Suicide

When God is removed from the equation of life, the sum total of the calculation of man’s existence is less than vanity. That’s why carnal man’s basic questions are always so predictable. They are as follows:

∙ From where did the universe come?

∙ From where did life come?

∙ Who am I?

∙ Why am I here?

∙ Do I have a purpose?

∙ Where am I going?

∙ How will the earth and universe end?

Of course, God’s Word declares the answers to these rather simple questions, but because God has been removed from the equation, there isn’t an answer no matter how eloquent the opposition may wax. Jesus Christ is the answer to all of life’s problems. Click onto "Further With Jesus" to find the entrance into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Exodus 20:13:

Thou shalt not kill.

MAN SAID: The Bible’s moral dictums have no credible weight, therefore its position on suicide is of no relevance.

Now THE RECORD. Much e-mail has crossed GodSaidManSaid’s desk concerning the issue of suicide. A definition is in order. According to Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, suicide is: "Self-murder; the act of designedly destroying one’s own life. To constitute suicide, the person must be of years of discretion and of a sound mind." [End of quote]

Suicide is a global epidemic of death. In America alone, nearly 31,000 people in 2002 ended their own lives. To put this in perspective, the entire Vietnam War death toll of U.S. troops was nearly 57,000. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2002, 264,000 Americans were treated in our emergency rooms for non-fatal self-inflicted, injuries with 60% of them probable suicide attempts. Non-reported incidences would presumably drive that number up substantially. The World Health Organization asserts that suicide attempts are up to 20 times more frequent than actual suicides. When you do the math, America logs in with as many as 600,000 suicide attempts per year. That number is mind-boggling. Suicide is the number three cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds.

Suicide fits perfectly with Satan’s mode of operation, which is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Be assured of this fact: the epidemic of self-inflicted death is because God has been removed from the equation. The Word of God has been disrespected, rejected, ridiculed, revised, and replaced in the media, entertainment, churches, public property, universities, and schools.  Much of what has replaced God is one of Satan’s champions: secular humanism. The doctrine of humanism is that there is no God; all things, from the origin of the universe to the origin of life, can be explained absent of God; and man is self-perfecting. Humanism as well as any position contrary to the Word of God will be tolerated by all men who possess the common Satanic denominator: rebellion against the God of truth.

In David Limbaugh’s book, Persecution, under the heading, "Death Education," the following excerpt was found:

"Death education" is another avenue through which certain favored spiritual influences have been infiltrating public schools. Tara Becker is a former student of the Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado, the school where the horrible student-on-student mass murder occurred. At a pro-family conference in 1985, Becker told of her exposure to death education at Columbine. According to Jayne Schindler, a conference attendee, "Tara explained that the subject of death was integrated into many of the courses at her high school. She said that death was made to look glamorous, that living was hard and that reincarnation would solve their problems. Students were told that they would always return to a much better life form. They would return to the ’Oversoul’ and become like God. The next part is shockingly worse. Schindler related Tara’s description of a "suicide talking day" that the school arranged following the suicide of one of the students. That day, teachers and students talked about death in every class. Teachers assigned students the task of writing their own obituaries and suicide notes. "They were told to trust their own judgment in choosing whether to live or die." Largely as a result of this orientation, Tara said that she began to contemplate suicide as an option to end her problems. Suicide, she thought, would liberate her spirit from being enslaved to her body. It would also help to relieve the world’s population problem. That qualifies perhaps as the ultimate in politically correct education: suicide to relieve global overpopulation. Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum produced a two-hour video on Tara’s experiences, which led to an ABC-TV 20/20 program on the subject. On that program, Tara explained that she never would have considered suicide prior to the class instruction on death education because she wasn’t brave enough. But the things students learned in class, she said, "taught us how to be brave enough to face death." "We talked about what we wanted to look like in our caskets." 20/20 reported that ten percent of public schools offer death education, but since there is no approved curriculum, teachers often receive their entire training in a one-day workshop. Robert Stevenson, an expert in counseling and education, confirmed this, noting that "anyone with a teacher’s license can walk in off the street and start teaching death ed. Some people teach these courses as their own form of self-therapy."  [End of quote]

To escape the spirit of death, one must surrender to the spirit of life, but the masses have refused. Again Limbaugh reports:

One writer related a disturbing story of death instruction in a Massachusetts school that provides a glimpse of the attitudes that teachers in this field are imparting to students. An inordinate number of students at this particular school had committed suicide, which led to an investigation by an educational consultant. He met with the teacher of the school’s death education course and was shocked when the teacher told him that fewer suicides at the school would not necessarily be an improvement. The death teacher "reasoned" that if students made the decision to commit suicide on their own, it would be a tribute to their courage in making "an independent decision."  [End of quote]

Rejection of the Words of the Creator is the embracement of bastardy and death. The results are devastatingly obvious. According to U.S. Statistics, the percentage of students who attempted an injurious suicide between grades nine through 12 increased 53% between the years 1991 and 2001. In that same time period, the increase among males was 110%. Between years 1952 and 1995, the incidents of suicide among adolescents and young adults rose nearly 300%. Suicide is a death epidemic. The answer to this problem is not in man.

The suicide pandemic will only be solved when Jesus Christ—God’s Saviour for all who call upon His name—is put back into the center of the equation. Jesus Christ is the Creator of the universe. Colossians 1:16-17:

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. All things must revolve around Him. Man’s every deed—whether good or evil—and man’s every thought—whether good or evil—revolve around Jesus. Deeds and thoughts are either pro-Christ or anti-Christ. Jesus Christ is the source of all life, and when He is rejected, the result can only be death. When Jesus is not the center of an individual’s life, that individual will self-destruct. It will be either suicide long or suicide short, but suicide nevertheless. The Word of God teaches that all who reject Jesus Christ perform the act of suicide or self-murder. Sound ludicrous? Consider this short list of unregenerated man’s proclivities:

∙ He’ll drink himself to death;

∙ Dope himself to death;

∙ Smoke himself to death;

∙ Destroy his life with pornography;

∙ Embrace the homosexual lifestyle, in which the average male dies at age 41;

∙ Destroy his family via adultery;

∙ Commit incest;

∙ Commit bestiality;

∙ Kill and die through drunken driving;

∙ Steal;

∙ Rape;

∙ Murder;

∙ Entertain hatred and violence;

∙ Be bitter toward others;

∙ Engage in pedophilia;

∙ Contract venereal diseases and AIDS;

∙ Lust and covet, and so much more.

But the foundation of all self-destructive acts, which is the root of the things mentioned above, is the refusal to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of one’s sins, and obey the Scriptures. Those who reject Him go from death unto death and commit eternal suicide, which is fully cognizant death and torment in the lake of fire—punishment which never ends. Carnal man self-destructs. It is truly self-murder or suicide.

Your life is not your own. Life is a God-given gift and to destroy your own or another’s is an act of murder. Remember, suicide’s definition is "self-murder."

Those with a loved one who has committed suicide have haunting, unanswered questions. They must leave the judgment to God. We don’t know what an individual who took his or her life did in their last seconds of time. Whether they turned to Christ or not, we don’t know. But be assured of two things: God can forgive even murder and the Judge of the whole earth will do right.

Suicide, for most, is an act of hopelessness, an act of one who is unable or unwilling to face circumstances or shoulder responsibility. When key elements of this person’s existence collapse, many of these individuals consider suicide. These key elements can include:

∙ Their boyfriend or girlfriend leaving them for another;

∙ Their husband or wife leaving them for another;

∙ They lose their job;

∙ They have uncertainties in the future;

∙ The futility of life without Christ sets in;

∙ They lose their wealth;

∙ They lose a spouse through death, or any number of other elements in a person’s life.

Many consider suicide.

The perfection of God’s solution to suicide is just another infallible proof that God is. His solution to suicide has to be something bigger than this ever-collapsing life and it must be something that never fails. His solution is the new birth and the Kingdom of God, which dwells in the heart of all His children. The new birth and Kingdom of God can only be entered into through the blood of Jesus Christ. This begins the journey to eternal life. Through our Lord Jesus, we are born again, all of our sins are forgiven and forgotten, and we enter into the ranks of righteousness. Here we are called to be "hardened soldiers," warring against sin and Satan. Here we are called to keep ourselves unspotted from this world and instructed to kick down the strongholds of Satan and set captive souls free. Here we are redeemed from purposelessness and worthlessness and are converted to the most valuable commodity in the universe. In the camp of righteousness, this world on Earth is no longer our home; instead we are called pilgrims who are just passing through, and we are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10). The suicide problem is always solved when Jesus Christ is put back into the center of the equation. Truly there is (hallelujah!) hope for the hopeless. Choose Christ and live. Click on to "Further With Jesus" and find entrance into the Kingdom of God. This is not an invitation to "churchianity," but entrance to "life and life more abundantly."

GOD SAID, Exodus 20:13:

Thou shalt not kill.

MAN SAID: The Bible’s moral dictums have no credible weight, therefore its position on suicide is of no relevance.

Now you have THE RECORD.



References:

King James Bible

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, National Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments, United States, 2000, MMWR 2002; 51(20); 436- 8

International Statistics: World Health Organization, for international suicide statistics, including the most recent global stats by country.

Limbaugh, D., Persecution, Regnery Publishing, 2003

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