We thank you that you have given us health and strength to be here this morning,
to be able to hear from your word, to hear from your truth.
And Father, we want your word to speak into our lives, to bring us encouragement,
to bring us comfort, to bring us help as we face the reality of death itself.
Lord, help us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Tom Curran cared lovingly for his partner, Marie Fleming, for 15 years.
She had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease which attacks the central nervous system.
Marie died on the 20th of December, 2013.
Tom, her partner, said this.
She knew that she faced the likelihood of a prolonged and possibly painful death.
And she, as a strong-willed person, was not prepared to let that happen.
Marie didn't want to die.
Far from it.
Marie wanted to live.
She was never suicidal.
But she didn't want a bad death.
Just over a year ago, Tom admitted that he had assisted Marie to die.
Assisted suicide, he said, is about providing a peaceful and painless death.
Euthanasia, sometimes referred to as assisted suicide or physician-assisted suicide,
is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.
Others prefer to call it merciful release or easeful death.
Gail O'Rourke was a long-standing friend and carer of a lady called Bernadette Ford.
Bernadette also suffered with MS and wanted to die.
As the pain and disability increased, Bernadette asked for her trusted friend Gail to help her.
Bernadette died in 2011 after taking a lethal dose of barbiturates, which was ordered by Gail from Mexico.
She'd been suffering for a decade and decided to take her own life.
Gail was the first person in Ireland to be charged, but later acquitted, for helping someone to die.
Gail asked in an interview on the Late Late Show, asked if she felt any guilt, Gail said this,
The guilt I would feel is that if Bernadette was now confined to a nursing home or a care home,
where she was going through the indignities that she wanted to avoid so much.
The sad reality is we will all one day die.
And for some that's going to involve painful suffering.
For some it could be dementia, for another it could be disability.
The need of 24-hour care.
Unable to feed yourself.
Needing to be changed and taken to the toilet.
None of us wants a painful death.
And none of us wants to see our loved ones suffer.
And for some the most loving thing to do is to end their life.
Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, who himself is confined to a wheelchair and needing care, said this,
Those who have a terminal illness and are in great pain should have the right to choose to end their lives.
And those who help them should be free from prosecution.
You see, this is not an intellectual issue that we have to kind of get our heads around.
This is a deeply personal issue that every family will have to face.
At one level, it sounds a good and right thing to do.
It's presented as the simple choice between a quick ending to life or a long life of pain.
After all, who wants to suffer?
And it's arguments like this that has made assisted suicide legal in the Netherlands and Belgium.
But it's not that simple.
The Iona Institute for Religion and Society in Ireland noted,
here's the quote,
that in both the Netherlands and Belgium, assisted suicide was initially made available for terminal illnesses.
But soon, I'm going to have to read that again.
Sorry, I've got my wording wrong.
In both the Netherlands and Belgium, assisted suicide was initially made available for terminal illnesses only.
But soon the law was changed to include non-terminal conditions, including psychiatric illnesses.
I'm going to quote some of the findings.
So in the Netherlands, euthanasia was legalized in 2001.
The number of euthanasia and assisted suicide deaths went from 1,882 in 2002 to 6,091 in 2016.
That represents a 324% increase in just 14 years, despite the warnings that it would be very, very rare.
The grounds for assisted suicide and euthanasia have also widened so that they take in non-terminal conditions.
So in 2016, 141 people were killed because of dementia, 60 for psychiatric reasons and 244 for advanced age.
And if that's not bad enough, non-voluntary euthanasia is also permitted.
That is where a patient is euthanized without their explicit consent.
As a result, many elderly people are now carrying cards to say that they don't want to be euthanized.
In Belgium and Switzerland, mental illness can be a basis for euthanasia or assisted suicide.
A study published in 2015 in the British Medical Journal shows that of 100 patients who requested euthanasia for psychiatric reasons,
not one was terminally ill.
They suffered from mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, eating disorders.
The most frequent diagnosis was depression.
Belgium also allows children of all ages to choose euthanasia, provided parental consent is granted.
In Washington, one of the US states where euthanasia is legal, a report noted that 61% of those who chose assisted suicide
stated as one of the reasons for their decision, their feeling that they were a burden on family, friends and caregivers.
You see, what has started out as a personal choice to end your suffering is fast becoming a choice made by others,
whether you live or die.
And with growing costs in health care and long-term care, families are put under increasing financial pressure,
and governments are providing a way out by making the removal of life legal.
Euthanasia could be spelt by using the word Holocaust.
If we can make laws that end the life of the unborn,
then we can easily end the life of those we choose or deem to be a burden to society.
Euthanasia could be spelt by the word Holocaust.
We are facing into a very real issue.
But there is another way.
Three things that I want us to be encouraged by through God.
First, life is God's right to give and to take.
Life is God's right to give and to take.
Right at the very beginning of the Bible where we've started all our talks in this series,
we see that God alone has authority over all life.
Go to Genesis chapter 1 with me.
We'll read some verses there together.
Genesis chapter 1.
You might remember some of these things from our study on Wednesday night.
That God speaks by his very word and brings life into existence.
Genesis 1 verse 27.
The culmination of God's creation process.
Chapter 1 verse 27.
So God created mankind in his own image.
In the image of God he created them, male and female.
He created them.
And then when we get to Genesis 2, we get a more detailed account of the creation of mankind.
And here we have an account of how God created man in more detail.
So chapter 2 verse 7.
It says there,
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
And the man became a living being.
So you remember in Genesis 1, there's a lot of forming that's going on.
God is forming creation.
Shaping it.
Designing it.
Ordering it.
And here in 2 verse 7,
we have the picture of God as it were,
picking up the earth, the dust from the ground
and forming it,
shaping it,
into a man,
into a being.
But it doesn't stop there.
For God must breathe into mankind the breath of life.
And man becomes a living being.
God gives life.
God sustains life.
And therefore God rules over life.
Of course the alternative is that we are simply here by chance.
That we're just a random collection of atoms and molecules
that have evolved over time.
We've come from nowhere
and we're headed nowhere.
We're simply the results of some impersonal scientific process.
And if that is true,
well then we're free to do what we want.
We are autonomous, independent beings
with no moral compass.
We decide who lives.
And who dies.
But if we are a special creation of God,
made in his likeness,
given the very breath of life,
then we are not free to choose whatever we want to do.
We are formed by God
and we are filled with life by God.
God gives us life
and so God rules over our life.
So God is the one who gives life.
And second,
God is the one who takes life.
In Genesis chapter 4,
we meet the first children of Adam and Eve,
Cain and Abel.
We pick up the story in chapter 4, verse 8.
It's the account,
there's jealousy between them.
Abel is accepted,
his sacrifice has been accepted by God.
Cain's attitude has been wrong.
And Cain comes up with a plan.
Chapter 4, verse 8.
Now Cain said to his brother Abel,
let's go out to the field.
And while they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel
and killed him.
Now because life was not Cain's to take,
God punished Cain
and he said you'll wander the wilderness.
And look how Cain responds.
Look at the end of verse 14.
He says to God,
he responds to him,
I will be a restless wanderer on the earth
and whoever finds me will kill me.
But the Lord said to him,
not so.
Anyone who kills Cain
will suffer vengeance seven times over.
Then the Lord put a mark on Cain
so that no one who found him
would kill him.
You see, life is precious.
Even those who have taken life,
their life is precious.
We do not have the right
to take life as we desire.
And what God said to Cain
was later written in law
for all God's people.
In the Ten Commandments,
you're familiar with this,
God said you shall not murder.
The Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 6,
it's recorded for us there
in his Sermon on the Mount,
reiterated the same command.
You shall not murder.
The implication is
we are to protect life,
value life,
keep life.
In fact, God
alone has the authority
to take life.
Deuteronomy 32 says,
See now that I myself am he.
There is no God beside me.
I put to death
and I bring to life.
I have wounded
and I will heal.
And no one can deliver
out of my hand.
It's a very, very dangerous thing
for us to start playing God with life.
It is not our role.
Life is a gift from God.
And only God
has the right
to take that life.
So first,
life
is God's right
to give
and to take.
The second thing
is that
suffering
is used by God
for
our good.
Suffering is used
by God
for our good.
For many,
suffering
is a good reason
to help someone
end their life.
the patient
doesn't want
to suffer
and the carer
doesn't want
to see them suffer.
Now,
while God
never ever says
that suffering
is good,
on the other hand,
God uses
suffering
for our good.
Two things
we want to note
with this.
First,
God is over
suffering.
Let's look at
the book of Job.
It's on page
507.
The book of Job
on page
507,
if you're using
a church
Bible.
Page 507.
Job 1
introduces us
to this man
who loved God.
But chapter 1
tells us
the account
of his life
that he was a man
who suffered greatly.
He lost
his entire wealth.
He lost
all his children
in a tornado.
And on top
of that,
he lost
his health.
He was
afflicted
with a
disabling
painful
skin disease
of which
there seems
to be
little relief.
They didn't
have the
medication
that we
have today.
And
understandably,
Job's wife
didn't like
and didn't
want to see
him suffer.
So we pick
it up in
Job chapter 2
verse 9.
So Job
has been
suffering
greatly
physically
and his
wife comes
to him
chapter 2
verse 9
and says,
are you
still
maintaining
your
integrity?
Curse
God
and die.
The
suggestion
is,
Job,
why don't
you just
end your
life?
Why don't
you just
end the
suffering
that you're
going
through?
I remember
listening to
the testimony
of a family
friend
who suffers
with severe
crippling
back pain.
They
told how
one day
they sat
on the
edge of
the bed
with all
their pills
in their
hand,
ready to
overdose.
It's not
unthinkable
for any
one of us
in this
room to
want to
end the
pain
and
suffering.
That can
be a
real issue.
Look how
Job responds,
chapter 2
verse 10.
He replied
to his
wife,
you are
talking like
a foolish
woman.
Shall we
accept good
from God
and not
trouble?
In all
this,
Job did
not sin
in what
he said.
You see,
Job recognized
that all
of life,
whether it
was in
good health
or whether
he was
suffering,
was
completely
in God's
sovereign
control.
The
Apostle
Paul picks
up the
same
theme
in
Romans
8.
A
familiar
verse
to us.
Paul in
chapter 8
has been
talking about
the present
sufferings,
the struggles
that we
face in
life,
and then
he says
this towards
the end.
He says,
and we
know that
in all
things,
that all
things is
in all
kinds of
struggles,
in all
kinds of
pain,
in all
kinds of
things that
we go
through in
life,
God works
for the
good of
those who
love him,
who have
been called
according to
his purpose.
God takes
every illness,
every disease,
and every
struggle,
and says,
in the midst
of all of
that,
I work
good,
for those
who love
me,
and who
have been
called
according to
my purpose.
You see,
God is
over
suffering,
and while
he never
says suffering
is good,
God uses
suffering for
our good.
suffering,
it's never
easy,
and while we
never,
or perhaps
don't get
the answers
that we
always want,
God does
in his
word show
us how
he uses
it for
our good.
There's
many ways
it will be
a very
helpful study
for you
to think
about that.
in fact,
Desiring
God
this week
had a
little
article,
I think,
on that
very
subject.
You
could look
it up
when you
go home.
But I
want to
show us
three ways
that God
uses it
for our
good.
Have a
look at
2 Corinthians,
which is
on page
1159.
2 Corinthians
chapter 1,
which is
on page
1159.
9.
So let's
keep this
in mind.
God doesn't
say suffering
is good,
but in
God's
ways,
God uses
the suffering
that we
face,
and he
uses it
for our
good.
So three
ways he
does that.
first,
for our
comfort.
Chapter 1,
verse 3,
Praise be
to the
God and
Father of
our Lord
Jesus
Christ,
the
Father of
compassion
and the
God of
all comfort,
who comforts
us in
all our
troubles.
You see,
in our
suffering,
we're not
alone.
God is
not immune
to the
struggles
we face.
God
comforts
us,
he sustains
us,
he keeps
us,
he draws
near to
us,
he gives
us all
that we
need in
that
moment.
But it's
not just
for our
own
good that
God
comforts
us.
Look at
the rest
of verse
4.
He
comforts
us in
all our
troubles
so that
we can
comfort
those in
any
trouble
with the
comfort we
ourselves
receive
from God.
our
personal
sufferings
enable us
in the
midst of
suffering
to comfort
and strengthen
others.
Through the
pain that
we may
experience,
whether it's
the loss
of a
loved one
or watching
someone we
love dearly
go through
hard times,
as we go
through that
pain,
so we're
enabled to
feel and
understand the
pain of
others,
to simply
sit with
them.
To cry
with them,
to listen
to them,
to comfort
them.
Second,
dependence.
Look down
at chapter
1,
verse 8.
We do
not want
you to be
uninformed,
brothers and
sisters,
about the
troubles we
experienced in
the province
of Asia.
We were
under great
pressure,
far beyond
our ability
to endure,
so that we
despaired of
life itself.
We often
think of
Paul as
being this
strong man
facing anything.
but here
he tells
us that he
despaired of
life itself.
The pressures,
the intensity,
the suffering
that he was
going through,
partly his
own illness
because he
talked about
his own
illness,
partly because
of persecution
and opposition,
but all
these things,
the intensity
of it all
is that Paul
had reached
the point in
his life
where he
just wanted
to die.
He'd had
enough.
Verse 9,
indeed he
said,
we felt we
had received
the sentence
of death.
He couldn't
bear it or
take it
anymore.
But,
but this
happened that
we might not
rely on
ourselves,
but on
God who
raises the
dead.
God takes
the suffering
and uses
it so that
we can
depend on
the Lord
of life.
Our pain
that we go
through,
the struggles
that we go
through,
God moves
it so we
rest and
rely on
him who
gives us
strength.
The third
area is
the area
of salvation.
to help
us through
this,
I want
to give
us a
foundation,
and that
is first
to think
of the
sufferings
of Christ
on the
cross.
Because it
is through
the sufferings
of Christ
on the
cross that
salvation
flows to
the world.
Without
Christ
dying for
us,
there would
be no
salvation.
And as
we put
our faith
in Christ,
for him
who died
for us
and took
the blame
for us
through those
sufferings,
as Christ
suffered hell
itself,
we receive
the blessings
of life
and life
eternal.
So God
uses the
sufferings of
Christ to
bring salvation
to us,
to the
world.
Now that
foundation we
keep in mind
as we read
verse 5.
Go back to
verse 5.
For just
as we
share
abundantly
in the
sufferings
of Christ,
so also
our comfort
abounds
through Christ.
If we
are distressed,
it is for
your comfort
and salvation.
You see,
God works
through the
sufferings of
Christ to
bring salvation.
And now
he's saying
that for
those who
are in
Christ.
As we
are in
Christ,
we will
go through
sufferings
in different
ways,
but yet
through our
weakness,
through our
pains,
through our
struggles,
God is
bringing about
not just
the comfort
of people,
but he is
bringing about
the salvation
of people.
people.
A lot of
you will
know the
lady
Joni or
Joni
Erickson
Tada.
She's been
a quadriplegic
for over
50 years
now.
As a
teenager,
she suffered
a diving
accident,
and as a
young teen,
as she lay
in the
hospital unable
to be
moved,
she longed
for her
miserable life
to be
taken,
longing that
someone would
just literally
pull the
plug.
But through
her faith,
she found
purpose in
Christ.
Today,
she still
struggles,
she needs
24-7 care,
she has no
use of her
body below
her neck,
still suffering,
God has
used her to
reach and
comfort
thousands upon
thousands of
people through
her teaching
ministry and
through her
books.
And she
has led
many,
many people
to Christ,
pointing them
to the one
who can
save.
You see,
suffering in
the hands
of God
can be used
for great
and eternal
good.
Suffering is
never wasted
in God's
hands.
Third,
death is
determined and
conquered by
God.
It's
determined and
conquered by
God.
When people
seek out
euthanasia,
they simply
come to the
conclusion that
life is not
worth living
anymore.
They see no
value or
purpose in
living another
day or drawing
another breath.
But Scripture
has another
answer.
God provides
us with
something much
different,
that every
day of our
life, God
gives us
purpose.
First,
death, God
determines
death.
Job knew
that his
life was
in God's
control.
Just working
your way
through Job,
we pick up
how he
understands
this.
I've quoted
them here
for you.
Chapter 1,
verse 21,
he says,
as he
reflected on
the death
of his
own family,
his own
children,
he could
say,
the Lord
gave and
the Lord
has taken
away.
Blessed be
the name
of the
Lord.
Later on,
he will
say this,
in his
hands is
the life
of every
creature
and the
breath of
all mankind.
Our life
is in the
very hands
of God.
chapter 14,
verse 5,
a person's
days are
determined.
You,
that is God,
have decreed
the number
of his
months
and have
set limits
he cannot
exceed.
God alone
determines
how long
we live
and the
moment we
die.
Nobody
else.
God will
not let
us live
one minute
too long
or die
a second
too early.
Every day,
every moment,
every second
of our life,
God is
filled with
purpose
until he
decides we
no longer
breathe.
we see
the same
in Psalm
139.
For you
created my
inmost being,
you knit me
together in
my mother's
womb,
I praise you
because I
am fearfully
and wonderfully
made.
Your eyes
saw my
unformed
body,
and all
the days
ordained
for me
were written
in your
book before
one of them
came to
be.
every day
has purpose.
Every day
has been
ordained by
God from
eternity
past.
Your life
is known
by God.
He knows
what you
will face,
he knows
what you
will see,
he knows
what you
will endure,
and we
may struggle
to see the
significance
of our
suffering
life,
but God
has his
purpose.
and God
is working
things out
according to
his plan.
Every day
we draw
breath,
God is
using us
and working
through us
to achieve
his plan
and his
glory.
So death
is determined
by God
and wonderfully,
wonderfully,
death has
been conquered
by God.
Job
knew that
life and
death were
determined by
God,
but he also
knew that
death was
not the
end.
Have a look
with me in
Job chapter
19,
verse 25,
Job chapter
19.
not only
incredible
because Job
is saying
this,
I don't
know how
many hundreds
of years
or thousands
of years
before the
coming of
Christ,
before the
resurrection,
but amazing
because this
is personal
testimony.
This is one
who lived in
the midst of
great suffering
and here's
his testimony.
Chapter 19,
verse 25.
I know
that my
Redeemer
lives and
that in the
end he
will stand
on the
earth,
literally,
he will
stand on
the grave.
That is,
he will
have power
and authority
over the
grave and
over death
itself.
and after
my skin
has been
destroyed,
so when
this disease,
when its
suffering has
taken its
full effect
and he
reaches into
later age
and he
dies,
yet in
my flesh
I will
see God.
I myself
will see
him with
my own
eyes,
I and
not another,
how my
heart yearns
within me.
Job could
look forward
in faith
to the
promised
resurrection.
He knew
that one
day God
would destroy
death and
conquer the
grave for
us and
the promise,
that promise
of God
became a
reality when
God became
man,
born into
this world
through his
mum,
lived this
life,
breathed
life as
God gave
him the
ability to
breathe and
died our
death and
was buried
and rose
again from
the grave
three days
later.
You see,
those who
ignore
Christ,
those who
turn away
from what
God has
to say,
not only
die but
have an
eternity
of
suffering.
It's
suffering away
from God,
separated from
God in
hell itself.
But for
those whose
hope is in
Christ,
there is a
glorious
resurrection.
And like
Job,
we can say
with absolute
confidence and
assurance,
look at these
words again,
verse 25,
this, if we
are trusting
in Christ,
is our
story,
is our
personal
testimony.
Can you
say these
words for
yourself?
I know
that my
Redeemer
lives,
and that in
the end he
will stand
on the
earth.
And after
my skin
has been
destroyed,
when I
die,
yet in
my flesh
I will
see
God.
I
myself
will see
him
with my
own eyes,
I and
not another.
How
incredible is
that?
One day
we will
see God.
We will be
with him.
And all
the pain
and all the
suffering will
be gone.
and there
will be no
more death
and no
more tears.
How my
heart yearns
within me.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
I read
the words
that we
read at
the very
beginning
this
morning
as a
prayer.
Brothers
and
sisters,
we do
not want
you to
be
uninformed
about
those
who
sleep
in
death,
so
that
you
do
not
grieve
like
the
rest
of
mankind
who
have
no
hope.
For
we
believe
that Jesus
died and
rose
again,
and so
we
believe
that God
will bring
with
Jesus
all those
who have
fallen asleep
in him,
and so
we will
be with
the Lord
forever.
Therefore,
encourage
one another
with these
words.
Amen.
we're
going to
sing
because
it's
good to
sing.
It's
good to
sing to
express
truths
that we
believe
because
as we
sing
it
drives
those
truths
deeper
into
our
heart.
It
helps
us
express
where
our
hope
is.
And as
we
sing,
we
want to
sing
not only
thanking
God,
but sing
to the
person
next to
you.
Sing to
the
person
in this
room.
Encourage
one another
with these
words as
we tell
the story
through song
of the
resurrection
of Jesus
and the
life that
is to
come.
Let's
sing
together.
This
finns
out there.
Here
he is
the
other
questions