Let us look to the author and finisher of our faith and see what He did when faced with the agonies of death upon the cross, and was given a narcotic to drink. Mark 15:23, puts it this way: And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh; but He received it not. Myrrrh=to tincture with myrrh, i.e. embitter (as a narcotic):-mingle with myrrh. Greek Dictionary of the N.T. p. 66, No. 4669. with myrrh. Greek Dictionary of the N.T. p. 66, No. 4669.
So, what did the Romans attempt to give Jesus Christ to drink when He cried out “I thirst” while dying on the cross? They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink, Matthew 27:34. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament p. 5521-“Gall” poison or an anodyne (wormwood, poppy, etc): -gall. Webster’s Dictionary, p. 54. An-o-dyne adj. A medicine that relieves pain. The Chaldee and Hebrew Dictionary 7219. Same as 7218; a poisonous plant, prob. The poppy (from its conspicuous head); gen. Poison:-gall, hemlock. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Greek Dictionary of the N.T pg. 75. 5332.
Why did our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ refuse to drink and exercise temperance to denied himself even though He thirst? Surely, if there ever was a time to relieve pain and suffering, it would be while a person was dying? It is and I agree however, we have to chose God's methods of healing and not man's. Read why Jesus would not drink, we are told through the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev. 19:10), that “To those who suffered death by the cross, it was permitted to give a stupefying potion, to deaden the sense of pain. This was offered to Jesus; but when he had tasted, He refused it. He would receive nothing that could becloud His mind. His faith must keep fast hold upon God. This was His only strength. To becloud His senses would give Satan an advantage”! Desire of Ages, Pacific Press Publishing Association, White, p. 746.
As a believer, with your life in the balance, Peter advises: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, 1 Peter 5:8. If he can cause you to doubt, then he has gained the advantage. When Christians consent to take strong narcotics such as morphine during hospice care, we possibly give the adversary of souls the advantage. I am not a medical doctor, nor am I a pharmacist so I cannot advise you to take or not to take prescription medication. However, I can point you to our example Jesus Christ and the agony He suffered on the cross at Calvary. With your conflict with the enemy of souls, I share with you this comforting thought: Strength for Every Trial: Our heavenly Father measures and weighs every trial before He permits it to come upon the believer. He considers the circumstances and the strength of the one who is to stand under the proving and test of God, and He never permits the temptations to be greater than the capacity of resistance. If the soul is overborne, the person overpowered, this can never be charged to God as failing to give strength in grace, but the one tempted was not vigilant and prayerful and did not appropriate by faith the provisions God had abundantly in store for him. Christ never failed a believer in his hour of combat. The believer must claim the promise and meet the foe in the name of the Lord, and he will not know anything like failure.--MS 6, 1889, Our High Calling, Ellen White, p. 323.
When God see’s that your gold (character) has been purified by fire your pain and suffering will cease and you He sees that you are safe to bring into the society of holy beings. God knows who is capable of enduring the time of trouble and as your body is ravaged by cancer or any other degenerative disease, God will begin to shut down the systems of your body and you will slip into a comma and rest in the Lord until He comes; prayerfully the second time.
You say that you have served the Lord faithfully for 30, 40, 50, 60 ,70 years and doubt that he would keep you out of heaven because you took a narcotic while dying to relieve pain. I am not God that is between you and Him. His word says: "....Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die." 2 Kings 1:6. The Spirit of Prophecy (SOP) has this to say as inspired by God and written by Mrs. Ellen White, the Christian health writer had to say about drugs.
“I was shown that more deaths have been caused by drug-taking than from all other causes combined. If there was in the land one physician in the place of thousands, a vast amount of premature mortality would be prevented. Multitudes of physicians, and multitudes of drugs, have cursed the inhabitants of the earth, and have carried thousands and tens of thousands to untimely graves.” 4 Spiritual Gifts, p. 133.
So, what did the Romans attempt to give Jesus Christ to drink when He cried out “I thirst” while dying on the cross? They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink, Matthew 27:34. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament p. 5521-“Gall” poison or an anodyne (wormwood, poppy, etc): -gall. Webster’s Dictionary, p. 54. An-o-dyne adj. A medicine that relieves pain. The Chaldee and Hebrew Dictionary 7219. Same as 7218; a poisonous plant, prob. The poppy (from its conspicuous head); gen. Poison:-gall, hemlock. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Greek Dictionary of the N.T pg. 75. 5332.
Why did our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ refuse to drink and exercise temperance to denied himself even though He thirst? Surely, if there ever was a time to relieve pain and suffering, it would be while a person was dying? It is and I agree however, we have to chose God's methods of healing and not man's. Read why Jesus would not drink, we are told through the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev. 19:10), that “To those who suffered death by the cross, it was permitted to give a stupefying potion, to deaden the sense of pain. This was offered to Jesus; but when he had tasted, He refused it. He would receive nothing that could becloud His mind. His faith must keep fast hold upon God. This was His only strength. To becloud His senses would give Satan an advantage”! Desire of Ages, Pacific Press Publishing Association, White, p. 746.
As a believer, with your life in the balance, Peter advises: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, 1 Peter 5:8. If he can cause you to doubt, then he has gained the advantage. When Christians consent to take strong narcotics such as morphine during hospice care, we possibly give the adversary of souls the advantage. I am not a medical doctor, nor am I a pharmacist so I cannot advise you to take or not to take prescription medication. However, I can point you to our example Jesus Christ and the agony He suffered on the cross at Calvary. With your conflict with the enemy of souls, I share with you this comforting thought: Strength for Every Trial: Our heavenly Father measures and weighs every trial before He permits it to come upon the believer. He considers the circumstances and the strength of the one who is to stand under the proving and test of God, and He never permits the temptations to be greater than the capacity of resistance. If the soul is overborne, the person overpowered, this can never be charged to God as failing to give strength in grace, but the one tempted was not vigilant and prayerful and did not appropriate by faith the provisions God had abundantly in store for him. Christ never failed a believer in his hour of combat. The believer must claim the promise and meet the foe in the name of the Lord, and he will not know anything like failure.--MS 6, 1889, Our High Calling, Ellen White, p. 323.
When God see’s that your gold (character) has been purified by fire your pain and suffering will cease and you He sees that you are safe to bring into the society of holy beings. God knows who is capable of enduring the time of trouble and as your body is ravaged by cancer or any other degenerative disease, God will begin to shut down the systems of your body and you will slip into a comma and rest in the Lord until He comes; prayerfully the second time.
You say that you have served the Lord faithfully for 30, 40, 50, 60 ,70 years and doubt that he would keep you out of heaven because you took a narcotic while dying to relieve pain. I am not God that is between you and Him. His word says: "....Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die." 2 Kings 1:6. The Spirit of Prophecy (SOP) has this to say as inspired by God and written by Mrs. Ellen White, the Christian health writer had to say about drugs.
“I was shown that more deaths have been caused by drug-taking than from all other causes combined. If there was in the land one physician in the place of thousands, a vast amount of premature mortality would be prevented. Multitudes of physicians, and multitudes of drugs, have cursed the inhabitants of the earth, and have carried thousands and tens of thousands to untimely graves.” 4 Spiritual Gifts, p. 133.
- Drugs ultimately bring a breakdown of Vital Forces; Med. Min. p. 223.
- Drugs are not the intelligent method. Medical Ministry, p. 40.
- Drugs require less skill. Healthful Living, p. 247.
- Drugs are expensive experiments. Medical Ministry, p. 228.
- Drugs are prescribed instead of telling patient the truth. Med. Min. p.225.
- Drugs work by poisoning the current of the blood. Counsels/Health, 303.
- Drugs cause disease to disappear and later reappear elsewhere. 4SG, p.135.
- Drugs load the body with poisons it cannot expel. 4SG, p. 135-136.
- Drugs eventually cease to help the symptoms. Med. Min., p. 228-229.
- Drugs interfere with Nature’s laws. Manuscript 22, 1889.
- Drugs are a poor substitute for the use of simple herbs. Letter 90, 1908.
- Drugs are not responsible for the healing that may follow. H.L., p. 224.
- Drugs do not posses curative powers. How to Live, p. 70
- Drugs weaken directly and also by inheritance. How to Live, p. 53.
- “those who make a practice of taking drugs sin against their intelligence and endanger their whole afterlife…2SM, p. 290-291.
- Drugs are the faithless method. Manuscript 169, 1902.
- With Christ as our example, believers must fulfill all righteousness.
A little history about morphine and its practical use:
Let us consider the origin of Morphine, A 20 year old German pharmacy assistant named Friedrich Serturner surmised that there was a specific component of opium that gave pain relief, but only if sufficiently concentrated. Using ammonia, he separated the various constitutes of the drug, and called the narcotic substance he discovered ‘morphine’ after Morpheus the god of sleep. In medicine, morphine is used in pain management and in hospice care and treating the terminally ill. So over time when a cancer patient on hospice is sleeping more and more what is happening, the medulla oblongata is sensitive to opioids (morphine); OD leads to depression of the medulla which causes death because of stopped breathing; always assess respiration's before administering opioids.
The medical community plays god and decides that your love one has lived/suffered long enough and begins to increase the dosage of morphine they are receiving and kills them with a overdose, depressing the medulla oblongata and suffocate's them. While during the conscious hours drugged they begin to wonder, doubt, an possibly become depressed, Satan snatches his victim and the individual loses eternal life. When Jesus Christ knew it was best for you not to be put on opioids and suffer a little longer for the consuming of the dross off your character with your frontal lobe of the brain fully intact. Remember this SOP quote, it has been a tremendous blessing to me.
"The Father's presence encircled Christ, and nothing befell Him but that which infinite love permitted for the blessing of the world. Here was His source of comfort, and it is for us. He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ. The blow that is aimed at him falls upon the Saviour, who surrounds him with His presence. Whatever comes to him comes from Christ. He has no need to resist evil, for Christ is his defense. Nothing can touch him except by our Lord's permission, and "all things" that are permitted "work together for good to them that love God." Rom_8:28. {MB 71.2}.
With Christ as our example, believers must fulfill all righteousness!
Let us consider the origin of Morphine, A 20 year old German pharmacy assistant named Friedrich Serturner surmised that there was a specific component of opium that gave pain relief, but only if sufficiently concentrated. Using ammonia, he separated the various constitutes of the drug, and called the narcotic substance he discovered ‘morphine’ after Morpheus the god of sleep. In medicine, morphine is used in pain management and in hospice care and treating the terminally ill. So over time when a cancer patient on hospice is sleeping more and more what is happening, the medulla oblongata is sensitive to opioids (morphine); OD leads to depression of the medulla which causes death because of stopped breathing; always assess respiration's before administering opioids.
The medical community plays god and decides that your love one has lived/suffered long enough and begins to increase the dosage of morphine they are receiving and kills them with a overdose, depressing the medulla oblongata and suffocate's them. While during the conscious hours drugged they begin to wonder, doubt, an possibly become depressed, Satan snatches his victim and the individual loses eternal life. When Jesus Christ knew it was best for you not to be put on opioids and suffer a little longer for the consuming of the dross off your character with your frontal lobe of the brain fully intact. Remember this SOP quote, it has been a tremendous blessing to me.
"The Father's presence encircled Christ, and nothing befell Him but that which infinite love permitted for the blessing of the world. Here was His source of comfort, and it is for us. He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ. The blow that is aimed at him falls upon the Saviour, who surrounds him with His presence. Whatever comes to him comes from Christ. He has no need to resist evil, for Christ is his defense. Nothing can touch him except by our Lord's permission, and "all things" that are permitted "work together for good to them that love God." Rom_8:28. {MB 71.2}.
With Christ as our example, believers must fulfill all righteousness!