#6 - Respecting Life Series

For a CD of over 100 of sermons by Darrell Stetler II (most complete with handouts), please e-mail darrellstetler2@sbcglobal.net.

"You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13

Traditionally, we’ve thought of this commandment as “Thou shalt not kill.” That was the older translation, from the year 1611. Of course, then we run into problems, because God actually commands the death penalty for some offenses. . . in other places, he commands war. People are always killed in war, so what does this commandment mean?

The problem is solved by understanding “kill” as the word “murder.”

A Sunday School teacher was discussing the 10 commandments with her 5 & 6 year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor your father and mother,”she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Quickly, one of the kids answered, “Thou shalt not kill.”

Any murderers here this morning? :-) Probably not in the “pull the trigger sense.”

Why God gave this command to not murder another person:

Because we are made in the image of God.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

We are the very top of the creation of God, the very greatest things he created on this earth. We are created with God’s very image stamped on us. That doesn’t mean that God looks like we do – it means that our spiritual being is shaped like his. God has a mind, we have a mind. God has a will, we have a will. God has emotions, and we have emotions. This is the reason you’ll never see a depressed cow! They weren’t created in God’s image.

Because God is the giver of life.

"He is the God who made the world and everything in it. . . He himself gives life and breath to everything.” Acts 17:24-25 (NLT)

Statistics say that very few of us in this room will ever commit murder – literally.

But here’s something you need to know about the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the OT, God laid out these laws. Don’t kill. Don’t commit adultery. That’s pretty straightforward.

But God is not just concerned with the outside, he’s also concerned with your heart! He’s not just concerned that your body is doing the right actions, he’s concerned that your heart has the right attitudes!

Jesus came along and said, “God’s not just interested in whether you kill, he’s concerned with whether you would kill if you had the chance. He’s concerned with your heart – what you would do if you thought you could get away with it.”

You understand the difference? Lots of men who would never cheat on their wife WOULD HAVE if they knew no one would ever find out! Lots of men who wouldn’t kill someone have been so angry and full of hate that if they knew no one would find out, they’d do it.

God’s not just interested in your outside actions, he’s interested in your heart’s motives – not just what you do, but why you do it.

So, Satan doesn’t succeed with many people trying to get them to actually pull the trigger, or stab the knife – but he is always trying to get us to break God’s command in “Heart” ways if he can’t get us to do it in “physical” ways!

Sneaky ways that Satan gets us to break this command:

1. By entertaining ourselves with those who break it.

“...knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:32 (NKJV)

The word “approve” in Greek means “enjoy or encourage”. . . So let’s think about that:

“If a child watches 3-4 hours of TV per day, he will have seen about 8,000 murders on TV by the time he finishes grade school.”

Have you heard of the movie “Kill Bill?” How about “Texas Chain Saw Massacre?” While I’ve never seen it, I have read of it. . . the idea of the movie comes down to entertaining ourselves with murder!

That’s the reason that I personally have chosen not to own a television, and rarely watch movies. . . it’s not because there’s something evil about the electronics. It’s because if I am holy – a dwelling place set aside for God – then can I really entertain myself with something that God hates?

2. By defining life differently than God does.

“You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalm 139:15-16 (NLT)