Can a Person Commit Suicide and Still Go to Heaven? 9/11/04
Mark 10:17-22
A question that I have often been asked is if a Christian commits suicide will they still go to Heaven or not? The answer to the question is in the question itself. If you are truly a Christian, no matter how you die, weather suicide or homicide, weather accident or old age; If you are a Christian and you die by any method you will go to Heaven.
No where in the Bible do you read where that suicide is a sin that will keep you out of Heaven. But we read in the Bible that if you are a Christian that you will have eternal life.
John 10:28, And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man snatch them out of My hand.
He is not what we call an Indian giver where He gives us something and then takes it back. Jesus keeps His word.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life which God, that cannot lie, promised before time began;
Suicide is a sin. What you are saying is God I can’t take it any more and You can’t do anything about it. It’s not trusting God and that is a sin. I am not a psychologist by any means but what I have heard about suicide is if you can just get the person to wait then they will not want to fulfill that desire when they get in their right mind. Often times you have a person wanting to commit suicide when they are under the influence of some kind of substance like drugs or alcohol.
Suicide, the taking your own life, is a sin but I can’t find it anywhere in Gods word where it sends you to Hell.
I suppose that rumor might have gotten started for those who think that you can loose your Salvation. They believe that if you are living a lifestyle of sin and you die then even if you were saved at one time you can loose that Salvation. Now I do not believe this and even if I did, how can you live a lifestyle of suicide? The two contradict each other. (Live, suicide)
Now let me tell you why I do not believe you can loose your Salvation. I think that would be a pretty serious thing to have something that important and then loose it. If you look in the scriptures, no where will you find someone being saved again the second time? And I think something that important, a loving merciful God would have made it plain in the scriptures.
But I agree with those who believe that you can not be saved and live a lifestyle of sin. We Baptist are known for that. We get our fire insurance, “Get out of Hell free” card and then think that we can live a lifestyle of sin. The problem is that they were never saved to start with. The Bible says that you will know them by their fruit. It says that many that think they are saved are not.
Matthew 7:23 And then will I declare to them, I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.
You can say the words and be lost because you have to receive the words. Old things are past away, behold all things become new.
But now to the question in the title of my sermon, “Can someone commit suicide and still go to Heaven?” There is a suicide that will send you to Hell. That is Spiritual suicide, the rejection of Christ and that is what we will be looking at this morning.
Read Mark 10:17-22
Here we read of a young man we know as the rich young ruler. He was probably was the kind of guy you would want you daughter to date. He had a good job and he was a good person. He went to the right person. He asked the right questions. He got the right answers. He just did the wrong thing. He committed Spiritual suicide.
The Search
This story is also told in Matthew and Luke, but I like Marks description the best. It says that Jesus was just going along and this man came running to Him. He didn’t just bump into Jesus by accident and start up a conversation; he sought after Him running.
This man was probably running because he had tried everything else and still had that void in his life that only God can fill. He had money; he probably had a Mercedes chariot and a Rolex sundial. He had a great job, a ruler, with a lot of power. He had everything but he lacked the most important thing and that was a right relationship with God.
That is true today as well. You have people with wealth and power. You have people who have the good looks and popularity. But we all are created with a void in our life; a missing piece of the puzzle. And only God can fill that void.
He was a good person. It says that he came running then “knelt before Him”. He was showing his reverence to this “Good teacher”. He lived as a good person. When Jesus told him to keep the commandments his reply was that he had done that all his life.
You can be a good person and live a good life. You can be a good husband and a good parent. You can be a good employee and a good neighbor. But if you die and you never accept Christ you will still be lost.
Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Most of the time those who live good lives are the hardest to get to accept Christ because they feel like they are just as good if not better than those who profess to be Christians are.
But we all will stand before God one day and he will not ask us anything about anyone else. But He will ask you “What did you do with My Son?”
The Savior (Vs. 18)
Did you ever wonder why Jesus said that no one was good except God? Was Jesus saying that He was not good? You see when this man came to Jesus he called him good teacher. Now being a good teacher is a good thing. We have several teachers in the church and it’s nice to be classified as one of the good ones. This man was paying a complement to Jesus by calling Him a good teacher. He had no doubt had heard others but he complemented Jesus by calling Him a good one.
But Jesus wanted this man to not recognize Him as just some good teacher but as God. Only God is good and if you say that I am good I want you to realize that I am God. He was telling the man the question that you are asking me is not given to a good teacher but you are asking the question to God.
Then we read in verse 21 “Then Jesus looking at him, loved him”. Jesus loved him. He loved him the way that He loves you and I. Everybody wants to be loved. Isn’t it good to know the not matter what you do or what you have done that Jesus loves you. Nothing you can do can change that. This man lived a good life and was a good person but Jesus loves Sodom Hussein, He loves all sinners and His desire is that ALL should come to repentance.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, Nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That makes me want to shout. No matter what I do, no matter how many times I fail God, He loves me.
The Salvation (Vs. 21)
Jesus tells him to sell whatever he has and give it to the poor. Now you might be thinking does that mean that I have to get rid of everything to get saved? No, and if you ever hear that in a church then you better find another one. If I ever ask you to do that then go find another pastor. Some will prey on this verse and try to get you to put yourself in finical bondage to give to them but that is not what Jesus was trying to teach this man.
Remember in verse 19, Jesus quoted the last six commandments and not the first four. The last six of the commandments deals with our treatment of others. Don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness (lie), don’t covet, and honor your father and mother.
But the very first four of the commandments deal with our relationship to God. No other Gods, no graven image, don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, and honor the Sabbath day and keep it Holy.
What Jesus was telling this man was that he was guilty of the first one. His money was more important than his relationship to God. Any thing we put before God, weather it is wealth or maybe a relationship with someone else, is having other gods.
If you break one commandment then you are guilty of all.
James 2:10, For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
So often we want to rate sins and the severity of them. But it says that if we are guilty of one, we are guilty of all. Why? Because it only takes one sin to send you to hell and in Romans 3:23, For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Jesus was telling this man you give me all I want and I will give you all you need. You don’t need religion by being a good person; you need a relationship with Me.
The sorrow (Vs. 22)
That reminds me of hearing a story about a little girl and as her mom finished reading her some love fairly tell she read the words, “And they lived happily ever after”. The little girl surprising asked her mom, I thought you said they got married?
Here was a man who had everything. He could have lived happily ever after but instead this man committed Spiritual suicide. He rejected Christ. He went away sad.
Mark 8:36, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
You will never have peace, until you met the Prince of Peace. You will never have joy to you met the giver of the joy who is Jesus Christ. Now you need to make a choice. Will you accept Him as your savior or will you leave here today sad like this rich young ruler and commit Spiritual suicide?
