“And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 18:3.
Recently, there was some good parliamentary news!
Assisted dying bill runs out of time
What is sad is that the supporters of the bill, who would make legal this ungodly and heathen practice, have vowed to continue campaigning for its acceptance.
‘Supporters said they would not give up and were confident the legislation would return in the next session of Parliament, which will begin on 13 May.’
This is what the departure from the Word of God, led by ecumenists and liberals in the professing Church of Christ, has brought the nation to!
The enemies of truth do not give up in their campaigning to destroy truth and have the ‘lie of the devil’ embraced.
It is said in Luke’s account of the devil’s temptation of Christ:“And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season,” Luke 4:13.
The devil had not given up! He planned to be back!
Neither do those who blindly seek to promote his interests!
Distressing
One of the most distressing news reports that all too frequently appears is that of someone being assisted to end their life. One headline recently appeared which indicated the growing acceptance of that which the Lord utterly forbids!
‘Swiss assisted dying clinic accepts five Britons a month’
The sixth commandment is explicit:— “Thou shalt not kill,” Exodus 20:13. That means we must not unlawfully kill others OR ourselves. That clinic in Switzerland is a house of murder!
Our dying is in the hands of the Lord.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27.
As our birth took place without our having any part in its timing so it is with our death.
Suffering
Yes, often pain and much suffering is linked to dying, though in these days of advanced medical treatment and care, that is thankfully greatly reduced from former times.
However, such suffering is a solemn reminder of the awful consequences of the fall of Adam and the outworking of the sinful natures we have inherited from our surety and the father of mankind.
“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Genesis 3:17-19.
All around us, in the fields and our gardens is the living proof of the curse that sin has brought upon this world.
Furthermore, the fruit of sin in our bodies brings inevitable pain and suffering, both physical, mental and spiritual.
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” Galatians 5:19-21.
The closing words of this passage sets forth the ETERNAL harvest of sin — “They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
This truth is reiterated many times throughout the Bible for it is a core truth of God’s message of mercy to mankind!
Here are perhaps the best known examples of this truth.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23.
Trade in ‘self-murder’ is flourishing because of one simple but most dreadful error. Those that thus end their lives invariably are ignorant of the meaning of the text, the words of the Saviour Himself, which heads this article!
I. LET US CONSIDER WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ‘CONVERTED’!
1. That which the Saviour states as absolutely essential in order to enter heaven is not understood by the vast majority of mankind. Even amongst those who frequent ‘churches’ where Christianity is professed, there is great ignorance.
This I know from personal experience. I was raised in the Church of Ireland and I was led to believe that my ‘christening’ obtained heaven for me. A Church of Ireland ‘minister’, after my ‘christening’, in blind pomposity declared, ‘Now let him grow in grace’!
The inference of his words was that as a result of the ritual he had performed I had been, a mere infant of a few days, spiritually made a living Christian!
Heresy
This is of course in keeping with the wickedly deceitful teaching of Anglicanism.
‘The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) teaches that baptism is the full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s body, the Church, marking an indissoluble spiritual bond. It signifies regeneration, forgiveness of sins, and union with Christ’s death and resurrection.’
As was often stated by Dr Paisley, he but quoting the statement common amongst true Protestants in Ulster, ‘Baptism may make you wetter but no better’!
What happened to me while I was utterly unaware of it taking place was but a man-made ritual, copied from Romanism by foolish reformers at the time of the Great Reformation.
It would have been ‘Greater’ still, had this item of Popish nonsense been left behind when they left the fold of Romanism!
As it is, this ritual has been the means of innumerable multitudes going out into eternal damnation, trusting in this evil deception.
I did not grow up ‘growing in grace’, but advancing in sin and rebellion until the Lord in mercy drew me to Himself and saved my soul.
(My Testimony)
2. The word ‘converted’ refers to a wonderful, spiritual and eternal change. The Greek word, strepho, means ‘turn right around’. It first appears in the New Testament in Matthew 5:39. “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
What we are here commanded to do by the Lord requires a turning of the head to look in the opposite direction.
Here is another verse which illustrates the meaning of “converted”.
“When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel,” Luke 7:9.
When we are truly converted there is an inward change wrought in our hearts by the Lord so that it is clearly seen by all that we have been ‘turned about’.
No verse states it more clearly than 2 Corinthians 5:17!
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
3. Such a change is not ‘self-wrought’, but is the work of Christ! He is the ‘Author’ of our salvation.
“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him,” Hebrews 5:9.
“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost,” Titus 3:4-5.
This shows what a mockery the heresy of ‘infant baptism’, as prescribed by Anglicanism, is! It also shows how wrong it is for a true believer to have anything to do with an organisation that teaches such an abominable lie of the devil!
Sadly, there are all too many Christians who act in defiance of God’s Word to separate from false doctrine, and even Free Presbyterians ministers who rejoice in their fellowship with so-call ‘evangelicals’ who openly teach, practise and promote this Anglican heresy!
4. This change is the outworking of the Saviour’s death on the cross. His dying was that of our substitute. He died in our place! The true Christian may claim:—
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:6-8.
We were born, as David said of himself, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me,” Psalm 51:5.
Thus we were under the judgment and wrath of God while we lived! “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” John 3:36.
Eternal death is the penalty for sin. That is what faces every unconverted person. BUT “Christ died for the ungodly.” Isaiah the prophet put it like this.
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand,” Isaiah 53:4-10.
Full declaration
That is a very full explanation of the meaning of the cross and the purpose of the Saviour’s death!
The conversion of a sinner is the fruit and harvest of the blessed Saviour’s sufferings on the cross. Even believers have proved to be slow to fully understand this truth. Do you not remember the two on the road to Emmaus?
“And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; and when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself,” Luke 24:15-27.
Understanding
An understanding of the cross and its eternal mercies and blessings brought from these two believers the joyous exclamation, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Verse 32.
II. THE TRAGIC READINESS TO FACE DEATH WITHOUT ANY ASSURANCE OF GOD’S PARDONING MERCY IS THE RESULT OF UTTER IGNORANCE OF GOD’S WORD!
It is reported that John Coffey, a stoker, who was to sail on the Titanic, was part of a group of crew members who decided to jump ship, or was stopped from continuing by premonition of impending danger.
Be that true or not, it does illustrate how that many, many people face death with some measure of trepidation but who investigate the matter no further and die without faith in Christ.
1. Chief amongst the causes of such dying and being lost, are the teachers of atheism. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,” Psalm 14:1. It is a most foolish thing to deny the existence of God when, as is stated in another Psalm;
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard,” Psalm 19:1-4.
Creation
The universe is inexplicable were it not for the Bible’s revelation of its origins. As it is, the wise, so-called experts, offer nearly as many ‘theories’ as to its origins as there are stars in the sky!
However, man in his fallen, spiritually unregenerate state, is by nature an ‘atheist’! It is not too difficult to persuade such to deny God. Those that do, feel free to face death as does any animal since atheists believe that the grave is the ‘end’!
However, it is not. After death there is judgment, Hebrews 9:27.
2. False and deceitful preachers in the pulpits are another cause of the unconverted dying without a thought of the hell that awaits them. A false ‘hope’ is proclaimed by those who most wickedly offer a false baptism as the basis of peace in the face of death. I have already touched upon that.
Following on from a ‘false baptism’, church attenders frequently are told they have nothing to fear from death since they attend church, they take ‘communion’ and they live a ‘good life’!
In truth the Bible says that, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one,” Psalm 14:3.
That truth is repeated many times in Scripture. (Ps 53:1, 3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:13). And yet these Scriptures are denied and rejected by ‘preachers’ every Sabbath day worldwide!
How horrendous that buildings once opened to point the way to God and to heaven have become citadels of the devil’s deceiving and damning lies!
3. What are the means of obtaining true and lasting peace with regards our dying. Please heed these words.
“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them,” Revelation 14:13.
‘Dying in the Lord’! That is the secret of peace in death. So it was with Stephen as he was stoned to death.
“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep,” Acts 7:59-60.
Last words
Please note that his last thoughts were not of fearing death, but rather for the eternal wellbeing of those who acted so wickedly in murdering him!
Noah faced the coming judgment of the universal flood, the full nature of which he had little knowledge, with an untroubled heart by entering into the Ark in obedience to God (Genesis 7:7). Even so, the sinner who has been ‘born again” and has been made “a new creature” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), can face the unknowns of death with peace, joy and total calm.
Paul’s words illustrate that.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait (caught) betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better,” Philippians 1:21-23.
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing,” 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
What calm confidence Paul has of the glory that awaits him and, it must be noted, it is a glory that is not reserved for apostles and prophets! No, it awaits “all them also that love his appearing.”
That final phrase is but one of the many, many titles given to Christians in the New Testament. We are those that “wait for his Son from heaven,” 2 Thessalonians 1:10.
III. IT IS MOST DISTRESSING FOR THE BELIEVER TO READ OF SOMEONE WHO HAS JUST ENDED THEIR LIFE IN A CLINIC OFFERING EUTHANASIA.
Their feelings are similar to those, indeed, born of those of the Saviour, as recorded in Luke 19. There He wept over the wickedness that was in the heart of the people who would in a very short time reject Him and so condemn themselves to a lost eternity.
He said: “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation,” Luke 19:41-44.
They would act in gross ignorance, spurred on by their blinded spiritual leaders. “Thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”
Those who adopt euthanasia as a means of departing this life, in the hope of escaping the pain or misery they are in on this earth are immediately engulfed in eternal misery that is way beyond our comprehension!
Luke 18, tell us that, “The rich man also died, and was buried;
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,” verses 22-23.
It is that Scriptural truth that comes to mind as we read of someone dying by the means of euthanasia.
Christians
It has to be said, that Christians have been known to commit suicide! Sadly, it is the result of what is legally defined as happening when ‘the balance of their mind was disturbed.’
This is a phrase historically used in legal and psychiatric contexts to describe a temporary state of mental imbalance, distress, or instability, which result in a person taking their own lives.
It is distressing when such happens but it is very different from the decision made to embrace euthanasia. Preparations are made beforehand for any assisted suicide to take place. The decision to enter such an establishment offering euthanasia usually follows after family conferences and professional consultations.
It is a very deliberate and calculated decision.
It is not born of a moment of extreme distress and the taking of actions that end the life! That being so, suicide, resulting from a dark and distressed impulse, differs very much from that of a person who deliberately decides to end their own life and is encouraged to do by friends and family!
That such wickedness and defiance of God’s Law should be considered acceptable is an indication of the sad state of apostasy from God the land has sunk down into.
I have no doubt who is behind such wickedness!
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils,” 1 Timothy 4:1.
He who was, as the Saviour said, “a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it,” John 8:44.
The Lord Jesus was speaking of the devil! He it is who has ‘sold’ the lie ‘self murder’ to many and made a money-making business out of it for rapacious businessmen, who manage to masquerade as public-spirited and caring individuals.
The moment such press the button or pull the lever which ends the life of their ‘patient’, there comes the horrified realisation to one expecting deliverance and peace, that they have been duped by the ‘euthanasist’ and they have entered instead everlasting damnation!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Wednesday 6th May 2026