Tough Subjects: Death, Suicide, Cremation Part 1

Guest (Male): Here's one of the tough subjects we'll be addressing next on Abounding Grace.
Pastor Ed Taylor: Is suicide okay? And the answer to that is no. Suicide is not from the Lord. As hard as things are and as difficult as your life might be today and as hopelessness has settled into your heart and as your mind is confused and your flesh is weak from the heart of the Lord, he doesn't encourage you to injure your life. It's not okay. It's never the right decision to make. It's never the right decision to take your own life.
Guest (Male): We thank you for joining us today for Abounding Grace. And as you can already tell by our introduction a moment ago, we are dealing with a very heavy subject today. Maybe you or someone you know is battling with suicidal thoughts. We hope you'll keep listening as Pastor Ed Taylor has some encouraging words to share with you from 1 Samuel 31. We'll be looking at the tragic end to the life of King Saul. Some speculate that he committed suicide. And so Pastor Ed will take this opportunity to share God's viewpoint on the matter.
Pastor Ed Taylor: Open up to 1 Samuel chapter 31 as we finish out the book of 1 Samuel. It's been 38 previous studies. Today is our 39th study. With 31 chapters is not very bad. Our goal is to take a chapter a week here in our midweek service and we've been we did pretty well and pausing in those places where we needed to pause. And already, you know, when you study through a book of the Bible, if you haven't been through too many with us, you also have to remember that the first few studies are all preparatory, introductory. So we'll usually spend two or three Bible studies alone gaining the concept of the history of the book, where we are in the time and the history of the nation of Israel, and some background information. So 39 studies isn't bad. As we come to the last chapter of 1 Samuel, you remember that the book opened with the birth of a gifted baby. His name, Samuel. But unfortunately, chapter 31 the book closes with the death of a guilty man, King Saul. And it's a discouraging end to a life. It's a discouraging end to a man who had so much potential, who had so many of the qualities that makes for a good servant of God, a good leader of God, but his life didn't end well. He is not able to say like Paul was that he had run his race, that he had completed the work. He didn't. It was very early on in his reign, in his rulership that he was rejected by God. Just 2 years. Just 2 years he's rejected. And because of his disobedience and rejection of God, because he found himself unwilling to let God reign over him, God rejected him from ruling over his people. It was Saul's pride and it was Saul's impatience. It was Saul's disobedience. It was his life of deception. They were all seen and judged by the Lord himself. And Samuel announced the sentence to him. The crown would eventually be taken from him and given to another. In this case, we know it was David. And this made King Saul even all the more, you know, out of his mind. There were times in his life where you just we we weren't able to to pen it. What is it, Saul? How can someone so close to God end up so far from him? And we learned, didn't we, through the backdrop of the darkness of Saul's life that God is seeking for a man after his own heart and he found him in David. And it was in chapter 13 verse 13, I believe, that the phrase was used of King Saul, the Lord would have. Remember we spent a whole Bible study on that topic. The Lord would have. And we asked ourselves, is that what we want to hear in our lives? With the compromise in your life, is that really is it really worth it? With the things that you're dabbling in, with the excuses that we're I mean, I know I may only be speaking to just a few, but for the few, it's that important. Is that what you pronounce you want pronounced over your life, the Lord would have? Of all the things that God could have done in your life, all the things that he wanted to do in your life. And see while you're listening to me right now, it's not too late to turn things around. It's not too late to make things right, to not hear the Lord would have, but rather to hear the words that we would expect, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. What a great motivating thing. But those four words the Lord would have mark I mean, I looked for the thing that would just mark King Saul's life and that that to me just marked his life. That that that summed up his life in total. The Lord would have. And now as we pick up in verse 1 of chapter 31, it says that the Philistines fought against Israel. And the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. Now the battle became intense against Saul and the archers hit him. And he was severely wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, draw your sword and thrust me through with it lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore, Saul took a sword and fell on it. And when his armor bearer saw that Saul saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that same day. This really will cause the battle that the Philistines were well the battle that David almost joined the Philistines and God delivered him. And here they are too much for the armies of Israel and Israel loses this battle. Many were slain. The battle that David was encouraged to join, but God so graciously rescued him from such a horrible decision. And then Saul will notice part of the loss here was the sons of Saul, those that were close to him, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. And then they went after Saul. Saul was next. This is the prophecy. Hold your places. Turn over to 1 Chronicles with me. That's to the right. 1 Chronicles chapter 10. We gain a little bit more insight on the battle here. 1 Chronicles chapter 10. Notice with me verse 13. It explains as we look around the entirety of this with his sons dying as also King Saul dying. It says in verse 13 of 1 Chronicles chapter 10 that Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord because he did not keep the word of the Lord and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire the Lord. Therefore, he killed him and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse. And we see how it happened now that God allowed victory to come to the Philistines over King Saul. And he's being judged for his unfaithfulness, his disobedience. And and whether you're a believer or an unbeliever tonight, understand this. There is a there is an overarching principle when it comes to our relationship with God or to how God deals with his creation. It's simply this. What a man sows, that's what he'll reap. What a man sows, that what he'll reap. Paul wrote to the wrote taught us that in the book of Galatians. And you think, well, you know, I'm I'm a forgiven person. I have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I've been born again. And yes, what a man sows, that he'll also reap. The decisions of your life will affect you. You you a farmer, if you if we had the opportunity to interview a farmer today and just ask him about the typical basic things of farming. And there's not many farmers among us. There are a few, but not many. And we began to talk to them about, well, you know, how do you get apple trees? How how do you get all those apple trees on your farm? Well, son, I plant apple seeds. Really? Yeah, because I know if I plant apple seeds, I'll see the trees go up or orange trees or or whatever it is that they want. What you sow is what you you know, if I was to ask him, well, wait a minute, you don't plant apple seeds and expect orange trees and then are you can think of you're foolish, boy. You don't know what you're talking about. You've never been on the farm. And I'd say to that, you're right. I am a novice. I am a boy. I'm a young man when it comes to the things of farming I don't know. However, even though I'm not a farmer, I wouldn't ask such a question because I know what I sow and what I put into the ground is what's going to come back up. So believer, you can't just say those of you that are born again and go, well, you know, I'm under the blood of Jesus Christ and he forgives me of all of our sins, all my sins. It's a true statement and one to be gloriously held on to. But that doesn't relieve you of the spiritual principle of what you sow is what you're going to reap. It's not going to be any other way. And for for those of you that are here listening in from afar that, you know, you you have no relationship with God, that principle works for you as well. What you sow is what you reap. The consequences of your life right now most likely are because of what you've done. Now occasionally there are things that happen to us that happen outside of us and we just sit back and say, okay, Lord, we just wait for you to sort it all out. But a lot of the consequences we face are from our own decisions. And here Saul is reaping the consequences. Not only that, but the fulfillment of prophecy. And it's interesting as you'll notice back in 1 Samuel that he says he tells his armor bearer in verse 4, you know, draw your sword and kill me because I don't want to be abused. And the Philistines were known for abusing, mutilating, and torturing their victims. Saul begged his armor bearer to kill him to avoid abuse. And when the young man failed to comply, we see Saul falling on his sword. Saul did what was wrong in committing suicide or at least in the attempt because those of you that are read ahead to chapter 1 of 2 Samuel, there is a different viewpoint of the same situation. And we'll get to that a little bit tonight and also next time. But one of the things I want you to notice here with Saul, even though there's a little bit of controversy over chapter 31 of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel chapter 1, there there isn't there's some things that aren't that are lost. Some people like to argue about things and when you're always arguing about things, you tend to miss the point. And so I don't want us to miss the point in the midst of the controversy here. And there's a few things I want to draw out. The first one is I want you to notice that Saul takes matters into his own hands again. Faced with possible abuse, we don't know what would happen, although the kings usually got the worst treatment. But faced again with something he didn't want to deal with, he took things into his own hands and fell on his sword hoping to protect himself. And then his armor bearer thinking that he was dead ended up killing himself which led to another death in Saul's death. Now the controversy with this section of scripture surrounds whether King Saul actually died or was killed or was mortally or was fatally wounded or or maybe fatally wounded would lead to death, but a wound that didn't lead to death. And then later on in chapter 1 we have a an account of a Malekite coming and finishing them off. So one view is that King Saul here he fell on his sword and did die thus committing suicide. Another view is that King Saul fell on his sword. That's not of debate, but he didn't die all the way and the Malekite came and finished him off. Now in the first view, the Malekite is just seen as a liar trying to save his life. In the second view, it is both those chapters put together. And I'll clear it up for you on next time when we get in to chapter 1. But let's speak to the topic of let's look at the first few and say that Saul committed suicide here. And let's speak to the topic of suicide for a moment because the question comes up all the time. Is suicide okay? And the answer to that is no. The answer is no. Suicide is not from the Lord. As hard as things are and as difficult as your life might be today and as hopelessness has settled into your heart and as your mind is confused and your flesh is weak and the enemy of your souls is throwing accusations at you and maybe even I read recently of a very sad article where there's a young girl standing trial. A young girl meaning a teenager. She's standing trial right now because she didn't prevent the suicide of her boyfriend, but rather encouraged it over and over again through text messages. And from the heart of the Lord, he doesn't encourage you to injure your life. It's not okay. It's never the right decision to make. It's never the right decision to take your own life. What will happen is you'll end your life and make life for those that love you very very difficult the rest of their lives. It solves nothing. From a biblical standpoint, the Bible forbids murder. It's one of the top 10. And suicide is self murder. Thus God condemns it. And I know that we live in a culture that is devaluing life. Once held at the highest standard, life is now being missed, misused, and reassigned. And now instead of looking at the ultimate value of life that God has placed, instead it's become discussions over the quality of life as if some level of quality of life then ushers in a whole new industry known as a physician assisted suicides, euthanasia, or a variety of other options of ending a life early because the quality of those that are still alive and the the attitude of those looking at the quality of life thinking, well, it's too low to really to really care. So when you think of suicide, even though it's legal in some states now at the assistance of doctors, suicide is still murder. The Bible forbids it and he alone has the right to take it. God gave life and he alone has the right to take it. This also includes abortion. It also includes euthanasia, physician assisted suicide. It is all contrary to the word of God and to the heart of God. Not just the wooden strong standing of theology, although I believe theologically it is not God's desire, I also believe it's not his heart. And what Saul's doing right now in chapter 31 is a sin. And it 's not something you want to be the last act of your life. Even the most desperate believers in the Bible who desired death never considered suicide a morable morally viable alternative. Instead recognizing the sovereign hand of God over human life, they prayed like Jonah did. Lord, please take my life from me for it's better for me to die than to live. But they kept it and left it in the hands of the Lord. They didn't take it upon themselves. He was so desperate. And you know Jonah excuse me, you know Jonah's story just being stuck in disobedience in a hopeless situation. He cries out to the Lord. And even though they wanted and were in a desperate place of wanting God to take it, they never considered it God's heart for them to take it themselves. The Bible teaches with the exception of Samson in Judges chapter 16 that there are at least five cases of suicide that are recorded of us and none of them is proved by God. Whether it was Abimelech in Judges chapter 9, Saul here in 1 Samuel 31, Zimri in 1 Kings 16, Ahithophel in 2 Samuel we'll get to him in verse chapter 17, and ultimately Judas in Matthew chapter 27. None of them were approved by God. They all met a tragic death and not yet none without divine approval. Suicide is an attack upon the image of God as man has been made in the image of God according to Genesis chapter 1 and attempt to usurp God's sovereignty over human life. It's not God's heart for you. That that's the Bible's teaching. That is as direct as it's possibly can be can be given to you on all of those topics, although today it's suicide. But let's bring it down to a more relatable, understandable conversation for the sake of someone listening to this. If you're battling suicidal thoughts right now, it doesn't make you a bad person. And it doesn't make you a bad believer. It makes you a person that's struggling with the reality of life. It makes you a person that perhaps is overwhelmed by the circumstances of life. It makes you a person looking for solutions to the difficulty in your life. And if you're having those suicidal thoughts, please ask for help. Let us into your life. Tell somebody what's going on. One of the greatest regrets of those that love those that have committed suicide is that thought that they wish they could have helped, but they didn't see anything. And those that commit suicide sometimes will sit there in their agony. And perhaps I'm speaking directly to you. And you are so upset and you're so wrestling with things that you even begin to think that nobody cares because nobody's asking you. And yet at the same time, there's a lot of people that care. We just don't see it. God hasn't revealed it to us. You seem to be handling things and and when we ask you if you're okay, you say, yeah, we're okay. I'm okay. And we're asking that question not just for the sake of of starting conversation. You know, you could be having people in your life, are you okay? And that's your invitation to say, no, I'm not okay. Even if you you know, you share it in that way, you're not I'm not okay and I don't even think you can help me. Well, it's okay. Well, let's talk about it. I might be able to help you. I might not be able to help you, but just you getting it out might help. But if you're having suicidal thoughts, ask. I know your life is filled with all sorts of fears, emotions and feelings and just plain thoughts of hopelessness like nothing will change. Like it hasn't changed. It's not changing and it will never change. You may feel like you're the only one that understands, that no one else can understand. Nobody else gets it. And in some places maybe we don't fully understand. We haven't lived your life. We don't know the personal pain that you're going through. But to help you, we don't have to understand everything. We just have to love you. And I believe that God can use us to express love to you. That you can ask for help. My heart goes out to you personally. The desperation that you're in. I'm sorry that life has become so hard for you, so difficult, so hopeless. But suicide's not the answer. Taking your own life will not solve the problem. It's not the answer now and it's not the answer ever. Let's give the situation some time. So God can work things out where things can change. God can show you how things are going to sort out. He can show you the things will get a little bit easier. Jesus has a way of restoring the lost joy. Jesus has a way of healing pain and helping us sort through difficulties in our lives.
Guest (Male): That is Pastor Ed Taylor relaying God's heart on the matter of life and suicide. This is Abounding Grace. Pastor Ed, I know this is a very difficult subject to talk about and you just explained that suicide is not from the Lord. But as we close, I was wondering if you'd speak to that person listening today who has had a family member or friend that has committed suicide. One of the questions they often wrestle with is, will God forgive the sin of suicide? Is it possible to go to heaven having committed that particular sin?
Pastor Ed Taylor: Yeah, this is a heavy one, isn't it? Uh stepping into these more challenging uh topics when we teach to the Bible so important. And by the way, that 's why we teach through the whole Bible because it addresses the issues that are relevant to our lives and I'm just so sorry for those of you that wrestle with this thought. Don't do it. 9 8 8 9 8 8 is the number to call um or you can call 9 1 1 or call a friend right away. Your life is so valuable, so important. And so anyone that has those suicidal ideations or thoughts, please no, don't call 9 8 8 or 9 1 1 or a close friend and talk it out. It's amazing how encouraging you you can become as you talk things out. You're so important, so valuable. To the one that lost someone to suicide, I'm sorry. It is brutal. It's a double, triple, quadruple loss in so many levels. And can I just say there is nothing that you could have done to stop him because you have that guilt and that regret. You have that survivor guilt and I mean, the enemy just does a number on us. But there's nothing you could have done um even though we would have wanted to be there and jump in and stop it all for sure. The Lord knows. And for those that committed suicide, I just think of this. I'm so grateful that God doesn't judge us on the last thing we do before we die. He judges us through the blood of Jesus Christ. That Jesus himself took the pain and the penalty. He received the wrath of God for sin including that sin. And so trust the Lord. If you need extra help, call us. We can put some resources into your hands. We can point you in the right direction to get resources. 9 8 8 again. It's a place for resources, but Lord, I just pray for those listening in that were touched by this horrific sin of suicide. Uh it's just brutal, Lord. And I pray for an anointing of comfort and encouragement on those listening. And those that might be thinking that their life everything would be better if they weren't here. It's not true, Lord. I pray that over them right now. It's not true. It's not true. It's not true. Break the stronghold of believing this lie in Jesus of authority, power and his holy name. Amen.
Guest (Male): Thanks, Pastor Ed. I'm sure someone needed to hear that. If today's message is just what you needed to hear today, you can hear it again at aboundinggraceradio.com. At Abounding Grace, we're committed to bringing the truths of God's word to the radio and internet every day, but we can't do it alone. We look to the Lord and our listeners to help us provide these daily studies. Today when you give a donation of $25 or more, we'll send you Pastor Ed's new book, How to Take Notes. This highly practical guide will give you some ideas for taking notes as you head off to church on Sunday or as you listen to us on the radio or by podcast. Instead of just sitting back and listening, learn how to engage with scripture and the teaching in a more personal way. Request a copy right now by calling us at 877 30 Grace. That's 877 30 Grace. You can also order it online at calvaryco.store. That's calvaryco.store. Donations can also be made at aboundinggraceradio.com. And then join us next time and we'll have another great study in the word from Pastor Ed here on Abounding Grace.
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