220
the world and men love the darkness rather

743
00:33:47,220 --> 00:33:52,260
than the light he that believeth shall be

744
00:33:52,260 --> 00:33:56,300
saved he that believeth not shall be damned

745
00:33:56,300 --> 00:34:00,660
my purpose in saying those words of absolute

746
00:34:00,660 --> 00:34:04,260
revelation of the pathway of salvation the circle

747
00:34:04,260 --> 00:34:08,460
of salvation being in Jesus Christ alone is

748
00:34:08,460 --> 00:34:11,420
lest there be anyone who suppose that what

749
00:34:11,420 --> 00:34:14,800
I've said by reason of suicide not necessarily

750
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:19,440
being a damning act is to clarify the

751
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,340
notion that anyone would have that in the

752
00:34:21,340 --> 00:34:25,520
emotion the agony of living out there having

753
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,440
been the loss of someone a friend a

754
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,659
loved one who didn't know Jesus Christ and

755
00:34:29,659 --> 00:34:33,219
we argue somehow with ourselves and plead plead

756
00:34:33,219 --> 00:34:35,320
with God somehow after the fact is there

757
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,780
somehow can you make room for them almost

758
00:34:37,780 --> 00:34:43,280
defying God to alter his provisions and his

759
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,440
revelation to suit the pain of our moment

760
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:52,000
I don't believe it is within the call

761
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,880
of any person in this room or who

762
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:56,260
hears my voice and certainly not within my

763
00:34:56,260 --> 00:34:59,280
own it is not my call to take

764
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,780
the implications of the fact that salvation is

765
00:35:02,780 --> 00:35:05,580
only in Jesus Christ and to press those

766
00:35:05,580 --> 00:35:08,600
lovelessly against the heart of a person who

767
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:10,360
has a loved one who has died by

768
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,740
whatever means and never have received Jesus Christ

769
00:35:13,740 --> 00:35:17,660
and somehow insist against their heart cry hoping

770
00:35:17,660 --> 00:35:19,680
that God somehow has taken care of that

771
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:22,020
person I don't believe it's our call to

772
00:35:22,020 --> 00:35:24,780
insist on some doctrinal purity at that juncture

773
00:35:24,780 --> 00:35:27,080
and say I'm sorry they never received Christ

774
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,600
they're lost and they're in hell that isn't

775
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,940
our task but neither is it my call

776
00:35:33,940 --> 00:35:38,220
when dealing in general like this to hold

777
00:35:38,220 --> 00:35:40,840
forth some notion that there's some flexibility and

778
00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:42,620
that you kind of can squeeze in that

779
00:35:42,620 --> 00:35:44,800
God shoehorns people in at the last moment

780
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,340
because well he just kind of felt a

781
00:35:47,340 --> 00:35:48,760
little different about it when they have been

782
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,400
defiant and indifferent toward God all their lifetime

783
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,780
we can create situation after situation let me

784
00:35:54,780 --> 00:35:58,040
say one other thing about that however the

785
00:35:58,040 --> 00:35:59,800
primary reason I think we need to keep

786
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:01,920
our mouths shut in those situations where we

787
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,080
deal with people where a person as far

788
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,480
as we know really is lost suicide or

789
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:12,680
not and they're gone is because neither you

790
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:17,880
and I know what last-minute negotiations may

791
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,260
take place between a human being and the

792
00:36:20,260 --> 00:36:23,600
living God we don't know what's going on

793
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:28,620
I submit to you not because I'm trying

794
00:36:28,620 --> 00:36:31,680
to concoct means by which we can shoehorn

795
00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:37,500
people in but I submit to you between

796
00:36:37,500 --> 00:36:39,940
the time that a person takes their overdose

797
00:36:39,940 --> 00:36:41,960
of drugs and lays there in their groggy

798
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:47,380
stupor we not knowing what really has transpired

799
00:36:47,380 --> 00:36:49,640
over the years or months of that person's

800
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:51,120
life that has brought them to that moment

801
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:54,540
we don't know in what way that a

802
00:36:54,540 --> 00:36:57,140
living loving God may reveal himself to them

803
00:36:57,140 --> 00:37:00,320
and deal with them in that moment we

804
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:04,260
don't know we don't know what may transpire

805
00:37:04,260 --> 00:37:07,740
in those virtually eternal moments from the time

806
00:37:07,740 --> 00:37:10,280
the person leaves the top of the bridge

807
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,880
and splatter their bodies on the water below

808
00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:15,780
we don't know what may be taking place

809
00:37:15,780 --> 00:37:20,820
in those moments we don't know so many

810
00:37:20,820 --> 00:37:23,920
things we would be wise to say nothing

811
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,000
but to say nothing other than to be

812
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,000
loving receptive and comforting to people is one

813
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,880
thing and to attempt to compute our own

814
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:39,340
programs of salvation which have legal loopholes where

815
00:37:39,340 --> 00:37:42,260
our emotions want one that's another thing we

816
00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:44,580
must avoid too as surely as we must

817
00:37:44,580 --> 00:37:48,060
avoid legalism we need to avoid the spirit

818
00:37:48,060 --> 00:37:50,880
of liberalism that lets anything go that feels

819
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:58,870
better salvation is not an irreversible arrangement I

820
00:38:00,500 --> 00:38:02,980
want to talk about delicate balance between two

821
00:38:02,980 --> 00:38:05,040
things and I'm still dealing with this the

822
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,600
question if a person commits suicide or the

823
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,460
eternally lost I want to talk about how

824
00:38:09,460 --> 00:38:12,920
people lose their salvation they don't lose it

825
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:19,490
by committing suicide salvation is not an irreversible

826
00:38:19,490 --> 00:38:23,090
arrangement now first it is an irrevocable contract

827
00:38:23,090 --> 00:38:26,290
from God's side when God offers us salvation

828
00:38:26,290 --> 00:38:28,830
that is a contract that is not tentative

829
00:38:28,830 --> 00:38:31,190
on his side here are two verses of

830
00:38:31,190 --> 00:38:34,510
scripture John chapter 6 verse 37 Jesus said

831
00:38:34,510 --> 00:38:36,170
he that cometh unto me I will not

832
00:38:36,170 --> 00:38:37,870
cast out say that with me will you

833
00:38:37,870 --> 00:38:40,730
he that cometh unto me I will in

834
00:38:40,730 --> 00:38:42,730
no means let's read the verse the whole

835
00:38:42,730 --> 00:38:45,010
verse is there all that the father gives

836
00:38:45,010 --> 00:38:47,330
me will come to me and the one

837
00:38:47,330 --> 00:38:49,210
who comes to me I will be by

838
00:38:49,210 --> 00:38:51,710
no means cast out if it's true of

839
00:38:51,710 --> 00:38:53,210
you turn to the person next to you

840
00:38:53,210 --> 00:38:55,770
and say I've come to Jesus and he's

841
00:38:55,770 --> 00:38:57,330
going to keep that promise to me go

842
00:38:57,330 --> 00:39:00,110
ahead say it to somebody how you feeling

843
00:39:00,110 --> 00:39:09,440
or we John chapter 10 verses 27 to

844
00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:12,260
29 let's read those verses together shall we

845
00:39:12,260 --> 00:39:14,740
my sheep hear my voice and I know

846
00:39:14,740 --> 00:39:17,220
them and they follow me let's pause right

847
00:39:17,220 --> 00:39:22,480
there read it again sheep voice and I

848
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,440
know them and they follow me and I

849
00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,700
give them eternal life and they shall never

850
00:39:28,700 --> 00:39:32,460
perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of

851
00:39:32,460 --> 00:39:35,820
my hand my father who has given them

852
00:39:35,820 --> 00:39:38,920
to me is greater than all and no

853
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,400
one is able to snatch them out of

854
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:46,700
my father's hand now that's the that's the

855
00:39:46,700 --> 00:39:48,340
end of the scripture the next thing is

856
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:50,900
is what I wrote and I don't suggest

857
00:39:50,900 --> 00:39:52,680
you confuse it with the eternal word of

858
00:39:52,680 --> 00:40:00,880
God salvation is an irrevocable contract from God's

859
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:03,240
side no one can pluck them out of

860
00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:04,580
my hand no one that comes to me

861
00:40:04,580 --> 00:40:08,300
will I cast away but in contrast to

862
00:40:08,300 --> 00:40:11,060
that irrevocable contract from God's side of things

863
00:40:11,060 --> 00:40:14,380
there also is a timeless covenant of free

864
00:40:14,380 --> 00:40:18,300
will that overarches that in other words that

865
00:40:18,300 --> 00:40:21,360
God has made an irrevocable covenant of salvation

866
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:23,800
with all who come to his son Jesus

867
00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:27,420
Christ that he has said no one or

868
00:40:27,420 --> 00:40:29,140
no thing can take you out of my

869
00:40:29,140 --> 00:40:31,900
hand that he has said that that Jesus

870
00:40:31,900 --> 00:40:34,480
has said I will never turn any away

871
00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:36,380
anyone who comes to me he doesn't say

872
00:40:36,380 --> 00:40:38,240
on the basis of their merits their works

873
00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:40,380
their accomplishments he doesn't say if they commit

874
00:40:40,380 --> 00:40:43,080
suicide therefore I'm washed up with them it

875
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,480
doesn't say whatever they do that he's changing

876
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:47,540
his plan that is on his side but

877
00:40:47,540 --> 00:40:50,220
that does not violate the fact that there

878
00:40:50,220 --> 00:40:52,640
is a timeless covenant God also has with

879
00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:57,780
all intelligent agents and that's free moral beings

880
00:40:57,780 --> 00:40:59,880
myself and that's the power of choice and

881
00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:03,320
he never rescinds that being saved does not

882
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,040
make you an automaton does not turn you

883
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,900
into a robot I'd like for us to

884
00:41:08,900 --> 00:41:10,800
turn to the 10th chapter of Hebrews together

885
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:13,000
and I want us to read a demanding

886
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,520
passage of scripture that tells how a person

887
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,900
can lose their soul why are you doing

888
00:41:18,900 --> 00:41:21,100
this Jack I thought you were talking about

889
00:41:21,100 --> 00:41:23,140
people who commit suicide not losing their soul

890
00:41:23,140 --> 00:41:27,020
I'm doing this on these grounds that I

891
00:41:27,020 --> 00:41:29,400
want everyone to understand that it is error

892
00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:31,940
to suppose that simply because a person commits

893
00:41:31,940 --> 00:41:35,420
suicide they therefore have lost their eternal soul

894
00:41:35,420 --> 00:41:37,400
that having said that does not mean it

895
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,300
is not possible for a person to lose

896
00:41:39,300 --> 00:41:43,660
their soul when they've been saved but it

897
00:41:43,660 --> 00:41:46,640
is an extremely demanding and difficult thing to

898
00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:48,740
lose your soul if you want to you

899
00:41:48,740 --> 00:41:53,320
can do it it can be done and

900
00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:55,640
there are people that have done it and

901
00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:58,440
in writing to the Hebrews in this passage

902
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:01,820
of scripture even where these words beginning in

903
00:42:01,820 --> 00:42:06,660
chapter 10 verse 26 through 29 even in

904
00:42:06,660 --> 00:42:08,740
writing these words which we're going to read

905
00:42:08,740 --> 00:42:13,120
the writer concludes in verse 39 however that

906
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:15,380
those to whom he writes and including himself

907
00:42:15,380 --> 00:42:17,180
he says but we are not of those

908
00:42:17,180 --> 00:42:19,920
who draw back to perdition but of those

909
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:21,620
who believe to the saving of the soul

910
00:42:21,620 --> 00:42:24,240
so that even the context in which we

911
00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:26,860
addresses this is not a context in which

912
00:42:26,860 --> 00:42:31,040
he is saying you did this he is

913
00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:33,260
saying we are not that kind of people

914
00:42:33,260 --> 00:42:35,380
but it would be meaningless to deal with

915
00:42:35,380 --> 00:42:38,320
if they're not such people and it would

916
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:40,320
be meaningless for it to be outlined in

917
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:42,080
scripture if it were not possible for a

918
00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:45,920
person listen to become so immune to the

919
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:48,920
deterioration of their spiritual life and their attitudes

920
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:50,980
toward the living God that they begin to

921
00:42:50,980 --> 00:42:54,000
broach this frightening territory in which the Bible

922
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:57,940
says an individual may disannul the contract of

923
00:42:57,940 --> 00:43:01,420
salvation that God has irrevocably provided for them

924
00:43:01,420 --> 00:43:03,800
but by action of their own will they

925
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:08,070
are annulling and this is what the scripture

926
00:43:08,070 --> 00:43:11,670
says in that regard verse 27 or verse

927
00:43:11,670 --> 00:43:14,090
26 for if we sin willfully after we

928
00:43:14,090 --> 00:43:16,650
have received knowledge of the truth there no

929
00:43:16,650 --> 00:43:21,290
longer remains a sacrifice for sin the participle

930
00:43:21,290 --> 00:43:23,770
that occurs there if we sin willfully the

931
00:43:23,770 --> 00:43:27,190
participial form is in the present tense and

932
00:43:27,190 --> 00:43:29,230
it means the same thing we're saying earlier

933
00:43:29,230 --> 00:43:31,310
if it's a person who commits themselves to

934
00:43:31,310 --> 00:43:36,550
a pathway of ongoing sinning with indifference there

935
00:43:36,550 --> 00:43:39,730
is not any significant spirit of repentance i'm

936
00:43:39,730 --> 00:43:41,630
not talking about the fact that every single

937
00:43:41,630 --> 00:43:43,210
one of us in this room sin all

938
00:43:43,210 --> 00:43:45,990
the time anybody here doesn't send i don't

939
00:43:45,990 --> 00:43:47,090
know why you even bothered to come to

940
00:43:47,090 --> 00:43:54,660
church we're not talking about the fact that

941
00:43:54,660 --> 00:43:56,260
all of us and we're talking about people

942
00:43:56,260 --> 00:43:58,460
who commit themselves to a pathway of sin

943
00:43:58,460 --> 00:44:03,440
who sin willfully it says as a result

944
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:07,560
of this there what remains for them is

945
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,460
a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery

946
00:44:10,460 --> 00:44:14,140
indignation which will will devour the adversaries that's

947
00:44:14,140 --> 00:44:15,720
the same thing as satan and all of

948
00:44:15,720 --> 00:44:19,440
his hosts anyone who has rejected moses law

949
00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:21,580
died without mercy in the testimony of two

950
00:44:21,580 --> 00:44:24,460
or three witnesses of how much worse punishment

951
00:44:24,460 --> 00:44:26,460
do you suppose will be he thought worthy

952
00:44:26,460 --> 00:44:29,440
who and with this point we sit on

953
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:31,020
an outline i want us to discuss a

954
00:44:31,020 --> 00:44:32,480
few minutes read with me with you who

955
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:35,920
has trampled the son of god underfoot that's

956
00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:37,660
number one say it again who has trampled

957
00:44:37,660 --> 00:44:40,640
the son of god underfoot number two counted

958
00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:42,620
the blood of the covenant by which he

959
00:44:42,620 --> 00:44:46,220
was sanctified a common thing number three and

960
00:44:46,220 --> 00:44:50,320
insulted the spirit of grace now those are

961
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:53,880
the three means by which a person may

962
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,760
dismantle the covenant of salvation what is it

963
00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:00,940
saying it's saying that a person who in

964
00:45:00,940 --> 00:45:04,240
the continuum of their apostasy that's a word

965
00:45:04,240 --> 00:45:06,400
that has to do with it moving outside

966
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:09,680
the circle of covenant because of their willful

967
00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:13,820
commitment to that which is opposite to the

968
00:45:13,820 --> 00:45:15,860
will and way of god they commit themselves

969
00:45:15,860 --> 00:45:19,620
to sin i i i frankly wary of

970
00:45:19,620 --> 00:45:23,740
the frequency thankfully percentage wise our pastoral team

971
00:45:23,740 --> 00:45:28,420
pastors probably 10 000 people and on a

972
00:45:28,420 --> 00:45:32,860
continuing basis and i weary of those few

973
00:45:32,860 --> 00:45:35,220
cases you probably will hear in the course

974
00:45:35,220 --> 00:45:37,800
of uh of a year of maybe 15

975
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:40,520
or 20 cases so that's a an infinitesimal

976
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:43,500
figure but it's it's rankling to me that

977
00:45:43,500 --> 00:45:47,840
there's even one who supposes that because they

978
00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:50,600
circle with a a group of people who

979
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:53,320
love love jesus and they go through all

980
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:55,380
the motions of certain things and have their

981
00:45:55,380 --> 00:45:58,180
own emotions of feeling they they make the

982
00:45:58,180 --> 00:46:01,200
scene whenever it suits them that that therefore

983
00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:04,640
that because they generally identify with with jesus

984
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:06,280
stuff and if you ask oh yes i

985
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:08,500
believe and they may even be able to

986
00:46:08,500 --> 00:46:11,380
spout scripture a yard long but the bible

987
00:46:11,380 --> 00:46:13,780
says the devils even believe and tremble and

988
00:46:13,780 --> 00:46:16,260
there's nobody that can even quote scripture that

989
00:46:16,260 --> 00:46:18,260
should exceed the devil he'll win every any

990
00:46:18,260 --> 00:46:20,300
bible memory contest you want to enter into

991
00:46:20,300 --> 00:46:24,630
him with the ability of the person to

992
00:46:24,630 --> 00:46:26,550
cite doctrine the ability of the person to

993
00:46:26,550 --> 00:46:30,070
sound spiritual or talk religious or to go

994
00:46:30,070 --> 00:46:34,190
through and that doesn't mean a thing bottom

995
00:46:34,190 --> 00:46:36,070
line will be is that person committed to

996
00:46:36,070 --> 00:46:37,830
jesus christ and when you hear of people

997
00:46:37,830 --> 00:46:41,970
that live in outright ongoing sinning and generally

998
00:46:41,970 --> 00:46:43,970
it has to do with moral sinning committing

999
00:46:43,970 --> 00:46:48,750
themselves to moral sin to immorality sexual immorality

1000
00:46:48,750 --> 00:46:53,210
there are other expressions i've dealt with people

1001
00:46:53,210 --> 00:46:55,770
who the way that they treat their family

1002
00:46:55,770 --> 00:46:58,550
beat their wives the way that they handle

1003
00:46:58,550 --> 00:47:00,750
their business affairs they are anything but a

1004
00:47:00,750 --> 00:47:04,190
disciple of jesus christ and somehow do not

1005
00:47:04,190 --> 00:47:11,710
recognize their conscience is becoming numbed seared and

1006
00:47:11,710 --> 00:47:13,490
as a result of that they are in

1007
00:47:13,490 --> 00:47:16,210
a path which is headed down a place

1008
00:47:16,210 --> 00:47:19,710
that they cannot yet recognize but the bible

1009
00:47:19,710 --> 00:47:23,750
warns that people who continually sin willfully after

1010
00:47:23,750 --> 00:47:25,890
they receive knowledge of the truth that there

1011
00:47:25,890 --> 00:47:27,610
is an end to that path and it

1012
00:47:27,610 --> 00:47:30,310
comes eventually to this point and here's the

1013
00:47:30,310 --> 00:47:32,810
thing that they do first they trample jesus

1014
00:47:32,810 --> 00:47:35,690
underfoot what does that mean well the word

1015
00:47:35,690 --> 00:47:38,650
that is used there is an interesting one

1016
00:47:38,650 --> 00:47:41,810
it's the same one jesus used when he

1017
00:47:41,810 --> 00:47:44,710
was talking about being careful what you say

1018
00:47:44,710 --> 00:47:46,070
in front of people he says don't cast

1019
00:47:46,070 --> 00:47:48,410
your pearls before swine he was talking about

1020
00:47:48,410 --> 00:47:51,030
taking truth the wisdom of god and putting

1021
00:47:51,030 --> 00:47:53,410
it before people who will use it to

1022
00:47:53,410 --> 00:47:55,330
mock to deride and they'll just turn and

1023
00:47:55,330 --> 00:47:57,630
trample over that as precious as that truth

1024
00:47:57,630 --> 00:48:02,170
is he says there's wisdom and there's truth

1025
00:48:02,170 --> 00:48:04,410
that people just trample on don't bother to

1026
00:48:04,410 --> 00:48:05,770
put it out there it's the same verb

1027
00:48:05,770 --> 00:48:08,050
that's used but here people are not trampling

1028
00:48:08,050 --> 00:48:10,290
on pearls of wisdom they are trampling on

1029
00:48:10,290 --> 00:48:16,030
the pearl of great price they've demeaned the

1030
00:48:16,030 --> 00:48:19,810
son of god it comes a place of

1031
00:48:19,810 --> 00:48:23,070
i don't care what jesus says and they

1032
00:48:23,070 --> 00:48:28,130
walk roughshod over jesus say would they ever

1033
00:48:28,130 --> 00:48:30,170
just if he laid his body out there

1034
00:48:30,170 --> 00:48:32,130
and walked over it is that what you're

1035
00:48:32,130 --> 00:48:37,530
talking about oh there's no one that likely

1036
00:48:37,530 --> 00:48:39,830
ever had any history of association with jesus

1037
00:48:39,830 --> 00:48:42,810
that would exercise some kind of an act

1038
00:48:42,810 --> 00:48:44,470
on that fashion it has to do with

1039
00:48:44,470 --> 00:48:47,830
people running roughshod indifference over the things that

1040
00:48:47,830 --> 00:48:50,290
jesus has said and jesus has called them

1041
00:48:50,290 --> 00:48:52,330
to and his appeal to them to follow

1042
00:48:52,330 --> 00:48:57,550
him and they go indifferently toward it second

1043
00:48:57,550 --> 00:48:59,130
thing it says they esteem the blood of

1044
00:48:59,130 --> 00:49:02,410
the covenant unworthy in other words they devalue

1045
00:49:02,410 --> 00:49:05,450
that which is at the heart of a

1046
00:49:05,450 --> 00:49:09,210
person's ability to know the forgiveness of god

1047
00:49:09,210 --> 00:49:10,530
for it is the blood that has paid

1048
00:49:10,530 --> 00:49:14,390
the price of salvation and they come to

1049
00:49:14,390 --> 00:49:16,030
a point where the blood of christ is

1050
00:49:16,030 --> 00:49:19,250
considered a common thing it has no real

1051
00:49:19,250 --> 00:49:23,270
worth the beginning indication of that would be

1052
00:49:23,270 --> 00:49:25,290
when a person comes to the place that

1053
00:49:25,290 --> 00:49:28,190
there is not any serious concern about the

1054
00:49:28,190 --> 00:49:31,470
cleansing power of the blood of jesus as

1055
00:49:31,470 --> 00:49:34,230
it would work in their lives and bring

1056
00:49:34,230 --> 00:49:38,250
deliverance they regard the blood only as a

1057
00:49:38,250 --> 00:49:44,830
convenient rinse to be applied to some record

1058
00:49:44,830 --> 00:49:46,510
in heaven so that they can say i've

1059
00:49:46,510 --> 00:49:48,550
been justified by faith and i'm going to

1060
00:49:48,550 --> 00:49:50,890
heaven but the blood of jesus christ is

1061
00:49:50,890 --> 00:49:53,110
not something that they come and feeding on

1062
00:49:53,110 --> 00:49:55,830
regularly at the table of the lord allow

1063
00:49:55,830 --> 00:49:58,710
to minister the ongoing life and power of

1064
00:49:58,710 --> 00:50:01,330
the son of god it becomes common thing

1065
00:50:01,330 --> 00:50:04,770
to them and there comes a dangerous indifference

1066
00:50:04,770 --> 00:50:08,270
toward that which redeems and delivers and frees

1067
00:50:08,270 --> 00:50:14,140
and purifies thirdly they insult the holy spirit

1068
00:50:14,140 --> 00:50:18,100
how how do you insult the holy spirit

1069
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:22,680
well there's a classic case when jesus spoke

1070
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:26,560
about the unpardonable sin and while hebrews chapter

1071
00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:28,860
10 that we're reading 26 to 29 is

1072
00:50:28,860 --> 00:50:32,020
not discussing the unpardonable sin the the outworking

1073
00:50:32,020 --> 00:50:33,740
of the whole thing amounts to as much

1074
00:50:33,740 --> 00:50:36,200
for the unpardonable sin is eternal condemnation this

1075
00:50:36,200 --> 00:50:38,240
person who rescinds their covenant with god by

1076
00:50:38,240 --> 00:50:40,620
those specific steps they take has arrived at

1077
00:50:40,620 --> 00:50:42,520
the same place outside the covenant and therefore

1078
00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:49,850
eternal loss and so it's essentially the same

1079
00:50:49,850 --> 00:50:51,870
thing what is the unpardonable sin the unpardonable

1080
00:50:51,870 --> 00:50:54,090
sin when you read in jesus ministry had

1081
00:50:54,090 --> 00:50:57,290
to do with people attributing to to the

1082
00:50:57,290 --> 00:51:00,310
the lord jesus the works of satan those

1083
00:51:00,310 --> 00:51:02,050
works which really were in the power of

1084
00:51:02,050 --> 00:51:04,670
the holy spirit in order to justify themselves

1085
00:51:04,670 --> 00:51:07,430
they said what god is doing that's that's

1086
00:51:07,430 --> 00:51:11,970
really deception it's really the devil what was

1087
00:51:11,970 --> 00:51:14,010
happening is the holy spirit through the miracle

1088
00:51:14,010 --> 00:51:16,130
ministry of jesus he was casting out demons

1089
00:51:16,130 --> 00:51:19,270
the holy spirit was extending and establishing the

1090
00:51:19,270 --> 00:51:23,750
rule of the kingdom through him he said

1091
00:51:23,750 --> 00:51:25,410
if i by the finger of god cast

1092
00:51:25,410 --> 00:51:27,270
out devils then the kingdom of god has

1093
00:51:27,270 --> 00:51:31,170
come to you and the pharisees who became

1094
00:51:31,170 --> 00:51:34,650
so threatened by the manifest reality and power

1095
00:51:34,650 --> 00:51:37,470
of jesus ministry said that power which was

1096
00:51:37,470 --> 00:51:39,290
the power of the holy spirit working through

1097
00:51:39,290 --> 00:51:42,090
christ said that power is demon power it's

1098
00:51:42,090 --> 00:51:47,530
beelzebub power it's the devil jesus said you

1099
00:51:47,530 --> 00:51:50,870
be careful because you just came to a

1100
00:51:50,870 --> 00:51:53,690
line you'd better recognize you can speak against

1101
00:51:53,690 --> 00:51:55,510
the father you can speak against me and

1102
00:51:55,510 --> 00:51:57,350
be forgiven but when you come and begin

1103
00:51:57,350 --> 00:52:00,130
to blaspheme the holy spirit by attributing the

1104
00:52:00,130 --> 00:52:02,310
works of the holy spirit of god to

1105
00:52:02,310 --> 00:52:04,710
satan you're in the territory that there is

1106
00:52:04,710 --> 00:52:06,910
no forgiveness in this world or in the

1107
00:52:06,910 --> 00:52:10,170
next and there's something frighteningly sobering about that

1108
00:52:10,170 --> 00:52:11,950
and at the heart of it is the

1109
00:52:11,950 --> 00:52:14,130
very thing of this insulting the holy spirit

1110
00:52:14,130 --> 00:52:16,690
because it has to do not with these

1111
00:52:17,990 --> 00:52:21,630
i consider by comparison relatively petty issues i'll

1112
00:52:21,630 --> 00:52:22,730
have somebody come and say do you think

1113
00:52:22,730 --> 00:52:25,010
somebody that says that speaking with tongues is

1114
00:52:25,010 --> 00:52:27,370
of the devil is by committed the unpardonable

1115
00:52:27,370 --> 00:52:30,350
sin and i i think people get caught

1116
00:52:30,350 --> 00:52:32,770
up in little doctrinal controversies and take people's

1117
00:52:32,770 --> 00:52:34,730
points of confusion where they're not really talking

1118
00:52:34,730 --> 00:52:36,710
so much about somebody speaking in tongues as

1119
00:52:36,710 --> 00:52:39,010
they're talking about some bizarre behavior they've seen

1120
00:52:39,010 --> 00:52:42,310
in somebody who claimed to speak with tongues

1121
00:52:42,310 --> 00:52:44,090
and lived like the devil and so therefore

1122
00:52:44,090 --> 00:52:45,530
they attribute it to being one and the

1123
00:52:45,530 --> 00:52:51,330
same the real issue has to do with

1124
00:52:51,330 --> 00:52:53,310
lordship it has to do with whether the

1125
00:52:53,310 --> 00:52:55,410
kingdom is allowed to rule what you do

1126
00:52:55,410 --> 00:52:58,730
in responding to the holy spirit's insistence that

1127
00:52:58,730 --> 00:53:01,090
jesus is lord over these issues of your

1128
00:53:01,090 --> 00:53:04,090
life and when the holy spirit comes to

1129
00:53:04,090 --> 00:53:08,210
say jesus must be lord in this area

1130
00:53:08,210 --> 00:53:11,070
i will crowd out the works of darkness

1131
00:53:11,070 --> 00:53:13,410
in your life and there is a persistence

1132
00:53:13,410 --> 00:53:16,050
of indifference to the point that we finally

1133
00:53:16,050 --> 00:53:19,850
virtually say spirit of god never read it

1134
00:53:19,850 --> 00:53:22,290
in words spirit of god leave me alone

1135
00:53:23,910 --> 00:53:28,430
i will what i will to do that

1136
00:53:28,430 --> 00:53:32,070
a person then rescinds the arena into which

1137
00:53:32,070 --> 00:53:35,330
grace has ushered them the provision of salvation

1138
00:53:35,330 --> 00:53:38,150
you say pastor jack why are you dealing

1139
00:53:38,150 --> 00:53:39,950
with this i'm dealing with for two reasons

1140
00:53:39,950 --> 00:53:42,710
the first reason is that i have wanted

1141
00:53:42,710 --> 00:53:46,690
to make very clear that the issue that

1142
00:53:46,690 --> 00:53:50,310
suicide would eternally dam a soul is not

1143
00:53:50,310 --> 00:53:52,090
an issue that ought to torment or frighten

1144
00:53:52,090 --> 00:53:54,350
any person as though someone you know who

1145
00:53:54,350 --> 00:53:58,110
committed suicide is thereby automatically certain of eternal

1146
00:53:58,110 --> 00:54:00,750
loss and because that thought is prevalent enough

1147
00:54:00,750 --> 00:54:03,530
in the church at large and there are

1148
00:54:03,530 --> 00:54:06,370
people i suppose in our congregation that feared

1149
00:54:06,370 --> 00:54:08,850
that they they ought to believe it i

1150
00:54:08,850 --> 00:54:10,390
don't know people who would want to believe

1151
00:54:10,390 --> 00:54:12,290
it i can't imagine anybody wanting to believe

1152
00:54:12,290 --> 00:54:14,070
it but i can imagine people who felt

1153
00:54:14,070 --> 00:54:16,150
obligated to believe it because it seemed it

1154
00:54:16,150 --> 00:54:19,050
must be true murder self-murder last act

1155
00:54:19,050 --> 00:54:20,750
how can you stand before god and said

1156
00:54:20,750 --> 00:54:23,470
i violated one of your commandments and therefore

1157
00:54:23,470 --> 00:54:27,490
expect eternal hope but i'm wanting to make

1158
00:54:27,490 --> 00:54:29,630
clear that by the act of suicide a

1159
00:54:29,630 --> 00:54:31,230
person doesn't lose their soul but if we're

1160
00:54:31,230 --> 00:54:32,770
going to deal with that subject we've got

1161
00:54:32,770 --> 00:54:33,870
to go all the way and deal with

1162
00:54:33,870 --> 00:54:36,010
that a person can lose their soul and

1163
00:54:36,010 --> 00:54:38,990
we can't be indifferent to that truth but

1164
00:54:38,990 --> 00:54:40,750
it is a difficult thing to do people

1165
00:54:40,750 --> 00:54:43,690
don't do it by accident you don't do

1166
00:54:43,690 --> 00:54:45,090
it because you had a flash of temper

1167
00:54:45,090 --> 00:54:48,870
i hate to even concede this ground but

1168
00:54:48,870 --> 00:54:50,490
i've been pretty pointed about the sin of

1169
00:54:50,490 --> 00:54:53,670
immorality and its undesirability its unrighteousness and its

1170
00:54:53,670 --> 00:54:57,010
evil so let me go one step and

1171
00:54:57,010 --> 00:54:59,030
and say uh what is the truth of

1172
00:54:59,030 --> 00:55:01,590
the word i i don't even like to

1173
00:55:01,590 --> 00:55:03,190
concede this much but i've got to say

1174
00:55:03,190 --> 00:55:05,450
it because it's true no more than the

1175
00:55:05,450 --> 00:55:07,550
act of suicide is going necessarily damn a

1176
00:55:07,550 --> 00:55:10,390
person's soul who has struck covenant with god

1177
00:55:10,390 --> 00:55:12,230
and has not denied that covenant an act

1178
00:55:12,230 --> 00:55:14,510
of immorality isn't going to either but the

1179
00:55:14,510 --> 00:55:16,710
problem is that once people begin to presume

1180
00:55:16,710 --> 00:55:19,650
on the grace of god they get into

1181
00:55:19,650 --> 00:55:22,810
arena an arena where there comes a neutralizing

1182
00:55:22,810 --> 00:55:24,050
and a numbing of their heart and their

1183
00:55:24,050 --> 00:55:26,050
conscience toward god and that's what this willful

1184
00:55:26,050 --> 00:55:27,970
sinning of hebrews chapter 10 is talking about

1185
00:55:27,970 --> 00:55:30,030
people who in a continuum get in a

1186
00:55:30,030 --> 00:55:32,290
path where they're moving more distantly all the

1187
00:55:32,290 --> 00:55:35,290
time from true discipleship to jesus christ and

1188
00:55:35,290 --> 00:55:37,250
living under the delusion that they are in

1189
00:55:37,250 --> 00:55:40,970
fact disciples sufficiently to warrant their belief that

1190
00:55:40,970 --> 00:55:43,090
the covenant covers where they are and they

1191
00:55:43,090 --> 00:55:45,370
are effectively coming to the place the covenant

1192
00:55:45,370 --> 00:55:48,250
is being dismantled by their violation of it

1193
00:55:48,250 --> 00:55:50,650
at point after point after point after point

1194
00:55:55,350 --> 00:55:58,470
then are you saying jackson suicide does not

1195
00:55:58,470 --> 00:56:00,390
apparently constitute in the light of the word

1196
00:56:00,390 --> 00:56:02,830
of rescinding of the believers packed with god

1197
00:56:02,830 --> 00:56:04,430
that is the covenant of salvation that it

1198
00:56:04,430 --> 00:56:07,770
makes no difference but suicide may be committed

1199
00:56:07,770 --> 00:56:11,720
with virtual impunity and i want to say

1200
00:56:11,720 --> 00:56:13,000
and i think i've said that the text

1201
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:14,760
we've read at the beginning demonstrates that the

1202
00:56:14,760 --> 00:56:16,740
issues of life are great greater than we

1203
00:56:16,740 --> 00:56:21,440
suppose that the issue of our eternal salvation

1204
00:56:22,500 --> 00:56:26,420
no matter how everlastingly consequential however does not

1205
00:56:26,420 --> 00:56:28,160
overshadow the fact that god has saved us

1206
00:56:28,160 --> 00:56:29,360
for his purpose and i want to talk

1207
00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:30,640
a little bit about the purpose of this

1208
00:56:30,640 --> 00:56:32,860
life i've already said jesus has called us

1209
00:56:32,860 --> 00:56:36,000
to follow him and he gave his life

1210
00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:38,980
he didn't save it this passage we read

1211
00:56:38,980 --> 00:56:43,020
in the came to him were men who

1212
00:56:43,020 --> 00:56:46,060
were looking apparently for jesus to come with

1213
00:56:46,060 --> 00:56:49,200
them jesus who had been rejected in general

1214
00:56:49,200 --> 00:56:52,540
by officialdom of those in israel might well

1215
00:56:52,540 --> 00:56:55,300
have thought oh why don't i go with

1216
00:56:55,300 --> 00:56:57,720
these who have come men who are seeking

1217
00:56:57,720 --> 00:57:01,420
truth and beauty and light and i can

1218
00:57:01,420 --> 00:57:03,280
go there are open hearts that will receive

1219
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:07,400
the revelation of god he says father what

1220
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:09,400
shall i say when these come say we

1221
00:57:09,400 --> 00:57:11,580
want to talk to jesus these grecians said

1222
00:57:11,580 --> 00:57:15,080
no one knows what their conversational approach to

1223
00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:18,040
him was but jesus response suggests to me

1224
00:57:18,040 --> 00:57:22,760
that they were offering him saying look people

1225
00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:24,820
apparently aren't really that open to you at

1226
00:57:24,820 --> 00:57:27,180
least at official level here we come from

1227
00:57:27,180 --> 00:57:28,780
a country where there are people that are

1228
00:57:28,780 --> 00:57:34,160
honestly seeking insight into what truth and justice

1229
00:57:34,160 --> 00:57:36,000
and beauty is about and you seem to

1230
00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:37,940
manifest it in a way why don't you

1231
00:57:37,940 --> 00:57:41,720
come with us jesus recognizing these people from

1232
00:57:41,720 --> 00:57:44,040
a pagan background that basically have some kind

1233
00:57:44,040 --> 00:57:45,440
of an openness toward him and they were

1234
00:57:45,440 --> 00:57:47,840
probably people committed to some degree of faith

1235
00:57:47,840 --> 00:57:49,980
in the jewish law but they also came

1236
00:57:49,980 --> 00:57:51,720
from a culture where there would have been

1237
00:57:51,720 --> 00:57:54,780
more openness without the religious resistance that he

1238
00:57:54,780 --> 00:57:58,300
was finding there jesus says father what shall

1239
00:57:58,300 --> 00:58:02,660
i say and he answers himself said no

1240
00:58:02,660 --> 00:58:05,920
said should i say save me from this

1241
00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:07,520
hour and all in the gospel of john

1242
00:58:07,520 --> 00:58:08,960
that phrase has to do with his going

1243
00:58:08,960 --> 00:58:11,800
to the cross the pathway of self-denial

1244
00:58:11,800 --> 00:58:13,480
the pathway of surrender to the will of

1245
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:15,880
god and the purpose of god and he

1246
00:58:15,880 --> 00:58:17,880
says no for this purpose came i into

1247
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:19,920
the world and then he turns around and

1248
00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:22,520
he says don't anybody that follows me go

1249
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:24,740
about the path of taking your life in

1250
00:58:24,740 --> 00:58:26,680
your own hands no matter how reasonable it

1251
00:58:26,680 --> 00:58:28,400
seems no matter how dark they are no

1252
00:58:28,400 --> 00:58:32,100
matter how desperate the circumstance no matter how

1253
00:58:32,100 --> 00:58:37,900
apparently desirable the option don't take things in

1254
00:58:37,900 --> 00:58:41,040
your own hands the purpose of this life

1255
00:58:41,040 --> 00:58:42,860
let's talk about it a few minutes it's

1256
00:58:42,860 --> 00:58:44,920
a shallow concept that only sees this life

1257
00:58:44,920 --> 00:58:48,500
as being determining of our eternal salvation i

1258
00:58:48,500 --> 00:58:49,980
think the one thing that concerns me about

1259
00:58:49,980 --> 00:58:52,200
the run in the mill of evangelical christianity

1260
00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:56,120
and that includes most pentecostals charismatics the run

1261
00:58:56,120 --> 00:58:57,940
of the mill see what's out what what

1262
00:58:57,940 --> 00:59:00,480
salvation is about what this life is all

1263
00:59:00,480 --> 00:59:01,660
about is you decide whether you're going to

1264
00:59:01,660 --> 00:59:04,700
be saved or lost now there's no question

1265
00:59:04,700 --> 00:59:06,900
that that is the ultimate issue of this

1266
00:59:06,900 --> 00:59:10,480
life nobody can bypass that and a person

1267
00:59:10,480 --> 00:59:12,020
whether they're going to be in the presence

1268
00:59:12,020 --> 00:59:14,200
of god eternally or apart from god eternally

1269
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:16,600
that is decided in this lifetime but jesus

1270
00:59:16,600 --> 00:59:19,320
christ did not come just in order to

1271
00:59:19,320 --> 00:59:20,660
make a way for people to get to

1272
00:59:20,660 --> 00:59:23,920
heaven forever i'm not minimizing that righteous provision

1273
00:59:23,920 --> 00:59:26,380
or the high joy of eternity with him

1274
00:59:26,380 --> 00:59:29,360
but what he came to do is to

1275
00:59:29,360 --> 00:59:31,460
bring life into the light he came to

1276
00:59:31,460 --> 00:59:34,360
begin to infuse people with the purposes of

1277
00:59:34,360 --> 00:59:36,420
god so that a purposeless world could begin

1278
00:59:36,420 --> 00:59:38,620
to see people who are moving toward something

1279
00:59:38,620 --> 00:59:42,760
in the face of an untoward world and

1280
00:59:42,760 --> 00:59:44,280
that the life of the kingdom would begin

1281
00:59:44,280 --> 00:59:46,400
to govern their life and their behavior so

1282
00:59:46,400 --> 00:59:48,180
that the power of the kingdom would begin

1283
00:59:48,180 --> 00:59:51,140
to encroach upon the darkness and they being

1284
00:59:51,140 --> 00:59:53,560
salt in the earth would take the decadence

1285
00:59:53,560 --> 00:59:55,440
of the earth and see it change because

1286
00:59:55,440 --> 00:59:58,160
of the purifying preserving penetrating power of the

1287
00:59:58,160 --> 01:00:00,860
salt and that they being light in the

1288
01:00:00,860 --> 01:00:03,860
world not lights shining forever in the star

1289
01:00:03,860 --> 01:00:07,280
affirmament though we shall shine as the stars

1290
01:00:07,280 --> 01:00:09,720
forever in some marvelous poetic sense of that

1291
01:00:09,720 --> 01:00:12,480
word but that they would be light in

1292
01:00:12,480 --> 01:00:14,280
the world and where they go that something

1293
01:00:14,280 --> 01:00:16,080
of the glow of god in them would

1294
01:00:16,080 --> 01:00:18,660
crowd out darkness the purpose of god in

1295
01:00:18,660 --> 01:00:23,830
believers is that life happen in them and

1296
01:00:23,830 --> 01:00:26,050
that that life take over a dead planet

1297
01:00:26,050 --> 01:00:30,630
but salvation is so perceived today by so

1298
01:00:30,630 --> 01:00:35,090
many believers the cheap shoddy tinsely tinfoil kind

1299
01:00:35,090 --> 01:00:38,570
of believing life that reduces to well jesus

1300
01:00:38,570 --> 01:00:41,090
is just for me and my fulfillment and

1301
01:00:41,090 --> 01:00:42,850
he does want to fulfill us he's for

1302
01:00:42,850 --> 01:00:44,950
me and my prosperity he does want to

1303
01:00:44,950 --> 01:00:47,750
prosper us he's for me and my emotional

1304
01:00:47,750 --> 01:00:50,190
satisfaction and he does want to heal and

1305
01:00:50,190 --> 01:00:52,970
fulfill your emotions but that isn't what the

1306
01:00:52,970 --> 01:00:55,330
sum and substance of his purpose is he

1307
01:00:55,330 --> 01:00:57,490
wants to get us together at those points

1308
01:00:57,490 --> 01:01:00,790
so that we can follow him and following

1309
01:01:00,790 --> 01:01:03,210
him will inevitably bring you to a place

1310
01:01:03,210 --> 01:01:06,210
that you begin to give your life away

1311
01:01:06,210 --> 01:01:09,690
not seize your life to yourself and no

1312
01:01:09,690 --> 01:01:12,550
matter how you slice it dear ones the

1313
01:01:12,550 --> 01:01:18,830
most conclusive demonstration of self-preservingness and i

1314
01:01:18,830 --> 01:01:23,270
hurt in saying it lest i would offend

1315
01:01:23,270 --> 01:01:27,710
some individual's memory of any other person and

1316
01:01:27,710 --> 01:01:29,470
you've had enough pain if you've been in

1317
01:01:29,470 --> 01:01:31,370
touch with a case of suicide that has

1318
01:01:31,370 --> 01:01:34,110
hurt you and i would not open that

1319
01:01:34,110 --> 01:01:37,350
wound i would not reopen it i would

1320
01:01:37,350 --> 01:01:39,210
not take and wave in front of you

1321
01:01:39,210 --> 01:01:43,250
some preacherly statement that would be unkind or

1322
01:01:43,250 --> 01:01:47,010
loveless but i submit to you the reason

1323
01:01:47,010 --> 01:01:48,390
for the depth of the wound and the

1324
01:01:48,390 --> 01:01:50,310
deepness of the pain is because what you

1325
01:01:50,310 --> 01:01:53,230
have dealt with has been a consummate act

1326
01:01:53,230 --> 01:01:56,930
of selfishness you say well i don't i

1327
01:01:56,930 --> 01:01:58,510
don't want to think of them as being

1328
01:01:58,510 --> 01:02:00,610
selfish they were dear and they were loving

1329
01:02:00,610 --> 01:02:03,570
and they were hurt and they were pained

1330
01:02:03,570 --> 01:02:08,140
and of course they were but so have

1331
01:02:08,140 --> 01:02:11,960
been multiplied millions who never inflicted on those

1332
01:02:11,960 --> 01:02:15,380
around them that degree of pain not to

1333
01:02:15,380 --> 01:02:18,500
mention the fact the multiplied millions who out

1334
01:02:18,500 --> 01:02:22,220
of their torment pursued with disciplined purity the

1335
01:02:22,220 --> 01:02:24,460
way of jesus christ and not only found

1336
01:02:24,460 --> 01:02:28,500
that they survived they found deliverance and a

1337
01:02:28,500 --> 01:02:32,680
way into light oh let us not submit

1338
01:02:32,680 --> 01:02:36,460
to the selfishness of a world that pleads

1339
01:02:36,460 --> 01:02:40,100
with us to concede to our own feelings

1340
01:02:40,100 --> 01:02:43,180
rather than to the revelation of god which

1341
01:02:43,180 --> 01:02:46,360
if this truth is imbibed it will take

1342
01:02:46,360 --> 01:02:48,240
over your system and it will make you

1343
01:02:48,240 --> 01:02:53,570
free but i have known pastor jack i've

1344
01:02:53,570 --> 01:02:56,090
known and our casuistry begins to work episodes

1345
01:02:56,090 --> 01:02:58,290
cases we can offer case but i've known

1346
01:02:58,290 --> 01:03:00,790
people who who they seem to have all

1347
01:03:00,790 --> 01:03:04,970
of that and loved ones i've had to

1348
01:03:04,970 --> 01:03:06,990
wrestle through the same thing in dealing with

1349
01:03:06,990 --> 01:03:09,970
cases myself but i finally came to the

1350
01:03:09,970 --> 01:03:13,850
bottom line that without disrespecting the memory of

1351
01:03:13,850 --> 01:03:17,650
those beloved ones without in any wise impugning

1352
01:03:17,650 --> 01:03:21,530
to them even in their last moments less

1353
01:03:21,530 --> 01:03:23,750
than what appeared to them at that moment

1354
01:03:23,750 --> 01:03:29,650
the right thing without impugning anything against them

1355
01:03:29,650 --> 01:03:32,430
i've still had to come to the bottom

1356
01:03:32,430 --> 01:03:38,470
line that no matter how they seemed it's

1357
01:03:38,470 --> 01:03:42,330
still only how they seemed it's not where

1358
01:03:42,330 --> 01:03:47,760
they were and i've had people say to

1359
01:03:47,760 --> 01:03:50,960
me over the years of pastoral experience if

1360
01:03:50,960 --> 01:03:53,160
they did that and they seemed so strong

1361
01:03:53,160 --> 01:03:55,180
and there have been very few cases that

1362
01:03:55,180 --> 01:03:57,120
i've ever dealt with where people seem strong

1363
01:03:57,120 --> 01:03:58,680
but you deal with one and it's enough

1364
01:03:58,680 --> 01:04:00,240
when you answer the question but they seem

1365
01:04:00,240 --> 01:04:02,200
so strong i wonder if the same thing

1366
01:04:02,200 --> 01:04:03,880
could happen to me well the same thing

1367
01:04:03,880 --> 01:04:05,300
could happen to any one of us if

1368
01:04:05,300 --> 01:04:09,630
we concede there's not a righteous one among

1369
01:04:09,630 --> 01:04:11,430
us that can save ourselves and there's not

1370
01:04:11,430 --> 01:04:13,650
a righteous one among us who can argue

1371
01:04:13,650 --> 01:04:16,510
preemption from the likelihood of surrender to ourself

1372
01:04:16,510 --> 01:04:19,210
at such point the reason for dealing with

1373
01:04:19,210 --> 01:04:20,970
this truth is to hold the starkness of

1374
01:04:20,970 --> 01:04:22,670
the sin of suicide in front of us

1375
01:04:22,670 --> 01:04:25,510
in a way we come not only with

1376
01:04:25,510 --> 01:04:29,250
the comforting truth because there is comforting truth

1377
01:04:29,250 --> 01:04:30,750
in this message and i hope you see

1378
01:04:30,750 --> 01:04:32,890
it there at places but there's demanding truth

1379
01:04:32,890 --> 01:04:35,090
also that calls us to discipleship because the

1380
01:04:35,090 --> 01:04:38,230
greatest comfort is walking the pathway of jesus

1381
01:04:38,230 --> 01:04:41,970
and watching him work deliverance i want to

1382
01:04:41,970 --> 01:04:43,530
deal with a very difficult point now for

1383
01:04:43,530 --> 01:04:46,850
a moment and it's a point that concerns

1384
01:04:46,850 --> 01:04:51,230
me very very deeply i want to remove

1385
01:04:51,230 --> 01:04:53,490
the notion that the person who commits suicide

1386
01:04:53,490 --> 01:04:55,570
leaves the distress of their present life and

1387
01:04:55,570 --> 01:04:57,890
suddenly is wafted into the joyous presence of

1388
01:04:57,890 --> 01:05:01,490
jesus say well aren't they with the lord

1389
01:05:01,490 --> 01:05:05,030
oh yes yes the bible says specifically to

1390
01:05:05,030 --> 01:05:06,710
be absent from the body is to be

1391
01:05:06,710 --> 01:05:10,250
present with the lord there is no limbo

1392
01:05:10,250 --> 01:05:13,430
where a soul kind of floats floats pointlessly

1393
01:05:13,430 --> 01:05:16,830
awaiting some eternal time of of accounting there

1394
01:05:16,830 --> 01:05:21,460
is no soul sleep to be absent from

1395
01:05:21,460 --> 01:05:24,180
the body the scripture says second corinthians chapter

1396
01:05:24,180 --> 01:05:26,180
five is to be present with the lord

1397
01:05:28,440 --> 01:05:30,560
paul says to the philippians in chapter one

1398
01:05:30,560 --> 01:05:33,220
he says when i face the impending execution

1399
01:05:33,220 --> 01:05:35,240
i think to myself should i say god

1400
01:05:35,240 --> 01:05:37,240
deliver me from the roman sword that's to

1401
01:05:37,240 --> 01:05:41,360
take my life should i say lord deliver

1402
01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:42,920
me for the sake of ministry or should

1403
01:05:42,920 --> 01:05:45,560
i just say it's been a long been

1404
01:05:45,560 --> 01:05:47,300
a long struggle all years i think i'd

1405
01:05:47,300 --> 01:05:48,900
like to go home he says sometimes i

1406
01:05:48,900 --> 01:05:50,280
wonder what you'd rather but he says i

1407
01:05:50,280 --> 01:05:52,240
get he says they made the decision right

1408
01:05:52,240 --> 01:05:54,220
there but he wouldn't have been wrestling with

1409
01:05:54,220 --> 01:05:55,520
the decision if there was some kind of

1410
01:05:55,520 --> 01:05:57,340
a soul sleep some kind of a limbo

1411
01:05:57,340 --> 01:06:00,220
some sort of an in-between he knew

1412
01:06:00,220 --> 01:06:01,720
he'd be with the lord he says i

1413
01:06:01,720 --> 01:06:02,960
wonder if it would be better to depart

1414
01:06:02,960 --> 01:06:05,900
with christ now but even there in that

1415
01:06:05,900 --> 01:06:09,440
soliloquy where he discusses would be better just

1416
01:06:09,440 --> 01:06:12,820
to not pray for deliverance from my impending

1417
01:06:12,820 --> 01:06:15,480
execution so that i could have extended ministry

1418
01:06:15,480 --> 01:06:17,780
or just say oh just gonna let events

1419
01:06:17,780 --> 01:06:19,720
take their course because i've worked a long

1420
01:06:19,720 --> 01:06:21,440
hard time here and serving the lord and

1421
01:06:21,440 --> 01:06:22,980
i'd like to go home i've taken enough

1422
01:06:22,980 --> 01:06:25,780
lumps taken enough beatings been through enough shipwrecks

1423
01:06:25,780 --> 01:06:28,260
had enough hell boiling around me serve god

1424
01:06:28,260 --> 01:06:30,060
faithfully enough i want to go home to

1425
01:06:30,060 --> 01:06:32,220
my reward and he well might have but

1426
01:06:32,220 --> 01:06:33,660
here's the decision he makes he says but

1427
01:06:33,660 --> 01:06:35,980
i've decided to stay here as long as

1428
01:06:35,980 --> 01:06:37,740
i can because it's better to be serving

1429
01:06:37,740 --> 01:06:39,780
people than it is to serve my own

1430
01:06:39,780 --> 01:06:43,820
convenience and go with jesus he didn't have

1431
01:06:43,820 --> 01:06:46,340
that choice he wasn't about to commit suicide

1432
01:06:46,340 --> 01:06:48,340
that wasn't the issue at all it's not

1433
01:06:48,340 --> 01:06:51,180
a hamlet soliloquy it's a godly soliloquy the

1434
01:06:51,180 --> 01:06:53,040
man saying i'm going to get my head

1435
01:06:53,040 --> 01:06:54,840
cut off because i served jesus should i

1436
01:06:54,840 --> 01:06:57,860
pray for deliverance from this or not we

1437
01:06:57,860 --> 01:06:59,920
don't believe in purgatory the bible doesn't teach

1438
01:06:59,920 --> 01:07:02,560
such a thing what do we believe in

1439
01:07:02,560 --> 01:07:06,640
somehow there exists in the body of christ

1440
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:09,920
the idea that a person who commits suicide

1441
01:07:09,920 --> 01:07:12,580
has suddenly left whatever it was of the

1442
01:07:12,580 --> 01:07:15,220
turmoil and the difficulties they had and been

1443
01:07:15,220 --> 01:07:20,180
automatically released where now they just went from

1444
01:07:20,180 --> 01:07:22,100
whatever it was the bullet through the skull

1445
01:07:22,100 --> 01:07:24,000
whatever it was of the loss of their

1446
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,260
life by whatever means and now suddenly the

1447
01:07:26,260 --> 01:07:29,680
next instant they're with the lord life is

1448
01:07:29,680 --> 01:07:32,860
beautiful and they're singing in the heavenly choir

1449
01:07:32,860 --> 01:07:35,280
and we're with jesus and i'm not being

1450
01:07:35,280 --> 01:07:37,960
funny please because there are people i don't

1451
01:07:37,960 --> 01:07:39,920
want to evoke don't be embarrassed if you

1452
01:07:39,920 --> 01:07:41,620
chuckled a bit there i'm not trying to

1453
01:07:41,620 --> 01:07:45,380
evoke anything at all there's nothing facetious in

1454
01:07:45,380 --> 01:07:47,120
what i'm saying and there are people who

1455
01:07:47,120 --> 01:07:48,960
right now are on a thin edge of

1456
01:07:48,960 --> 01:07:51,160
pain because of things that well then if

1457
01:07:51,160 --> 01:07:54,720
they're i'll tell you what they face no

1458
01:07:54,720 --> 01:07:59,720
limbo no purgatory but they do face a

1459
01:07:59,720 --> 01:08:03,420
moment of accountability before the throne of jesus

1460
01:08:03,420 --> 01:08:05,620
christ their lord who died to give them

1461
01:08:05,620 --> 01:08:10,140
life and i want to submit you to

1462
01:08:10,140 --> 01:08:12,960
you that that standing before jesus christ and

1463
01:08:12,960 --> 01:08:14,820
accounting for what we have done with our

1464
01:08:14,820 --> 01:08:18,120
life is not some little juicy moment of

1465
01:08:18,120 --> 01:08:20,500
ecstasy where we start practicing with the heavenly

1466
01:08:20,500 --> 01:08:23,460
choir the bible puts it in terms like

1467
01:08:23,460 --> 01:08:25,859
these that everything that we have been and

1468
01:08:25,859 --> 01:08:28,300
done as a redeemed child of god is

1469
01:08:28,300 --> 01:08:30,120
marshaled into the presence of the lord and

1470
01:08:30,120 --> 01:08:34,520
it is tested by fire and it says

1471
01:08:34,520 --> 01:08:37,040
that it's possible for everything that a person

1472
01:08:37,040 --> 01:08:39,220
did with their life as a believer to

1473
01:08:39,220 --> 01:08:44,540
be lost they will still be saved but

1474
01:08:44,540 --> 01:08:47,500
i want to ask you the question as

1475
01:08:47,500 --> 01:08:50,120
to how readily you're likely to tune your

1476
01:08:50,120 --> 01:08:53,140
soul to an eternal choir the instant that

1477
01:08:53,140 --> 01:08:56,600
jesus said i love you and i receive

1478
01:08:56,600 --> 01:08:59,880
you from the pain of your failure and

1479
01:08:59,880 --> 01:09:02,020
you are forgiven and you may enter into

1480
01:09:02,020 --> 01:09:07,020
the presence of the father but everything you

1481
01:09:07,020 --> 01:09:09,700
were to be for me has been lost

1482
01:09:09,700 --> 01:09:13,899
and i call you to account to me

1483
01:09:14,470 --> 01:09:17,939
how my child my having shown you my

1484
01:09:17,939 --> 01:09:20,859
love and forgiveness could you waste it in

1485
01:09:20,859 --> 01:09:28,439
a moment and please no one laugh i

1486
01:09:28,439 --> 01:09:30,899
don't see a person spinning from that moment

1487
01:09:33,250 --> 01:09:38,819
and joining in some grand hallelujah course for

1488
01:09:38,819 --> 01:09:45,300
the lord god omnipotent reigneth i'll tell you

1489
01:09:45,300 --> 01:09:47,200
an opinion that is merely that though it

1490
01:09:47,200 --> 01:09:51,899
is shared by other commentators that i've preachers

1491
01:09:51,899 --> 01:09:55,420
that i've conversed with not in the least

1492
01:09:55,420 --> 01:09:57,600
bit legalistic way and they've said this when

1493
01:09:57,600 --> 01:09:59,620
the bible says god shall wipe away all

1494
01:09:59,620 --> 01:10:04,460
tears they said i wonder if there shall

1495
01:10:04,460 --> 01:10:06,660
not be in the moments of awareness when

1496
01:10:06,660 --> 01:10:08,700
we stand before god and see how we've

1497
01:10:08,700 --> 01:10:12,440
wasted the marvel of the grand salvation he

1498
01:10:12,440 --> 01:10:15,580
gave us that there shall not be not

1499
01:10:15,580 --> 01:10:18,020
a time of self-flagellation of a purgatory

1500
01:10:18,020 --> 01:10:20,480
of trying to earn god's pleasure not a

1501
01:10:20,480 --> 01:10:23,740
lack of understanding his love but being so

1502
01:10:23,740 --> 01:10:27,340
overwhelmed by the love that received you in

1503
01:10:27,340 --> 01:10:30,300
spite of how you wasted everything the love

1504
01:10:30,300 --> 01:10:32,640
that even in that moment does not condemn

1505
01:10:32,640 --> 01:10:36,680
you but embraces you in total receptivity but

1506
01:10:36,680 --> 01:10:39,680
nonetheless your soul bows in that moment and

1507
01:10:39,680 --> 01:10:45,960
says oh i wasted it all and i'm

1508
01:10:45,960 --> 01:10:52,220
sorry who can suppose that a person can

1509
01:10:52,220 --> 01:10:54,840
take the gift of life dash it to

1510
01:10:54,840 --> 01:10:57,680
destruction and go singing into the presence of

1511
01:10:57,680 --> 01:11:01,380
the living god i plead with you loved

1512
01:11:01,380 --> 01:11:04,640
ones be gone with the foolishness of a

1513
01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:07,180
world mind that fills us with such ignorance

1514
01:11:07,180 --> 01:11:11,000
in the name of theology in the name

1515
01:11:11,000 --> 01:11:16,980
of a notion that salvation preempts responsibility we

1516
01:11:16,980 --> 01:11:20,920
are called to eternal salvation called by a

1517
01:11:20,920 --> 01:11:23,180
love that embraces us with such depth we

1518
01:11:23,180 --> 01:11:25,880
can't fathom it and even in that moment

1519
01:11:25,880 --> 01:11:31,000
of recognized wastefulness still that prodigal shall enter

1520
01:11:31,000 --> 01:11:34,700
into a time of feasting there shall be

1521
01:11:34,700 --> 01:11:39,140
a clothing with that prodigal with righteousness we

1522
01:11:39,140 --> 01:11:43,180
shall experience the ring of redemption being placed

1523
01:11:43,180 --> 01:11:45,020
on our finger in the presence of god

1524
01:11:45,520 --> 01:11:47,980
and there shall come the time of joining

1525
01:11:47,980 --> 01:11:52,200
an eternal song but i think not that

1526
01:11:52,200 --> 01:11:56,020
it springs from that first moment of passage

1527
01:11:56,020 --> 01:12:01,620
with relative indifference and consummate selfishness out of

1528
01:12:01,620 --> 01:12:04,440
the pain of the moment trying to escape

1529
01:12:04,440 --> 01:12:06,960
responsibility when god has called us to it

1530
01:12:06,960 --> 01:12:11,540
and we are accountable oh that hurts me

1531
01:12:11,540 --> 01:12:14,620
to deal with that truth situations come to

1532
01:12:14,620 --> 01:12:16,360
mind and i've said i will not deal

1533
01:12:16,360 --> 01:12:18,880
with them what are the person who took

1534
01:12:18,880 --> 01:12:22,380
their life in a drunken stupor in a

1535
01:12:22,380 --> 01:12:24,220
moment that they were so high on drugs

1536
01:12:24,220 --> 01:12:27,560
they didn't even know what was happening what

1537
01:12:27,560 --> 01:12:31,940
of them let me ask a question even

1538
01:12:31,940 --> 01:12:36,040
more penetrating than that what of this person

1539
01:12:37,600 --> 01:12:40,660
the person whose self-centeredness is breeding a

1540
01:12:40,660 --> 01:12:46,500
slow suicide what have we who continue drinking

1541
01:12:46,500 --> 01:12:55,520
liquor caffeine who feed our bodies in a

1542
01:12:55,520 --> 01:12:57,120
way that it is not a moment of

1543
01:12:57,120 --> 01:13:01,520
abandonment of casting our life away in an

1544
01:13:01,520 --> 01:13:04,920
instant but casting our life away by little

1545
01:13:04,920 --> 01:13:08,240
and by little who inhale nicotine to the

1546
01:13:08,240 --> 01:13:10,020
point of a cancer that takes our lives

1547
01:13:10,020 --> 01:13:13,760
20 years ahead of time i ask you

1548
01:13:13,760 --> 01:13:16,020
loved ones what will be the scene in

1549
01:13:16,020 --> 01:13:18,280
the presence of christ what have you done

1550
01:13:18,280 --> 01:13:19,960
with the life i gave you of the

1551
01:13:19,960 --> 01:13:23,780
young person who drives recklessly and hangs themselves

1552
01:13:23,780 --> 01:13:26,580
around a pole not the victim of somebody

1553
01:13:26,580 --> 01:13:29,820
else's foolishness but the victim of their own

1554
01:13:29,820 --> 01:13:33,420
recklessness and they lose 40 years of committed

1555
01:13:33,420 --> 01:13:37,260
service to jesus christ what of that kind

1556
01:13:37,260 --> 01:13:40,180
of suicide what are the kind of suicide

1557
01:13:40,180 --> 01:13:43,440
of overeating to the point of a body

1558
01:13:43,440 --> 01:13:46,060
whose heart cannot sustain itself and we lose

1559
01:13:46,060 --> 01:13:48,360
years time that might be given in faithful

1560
01:13:48,360 --> 01:13:52,800
service of overwork because we're driven by some

1561
01:13:52,800 --> 01:13:57,000
self-induced ethic that requires of us to

1562
01:13:57,000 --> 01:13:59,800
attain some degree of success that god could

1563
01:13:59,800 --> 01:14:02,580
give by grace without our degree of works

1564
01:14:02,580 --> 01:14:05,100
if we would let him but we ruin

1565
01:14:05,100 --> 01:14:09,320
ourselves stampeded by fear what of that that

1566
01:14:09,320 --> 01:14:15,020
results from immorality i thought of what kind

1567
01:14:15,020 --> 01:14:18,900
of suicide is this an idle reckless moment

1568
01:14:18,900 --> 01:14:23,360
of indifference the conception of a child and

1569
01:14:23,360 --> 01:14:26,980
then the instance of abortion what kind of

1570
01:14:26,980 --> 01:14:28,900
suicide on their own soul is a person

1571
01:14:28,900 --> 01:14:32,800
been working that which nags screams and hollers

1572
01:14:32,800 --> 01:14:36,520
inside them that you have violated life and

1573
01:14:36,520 --> 01:14:38,480
what sort of suicide is that that has

1574
01:14:38,480 --> 01:14:41,280
numbed the mind of a man who doesn't

1575
01:14:41,280 --> 01:14:43,960
even seem to bear that much of sense

1576
01:14:43,960 --> 01:14:46,400
of responsibility for what he has begotten and

1577
01:14:46,400 --> 01:14:48,300
now what is lost or say well it

1578
01:14:48,300 --> 01:14:50,160
wasn't aborted it was born and now it's

1579
01:14:50,160 --> 01:14:54,360
being raised someplace the person squanders life somehow

1580
01:14:54,360 --> 01:14:58,100
now the whole thing smacks to me as

1581
01:14:58,100 --> 01:14:59,960
the very thing of what the bible says

1582
01:14:59,960 --> 01:15:01,880
it has to do with defiling the temple

1583
01:15:01,880 --> 01:15:04,380
of god the word thyro that is used

1584
01:15:04,380 --> 01:15:09,580
there has to do with anything that involves

1585
01:15:09,580 --> 01:15:13,920
the out of orderness of the temple and

1586
01:15:13,920 --> 01:15:15,920
the jews order of things if even one

1587
01:15:15,920 --> 01:15:17,720
thing was out of order the temple the

1588
01:15:17,720 --> 01:15:19,920
temple was defied it was a word thyro

1589
01:15:19,920 --> 01:15:22,980
was used to describe the violation of a

1590
01:15:22,980 --> 01:15:27,540
marriage contract that a contract that that in

1591
01:15:27,540 --> 01:15:29,460
marriage contracts in the ancient day that verb

1592
01:15:29,460 --> 01:15:31,940
was used when we describe a marriage where

1593
01:15:31,940 --> 01:15:35,580
it said the person shall not become a

1594
01:15:35,580 --> 01:15:38,560
spendthrift they won't be a wastrel of what

1595
01:15:38,560 --> 01:15:41,840
resources have been given them and that figure

1596
01:15:41,840 --> 01:15:43,980
struck me so powerfully when it talks about

1597
01:15:43,980 --> 01:15:46,120
not wasting the temple of god which is

1598
01:15:46,120 --> 01:15:49,440
your body it struck me so profoundly when

1599
01:15:49,440 --> 01:15:51,980
i realized that what jesus has done is

1600
01:15:51,980 --> 01:15:54,180
our heavenly bridegroom has said i want your

1601
01:15:54,180 --> 01:15:56,640
body that's what he said but he doesn't

1602
01:15:56,640 --> 01:15:58,380
want it in the carnal lewd way that

1603
01:15:58,380 --> 01:15:59,780
we think of it in this culture he

1604
01:15:59,780 --> 01:16:01,660
wants to fill us with his spirit and

1605
01:16:01,660 --> 01:16:03,840
his life that our body being a temple

1606
01:16:03,840 --> 01:16:05,660
of his spirit may be a center of

1607
01:16:05,660 --> 01:16:07,940
ministry of light and health and strength and

1608
01:16:07,940 --> 01:16:10,380
a testimony would net result of our lives

1609
01:16:10,380 --> 01:16:13,040
because of that temple invested by the holy

1610
01:16:13,040 --> 01:16:15,020
spirit he says i want to indwell you

1611
01:16:15,020 --> 01:16:18,900
says so don't violate that marriage contract my

1612
01:16:18,900 --> 01:16:21,660
bride don't violate it don't become a spendthrift

1613
01:16:21,660 --> 01:16:25,340
a wastrel of what it is that that

1614
01:16:25,340 --> 01:16:30,340
i've given you of life the word of

1615
01:16:30,340 --> 01:16:34,880
god calls us to be to be people

1616
01:16:34,880 --> 01:16:36,780
who come to an accountability with our life

1617
01:16:36,780 --> 01:16:40,180
and all of its detail your body's his

1618
01:16:40,180 --> 01:16:43,080
temple don't use it for yourself don't violate

1619
01:16:43,080 --> 01:16:45,840
redemptive purpose all of us are plagued by

1620
01:16:45,840 --> 01:16:49,580
different things this is not intended as to

1621
01:16:49,580 --> 01:16:51,920
be funny cute or anything there is a

1622
01:16:51,920 --> 01:16:56,440
specific sort of sweet that i personally feel

1623
01:16:56,440 --> 01:16:58,120
i am not to eat more than once

1624
01:16:58,120 --> 01:17:00,300
a week i ate it three times last

1625
01:17:00,300 --> 01:17:07,910
week does god love me less no am

1626
01:17:07,910 --> 01:17:12,150
i suffering anything no not now but the

1627
01:17:12,150 --> 01:17:13,990
lord who dealt with my heart he didn't

1628
01:17:13,990 --> 01:17:15,710
write it in some table of stone saying

1629
01:17:15,710 --> 01:17:18,370
thou shalt not eat that kind of good

1630
01:17:18,370 --> 01:17:21,470
he's to to my own spirit seemed to

1631
01:17:21,470 --> 01:17:24,830
nestle an idea an understanding as the holy

1632
01:17:24,830 --> 01:17:27,610
spirit whispers things about my life he didn't

1633
01:17:27,610 --> 01:17:28,810
say if you do that i'll send you

1634
01:17:28,810 --> 01:17:32,290
to hell just said that that's going to

1635
01:17:32,290 --> 01:17:36,540
weaken you in the long run generally i

1636
01:17:36,540 --> 01:17:39,300
observe that that once a week but last

1637
01:17:39,300 --> 01:17:41,960
week and through the course of our vacation

1638
01:17:43,530 --> 01:17:48,030
far more frequently this particular kind of sweet

1639
01:17:48,030 --> 01:17:50,410
and it's not making any difference on this

1640
01:17:50,410 --> 01:17:53,190
my 50th year and very likely won't in

1641
01:17:53,190 --> 01:17:55,830
my 55th and possibly not my 60th you

1642
01:17:55,830 --> 01:17:57,710
see i've got i would like to have

1643
01:17:57,710 --> 01:17:59,690
a lot of years to serve jesus and

1644
01:17:59,690 --> 01:18:01,270
i don't know but that the holy spirit

1645
01:18:01,270 --> 01:18:02,990
has said i know your frame i know

1646
01:18:02,990 --> 01:18:05,730
your dust you've been made this way and

1647
01:18:05,730 --> 01:18:07,850
i've designed for you in the 78th year

1648
01:18:07,850 --> 01:18:11,170
of your life something that will be of

1649
01:18:11,170 --> 01:18:14,430
special purpose of mine don't abort your life

1650
01:18:14,430 --> 01:18:16,550
in its 77th year by what you're doing

1651
01:18:16,550 --> 01:18:24,270
now in your 50th all of us need

1652
01:18:24,270 --> 01:18:27,230
to come under the judgment of the holy

1653
01:18:27,230 --> 01:18:30,190
spirit not the damning judgment but the discerning

1654
01:18:30,190 --> 01:18:32,930
purifying judgment of the holy spirit to account

1655
01:18:32,930 --> 01:18:36,110
for our lives before the lord do you

1656
01:18:36,110 --> 01:18:41,310
agree with that what are the state of

1657
01:18:41,310 --> 01:18:45,330
the person that commits suicide who knows christ

1658
01:18:45,330 --> 01:18:50,210
and is with him i i don't know

1659
01:18:50,210 --> 01:18:52,030
in first corinthians 5 1 to 5 it

1660
01:18:52,030 --> 01:18:55,690
describes paul saying that fornicator that's fornicating all

1661
01:18:55,690 --> 01:18:57,570
the time in the church violating the body

1662
01:18:57,570 --> 01:18:59,450
of christ violating their own body and the

1663
01:18:59,450 --> 01:19:00,890
body of the one with whom they participate

1664
01:19:00,890 --> 01:19:04,810
that fornicator deliver them over to satan for

1665
01:19:04,810 --> 01:19:06,390
the destruction of the flesh so the spirit

1666
01:19:06,390 --> 01:19:08,610
can be saved that's a frightening passage it

1667
01:19:08,610 --> 01:19:11,210
essentially says pray that there will come something

1668
01:19:11,210 --> 01:19:13,050
that will destroy them before they lose their

1669
01:19:13,050 --> 01:19:17,050
soul because they're going that way now he

1670
01:19:17,050 --> 01:19:19,230
says pray something will happen to them that

1671
01:19:19,230 --> 01:19:21,570
they will lose their physical life so that

1672
01:19:21,570 --> 01:19:24,790
at least their spirit will be saved now

1673
01:19:24,790 --> 01:19:26,970
as a matter of fact they repented second

1674
01:19:26,970 --> 01:19:29,030
corinthians tells us and so that never happened

1675
01:19:29,030 --> 01:19:33,070
but the question comes what would happen that

1676
01:19:33,070 --> 01:19:37,410
person whose life is shortened by reason of

1677
01:19:37,410 --> 01:19:41,950
their sinning stands before the lord but what

1678
01:19:41,950 --> 01:19:46,310
will happen they will have to stand accountably

1679
01:19:46,310 --> 01:19:47,930
before the lord not the question of their

1680
01:19:47,930 --> 01:19:51,450
eternal soul hanging in the balance the question

1681
01:19:51,450 --> 01:19:56,400
of accountability before god i want to reach

1682
01:19:56,400 --> 01:19:58,560
a quick conclusion if suicide is a scripturally

1683
01:19:58,560 --> 01:20:01,080
unacceptable handling of life and its problems what

1684
01:20:01,080 --> 01:20:07,640
should we do these four things say these

1685
01:20:07,640 --> 01:20:10,860
four words with me will you release recognize

1686
01:20:10,860 --> 01:20:19,500
no these four words release recognize first release

1687
01:20:19,500 --> 01:20:22,960
all that has gone before to god the

1688
01:20:24,660 --> 01:20:29,330
first thing that we need to do is

1689
01:20:29,330 --> 01:20:33,430
to ask the question what about the places

1690
01:20:33,430 --> 01:20:37,350
where you feel guilty say could i have

1691
01:20:37,350 --> 01:20:40,410
made a difference would the person not have

1692
01:20:40,410 --> 01:20:41,970
taken their life if i had been there

1693
01:20:41,970 --> 01:20:43,650
if i had been more sensitive if i'd

1694
01:20:43,650 --> 01:20:45,110
been in touch if i had made that

1695
01:20:45,110 --> 01:20:50,090
call if i had loved ones you cannot

1696
01:20:50,090 --> 01:20:52,670
flip your soul around from now through the

1697
01:20:52,670 --> 01:20:56,550
balance of your life release everything into the

1698
01:20:56,550 --> 01:20:59,930
hands of god and his mercy his ability

1699
01:20:59,930 --> 01:21:04,270
there are people who are angry because they've

1700
01:21:04,270 --> 01:21:06,910
been hurt emotionally by a suicide that needs

1701
01:21:06,910 --> 01:21:09,990
to be released the anger needs to be

1702
01:21:09,990 --> 01:21:11,690
released there are people here who are ashamed

1703
01:21:11,690 --> 01:21:13,790
because of attempts you've taken on your life

1704
01:21:13,790 --> 01:21:15,490
and the enemy uses that against you i

1705
01:21:15,490 --> 01:21:17,650
ministered to a woman in the northern part

1706
01:21:17,650 --> 01:21:19,490
of the nation sometime back god gave me

1707
01:21:19,490 --> 01:21:21,390
a word of knowledge and i said there's

1708
01:21:21,390 --> 01:21:23,350
someone here in this service right now and

1709
01:21:23,350 --> 01:21:25,390
you always wear a long-sleeved blouse i

1710
01:21:25,390 --> 01:21:27,170
said it's a woman and it's because you

1711
01:21:27,170 --> 01:21:28,990
wear that blouse to cover the scars where

1712
01:21:28,990 --> 01:21:31,170
you once attempted to take your life and

1713
01:21:31,170 --> 01:21:33,010
jesus wants you to know that he is

1714
01:21:33,010 --> 01:21:35,530
delivering you today from that shame of that

1715
01:21:35,530 --> 01:21:38,570
past failure of that attempt and it was

1716
01:21:38,570 --> 01:21:40,350
a mighty moment and afterwards a woman came

1717
01:21:40,350 --> 01:21:41,890
up and she unbuttoned the sleeve of her

1718
01:21:41,890 --> 01:21:43,510
blouse and rolled it back and tears were

1719
01:21:43,510 --> 01:21:45,130
rolling down her eyes and she was radiant

1720
01:21:45,130 --> 01:21:47,890
with that sense of release she wasn't proud

1721
01:21:47,890 --> 01:21:50,110
of that but neither was she bound by

1722
01:21:50,110 --> 01:21:54,520
the shame of it any longer the guilt

1723
01:21:54,520 --> 01:21:58,620
and the shame the anger needs to be

1724
01:21:58,620 --> 01:22:02,320
cast down the accusations of the devil release

1725
01:22:02,320 --> 01:22:04,740
all that's gone before to god secondly recognize

1726
01:22:04,740 --> 01:22:06,920
the thought or the thought or the temptation

1727
01:22:06,920 --> 01:22:10,880
to commit suicide is not sin it is

1728
01:22:10,880 --> 01:22:13,160
not sin jesus was tempted to suicide the

1729
01:22:13,160 --> 01:22:14,440
devil took him up on the pinnacle of

1730
01:22:14,440 --> 01:22:15,680
the temple says jump off it's a good

1731
01:22:15,680 --> 01:22:18,420
way to verify who you are he was

1732
01:22:18,420 --> 01:22:21,340
tempted to suicide he wasn't being driven by

1733
01:22:21,340 --> 01:22:23,680
some sense of remorse or some self-centeredness

1734
01:22:23,680 --> 01:22:25,560
or some fear or some darkness of his

1735
01:22:25,560 --> 01:22:28,220
soul but he was being tempted to suicide

1736
01:22:30,110 --> 01:22:32,970
listen to this statement recognize the thought of

1737
01:22:32,970 --> 01:22:35,390
temptation with the thought or the temptation to

1738
01:22:35,390 --> 01:22:38,590
commit suicide is not sin but it is

1739
01:22:38,590 --> 01:22:42,130
demonic it is satanic need to get that

1740
01:22:42,130 --> 01:22:45,790
pin down every approach of the adversary john

1741
01:22:45,790 --> 01:22:47,830
10 10 the thief comes to steal and

1742
01:22:47,830 --> 01:22:50,430
to kill and to destroy jesus satan is

1743
01:22:50,430 --> 01:22:53,750
the one who suggested suicide to jesus judas

1744
01:22:53,750 --> 01:22:56,610
committed suicide and the bible explicitly says only

1745
01:22:56,610 --> 01:23:00,810
hours before satan entered him saul committed suicide

1746
01:23:00,810 --> 01:23:03,450
and the night before made a visit to

1747
01:23:03,450 --> 01:23:06,210
a necromancer or sorceress the witch of ender

1748
01:23:07,520 --> 01:23:11,760
was dabbling in the things of satan every

1749
01:23:11,760 --> 01:23:16,080
time you encounter suicide in the scripture it

1750
01:23:16,080 --> 01:23:17,940
has not every time there's one other case

1751
01:23:17,940 --> 01:23:20,320
that it's it's a person who in their

1752
01:23:20,320 --> 01:23:23,160
their despair ahithopel took his life but it

1753
01:23:23,160 --> 01:23:26,520
essentially is manifestly an activity of satan and

1754
01:23:26,520 --> 01:23:28,040
i'm not arguing against it even being the

1755
01:23:28,040 --> 01:23:30,200
devil in ahithopel's case it just doesn't specifically

1756
01:23:30,200 --> 01:23:32,160
say it and he went out and he

1757
01:23:32,160 --> 01:23:38,740
hanged himself suicide is satanic that tells us

1758
01:23:38,740 --> 01:23:42,540
something temptation to suicide it tells us that

1759
01:23:42,540 --> 01:23:44,400
there's deliverance from it it tells us there's

1760
01:23:44,400 --> 01:23:46,900
victory over it we can tread underfoot all

1761
01:23:46,900 --> 01:23:49,080
the works of the devil somebody say hallelujah

1762
01:23:49,080 --> 01:23:51,920
here's what you do resist the devil and

1763
01:23:51,920 --> 01:23:53,680
resisting the devil has to do with taking

1764
01:23:53,680 --> 01:23:55,440
a stance on the grounds of the scriptures

1765
01:23:55,440 --> 01:23:57,660
it has to do with taking a position

1766
01:23:57,660 --> 01:23:59,820
on the grounds of the cross it has

1767
01:23:59,820 --> 01:24:02,160
to do listen closely now it has to

1768
01:24:02,160 --> 01:24:05,280
do with a retreat into the fortress of

1769
01:24:05,280 --> 01:24:08,780
god's provision which is the precise inverse of

1770
01:24:08,780 --> 01:24:11,940
the dismantling of covenant we described otherwise people

1771
01:24:11,940 --> 01:24:15,260
trample underfoot the blood of christ or the

1772
01:24:15,260 --> 01:24:17,780
they trample underfoot the lord jesus christ they

1773
01:24:17,780 --> 01:24:20,600
esteem the blood of the covenant unworthy and

1774
01:24:20,600 --> 01:24:23,160
they insult the holy spirit now if those

1775
01:24:23,160 --> 01:24:25,880
are the things that dismantle a salvation think

1776
01:24:25,880 --> 01:24:28,120
of the things that are the inverse of

1777
01:24:28,120 --> 01:24:30,820
that and their power to resist satan and

1778
01:24:30,820 --> 01:24:33,020
the fortress it brings to a human soul

1779
01:24:33,020 --> 01:24:36,480
instead of trampling underfoot or discarding the merit

1780
01:24:36,480 --> 01:24:39,240
of the power of jesus begin to exalt

1781
01:24:39,240 --> 01:24:41,760
jesus in every detail of your life circle

1782
01:24:41,760 --> 01:24:44,980
yourself in the spirit of praise move into

1783
01:24:44,980 --> 01:24:47,700
the arena where you begin to plead the

1784
01:24:47,700 --> 01:24:50,820
merciful provision of the blood join with people

1785
01:24:50,820 --> 01:24:53,340
who honor the power of the cross the

1786
01:24:53,340 --> 01:24:57,440
redemptive work of christ lift up jesus and

1787
01:24:57,440 --> 01:24:59,640
let the blood have its power take the

1788
01:24:59,640 --> 01:25:02,080
power of the blood and the bible says

1789
01:25:02,080 --> 01:25:04,460
that put on the helmet of salvation and

1790
01:25:04,460 --> 01:25:07,320
i can remember being tormented by terrible thoughts

1791
01:25:07,320 --> 01:25:09,980
of lost sense of worth sometime back and

1792
01:25:09,980 --> 01:25:12,240
i've told this in an entire message of

1793
01:25:12,240 --> 01:25:14,700
how satan demeans and beats on you and

1794
01:25:14,700 --> 01:25:17,180
the key to my deliverance from that was

1795
01:25:17,180 --> 01:25:20,180
standing one day and consciously saying lord i

1796
01:25:20,180 --> 01:25:23,660
put on the helmet of salvation by placing

1797
01:25:23,660 --> 01:25:26,400
the power of jesus blood from his cross

1798
01:25:26,400 --> 01:25:29,460
around my head right now lord begin to

1799
01:25:29,460 --> 01:25:33,640
dissolve that fly-like buzzing that comes against

1800
01:25:33,640 --> 01:25:37,660
me and constantly harps on my worthlessness and

1801
01:25:37,660 --> 01:25:40,180
over the ensuing days it wasn't in an

1802
01:25:40,180 --> 01:25:43,920
instant but the presence of that crown that

1803
01:25:43,920 --> 01:25:47,160
helmet of salvation began to dissolve the powers

1804
01:25:47,160 --> 01:25:49,400
of hell you honor the power of the

1805
01:25:49,400 --> 01:25:52,440
blood and it works deliverance but that resistance

1806
01:25:52,440 --> 01:25:55,300
that is exercised by retreating into the fortress

1807
01:25:55,300 --> 01:25:58,620
of god's provision that resistance is something that

1808
01:25:58,620 --> 01:26:01,540
often is a wrestling match we're wrestling and

1809
01:26:01,540 --> 01:26:03,660
it's an ongoing match but i'll tell you

1810
01:26:03,660 --> 01:26:06,540
this with the resources of jesus the blood

1811
01:26:06,540 --> 01:26:08,300
of the covenant and the power of the

1812
01:26:08,300 --> 01:26:10,740
holy spirit of god's grace not my works

1813
01:26:10,740 --> 01:26:14,280
but his grace satan can't pin you hallelujah

1814
01:26:14,280 --> 01:26:16,480
and you will move into the dimension of

1815
01:26:16,480 --> 01:26:18,700
his victory and there's one other thing to

1816
01:26:18,700 --> 01:26:22,220
do circle yourself with saints get around with

1817
01:26:22,220 --> 01:26:24,660
the brothers and the sisters anytime that the

1818
01:26:24,660 --> 01:26:26,920
works of darkness begin to haunt you torment

1819
01:26:26,920 --> 01:26:29,240
you tell you anything that would at all

1820
01:26:29,240 --> 01:26:32,360
begin to breach your sense of of responsibility

1821
01:26:32,360 --> 01:26:34,440
with the life that christ has given you

1822
01:26:34,440 --> 01:26:37,820
come before the lord and begin to exalt

1823
01:26:37,820 --> 01:26:40,400
his name come and begin to appeal the

1824
01:26:40,400 --> 01:26:42,640
power of the blood and enter into a

1825
01:26:42,640 --> 01:26:44,520
wrestling match and when you begin to get

1826
01:26:44,520 --> 01:26:46,100
weary i'll tell you we need a lot

1827
01:26:46,100 --> 01:26:49,220
more spiritual tag team wrestling you need to

1828
01:26:49,220 --> 01:26:51,020
get with the brothers and sisters have about

1829
01:26:51,020 --> 01:26:53,080
taken all i can get and you've all

1830
01:26:53,080 --> 01:26:55,520
seen those wrestling matches the guy struggles over

1831
01:26:55,520 --> 01:26:57,360
to the side of the ring slaps the

1832
01:26:57,360 --> 01:26:59,180
hand of a partner and they come in

1833
01:26:59,180 --> 01:27:00,680
the ring and carry it for him a

1834
01:27:00,680 --> 01:27:02,600
while and the lord has given us each

1835
01:27:02,600 --> 01:27:05,540
other and i'll tell you folks there will

1836
01:27:05,540 --> 01:27:08,580
never be one suicide in the body of

1837
01:27:08,580 --> 01:27:11,700
christ when the brothers and sisters link themselves

1838
01:27:11,700 --> 01:27:14,720
together stand together and move in the resources

1839
01:27:14,720 --> 01:27:16,860
that are given to us in jesus christ

1840
01:27:16,860 --> 01:27:19,220
do you need to be freed from anger

1841
01:27:19,220 --> 01:27:22,100
or shame or pain from a past if

1842
01:27:22,100 --> 01:27:24,920
someone touched you by suicide jesus is present

1843
01:27:24,920 --> 01:27:27,280
to heal tonight do you need to be

1844
01:27:27,280 --> 01:27:30,920
delivered from recurring lies of the adversary saying

1845
01:27:30,920 --> 01:27:32,800
that's the way your life will count most

1846
01:27:32,800 --> 01:27:34,680
if you throw it away and he so

1847
01:27:34,680 --> 01:27:38,540
blurs the distinction of your accountability before christ

1848
01:27:38,540 --> 01:27:40,220
who has given you life to give it

1849
01:27:40,220 --> 01:27:42,760
away to people who need life and whose

1850
01:27:42,760 --> 01:27:46,120
plight loved one is multiplied times worse than

1851
01:27:46,120 --> 01:27:49,460
yours and who needs someone who will love

1852
01:27:49,460 --> 01:27:51,280
them and reach them with christ love and

1853
01:27:51,280 --> 01:27:54,720
life and you become so blurred in the

1854
01:27:54,720 --> 01:27:57,500
midst of your own torment and sorrow that

1855
01:27:57,500 --> 01:27:59,640
satan begins to succeed saying this is the

1856
01:27:59,640 --> 01:28:02,640
way out this is the way out and

1857
01:28:02,640 --> 01:28:04,600
you heard pastor jack said you won't necessarily

1858
01:28:04,600 --> 01:28:07,500
lose your soul and that's true you also

1859
01:28:07,500 --> 01:28:09,760
heard pastor jack say that jesus has a

1860
01:28:09,760 --> 01:28:13,160
much better plan for you oh hallelujah he

1861
01:28:13,160 --> 01:28:16,960
has so much more for us and god

1862
01:28:16,960 --> 01:28:20,240
god deliver us from anything that would persuade

1863
01:28:20,240 --> 01:28:23,520
us with the notion that anything less than

1864
01:28:23,520 --> 01:28:26,820
following jesus in this way giving our life

1865
01:28:26,820 --> 01:28:30,120
for his sake is the way because what

1866
01:28:30,120 --> 01:28:32,840
happens is whatever you're going through you will

1867
01:28:32,840 --> 01:28:36,620
find what your life is about why miss

1868
01:28:36,620 --> 01:28:40,400
the greatest discovery of your life why miss

1869
01:28:40,400 --> 01:28:43,160
the greatest discovery of your life by ending

1870
01:28:43,160 --> 01:28:48,020
it why miss it because the person that

1871
01:28:48,020 --> 01:28:52,960
stays in jesus says but if you'll lose

1872
01:28:52,960 --> 01:28:54,600
taking your own life for your sake and

1873
01:28:54,600 --> 01:28:56,620
lose it for my sake says you're going

1874
01:28:56,620 --> 01:28:59,560
to find what i had for you you're

1875
01:28:59,560 --> 01:29:02,720
going to find purpose i'm so tempted to

1876
01:29:02,720 --> 01:29:08,380
cite an illustration from a case a painful

1877
01:29:08,380 --> 01:29:11,140
case of suicide that happened in our congregation

1878
01:29:11,140 --> 01:29:13,420
one time but i've chosen this evening to

1879
01:29:13,420 --> 01:29:17,220
cite no cases we deal with the truth

1880
01:29:17,220 --> 01:29:21,980
let jesus teach us we hope you have

1881
01:29:21,980 --> 01:29:25,060
enjoyed this tape for other listen and grow

1882
01:29:25,060 --> 01:29:29,300
tapes contact your supplier or write to listen

1883
01:29:29,300 --> 01:29:32,160
and grow tapes at the address on this

1884
01:29:32,160 --> 01:29:32,580
cassette