Your Life Matters
Pastor Phil Vance
January 28, 2018
Pew2You
HIghlights:
Why do people commit suicide?
Because they are hurting, in pain, or in depression.
They don’t really want to die, they just want to stop the pain that they are feeling.
No one has shown them another way.
Because they feel hopeless and helpless.
“Whatever is difficult now, there is a great life ahead once this is done.”
Shame, guilt, fear are great erroders of life, they create a sense of hopelessness.
Because they have a short-sided vision of the future.
They cannot see past the immediate now.
Time changes perspective.
Because they are alone in their thinking.
“The enemy loves loners”
Because they have been deceived by the devil.
The devil is not only a liar, he’s a very good liar.
Jesus has a wonderful plan for your life. The enemy has a strategic plan for your destruction.
How do you know the enemy is lying? His lips are moving.
The Devil is going to steal from you. The closer you are to him, the easier it is for him to do it.
We have Church to check our thinking out with the word of God!
We must be aware, cognitive, and alert to the wiles of the devil!
Discussion Questions:
How has your life been affected by suicide?
How do we help our friends and others that we know who are considering suicide?
What have you found valuable as a tool when battling the lies of the enemy?
Key Scriptures, Quotes, Statistics
Statistics:
In the US there are 1123 suicides per day or 1 every 12 minutes
World-wide there are 800000 suicides per year, 2291 per day, or 1 every 40 seconds
Men die by suicide 4 times more often than women; women attempt it 2 times more often than men
Nearly 10 million people in the us seriously considered suicide in last 12 months.
A half million people are admitted the the hospital each year for self harm.
Scriptures:
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thought that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 10:10 “The thief come only to steal to kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Ephesians 6: 10-13 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Definitions:
Steal: Strongs 2813 to filch: to steal secretly or casually
Kill: Slaughter, violence and mercilessness.
To Destroy: to cause the destruction of persons, objects, institutions.
To the full: in the sense of beyond; superabundant in quantity or superior in quality; by implication excessive.
Wiles: Method: travelling over, i.e, travesty, trickery
Questions:
What happens to a person who takes his life?
If they do not Jesus, we know where they will go.
If they did have a relationship with Jesus:
A person could go to heaven. It really depends on what revelation they are currently walking in.
How do you fight to stay alive?
With God, with His word and with His people.
Is it a sin to think about suicide?
No, but if you let it rest in your thoughts, If you let it become a regular resting place of your mind, then yes.
2 Corinthians 10: 4 and 5
Throw the thoughts down.
Your life is not yours to take, it belongs to God. It is your’s to live.