Devotionals

THE TEST FOR SUICIDAL TENDENCIES

by John Tyler
04/02/15
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The Test For Suicidal Tendencies � When we read about the Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, and how he purposefully flew the plane under his sole control into the French Alps mountains on March 24, 2015 - killing all 150 people on board, we cringe. � Some of us say to ourself, "Why would anyone purposefully commit suicide and end their life - especially that way?" � The problem with suicide is that the victims have no Biblical understanding of life and death.� They believe that they are just going to be "better off" not alive. � Here's the problem:� Life actually begins the day the body dies!� That's correct.� When our body dies, our spirit lives on for eternity, and it will live in one of two places.....heaven, and that comes instantly....or hell, but that does not come until one thousand years after Jesus returns to the earth and sets his feet on Mount Zion in Israel. � Nobody is in the Lake of Fire right now.� Here's the proof: � Revelation 20:11-15 - NIV - "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12�And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13�The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14�Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15�Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." � Prior to those verses, God tells us about the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth....in Revelation 20:1- 4 - "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit (hell) and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon�that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan -and bound him in chains for a thousand years." "The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while.-Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. (During the period from the rapture of the saints until the physical return of Jesus who sets foot on Mount Zion.)They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years." Revelation 20:7-10 tells about the reign of Christ - with His saints who return from heaven after being raptured. The span of time is three and one-half years - during which time all hell breaks loose on the earth...the second half of The Great Tribulation Period. Satan has full reign while the saints are gone. This is borne out in Revelation 13:5 - "Then the beast (Satan) was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months." Forty two months is exactly 3.5 years. Further proof of that is that when Jesus comes in the rapture (in the clouds, and not setting foot on Mt. Zion), the Bible tells us that when we go - the Holy Spirit who lives within us also goes, and it has been the Holy Spirit who has restrained Satan from doing all the evil he would like to have done on the earth....until this period of 3.5 years. During that time, Satan is allowed to sit in the newly built temple on top of Mount Zion. 2 Thessalonians 2: 1- 7 - "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us�whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter�asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don�t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God�s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. - Don�t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he (Satan himself in the form of Anti-Christ) may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back (The Holy Spirit) will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way." And The Holy Spirit is taken out of the way with the saints at the time of the rapture. The Bible also tells us that when this thousand year reign on the earth with Christ - in Israel ends, Satan is let loose to bring about the final conclusion of the planet. Satan is allowed to then deceive the nations...and the NATIONS are speaking of the earth...."every corner of the earth". Revelation 20: 8-10 - "When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations�called Gog and Magog (China and Russia) - in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle�a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God�s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them." (This is in the valley of Meggido - aka "The battle of Armagedden"). "Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." "Death and Hades" are tossed into the Lake of Fire - immediately after the Great White Throne Judgment in heaven. Death is the first of three layers of hell...the graves. Hades is the second layer of hell (where the rebellious angels have been chained up since they tried to overthrow God in heaven)....and the third layer of hell is this Lake of Fire...where no soul is now. Jude 1:6 - "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." Anyone's name who is NOT FOUND IN THE "BOOK OF LIFE" is cast into the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20: 12-15 - "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: (The Great White Throne Judgment where only those who are not found in THE BOOK OF LIFE are judged) - and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. �And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. �And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." EVERY PERSON'S NAME IS IN THE BOOK OF LIFE AT BIRTH. THE ONLY WAY THEIR NAME IS REMOVED IS AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE....WHEN THEY DIE, AND HAVE NOT CHOSEN TO ASK JESUS TO FORGIVE THEM OF THEIR SINS AND HAVE NOT ASKED HIM TO SAVE THEIR SOUL. NAMES ARE BLOTTED OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE IF THEY HAVE REJECTED WHAT JESUS DID ON THE CROSS. Revelation 3:5 - "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." To overcome is to ask Christ for forgiveness of your sins, and to save your soul because HE paid for your sins on the cross. To reject what Christ did for us on the cross is why God, the Father, must punish that "unpardonable sin" by casting all those whose names are not found in the Book of Life (Because Jesus had to blot them out) - into the Lake of Fire. Now..........to get back to the TEST FOR SUICIDAL TENDENCIES. When a person dies physically, from suicide, and they have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, what happens to their spirit who leaves their body instantly upon death? The same is going to be true of anyone who dies, whether by suicide or natural causes, or accident...or any other way...and they have not asked Christ to forgive them. Where do their spirits go? They cannot be ushered into heaven because they have not accepted Christ as Savior. Paul, the apostle, tells Christians this in 2 Corinthians 5:8 - "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." When a Christian dies, they are immediately present with the Lord. So, if a person dies (their spirit leaves their dead body), and they are not in heaven - where does their spirit reside? It cannot live in the Lake of fire in hell because nobody is in it until after the Great White Throne Judgment....which takes place after Jesus's one thousand year reign on the earth, and that takes place 3.5 years after the rapture, and that happens (Luke 21) after the temple on Mt. Zion is desecrated. There is no temple on Mt. Zion - YET! So, 3.5 years after you see the first shovel full of dirt being lifted off Mt. Zion for the building of the Holy Temple (COMING SOON), you have about 3.5 years to get your act together. According to the Old Testament Book of Samuel, these spirits will roam the earth from the time of death until the time when all spirits must face God at the Great White Throne of Judgment. King Saul asked the Witch at Endor to "conjure up the prophet Samuel. All who trusted God and believed Him...prior to Jesus dying on the cross) are asleep in a place called "Abraham's Bosom" -including Samuel....God's prophet. Let's discover what this witch saw when Saul asked her to bring up Samuel. Notice Saul did not say "Bring Samuel down from heaven". 1 Samuel 28:11 - 15 - "Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. (Notice it says BRING UP? It does not say, "Bring Samuel DOWN from heaven" And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth." (gods are ghosts or spirits - ascending out of the earth.....roaming the earth.) And he said unto her, What form is he (Samuel) of? And she said, An old man cometh up; (not down from heaven) and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?" Samuel asked, "Saul, why did you wake me, and bring me UP?" But, the witch at Endor saw "gods - small g - ascending from the earth...walking to and fro". This is where spirits of the dead without Christ are. You will hear some people say, "I feel like Fred is right here with me." They are correct! Some say, "I have seen or felt ghosts". They are correct. In fact, this author has "felt" the coldness of passing near a ghost. I bought a house and always felt like their was a "presence" there....in a back bedroom only. I discovered three years later from a neighbor, "Haven't you known? A young lady died in the upstairs back bedroom from an oversdose of drugs. The couple who lived there (renters) were into witchcraft." Then I knew....that's why I felt an ice-cold "presence" in that rear bedrooms. Creeped me out. I gutted the house later, and prayed over it, and the presence disappeared. If you believe Jesus's own words that the spirit lives eternally - AFTER DEATH- you need to read John11:25-26. Martha asked Jesus about her dead brother, Lazarus. Jesus said unto her, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, THOUGH HE (OR SHE) WERE DEAD, yet shall he (or she) live: And whosoever lives and believes in me SHALL NEVER DIE. Believest thou this?" The thoughts that go through people with suicidal tendencies are: Loneliness � lack of support from family and friends Rejection feeling marginalized Deep sadness or guilt Unable to see beyond a narrow focus Daydreaming Anxiety and stress Helplessness Loss of self-worth Hopelessness All people with suicidal tendencies share one common thread: They�re crying out for help and don�t know how else to get it. Once a person dies, there is no help. I'm here to offer HELP - according to the Bible. I had a man approach me at a coffee shop. He vaguely knew me, but knows I'm "religious", as he put it. He said, "I tried to kill myself two nights ago, but didn't die" I asked why. He met most of the criteria of the above mindsets....."lonliness, rejection, sadness, unable to see past his immediate problem of his wife leaving him...anxiety, stress, helplessness...and a loss of self-worth...and his final declaration was of hopelessness. I said, "Joe, ending your life physically is not the end - it's the beginning. Your spirit will immediately come out of your body, and you'll still be here...right here...for at least another 1,000 years". I explained what I have said above to him. That was four years ago. Thank God, he's still around. I gave him the gospel, but he has chosen not to accept Christ yet. At least he knows that it isn't over upon death...it just begins. He really doesn't know whether to believe what the Bible says or not, but the thoughts of life beginning for eternity upon death - either roaming the earth or in heaven....must be working....so far. ALMOST 90% OF PEOPLE ARE COMMITTING THE DREADED THING CALLED SUICIDE! - I'm speaking of eternal suicide. Matthew 7:13 - Jesus Himself said, "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way." How broad is that road to hell? I think it's filled with about 90% of the population that is now - or has ever been on the planet. If given the choice, and we are, of choosing to die or live, God points out in Deuteronomy 30:19 - "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life..." So, why is it that people choose eternal suicide, which is to say...they willfully choose to die that second death and be cast into the Lake of Fire? The plain answer is found in Hosea 4:6 - "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge...." Most people, if asked - "Are you going to heaven?" will say something like, "Well, I try to be good and do the best that I can"....or, "I do a lot more good things than bad things" - or "I'm a good person....not half as bad as people who commit murder, robbery or other crimes." I've heard, "I go to church, so that's why God will let me into heaven." "I give to the homeless, the poor, and I do other good things for my fellow man - that's why God will let me into heaven". This is why God said, "My people perish for lack of knowledge". What knowledge? God's creation suffers from a lack of knowledge of what HE SAID in His Owner's Manual For Life - The Bible. "Well, I listen to my priest - Rabbi, Pastor, Guru -whatever - my "religious leader", and they told me I can get into heaven by doing good works." Paul, the apostle of Christ, had this to say about people who listen to others who claim to be "religious" and who rely on what they SAY....."Now the Berean Christians were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." If Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, and writer of 50% of the New Testament (13 books of the 26 books with known authors...and the 27th is the Book of Hebrews...the only unknown author) tells us to "Search the Scriptures daily to be sure that what ANYONE (including him) tells us is true", then he's telling YOU that YOU are responsible for gaining true knowledge of what God is telling YOU through His word - the Bible. "My people perish (eternally speaking) for lack of knowledge." So, for anyone who suggests they can get into heaven by doing good works, they lack the knowledge of Ephesians 2:8-9 - NLT - which states, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can�t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." Think! If God sent His son, Jesus to the earth to become our "blood sacrifice" for our sins, why would God allow this, and grant us entrance into heaven some other way? Sending Jesus to die for your sins and mine would have been a huge blunder. Does God make mistakes? Some eternally suicidal people think, "All this stuff about the cross and Jesus spilling his blood for us is ludicrous." God has demanded a blood sacrifice (a life for a life) since Adam and Eve. When Adam sinned, God shed the blood of an animal to atone for Adam and Eve's sins in the Garden of Eden, and He clothed (covered up) their naked bodies with the outer garment from the animal slain. He required the sacrifice of unblemished animals for the sins of Israel...and they had a "Day of Atonement" once a year - Yom Kippur. The knowledge of Hebrews 9:22 tells us, "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." "WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD - THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS". Animal sacrifices were done away with when Jesus became our one-time BLOOD SACRIFICE for our sins. He shed his own blood on the cross, and died a horrible, shameful, painful death - for all of mankind that day. John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Therefore, "Whoever does NOT BELIEVE in Jesus (and what He did on the cross) WILL perish (eternally) and spend forever in the Lake of Fire." Some eternally suicidal people say, "Well, I don't have to ask Jesus for forgiveness, and ask Him to save my soul." But this knowledge from God's Bible tells us differently: Romans 10:10 - "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Eternally suicidal people ignore God and His words.....which is like seeing a train track ahead, and ignoring the sign..."BEWARE OF ONCOMING TRAINS", and they cross the tracks - just as the speeding train collides with their car and kills them. We then see this on the news, and ask ourself, "Why didn't this idiot obey the signs?" Eternally suicidal people generally don't ask the question that several people asked in the Bible.....like the rich, young ruler of Luke 18:18. "Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus told him if he kept all the commandments, he could go to heaven! The ruler said, Oh, I've kept them all from my youth.", figuring his good works and his obeying ALL of the commandments would get him into heaven...and Jesus said they would....if he really could keep them ALL. Jesus knows that nobody can be perfect....other than Him. Jesus said, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The rich, young ruler walked away - "When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. " The point Jesus made to him was that he could not even keep the first commandment...."Thou shalt have no other gods before me!" The man could not leave his first god - the god of wealth. Jesus wrapped up His entrance into heaven with a man named Nicodemus....a Jewish Pharisee....keeper of the Laws of Moses. He wanted to know how to get into heaven, too. Jesus said, in John 3:3 - "I can truly tel you this...NO ONE CAN SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD (HEAVEN) UNLESS THEY ARE BORN AGAIN." Jesus could not make entering heaven any plainer than that! He chastized this teacher to Israel when He said, in John 3:10 - "You are Israel�s teacher,� said Jesus, �and do you not understand these things?" See what I mean? If we insist on believing what people in authority over us in our belief system, and they are wrong (because what they say does not match God's word - the Bible), then we must face God's judgment alone. These religious leaders will not be standing next to you at that time! Jesus pointed out that to be "born again", one must first be "born of water"....that is to say, born as a human. Women say, "My water broke"....this is what a baby is born in....water.....amniotic fluid. From the MAYO CLINIC: "At the beginning of or during labor, your membranes of the amniotic sac will rupture � also known as your water breaking." So, Jesus tells Nicodemus, "You must first be born of water....and then of the spirit. John 3: 5-7 - He replies to this Pharisee, Nicodemus, "�Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. �Flesh gives birth to flesh (the first birth), but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (the second birth or BORN AGAIN) - You should not be surprised at my saying, �You must be born again." Therefore, having knowledge of the only way to enter heaven...based solely upon God's words to us, it is suicide to ignore His words. Some say, "But what about all those people in Indonesia or Africa who've never known God? They suffer from a "lack of knowledge". Titus 2:11 tells us, "The knowledge of God is written on the hearts of all men (and women)." How, you ask? God explains even that verse in Romans 1:20 - "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." "Since Adam and Eve.....God's invisible qualities and His eternal power and divine nature (the stars above, storms of life, powerful ocean waves...delicate flowers of the field, veins and arteries in our bodies, leaves forming in May and dying in October....all these things have been CLEARLY SEEN and understood from what has been made (created by God)...and, because all of this has been CLEARLY SEEN- but IGNORED BY SUICIDAL PEOPLE, they are all without excuse....when they stand before this almighty God and He asks, "Why should I let you into my heaven?" For all who desire to commit eternal suicide, there is NO ANSWER BUT ONE....."Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, Jesus, shall be saved." It is the sole desire of God - the creator - the loving, caring God...that everyone join Him in heaven. "God is not willing that ANY should perish (eternally), but that ALL should come to repentence.:" - 2 Peter 3:9 It is the free-will choice of ALL people as to whether they will select eternal life - or eternal suicide. Suicide is the willful act of destroying one's life. The will of God is found in John 6:40 where Jesus Himself tells us what His Father's will is. "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." God wants no one to die eternally, but each of us must turn to His son, Jesus...and BELIEVE in everything He has said in the New Testament. If we do, we live forever in heaven. If we choose to ignore God and laugh at his words, it's eternal suicide, and our spirits will, unfortunately, roam the earth for the next thousand plus years, and then have to face God at the Great White Throne Judgment....then, be cast into the Lake of Fire. John Tyler, Author of nine books. FIVE of my books are bible-bases, so those are FREE! www.RelationshipBooks.com