If you will, in your Bibles, turn to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. And our text is in verse number 13. Verse number 13. Thou shalt not kill. We've been talking about the matter of murder as it's dealt with in this particular command. We've talked about a lot of the dynamics and the dimensions of this command, manslaughter, our responsibility to protect and preserve life when we can, how we ought to take extraordinary care not only for our own lives but for the lives of other people. We've talked about love and hatred and the other emotional dynamics that are involved in this thing. And we were at the place in the close of the last message on biblical guidelines for death. We are in a society that actually our culture is what I would call a death culture. The unborn, if they're not useful to us, if we don't like them, we don't want them, we just kill them. Abortion, for the most part, is nothing but murder. Cold-blooded murder. And it goes on. It's a result of the consequences of a lot of other immorality and a lot of other things that go on in life. But it's not good. But then we have this matter of euthanasia. And I just want to discuss this a little bit. It's a very, very difficult subject. But let's take a look at some biblical guidelines for death, concerning death, as far as you and I are concerned as individuals. How many of you think that you're not going to die if Jesus tarries? How many of you think you can escape what they call the grim reaper? You're not going to do it, and I'm not going to do it. When you give the gospel out, you need to make it plain. It's not a matter of if we're going to die. It's when and under what circumstances. All of us are going to face this thing in one way or another. Some of us sooner than we think, some a lot later than we think, and some in ways that we never anticipated. We don't have control over this thing, and it's not in our hands. And so, we live, make the most of life, see what we can do to glorify God in our life. And I'm praying that when I die, my death will glorify God. I want the glory of God to be seen in my dying as well as in my living. Yeah? Think about that. Just think about that. The Spirit of God to take your death and minister the glory of Jesus Christ in that moment, in that hour. Huh? Huh? I want my family to see the glory of God in the hour of my death. I want them to see it. Yes, I really do. I want the glory of God seen in my life. I want the glory of God seen in my death. And Paul said, for me to live is Christ to die is gain, and it is in many ways. But God puts within all of us a natural desire to live. We said in the last message, first of all, that death is inevitable. There's a time to be born, a time to die. It's appointed on the man who wants to die. Secondly, we pointed out that death is an enemy. It's the last enemy to be destroyed or abolished. First Corinthians 15, 26, it is death. Dying is a process. It's very interesting as to how God takes us home. Just think about this for a little bit. How many of you would like to, if the Lord would allow it, would just like for your heart to stop and that would be the end and it would be all over just suddenly and just all at once? And not complicated, very simple. How many would like to go that way? How many would like your loved ones to go that way? You've got to be very unselfish. You know, you wake up in the morning and there's a corpse in the bed. I mean, that's kind of rough on the family. Yeah? Yes, yes. No time to prepare for it emotionally or otherwise. No anticipation of it. The easiest time I've found when families, for families to let go, to let go of a loved one and to release them into the hands of the Lord. The easiest way is after they've suffered so much, you look at them and say, we don't want them around anymore. It's too hard on them. You know, we look at them when we say, hey, this is not good. May the Lord take them home, see? We're willing to release them, but the ones that go through that process, we look at them and we say, hey, look, you know, I don't want to go that way. Look at the suffering. Look at the lingering. Look at all of this. But may I remind you that the presence of God is there regardless of how you die, and the grace of God will be there in more measure than you need as you go through this. And you need to understand that. God never puts His children through suffering without grace that is more than adequate to the need. And the more the suffering, the more the grace. Did you hear that? The more the suffering, the more the grace. God never abandons His own in the time of need. And the greater the trial, the greater the manifestation of the grace and the power of God in the life of the one that walks with Him. Hear me. Hear me. Don't dread how you're going to die. Just don't do it. Just don't do it. Because God will be there. Without fail, He will be there. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. With boldness we may declare, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear. See? So we have no idea what this process will involve in our lives. We have no idea. No idea. But very few have a sudden death. I remember my predecessor, Dr. Winneger, was close to 90 years old and went to bed one night and his wife went to see him in the morning and he was gone. There was no anticipation of it, no expectation of it. He died in his sleep. And I said, how wonderful. And he was up in years and that made it a little easier on her. But nonetheless, nonetheless, very few of us, very few of us go like that. Most of us have other things. And we fear this thing called cancer. We fear strokes. We fear these things. They're fearful to us because of the way society and our culture pictures them and the tragedy that is associated with them. But may I say again, let me say it again. Let me repeat it again. The grace of God will be yours in greater measure than any suffering you will go through. You got that? And the presence of God will not fail you. The presence, the important thing is that in my dying and your dying, that God is glorified in it, and that the glory of God is seen in it, and that the hand of God is seen in it. That's the important thing. Okay? You say, can death be a blessing? It sure can if God manifests His presence and His glory in it. It can be. And after all, I decided one time, I had a little scare in my own personal life 15, 20 years ago, and I decided, hey, you know, either heaven is real or it isn't. And if it is, it can't be all so bad to go home to be with the Lord. Huh? It just can't be all so bad to go home to be with the Lord. It just cannot be. So you and I, we need to revise our thinking. We need to get our thinking not from the culture, but from the Word of God. And so, well, I'll go on a little bit. I'll just ramble on here a little bit. One of my favorite funeral texts comes out of Genesis where Jacob gathered all his sons together. He gathered all his sons together and he charged his sons. He gave them what for. He said, you guys behave and this is how you should live and relate to one another. And after he'd done that, he gathered his feet into his bed. And he gave up his spirit. And you know what the rest of it is? He was gathered to His people. He went over on the other side where Abraham was and where the other saints were. And He changed locations. He was gathered to His people. I've got a lot of people waiting for me on the other side. And I don't think it will be a great tragedy for me to be gathered to my people. So, you think about this. What is this all about? Why do I need to be afraid of it? Because when the time comes, God will be there. God will get there before I get there. Okay? We don't know how young. We might die at 20 years of age. We might die at 120 years of age. But that's not the issue. The issue is that God will be in it if we walk with Him. Dying is a process. Fourthly, Suffering is a part of present earthly life and death. Therefore, the Christian will patiently endure any pain, especially at the end of life. Pain will not become the reason to commit the unbiblical act of euthanasia. What does Paul say? I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Our light affliction which is momentary but for a moment, temporary, is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, are temporary. The things which are not seen are eternal. But the God of all grace, well, let's go back. The wicked one resists steadfast in the faith, knowing the same afflictions. are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you." That's after you've suffered a while. The God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory, will Himself perfect and confirm and strengthen and establish you. We are in a day where God's viewpoint and God's perspective is almost totally missing in the culture in which we live. I think you will agree with that, will you not? Almost totally. And it's amazing, Europe is ahead of us some in all of this, but we are moving on in this death culture that we have. Now, death in our culture has mostly been visited upon the unborn. those who are not yet birthed out of their mother's womb. But now we are talking about it and I think do they not have some kind of a law in Oregon or Washington or maybe both of them concerning euthanasia now? I'm not sure. There have been ballot measures in our state which didn't pass, I think, and then maybe also in Washington or Oregon. One of the two, I think, has a law that favors euthanasia, which means simply to take the life of someone who is elderly And basically what they do is they look at the life and instead of the sacredness of life, now hear me, there's a big difference, hear me, hear me, hear me, there's a big difference between the sacredness of life and quality of life. Things are measured in our society not by the sacredness of life. What does the sacredness of life mean? It means it comes from God. God is the one who should have charge of it. It belongs to God. Instead of that perspective, we look at what we call quality of life. So, we say the man has no quality of life, there isn't anything good he can do. That means that there's no profit to me from his life. It doesn't mean that his life is not a profit to God. See, God has His way of doing things. He has things He wants us to accomplish in life. There are those that need to be on their back so they can spend their life praying. I think I can share this with you. Maybe I should not. But it's amazing what happens to people when they are no longer able to do the things productively that they once did in their lives. And they come to have time to read their Bible and pray. And to have a walk with God that they never had when they were so busy doing things. And we would look at these people and say they have no quality of life, but they have a quality of a walk with God they never did have. And their prayers are ministering to people around the world. How do we measure these things? God is the one that knows. And it should be left in His hands. There are very perplexing problems in the decisions that have to be made. There's what we call voluntary passive euthanasia. This means that the doctors and nurses, the medical personnel at the patient's request, will merely allow nature to take its course. This means that nothing is done to hasten the death. The person is kept comfortable, but there are no extraordinary measures taken to prolong the life. I have signed a legal document called a Living Will. Is that what they call it? No, it's the Power of Attorney for Healthcare. Power of Attorney for Healthcare. And my power of attorney for health care says that if there's no prospect of recovery, take the tubes out, unplug the breathing machine, and let me go home to be with the Lord. Don't keep me alive for months and months and months artificially. Let death take its natural course. That's what I want. I'd want to live like a vegetable on a hospital bed with breathing machines and feeding tubes and all kinds of other things to keep me going when obviously my life cannot self-sustain any longer. I don't want that. Now, if I have a bad accident and you need to do some extraordinary things to get me over the hump so I can recover, fine. But don't keep me alive for months and months and months just to keep a corpse warm. What good is a warm corpse? It doesn't glorify God. It does nothing. So, there is this thing, voluntary passive euthanasia. And then there is what we call a voluntary active euthanasia where the patient wants the doctor to hasten the death. And this is where The doctor then assumes to take the place of God and make the person die sooner. I think this violates this command, you shall not kill. There's involuntary passive euthanasia. And this is where they withhold the extraordinary care and means by which to keep alive and allow the person to die. Now, the question is this, if you allow someone to die without these things, are you guilty of killing them? What do you do when your granddaughter is on a respirator and her body is destroyed and there's nothing to keep it alive anymore except the respirator? And when you tell the doctor, pull the plug, have you ended her life or did the disease end her life? Well, the disease ended her life. You didn't end her life. The disease ended her life. So, there are hard choices that you have to make in this matter. It seems to be if the life is there and the life is capable of maintaining itself, One really has not much business in taking away what's necessary to sustain it in a way. But then you see infants have been kept alive for months and years on feeding tubes where they could not feed themselves, or children who could not feed themselves, they could not maintain or sustain their own life. And kept alive as a corpse, a warm corpse for years. But the life was not there to sustain itself. So, you have these hard choices and there are places that are just kind of on that borderline where you really need wisdom in all of these things. And you've got to be careful with these things. I knew a person one time who was not willing. He could not emotionally disconnect from his mother. And he kept her alive for months on artificial breathing machines and feeding tubes. The brain was dead just because he could not bear the thought of letting her go. Well, she was gone already. And so, there are things that need to be considered. The question does active euthanasia, where you actively hasten the death. You intentionally, actively minister drugs to hasten the death. We call it mercy killing. But notice the word killing. The reason does not justify doing it. So, as believers, when we look at the issue of dying, When you look at the issue of euthanasia, we're in a culture where people are trying to make decisions based on how useful the life is, how comfortable the patient is. We can eliminate some suffering, take away some of the difficulties they're going to have to go through in the process of dying. And so, in our culture, there are those who believe And by the way, it's not legal in California, to my knowledge, to do this. Now, you may correct me. I stand corrected if it is. But I don't think it's legal in California to do this. I don't know if they do it. But doctors are not to minister things that will hasten the death of individuals. So, when it comes to this commandment, you shall not kill, the basic principle is that God is the one who has the final say on life and death. How long we live, what is involved in the process of dying. Now, I have always been utterly convinced, and we have the means now medically to do this. I've been utterly convinced that anyone who is in a state of suffering, we have the kinds of ways to alleviate most suffering. I believe with all my heart we should keep people comfortable in their last days as much as is possible. So, it's important that we have a balanced view, a biblical view on this thing. That we base it not on quality of life, but sanctity of life. That life is from God. Let me, if I will, just read a few paragraphs from an article here. I hate to do this. I do not like to read. It's not my... It is not my material, but it comes from an article that I found in a theological journal. It's called A Biblical Analysis, and it comes out of, I think, Bibliotheca Sacra, which comes from Dallas Theological Seminary. But let me just share these paragraphs with you, and perhaps they will be helpful to you. Foundational to biblical perspective on euthanasia is a proper understanding of the sanctity of human life. For centuries, Western culture in general and Christians in particular have believed in the sanctity of human life. Unfortunately, this view is beginning to erode into a quality of life standard. Before, the disabled, retarded and infirm were seen as having a special place in God's world. But today, medical personnel judge a person's fitness for life on the basis of a perceived quality of life or lack of such quality. No longer is life seen as sacred and worthy of being saved. Now patients are evaluated and life-saving treatment is frequently denied based on a subjective and arbitrary standard for the supposed quality of life. If a life is not judged worthy to be lived any longer, people feel obligated to end that life. Western society must return to the fundamental belief that because man is created in the image of God, all human life is sacred. Society must not place an arbitrary standard of quality above God's absolute standard of human value and worth. Hear me, hear me, we don't understand all of the things that happen. Those who are born with difficulties and problems, whether mentally or otherwise, we don't understand all of this. But there is a God who has a wisdom that transcends ours. We are not God and He is. Society must not place an arbitrary standard of quality above God's absolute standard of human value and worth. This does not mean that people will no longer need to make difficult decisions about treatment and care, but it does mean that these decisions will be guided by an objective, absolute standard of human worth. Another foundational principle involves a biblical view of life-taking. The Bible specifically condemns murder, and this would surely include active forms of euthanasia in which another person, whether doctor, nurse, or friend, hastens death in a patient. While there are situations described in Scripture in which life-taking may be permitted, such as self-defense or a just war, euthanasia should not be included with any of these established biblical categories. Active euthanasia, like murder, involves premeditated intent and therefore should be condemned as immoral and even criminal. May I repeat that? Active euthanasia like murder involves premeditated intent and therefore should be condemned as immoral and even criminal. Christians should also reject the attempt by the modern euthanasia movement to promote a so-called right to die. Secular society's attempt to establish this right to die is wrong for two reasons. First, Giving a person a right to die is tantamount to promoting suicide, and suicide is condemned in the Bible. Man is forbidden to murder, and that includes murder of oneself. Moreover, Christians are commanded to love others as they love themselves. Implicit in the command is an assumption of self-love as well as love for others. Suicide, however, is hardly an example of self-love. It is perhaps the clearest example of self-hate. Suicide is also usually a selfish act. People kill themselves to get away from pain and problems, often leaving these problems to friends and family members who must pick up the pieces when the one who committed suicide is gone. Secondly, the so-called right to die denies God the opportunity to work sovereignly within a shattered life, bringing glory to Himself. May I repeat that? This so-called right to die denies God the opportunity to work sovereignly within a shattered life to bring glory to Himself. When Joni Eareckson-Todd, anybody recognize that name? Have you seen her? Alright, when Joni Eareckson-Todd realized that she would be spending the rest of her life as a quadriplegic. What is a quadriplegic? Quadra meaning all four quarters of the body except the head are inoperable. Both hands, both arms, both legs are inoperable. They do not work, usually because of nerve damage. When Joni Eareckson-Todd realized she would be spending the rest of her life as a quadriplegic, she asked in despair, why can't they just let me die? When her friend Diana, trying to provide comfort, said to her, The past is dead, Joni. You're alive. Joni responded, Am I? This isn't living. But through God's grace, Joni's despair gave way to her firm conviction that even her accident was within God's plan for her life. Now she shares with the world her firm conviction that suffering gets us ready for heaven. Another foundational principle is a biblical view of death. Modern medicine defines death primarily as a biological event. Yet, Scripture defines death as a spiritual event that has biological consequences. Death, according to the Bible, occurs when the spirit leaves the body. We move out and into our heavenly home. Unfortunately, this does not offer much by way of clinical diagnosis for medical personnel. But he does suggest that a rigorous medical definition for death be used. A comatose patient may not be conscious, but from both a medical and biblical perspective, he is very much alive. Treatment should be continued unless critical vital signs and brain activity have ceased. On the other hand, Christians must also reject the notion that everything must be done to save life at all costs. Believers, knowing that to be at home in the body is to be away from the Lord, long for the time when they will be absent from the body and at home with the Lord. Death is gain for Christians. Therefore, they need not be so tied to this earth that they perform futile operations just to extend a few more hours or days. Many of you knew Mrs. Alma Browning. Many of you did not. Mrs. Alma Browning was a part of the ministry of this church. Had to be for at least 30 years. She was my administrative assistant. She worked in the seminary. And her husband was my associate pastor here. Mrs. Browning was diagnosed with cancer. And when she asked the doctor, she said to the doctor, she said now, What's the prognosis on this kind of cancer? I think it was pancreatic cancer she had. By the way, there are some kinds of cancers that have a cure rate of 50 to 70 percent. Pancreatic cancer, last I heard, has a cure rate of between 3 and 5 percent. It's almost certain death. And the chemotherapy through which one goes in order to prevent or to prolong life is excruciatingly painful and difficult. She said to the doctor, now, if I go through this chemotherapy and this regimen of radiation and chemotherapy, what will it add to my life? And he said, about three months maybe at the most. And she said, now, do I want to go through three months of life just in order to prolong three months of suffering and agony? I'm going to go home to be with the Lord. Why don't I just let things take their course and go home to be with the Lord?" And she chose not to take the treatment. And she went home to be with the Lord. Had a wonderful testimony in the presence of the Lord. It was evident in her suffering and in her death. Because the Lord is always with His people. I'll tell you another story. My dear friend, Dr. Jim Singleton, pastor of the Tri-City Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. A great man of God. A man with a missionary heart and just a giant of a guy. He had pancreatic cancer too. And you see, the leading of the Lord, are you listening now? The leading of the Lord and the work of the Spirit of God in our hearts needs to be a part of all of this as you walk with God. Because Dr. Singleton said to the doctor, what are the chances? Five percent. He said, well, what do you got to do to me? How can you help me? And he tried one chemo and it didn't work. He said, well, try another one. He tried another one. It didn't work. He tried the third one. And the third one began to help him. And as they do, he lost all of his hair. But my good friend Jim, Jim Singleton, was traveling around the world for two years after he was supposed to be dead. A year and a half after that diagnosis, he was in the sitting room and that doctor that had diagnosed him earlier walked into the sitting room and looked at him and he says, you are not supposed to be here. A year and a half later, God gave him two more years of ministry and then he passed away into the presence of the Lord. Now, you just don't know. You'd be in tune with God with these things. There is not a little book that you can read that says, this is the formula, this is how you decide. You'd be in tune with God. Because both Dr. Singleton and Alma Browning had a choice to make. It wasn't a choice of suicide. It was a choice, am I going to go through this or what am I going to do? How am I going to relate to the doctors and the medical treatments? Alma went home to be with the Lord in the matter of six months. Dr. Singleton was traveling around the world a year, year and a half later. One of his friends said, you've got your calendar filled up for a year in advance. He said, do you have any idea you're going to be able to keep these commitments with the cancer you've got? And my friend Jim looked at him and he said, look, do you know that you're going to be able to keep any appointments you've got one year from now? He said, no. He said, well, then I know as much as you do. Dear people, our lives are in the hands of God. Our lives are in the hands of God. I will read on just three more paragraphs. In the patient's last days, everything possible should be done to alleviate physical and emotional pain. Giving drugs to a patient to relieve pain is morally justifiable, Proverbs says. Give strong drink to him who is perishing and wine to him whose life is bitter. As previously mentioned, some analgesics have the secondary effect of shortening life, but these should be permitted since the primary purpose is to relieve pain even though they may secondarily shorten life. Moreover, believers should provide counsel and spiritual care to dying patients. Frequently emotional needs can be met both in the patient and in the family. Such times of grief also provide opportunities for witnessing. Those suffering loss are often more open to the gospel than at any other time. Difficult philosophical and biblical questions are certain to continue swirling around the issue of euthanasia, but in the midst of these confusing issues should be the objective absolute standards of Scripture which provide guidance for the hard choices of providing care to terminally ill patients. So, we have this command, thou shalt not kill. And there's sometimes difficulties in knowing just how does this apply. But let me go right back to this thing. God is the author of life. God gives life and God takes life. And we want to do everything we can to be in tune with what God is doing and what God wants done. It is not quality of life that determines this thing. It is the sanctity of life. the sacredness of life in which we anchor our approach to these issues. You shall not kill. That is, you don't take a life, whether intentionally or unintentionally, you don't take a life which belongs to God without God wanting it taken. You just don't. May the Lord give us grace in this thing. I think Pastor Pelletier mentioned someone who recently gave birth to a baby whose actually her cranium, her cavity, the head cavity actually had no brain in it. And the doctor wanted to abort. And she said, no, we will give birth. She followed the natural course. And of course, the baby was born dead. And then there was the grieving and the burial. The things that happen in life that we cannot explain, we do not understand. Why does God allow this? We don't know this. And I'd hate to be one to sit in judgment on God. God knows what He is doing. And of course, all sickness and death comes because of sin. Sin has corrupted the entire universe in every dimension, every dynamic, every aspect of it. And so there are things, there are difficulties that we face and encounter because of it. But the work of the cross and the grace of God rises above all human tragedy and difficulty. It just does. And so we don't want to fear this thing. Don't want to fear it. And we don't want to have a morbid interest in it. There's so many people that have never made any arrangements for their death because they're afraid to even use the word death. But Paul got it right in 1 Corinthians. The sting of death is sin. Why are people afraid about death? Because the sin thing hasn't been settled in their heart and mind. If you know with absolute certainty your sins are forgiven, that you have a just, righteous standing before God, then there's no fear of meeting God. In fact, if God is who He says He is and the love of God gets into our hearts, then the greatest prospect in life is the eternal kingdom of God. That's our greatest prospect in life. Meeting God, seeing God, rejoicing in God's presence, being past all of this sin and death in which we live now in this world. The greatest prospect in life is standing before the Lord Jesus and seeing the beauty of His glorious face. So we don't shrink from death. And if you are here tonight and you're afraid of death, listen, come to the cross, get this thing settled in your heart and in your mind, that the most glorious day of my life is going to be the day when I step out of this realm and into the presence of God forever. It'll be the most glorious day of my life. Now you say, you want to do that tonight? No, I do not. I've got too many more saints to persecute. I'm not going to let you off that easily. So, but may God help us to treasure the life we have. Value it. Don't waste it. Use it wisely. Make the most of it. Be as productive as we possibly can. But when the time comes not to hang on to it. There's something much better over on the other side. So may the Lord encourage our hearts and give us a good biblical view. Remember, it's the sacredness of life, not quality of life in which we're interested. Now, we want to do everything we can to make people comfortable, especially in the latter days, especially if they're days of suffering. Comfortable, be with them. But again, I hope you'll pray as I have prayed. When that time comes in your life, it may be sooner than you expect. It may be a lot farther away than you expect. But when that day comes, that God's glory will be manifest in what happens. Yes? Your family will see it. Your friends will see it. God's glory will be manifest. God may be glorified in my body, whether by life or by death. That was Paul's prayer. And God will give us this, we know. We will have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. And that certainly is no tragedy for the believing child of God. Well, it will be, too. In one of these days we shall see Him. Heavenly Father, as we go tonight, we pray that the Spirit of God will minister great joy to our hearts. Joy, confidence, assurance. Help us, Lord, to take hold of the brevity of life, help us to live life to the fullest, to make the most of the moments and the days that You've given to us, to use them wisely, invest them wisely in service to others and in service to our God. We pray that every life here shall be wonderfully dedicated and given over to the glory of God and the service of Jesus Christ. Bless our fellowship as we meet together downstairs. And through this week, we pray that you'll fill us new and fresh with your wonderful Holy Spirit and enable us to have ministry throughout this week. We pray for strength where we are weak. We pray for encouragement where there's discouragement. We pray for your protection upon our lives and for the glory of God to be seen in every dimension of our lives. Thank you for this hour together in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. God bless you.