“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).
Fundamental to this 6th Commandment & all the others, as well, is the existence of a personal Creator God, in whose image we are created. B/c our society has cheapened & denigrated that truth, intentionally & unjustly killing someone becomes an easy, even acceptable thing to do.
- That’s why we can kill over 63 million babies since 1973
- That’s why demented individuals kill people at a 4th of July parade, or kill elementary students in a school, or shoot & kill a 2 yr-old baby, as a 15 yr-old did in my hometown of Cleveland just this past week.
When we look at the Word of God, which is the unchanging standard for truth, we see how God’s plan is that human life be held in the highest regard:
- Genesis 1:26-27 – “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea & over the birds of the heavens & over the livestock & over all the earth & over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male & female He created them.”
- Psalm 139:13-16 – “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully & wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
- Isaiah 44:2 – “Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb & will help you…”
- Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, & before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Adrian Rogers: “The fact that there are debates in favor of killing unborn lives should cause us to mourn, & to respond in anguish. There is much to be done to protect unborn lives. It starts with knowing without doubt that every life matters in the eyes of God.” We must remember the sanctity of human life.
REJECT THE CULTURE OF DEATH – There are some truths that the Bible clearly says about our world:
First, the whole world is in rebellion against God. From the fall of man in the Garden right up to this very moment, we see the truth of 1 John 5:19 lived out right before our very eyes – “…the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
Secondly, Satan operates in destruction & death. John 10:10 – “The thief comes to steal, kill, & destroy…” 1 Peter 5:8 – “Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” (HCSB)
Third, Satan blinds the minds & the eyes of unbelievers to the horrible truth of what he’s up to. 2 Corinthians 4:4 – “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” (NLT)
This is the culture of death that Satan is ruling over in our world. And it’s the culture that you & I as Christ-followers must reject. The truth of the life-changing, life-giving Gospel of Jesus stands in stark contrast to the false gospel of Satan that so many in our world are following.
- John 1:4 tells us that “In [JESUS] was LIFE, & that LIFE was the light of men.”
- That Jesus, who IS LIFE, said, “I have come that you might have LIFE & have it more abundantly!” (John 10:10)
- That same Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, & the LIFE…” (John 14:6).
- That same Jesus said that “whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting LIFE” (John 3:16).
- Acts 3:15 says that same Jesus is the “Author of Life.”
Our message, the message of the Gospel, is a message of LIFE that is counter-cultural. That’s why Satan hates us so much, why the world opposes us so much, & why we need to preach this message so much. It’s the ONLY message that will stand against this culture of death that the enemy has set up.
RENEW OUR WALK W/ CHRIST – Bring it to where we are right now. B/c most of us have not actually murdered someone, this Commandment is one that we tend to dismiss – “I don’t have to worry about that one.” But we do b/c Jesus said that those times when we are unjustly angry; when we have hatred in our hearts toward a person or a group of people; when we call someone a fool, then we’ve broken this Commandment. We need to renew our walk w/ Christ.
- Renew our commitment to LOVE
- Renew our commitment to LIFE
- Renew our commitment to LISTEN
Or maybe you’re here today or watching or listening to this service & you need to…
RECEIVE CHRIST AS LORD
