Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining the Vision Friday Night devotional and my name is Peter Gordon and I do some of the Tuesday night Bible studies at Vision Church. So My main kind of title here tonight is the main kind of thought is the sanctity and dignity of life and I want to take it from Psalm 71 verse 9 which reads Psalm 71 verse 9. Do not cast me off in time of old age. Do not forsake me when my strength fails. Let's pray. Father I just come before you tonight. I come before you with a of a devotional but also a subject that is very dear to me and I pray Lord for your help in giving this message and to help those hear this word and to be edified from it. So we also bring to you also tonight we bring before you Jared we just Pray Lord that you continue with your healing hand upon him Lord. Such a strong young man and it's not nice to see him in hospital but keep him safe Lord. Draw close to him, have your healing hand upon him and restore him fully Lord. We miss him so we just ask this in Jesus name. Amen. So I want to share with you some words on a topic that is really quite sensitive and it could be sensitive to those of you who, like myself, have watched loved ones suffer from disease and terminal illness. I've witnessed family going through serious illnesses and this life experience has made me reflect on the sanctity of life, on the subject of the dignity in dying as it's often phrased. So death is all around us. It came into the world as a result of sin when Adam and Eve ate from that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 3. So it is a subject, death, it's a subject that can't be avoided. So tonight I want to share some thoughts with you on the topic of euthanasia and how we, the church, should be responding to the legislation that is due to be voted on by our politicians before the end of the month. For clarity, We're not talking about the prolonging the process of dying more than necessary. There is active and a passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is the legislation being put forward to those with terminal illness and this involves a medical person administering a drug to cause death directly. But sometimes it's necessary to allow a person to die without intervening. For example, when a person is terminally ill and their body is shutting down and we can't give that CPR if they go into that cardiac arrest. So we don't continue to give people chemotherapy when there is no longer, when the chemotherapy, when it's no longer working in the body. So these are, that is an example of the passive euthanasia. So in these situations we must be the hands and feet of Jesus, serving those in their final days in any way we can. This might be taking care of practical things, practical things for them. It might be just being by their bedside, holding their hand. But we should try and be present as possible so that they feel our love over them. It's such an important to be in their presence. So what I'm talking about tonight is the active euthanasia, more commonly called assisted suicide. It's when a person being assisted by another to take their own life their own life prematurely on the basis or the assumption that their life will end soon or that their life is not sufficiently worthwhile. One of the effects of sin was the desire to murder. The first murder being Cain killing his brother Abel in Genesis chapter 4. So to cause death by murder is wrong. It's wrong in the eyes of God as he commanded in Exodus chapter 20 verse 13, you shall not murder. So murder is always wrong because we are made in the image of God and we are his image bearers. We aren't physically like him because God has no body but we are to be the reflections of his glory. So the devil, the devil must be revelling in the idea that murder can be a mercy and as many celebrities and politicians are currently promoting So we have fallen into an abyss of abortion where one in four babies being murdered in the womb and now we are on the verge of killing off the elderly, the disabled, the mentally unwell and so on. So one of the main arguments you'll hear is we put animals down. we put animals down when they're suffering. So why not humans? For us as the believer, the answer to that should be clear. The clear answer is we're not animals. We are infinitely more valuable than animals. And as I said before, we are created in the image of God. animals are not. When we reduce humanity to the same level as animals, we are undermining the created order. We were given dominion over the animals. We are not merely caretakers. Although it's important to care for all of God's creation, The only one who has dominion over us is God and only God and it's only God that can choose when we take our last breath and it's not for man to usurp God. As Genesis chapter 2 verse 7 says, tells us, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the life, breath of life, and man became a living being. Life. Life is a gift of God and it's one that we must treasure. So there is also the real danger of human error or human wickedness. Human wickedness. As we know from the writings of Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9. For the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately, desperately wicked. So we fool ourselves if we think we can make decisions regarding life and death without falling into the same abyss that we have for the legislation of abortion where one in four babies is murdered in the womb. And just past year in America, six states have voted for abortions up to birth. Six states and I think it's be ten in total. Sick, sick, sick people. So in Psalm 71 verse 9 here, the Psalmist writes, Do not cast me off in time of old age. Do not forsake me when my strength fails. And later he writes in the Psalm 71 in verse 20 and 21. You have, you who have shown me great and severe troubles shall revive me again and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness and comfort me on every side. That's David. Thank you for listening from Abbeymore. So, this is a man of God. He understands the value of life and is trusting God to uphold him in his old age. He is trusting God with the number, with the number of his days. He knows they might not be easy, his suffering might increase, but still he trusts in God, the God of heaven, because he knows that he will be faithful, he will be faithful to him unto the end. So we, we might all desire a pain-free, a pain-free and easy death. But when we go through suffering we must hang on to the promises of God, the promises of God and remember that God works through us. He works through us that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according, according, according to his purpose in Romans chapter 8 verse 28. Sometimes we see the purpose in the pain but a lot of the time we just have to hang on. We have to hang on and trust these promises. But there's already pressure from some politicians And to add, they want to add other individuals to this legislation, including those who have disabilities, those who have a mental illness, some that have a chronic illness and non-life-threatening illnesses, etc. With all this pressure it makes me feel, it makes me feel that they are a burden to the family and friends and they feel that they have no choice but to end their lives, to relieve it to others so they so they're not a burden, that they feel that burden. So it is awful what makes them feel nobody should be made to feel like a burden to their families and friends. So I'm also mindful of the wisdom that comes with age and experience. When we think of Vision Church, When we think of Vision Church, we think of some of our older members, we think of Frances, we think of Charlie and we think of our dear sister Rose and the others. I won't mention any more because I'm going to get into trouble. But we recognise that the wealth of godly wisdom that comes with the experience, with the experience of life, lived in faithfulness to the Lord. We know them, we know their story, we know their background and they've all faced adversary and ill health. So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine if they had given up and asked to be euthanised. We would have missed out on so many blessings that they have shared with us. So as Roddy's dad, I see a great value in his life. He brings a lot of joy and is a constant reminder of God's mercy and grace towards us. If there was a prenatal kind of test for autism, I'm sure many women would choose to murder their baby. with the kind of diagnosis that Roddy has because they've been told it's hard work and it's hard work to care for a child with a disability. So lastly, back in 2008, a long time back, it's unimaginable, the mindset even back in 2008, There was a Tory councillor in North Tyneside named Hugh Jackson. He made a remark at a council meeting that the council could save money if it adopted some sort of euthanasia policy for disabled children who were in care. Let that think in, let that think in. He later said and meant it as a joke but nobody found it funny. Thankfully he was reported and I believe he has lost his job as a result but I think he might be back with another party now with the MUKIP or something but from that comment he had lost his job with the Conservative and and deep down at the heart of many that their thoughts were I'm sure, I'm sure it was the financial cost I'm sure it would be the main thought of their minds would be the financial cost of the driving force of even this policy back then and this policy that's coming back now here in Scotland. So we must stand bold and strong. If you haven't already, I would encourage you to go to the Right to Life website, it's righttolife.org or something like that, and look at their link about the upcoming vote in Parliament. And it's important, just like our brother Brother James posts on our chat about him making our voice heard on different issues but this here is a chance to make your voice hear on this build to make it known to your local MP. So yeah you probably can hear Roddy in the bath. So as Christians we cling to God's promise of hope We hold on from our first breath to our last as we share the gospel message to others. When the going gets tough, the tough get evangelising. Okay. That's a lot to think about. It's probably some of this topic will come up tomorrow at the Scottish Family Party with Christian Concern. And it is... Yeah. The love of money is the root of evil. And that's... Yep. That is what's behind the assisted suicide, David. It's totally... Yep. Just like... Even with the Labour government taking off the winter fuel payments. make the pensioners, old people, cold, die, lose their life and it's saving them pension money. So, I'm going to go off here. I'm early tonight. I've done this in 20 minutes. So, God bless you all. I just want to say a last prayer for Jared. Father, we just thank you for your message tonight. We just thank you for for your word and we just thank you Lord that you can expose what this government is doing to those who are terminally ill, those who are elderly, disabled, mentally ill. They think that we are daft. They think we are stupid, but we see what they're doing. But Lord, be with the church members tomorrow as they go to the family party tomorrow. Make them have a blessed time and just give them a burning fire and a burden for for the people of Scotland and also just be with Jared tonight Lord. Be close to him Lord Jesus. Have your healing hand continue to be on him. be with Dom and be with Emdard's parents Lord, just give them that strength, that rest that they need and continue to be with Ron and be with our dear sister Rose. So we ask these things in Jesus name, in Jesus name we love you Jesus, we love