"you Shall Not Murder" Series

“YOU SHALL NOT MURDER” Exodus 20:13

FBCF – 7/10/22

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Just celebrated Independence Day – our freedom – Fireworks, flags, red, white, & blue everywhere – receptionist at my doctor’s office had red, white, & blue fingernails. Love this nation & love our freedom.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower – “…the really decisive battleground of American freedom is in the hearts and minds of our own people... Each day we must ask that Almighty God will set & keep His protecting hand over us so that we may pass on to those who come after us the heritage of a free people, secure in their God-given rights, & in full control of a gov’t dedicated to the preservation of those rights.”

But God won’t keep His “protecting hand” on a nation that consistently & persistently thumbs its nose at Him & His commands & rebels against Him. And that is what the USA has done. As much as we love this nation, this nation is under the hand of the judgment of God. We have rebelled against Him, against His commands & precepts. We have removed Him from every conversation, every decision, every position, & replaced Him w/ idols of every kind of perversity & evil. Sexual immorality & debauchery in every form is exploding, open depravity parades in the streets, hatred & violence is poured out everywhere as people are gunned down in schools, streets, suburbs, inner cities, small towns & metropolitan areas.

- Proverbs 16:12 – “It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, because a throne is established on righteousness.” (NASB)

- Proverbs 14:34 – “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

- Proverbs 29:2 – “When the righteous are in authority & become great, the people rejoice; But when the wicked man rules, the people groan & sigh.” (AMP)

- Psalm 81:11-12 – “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So, I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own devices.”

- Romans 1:18-32

In the midst of all of the multitude of ways that our nation has rejected God, we find the abject rejection of the 6th Commandment.

EXPLANATION – Exodus 20:13

The violent reaction across the nation of the SCOTUS decision on Roe v. Wade was astounding but unsurprising. So many sad images across the land of so many people who are so blinded by the enemy. One of saddest – Woman named “Amanda” – 9 months pregnant had this phrase written on her very pregnant belly that was housing a precious human being: “Not Yet a Human.” - VIDEO

In the midst of all the chants of, “My body, my choice,” “No uterus, no opinion,” “Abortion = Healthcare,” & “Not Yet a Human” is the scream that you’re not hearing: “We want to murder.” And to the hundreds of thousands who are demanding that choice, God thunders “NO!”

“You shall not murder.” KJV says “Thou shalt not kill.” Original Heb states, “No murder.” The word means “murder, slay, assassinate.” Means to kill a human being in a malicious, intentional, premeditated, unjust way.

- Does not apply to animals – Still going to stomp on roaches & spiders & go deer hunting. Still going to eat steak, bacon, & fried chicken.

- Does not apply to justifiable self-defense – If you’re trying to harm someone I love, I’m going to defend them as strongly & as forcefully as the situation warrants, & the Bible supports that.

- Does not apply to accidental deaths – I know a grandfather who accidentally killed a grandchild. Steven Curtis Chapman’s son accidentally killed his little sister. No way that this commandment applies to those types of situations.

- Does not apply to capital punishment – The Hebrew word in this commandment is never used in any Scripture that deals w/ capital punishment. As a result of living in a fallen world, some crimes are so heinous that capital punishment is the right punishment for the crime.

- Does not apply to a nations’ involvement in just wars – We are certainly thankful for the men & women who have served in military & fought wars for our freedom. But war is terrible. But it is not as terrible as other circumstances. If war was the only way to stop Adolph Hitler, then grab your gun & head to the front lines.

APPLICATION – Christ-followers must be people who stand for life.

REMEMBER THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE – Let’s define sanctity – “a sacred thing.” So, when we say, “sanctity of life,” we are saying that a human life is sacred, that is has divine qualities, that it is secured against & safe from violation. Of all the places where human life should be secured against & safe from violation, its mother’s womb should be the safest from the moment of conception. The struggle against this truth is from those who promote the sovereignty & sacredness of their own individual & personal rights & choices, even if their choices have led to the inconvenient conception of a baby. In their distorted minds, the “sanctity” of their body & their choice trumps the sanctity of the human life that has been conceived. THAT life can be extinguished on the sacrificial fire of their choice, just as the children of Israel sacrificed their babies to the god of sexual immorality called Molech or Milcom. King Solomon rebelled against the Lord, gave himself over to sexual immorality w/ 700 wives & 300 concubines, & worshiped the goddess, Asthoreth, & the god, Molech (1 Kings 11:1-8).