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ON SUICIDE 
Suicidal Saints (Keith)
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May I share some notes from a sermon I read pertaining to this subject...
Can we possibly understand all that is going on in the heart of a person who commits suicide? No. We don't know the depth of their struggles. We don't know how long they valiantly fought the urge. We don't know how many times they dodged the demons. We don't know how hopeless they felt. But God does know. God knows the very depths of every human heart. God understands what they have gone through. And just because a person condemns themselves, that doesn't mean that God condemns them- God is greater than that. God's judgments are far higher, far richer, far truer than any judgment we make about ourselves. What does the Bible say about suicide? Very little, actually. There are a couple of incidences of it. Of course, Judas committed suicide, overwhelmed by what he had done in betraying Jesus. That is just sort of matter-of-factly mentioned in the gospels. He went out and hanged himself. End of his story. In our Old testament lesson we find another example of a suicide, again, with no words condoning it, nor condemning it. As Israel was losing its battle against the Philistines, Saul the King was wounded. As a final act of defiance he took his own life, falling upon his own sword. He didn't want his captors to mock him and make an example of him. That kind of suicide seems to be almost accepted in Jewish tradition- taking your own life as a last stand against the enemies you are fighting, so they can't enslave you- maybe you remember the story of Massada, how a group of Jewish zealots held out against a Roman siege in a hilltop fortress in 73AD. When they knew that their battle was lost and the Romans had won, the zealots executed a suicide pact. 950 of them killed themselves rather than be taken captive. Job was a person who was tempted to commit suicide. All the horrible turns of events that happened in his life led his wife to say, "Curse God, Job, and die." In other words, end it all, if your life is so miserable. But Job didn't want to end it all. He knew his day of redemption was coming. Other than that the Bible doesn't say much about suicide. Basically Christians believe that suicide is wrong because you are taking a life, murdering yourself. And murder breaks the 10 commandments. It was Saint Augustine who really developed the theology of suicide as a grievous, cardinal sin. And his thinking went something like this. Murder is a sin. Whenever you die with an unrepented sin active in your life, you go to Hell. A person who practices suicide murders and doesn't get the chance to repent of his sin. Therefore, he goes to Hell. Augustine and his followers got at least a couple of things wrong here, brilliant as they were. Number one, forgiveness is not something that gets dished out a little at a time after each sin is repented. When we accept Jesus Christ we live in an eternal state of forgiveness. All our sins are forgiven, past, present and future. Jesus isn't just sitting up there waiting to trip us up when we die- "oh-oh- you were speeding when your car crashed. That's a sin. You can't get into heaven because of that." Jesus is a merciful judge. His grace and love are given freely and forever. It is not a matter of timing your death right so it is immediately after that Sunday morning service when your minister pronounces your sins forgiven. Number two- it is never our job to judge who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. Never. Jesus judges the quick and the dead. Our job is to spread the Good News that the One who will ultimately judge us is the One who offers us abundant life today. Can a person who commits suicide go to heaven? No more than a camel can go through the eye of a needle. But with God, nothing is impossible.
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Messages
Outline:
Wahshing, thanks for the sharing. God bless your darling heart :-) eom. by Keith, 2001, Oct 25
Hi Wah Shing by Royston Ong, 2001, Oct 27
Eye of a needle by Barry, 2001, Oct 28
ok... by Royston Ong, 2001, Oct 28
Untitled by Wahshing, 2001, Oct 28
Thanks Wah Shing by Royston Ong, 2001, Oct 29
The camel and the eye of a needle by Ivan, 2001, Oct 29
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