Ecclesiastes chapter 3, reading from the verse number 1. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose unto the heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to rend and a time to sow. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and the time of peace. Amen. We know that God will bless the reading of his word to our hearts. Let's seek the Lord for prayer. Father in heaven, as we come to you tonight, as we come to consider your word in the light of this bill that has been proposed, we pray that you would give us wisdom and understanding. and strengthen us in our resolve for the things that are truthful and right and beautiful which thou hast given to us. And strengthen us in our resolve to pray against that which is wrong and evil and help us to appreciate the life that God has given and help us to enrich others with our lives. And so we pray that you would write your word upon our hearts. May the words of my mouth, the meditation, of my heart be acceptable in thy sight oh lord my strength and my redeemer amen and amen tonight we are going to consider the subject assisted dying is it compassionate or cruel and we're looking really at the christian response to euthanasia because while assisted dying isn't quite euthanasia there is every indication that it comes from the same philosophical background and will lead in that direction. So we're going to think about this tonight and it's important that we should consider this Bill in the light of God's Word and of God's truth. And here in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and the verse 2 we have a text which really is a very good place to start. Where the Bible says concerning our lives There is a time to be born and a time to die. And who is the one that has that time? It is God. That time is in His hands because the psalmist said, my times are in thy hands. On Friday, the 29th of November this week, The House of Commons will have its first opportunity to vote on the Private Members Bill proposed by Labour MP for the Spen Valley, Kim Leadbeater. This bill, if it becomes law, will bring about the single biggest social change that our nation has ever seen. apart from perhaps David Steele's 1967 abortion bill, which actually was also a private member's bill. The difference between abortion and assisted dying is that one affects children who have never had the opportunity of life, while the other concerns people who are living and who no longer want life. Kim Leadbeater's assisted dying for the terminally ill adults bill have passed, will not legislate for Northern Ireland, it only concerns England and Wales. But crucially, our MPs, as is true of the Scottish MPs as well and the Welsh MPs, they will all have a vote, the devolved nations will all have a vote. And so that's immediately, tells us that this does concern us because our MPs will have a vote. Not only that, but there are bills passing through Holyrood in Edinburgh, and there are bills passing through the Dáil in Dublin, and these pieces of legislation are moving all of the kingdoms around us in the direction of assisted dying. There is a juggernaut driving this social change across the entirety of the British Isles. And if Kim Leadbeater's bill succeeds, then this little piece of ground, these six counties, could very possibly be the only place in these islands which does not have assisted dying or euthanasia. And if that is the case, then we know it is inevitable that the very same battle is going to be fought on Ulster soil. And there will be those who will want to introduce the change to Ulster. But if this bill is defeated, if it is stayed and held back in the principal legislature within the United Kingdom. Well, the Republic of Ireland may likely go down the route of assisted dying, but it might just save us. And so we should have an interest in what is going on at Westminster at this time. Now, the purpose of this message is twofold. It's important that we understand why the ethos underlying this bill is entirely wrong. We need to get that. Why? It is in opposition to the word of God. And the word of God gives us a Christian worldview, a Christian view of the world. And this bill contradicts the Christian view of the world. But there's another purpose for this message as well. As Christians, we have a duty to promote the preciousness of human life. Every person has a real and a remarkable purpose in this world. We are all precious, we are all important, every one of us. I was speaking to some teenagers recently and I brought up this subject and I looked at all of them and I said, you're all important, you're all precious, there's a great purpose for you in this world. And what this bill does is undermine that. And as Christians, we need to possibly get that message out. God's view of humanity, it's a high and noble view, despite the twisted nature of our sin. Before moving into the subject properly, there are some details concerning the bill, and then there are some concerns around the bill that I want to bring before you by way of introduction. So what are the details of the bill now? This bill does not introduce euthanasia. Euthanasia is where the state takes upon itself the power to remove the human life. Where the doctor will inject the poison and take the person's life away. That's euthanasia. The word euthanasia actually means mercy killing. The whole idea behind euthanasia is that you're performing an act of mercy and taking the person out of their suffering. And that's why the word euthanasia isn't used in the title of the bill. It's assisted dying. So what is assisted dying? Well, if this bill is passed, the state will have the power to assist the individual in the taking of their own life. So the individual must be able to take their own life. The individual must be able to apply the medicine, the drug, but the doctor will provide it. The NHS will provide it, or taxes will provide for it. The phrase assisted dying is actually really misleading. Satan is so clever at using all kinds of terms to gloss over what's actually happening. For example, in countries where euthanasia is practiced, you don't read about the state killing people. You read about this phrase, that person has been euthanized, euthanized. It's the phrase they use. States don't sponsor murder, that's what it is. And assisted dying is not assisted dying. Assisted dying, properly speaking, is palliative care. And the nurses and doctors who provide palliative care for the dying do an amazing job. And they help the individual die naturally. And they will use drugs and medicines to relieve the suffering all of the while they are preserving life. And as far as they can, they try and preserve consciousness in order that the person might leave this world naturally. That is assisted dying. That's palliative care. But nature takes its course. This law, if passed, is assisted suicide. the individual will be presented with the medication to take their own life. And that's the true nature of Kim Leadbeater's proposal. Now, she claims that she has built in safeguards. The major safeguard, as far as she is concerned, relates to those having a terminal illness. So you have to be certified by a A doctor is having less than six months to live. And she was, she's saying, look, look, it's not going to apply to the disabled and it's not going to apply to people that are mentally ill and all of these things. It's just going to apply to a certain group of people who are suffering and who are facing death in the very near future. And as far as she is concerned, that's a safeguard. But is it? Now, Let's just think about some areas of concern in relation to the bill. And again, this is all by way of introduction before we come to look at what the scripture says. Now, we do have the utmost sympathy for people that are suffering. And this is one of the points that is made in support of this change in legislation, that we should have a heart for people that are suffering. people that they don't want to suffer anymore as they come to die. Would it not be better just to have them slip away in their sleep as a result of applying some lethal medicine? Would that not be easier? Surely we should have a heart for those people. We do have the utmost sympathy for the suffering. Of course we do. Our hearts go out for them. Our hearts break for them. But is it not even more tragic to say to these people, death is an option. This is what we're providing you with. Let's provide you with death. This is what we're going to do. And so that becomes a real option for those people, a real legal option, a moral option. Here's death, you can have it. Is that kind? Is that merciful? Is that good? What sort of a hope does that give? And so that is a huge area of concern that we would have. Now, euthanasia and, indeed, assisted suicide, because the two things come from the same philosophy. They stem from the idea that some human lives are not worth living. We're all special. Whatever position in life we're in, whatever capabilities or lack of capabilities we have, whether we're young or whether we're older, whether we're near life's end, we're still special. Every life is worth living and every life has value and every life has meaning. But this philosophy says some lives are not worth living. That entirely contradicts. this biblical view of humanity, the Christian view of humanity. Another big area of concern is this. The National Health Service will cross the boundary from caring for the suffering to facilitating death. Institutions such as nursing homes, hospitals, which are designed to relieve suffering while preserving life, will become places where death will be the outcome by design. People die in all of these places. They do. It's a journey of life. But they are not designed to produce death. But suddenly, the National Health Service will, in some places, become the National Death Service. Now that already has happened tragically with abortion, with the extremely liberal and dangerous abortion laws that we have in this country. It's so wicked and it's so vile what is happening with the taking of the lives of the unborn, but now it will happen to those at the other end of life's journey. Doctors and nurses whose task is to protect life will become party to the ending of life. Death will suddenly become a treatment. Just think of that. Death becomes a treatment. The boundary will be crossed. And that's a very dangerous development for the health service of any country. Another area of concern is this. Limiting the application of the legislation to those with six months to live, that will prove impossible to define. A doctor generally knows if an individual has hours or days left. As one who frequently has been by the bedside of the dying, I can see the hand of death stealing over the body. as you visit and come back, you can see it. And those of you who have seen loved ones dying will know what I am talking about. But six months, six months. How often has a doctor's predictions not been accurate? How many people have defied all of the odds and have lived? How many people were given a very short time to live and suddenly they have lived? for perhaps years afterwards. It has happened. And I would suggest that this restriction is just a tactic. It's just a tactic to get this bill over the line. And then in future years, amendments will come. The six months will quickly be dropped and we'll be into full-blown euthanasia. You see what this bill is all about, surrendering the principle. You surrender the principle that the government can take life. And once you surrender that principle, you have no idea where it's all going to lead us to. Now, experience has shown, in other countries where euthanasia or assisted dying has been introduced, the initial restrictions were eventually eroded. The Netherlands is one of the best examples. They have had assisted dying and euthanasia for a very long time. The definition in the Netherlands for receiving euthanasia was that you had to be experiencing, the term was unbearable suffering. Unbearable suffering. Now that is now applied to people suffering from dementia. It's now being applied to people who suffer from mental illness in rising numbers. There is a very striking example in the Netherlands of this. There was a couple from the town of Tilburg they became very well known. They became minor celebrities actually in their local area in November 2016. They agreed to the euthanasia of their son. Their son was very overweight. He suffered from severe mental illness. And at 38 years of age, they had him and the term was euthanized. They said, you try to make your child happy, but Elko, that was his name, wasn't happy in life. He wanted to stop suffering. Death was the only way. That's what parents did for their son. Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, whenever assistant dying was introduced, he said these restrictions would not be dropped within five years they were dropped. And Canada now is one of the most liberal regimes in the entire world. The story is told of Rosina Camus. She had fibromyalgia and chronic leukemia. She also had mental and physical illnesses. She presented these symptoms to the assessors. Her death was approved. She left a note that was only to be made known after she died. And the note simply said, please keep all this secret while I am still alive because the suffering I experience is mental suffering, not physical. I think if more people cared about me, I might be able to handle the suffering caused by my physical illness alone. That was her cry. She died by lethal injection. Forty-one years of age. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Where this kind of philosophy leads a country and a nation to. So, we should be totally concerned by what we are seeing in this bill. Let's think about the Christian worldview. Let's think about what the It's a very sensitive matter. It's a matter that touches all of our lives because we're all living and in a sense we're all dying. We are. We're going down the valley one by one. Suffering is all around us. It's part of the fabric of humanity. It's very real and it's very personal. But let's think about what the scriptures have to say about this Christian worldview which is entirely opposed to this assisted dying bill. The first point I want to make is this. The Christian worldview teaches the sanctity of life. The Bible says we've been created in the image of God. The Bible says that Human life is totally different from animal life. There is a sacredness in humanity which sets us apart and makes us special. Now I know that to a person who is not religious, a person who perhaps is atheistic, that seems totally foreign. And how can we use that kind of language to win over the argument whenever there are people out there who don't believe in God and yet we know there are people out there who don't believe in God who are totally opposed to this legislation too. They're not happy with it and there's voices in Parliament speaking up and they come from an entirely different faith perspective from us. But those people, while they may not realize it, They believe in the sanctity of life. They believe that human life should not be violated because that's what God teaches in his word. God made man in his own image. In the image of God made he him, male and female, created he them. And I think there's a real message for the church to get out, speak out for. Why is human life special? Because We are made by God. Genesis 2 verse 7, the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a human soul. So on this account, the removal of human life is a violation. It's a violation of the sacredness. It's a violation of the special nature of humanity. The killing of humanity, the killing of humanity. the removing of the life of humanity, whether it is by murder or by manslaughter, by suicide, by assisted suicide, even by neglect. All of this is covered within the scope of the sixth commandment, where Exodus 20 verse 13 says, thou shalt not kill. And that's very straightforward language. Thou shalt not kill human life. is special, it is not to be violated, it is to be treated with the utmost care. And that's how we should look at our own lives, and that's how we should look at the lives of others. And that is a principle that should undergird a state and how it looks after the lives of its citizens. You see, because we've been made in the image of God, because God has created us, we must see life as a gift. That's really important, life as a gift. If someone gives you a gift, you're trusted with that gift. And you want to treat that gift in a very special way because someone has given you that. You don't want to appear unkind or ungrateful. You have a duty to take that gift and use it. And the more the person means to you, I suppose, the more special that gift becomes. The great creator, who's also the great benefactor, he has given us the gift of life. You know, people say today, I should be able to do what I want. I should be able to be what I want, do what I want, believe what I want, do with this body as I want. If I want to die, I die. That's where all this is leading us to, but the Bible says God has given us the gift of life. And all of the lives that we have tonight, every one of you, That life of yours is a gift from God. And he has given you that gift for his glory. You might use it for him, but he's also given you that gift for the good of others. There's such a selfish spirit abroad today, but that gift is for the good of others. And it's not our right to remove that precious gift that God has given, but to use that gift to enrich others. How sacred and how special this life is that God has given to us. Carl Gunning is a good example. He was a doctor in the Netherlands. He spent a large part of his career fighting against the trend in the Netherlands towards Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. And he said this in a book written in 1990. It's a series of articles written by various experts. The book's called Death Without Dignity, Euthanasia in Perspective. He said this. Until now, deliberate killing has been regarded as something abhorrent in Western society. If we begin to accept killing as a good thing in order to solve one kind of problem, then we shall soon find reason to use killing in order to solve other kinds of problems. And history provides many examples of the kind of society we get if killing is regarded as good. And he would go on to describe what happened in Nazi Germany. We must decide what kind of society we really want for ourselves and for future generations. Killing can never be regarded as good. The sanctity of human life. And then, secondly, let us think about the sovereignty of God over life. God is a sovereign God. He has given us our lives, and as the one that has given us our lives, he also has the right to remove our lives in his time. And of course, that time is coming for us all, isn't it? And we don't know when that will come, but that time must always be in God's hands. Job understood this as he faced his afflictions. He said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And as our text of the wall says, there's a time to be born and a time to die. You see, the secular humanist and this whole philosophy, it stems from secular humanism. It's got an evolutionary mindset. It sees the world in terms of evolution. Nature is red in tooth and claw. It's just a struggle. Life is a struggle. It's a struggle filled with pain and ultimately only the fittest survive. There's no real enjoyment there. There's no pleasure there. It's all about just getting by. It's all about surviving. It's about procreating as well. It lowers humanity just to the animal. And to be part of the evolutionary struggle is not to enjoy the gift of life. It's to be condemned to life with all of the hardships that life brings. It's a nightmarish existence. And death is just a release from that nightmarish existence. And as far as the evolution is concerned, death just releases us back to the nothingness from which we came. There's no meaning in that. There's no meaning in that. To think of this great God that has made us, has created us, that has our lives in the palm of his hand, isn't that much better? More hopeful? Isn't that a better message? Doesn't that give us greater meaning? The Christian faith really has a message for this doomed and desperately unhappy world of which we are a part, but we are called to be lights in this world. And the sovereignty of God is a great lesson. We can leave everything in his hands. Let's move on and think about the soul and its eternity after death. Now, the soul and its eternity after death. have we got that slide boys? Maybe I Okay, we'll just come on back. Yes, stay stay with this one. Let's think about the soul and its eternity after death. The the scriptures teach that man's soul is immortal. This is what the Bible teaches. The the soul of man is immortal. The purpose of life is to prepare for judgment and for our In the book of Hebrews chapter nine in the verse twenty-seven, we read, it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment. Now, to provide someone with the means of removing their lives sends that person out to eternity to meet with God. Now, of course, this philosophy is born out of the false idea there is no God. If there's no God, there's no judgment. If there's no judgment, there's no heaven, there's no hell. There's no Nothingness. So on this account, because of what we know about the soul of man, because of what we know about eternity, because of what we know about all of this, this whole philosophy, it's cruel. And I said that the title was Compassion or Cruelty. It is cruelty. Because the purpose of life, what is the purpose of life? To prepare to meet God. The purpose of life is to get to the cross of Christ, see our sins, have those sins taken away by the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the purpose of life. It's to know God. And it's to be forgiven by God. It's to be prepared for the judgment day. That's the purpose of life. For it is appointed unto man once to die and after this, the judgment. And this philosophy removes the precious time that an individual could be using. to get saved and come to Christ. And this is a message that we need to keep making to this corrupt world of which we're a part, isn't it? That men and women are going out to meet God. And let me challenge you tonight, because you might say, I don't believe in this stuff. I believe there's a God, and I believe there's a time to die, and I don't believe in what the law Makers are planning to do some of them. I don't believe in that. But what do you believe? Are you prepared for eternity? That's the key thing. Because if you die without Christ, your soul will be lost too. But God has given you this gift of life, this gift of time, this precious moment when you can prepare to meet God. And I would encourage you to use that time tonight. To come to the Lord and to cry unto him for salvation before the time to die reaches your door. Now let's think about the suffering and their purpose in the world. And suffering does have a purpose in life. There is a purpose in suffering. There's such a difference between society yesterday and society today, at least in part. It strikes me when I read history and read about people dying, people living centuries ago, and even not so long. they they died in terrible pain. There wasn't the same pain relief there is now. And you you read about some of these accounts and it's just awful. George Whitfield, a great preacher, died suffering from an asthma attack only in his mid fifties and the accounts, the eyewitness accounts, it's it'll break your heart. A dear man of God. there wasn't this appetite for having the life removed before God's time came. Let's put the person out of their suffering. Somebody put me out of my suffering. Despite the enormous suffering, there was the acceptance that this is how it is and I'll accept my lot in life even though it is so difficult. And that was because there was a deep Christian consciousness permeating society. But the contrast with today is striking because pain can be managed in a way that it wasn't managed in the past. The palliative care is excellent. The palliative care in the UK, there needs to be more investment in it, but we do have excellent facilities and great team of caring doctors and nurses looking after those that are suffering. So despite all of that, The growing clamor for euthanasia and assisted suicide had become louder and louder and almost deafening at times. And the liberal lobby would make you think that the momentum is unstoppable, it's going to happen. And why is that? Why is that? It is because of the godless spirit that permeates our society. And death, the great symbol of the curse, is seen as something that is good. and people fail to realize that God performs a purpose for us in this world, even through our pain and our suffering. There was a young doctor who wrote a book back in 1982. He was dying. His name was James Cassin. And the title of the book is interesting, Dying the Greatest Adventure of My Life. Only somebody that was actually dying could have written that. this is what he said. Dying makes life suddenly real. Watching my slow physical deterioration, reaffirm my belief that there is something else within which could only survive if only because my personality stayed the same in spite of the eroding bodily form in which it was confined. As death was coming, he felt the reality of life and he could see a purpose in all of that. You see, our Reinforce that everybody has a purpose. Even those that suffer have a great and a remarkable and a wonderful purpose. You go into a nursing home and there's so many people in profound illnesses, incapacity. dementia. They're to be treasured. And they're to be loved. And they're to be appreciated. Someday, who knows the situations that we'll be in in life. And we hope and we pray that the people to love and to treasure us. And those that suffer, we watch them suffer. And that teaches us lessons. That's why we need to be there to comfort those that are suffering. Because their suffering enriches our lives. It teaches us something about humanity. The same is true of the disabled. And tragically, where euthanasia begins to get a foothold, those that are disabled are seen as people who could avail themselves of this treatment, this warped humanity sees it. But those that are disabled have so much to teach us and to enrich our lives with and perform a great and remarkable purpose in the eyes of God. Every life is important, you see. and even those that suffer. There's a ministry through their suffering. Lessons for us all, they're not to be discarded. The psalmist said, cast me not off in time of old age, forsake me not when my strength faileth. Is that not a good reference? I think it is. Christianity teaches true compassion. It is argued that this bill is compassionate, it's not. Christianity, giving people worth in the midst of their suffering, that's true compassion. Teaching there's a great friend in Christ who never leaves us, that's true compassion. Finally, let's think about the satisfaction to be gained through enjoying life. The gospel gives us a satisfaction in this world. You know, man becomes consumed with death in a most unhealthy way. This idea of, is this the suicide euthanasia? It's a most unhealthy view of the world and of life and of death. But God's interested in life. Thus saith the Lord, behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. That's what Jeremiah said to King Zechariah, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. And what is life? What is life? How do we see life? Do we see life just in terms of breath and a brain that ticks and a beating heart and the DNA and all of those things that make up the fabric of our humanity? And of course, that's all very part of our physical being, but is that all there is to life? Of course it's not. We have the Spirit within. We have everlasting existence, whether in God's heaven or God's hell. And there's a way to escape hell, and that's through Christ, who gave his life for us, and who rose again. Now, there's the message we need to get out there, that Christ died, and in his dying, he defeated death, and he rose again, in order that we might live for eternity. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. There is a way of death, and there's a way of life. I wonder tonight, are you in the way of life? Are you in the way of death? What direction are you going? Remember this gift we've been talking about? Even this time, this moment spent in God's house, it's a gift that will not come again. I'm not saying you will never hear the gospel again, dear unsafe friend. You may well do. I can't guarantee that you will. But this moment will never come again. For every moment is to be treasured. And the real challenge is, what will you do with Christ? There's real satisfaction to be found in life. Whatever our circumstances, whatever our pains, our afflictions even, there's real satisfaction to be found in Jesus. but you need to know him as your savior to realize our purpose. What can we do? This wicked legislation, which if passed, this proposed legislation, which if it is passed, it will, as I have said, will have catastrophic influence upon the course of our nation, upon the health care of our nation in the future. What can we do? What can we do about all of that. Well, we can pray. And yes, I do think we should write to those in our authority. We should do that, but we should pray. And we should pray that God would overrule the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth it withers wherever he will. There's a sovereign God who can control what happens in parliament this week. So we should pray. But in our praying, let's pray for the sick and the suffering. Let's pray for those who look after the sick and the suffering. Let's pray for the suffering who do not have the hope of the gospel that God would turn them to himself. And let's pray for ourselves that God would help us to get the real message of the gospel out to this dying world. Because unless this country is changed by the gospel, these kinds of depravities will just keep coming back, keep coming back, keep coming back. and that's why we need God to work, and that's why we need revival. So let us learn to pray and to pray more for the future of our nation. And if you don't know the Lord tonight, we're praying for you that you will come to know him as your savior. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we pray concerning this matter. We commit it to you. We pray that you might be pleased to move in parliament so that this bill will be defeated we leave it all in your hands we thank you for the gift of life and help us to use this precious gift for your glory and not to squander the time redeeming the time because the days are evil for christ's sake amen we'll just say