Would you please find Exodus chapter 20? Exodus 20, our verse today, when we get there is verse 13. I have a confession to make. I have been contemplating murder this week. Not because I was planning to kill anyone, but because I have gotten to spend my whole week studying about murder and killing. That is the topic at hand. This is the sixth commandment today. Now what I thought was kind of neat is that the Lord worked it out so that we would reach this verse on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, earlier in our service. We prayed for Lifeline Pregnancy Center. But some of you might be wondering, what is the sanctity of life? What does that term mean? Sanctity means the quality or state of being holy or sacred. So in what way is life sacred? We could also say set apart. What we're doing is celebrating the uniqueness of life that God created. The specialness of human life. Why are we talking about the sanctity of human life? Isn't my pet special too? Or my favorite animal? And yes it is, but not in the same way. We're going to talk about the fact that humans are made in God's image as we continue in our study today. This is one of the last six commandments. We've been looking at the first table of law and the second table of law. I've shown you that chart each week. So this is number seven. Sorry, this is number six. In the second six, if I can say it right. And this is one of the ones that describes our relationship with other people, and doesn't that make sense? If we have a command, do not murder other people, that that would fit right into a discussion of my relationship with other people. That makes good sense to me, hopefully it makes sense to you. I'm gonna ask you to stand while I read this one verse. So would you stand, please? It's a short one, don't miss it. This is Exodus 20, verse 13. You shall not murder. Let's pray together, please. Our Father, this is your word. This is your word for us today. So would you please give us understanding on what this means and how you want us to apply it to our lives. Lord, we're asking for the Holy Spirit's help that he would teach us and apply this to our lives today. But Lord, we have to be sensitive. We have to be listening. We have to be willing to do what you show us to do. So would you pour out your grace on us again this morning, that as we study this together, we would be obedient, we would respond with faith and obedience. Lord, I ask for your help, that you would strengthen me mentally and physically to be able to teach this clearly. and that you would accomplish your purpose for your word in our hearts this morning in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, you may be seated. Here are the two main ideas I have for you this morning. What I would like for you to take away from this service is that number one, God values the human life he created. and he chooses when life begins and ends. So that first main point is about God, focused on God. God values the human life he created and he chooses when life begins and ends. Number two, God's people should seek to bless, protect, and preserve the lives of others. So that's the focus on us. What are we supposed to be doing? God's people should seek to bless, protect, and preserve the lives of others. That's my overall theme for the day. Our verse. You shall not murder. Probably noticed how short this commandment is. That's four words in English. Guess how many it is in Hebrew? Two. Two Hebrew words. And it can be translated as don't kill or never kill. But what does this command, you shall not murder, mean? And what does that definition include and not include? So as I listened to a couple sermons this week, as I read, as I studied, as I thought, I wanted to put together a sentence that I thought would summarize the commandment itself, and here's what I came up with. The sixth commandment forbids the unjust taking of an innocent human life. And all those words are there on purpose. Go ahead and put it back up. The sixth commandment forbids the unjust taking of an innocent human life. Philip Riken wrote in his commentary that the Hebrew language has at least eight different verbs for kill or murder. The word used here is never used in the legal system or in the military. There are other Hebrew words for the execution of a death sentence or for the kind of killing that a soldier does in mortal combat. Nor is this word ever used for hunting and killing animals. So the King James Version, which says, thou shalt not kill, that may be how you learned it like I did when I was a kid, thou shalt not kill, is somewhat imprecise. What the commandment forbids is not killing, but the unlawful killing of a human being. But even the word murder is somewhat imprecise because this Hebrew word can also be used for any form of wrongful death. It is used for voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and some accidental death. So in some ways it's a broad term, but as it comes to us, as we're trying to translate it in English, it kind of fits between killing and murder. David Jeremiah said, the sixth commandment honors the sacredness of all innocent life, including the unborn children. The law made provisions for, and here are the exceptions, if you will. Here are some clarifications. The law made provisions for self-protection, military service, public executions, and accidental death. So those are not what we're talking about today. Is that clear enough? Those are exceptions to this commandment that we're studying. Those are not included here. The goal of the sixth commandment then is to protect and defend human life. That's the reason God gave it to us, to protect and defend human life. We could put it this way, sort of a paraphrase. Don't murder anyone. and be careful not to cause anyone's death because of your carelessness or recklessness or negligence. That's what this is saying. Now, how could my carelessness or negligence cause somebody else's death? What do I need to worry about? If you were to continue reading the writing of Moses, as we get later in Exodus and then Numbers and so on, You'll read commands like what to do if you have an ox that has been known to gore other people and what if it does that? And here are the rules. I don't think any of you are dealing with that this week. I don't think you have an ox that has been known to gore people and it's gonna kill someone this week. So we won't worry about that for the moment. Another one, if you finish your house, because remember they used to have flat roofs, you need to put a wall around the roof so that no one falls off and dies. Well, most of you aren't facing that either. So how would this play out today? Here's an example. If I am, and I'm not, this is hypothetical, okay, but if I am high on drugs or if I am drunk and I get behind the wheel of a car and I kill someone, that is negligence. That's what we're talking about here. Some of you have a backyard swimming pool. Typically, what do you have to have around your swimming pool? A fence, why? to protect people, especially non-swimmers, little children, from getting to that swimming pool. That's what we're talking about here when I say prevent someone dying from your negligence or your recklessness. That's the idea. So now you know a little bit about what the Hebrew word for kill or murder means. And we know what that definition includes and doesn't include, but why does it matter? Why is it here? Why did God include it in the Ten Commandments? What's the big deal? That question brings us back to the idea of humans being made in God's image. We need to talk about that for a minute. You don't have to turn there if you don't want to, but I'm gonna go back to Genesis 1 and 2 for a second. Way back to the beginning, where we read that God created the heavens and the earth. Well, God created people also. So let me read to you from Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 and 27. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle. over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them." Did you see those repeated phrases? I don't think he could put it in there very many more times in two verses to say, in the image of God, in the image of God, in the image of God. Genesis 2-7 gives us some details about God creating man, specifically Adam at that point. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. There is one true God and he created everything that we see. The plants, the birds, the fish, the animals. He spoke those things into existence and they appeared. But when it came to man, he did something different. He formed man. We would say out of the clay or out of the dust of the ground. He formed Adam and later he formed Eve. He did that differently. And here, in Genesis chapter one, it tells us that he did this to make us be in his image. That means, in some ways, we bear His likeness. And one of those ways we bear His likeness is this word, dominion. He set us over the other animals, the birds, the fish. He gave us responsibility for, management of, care of, would be other ways to say that. He gave us the responsibility to care for and govern His world. under his authority. So, God made man in his own image, but what does that have to do with murder? Warren Wiersbe said it well. Life is a gift from God, and only he has the authority to take life. Because we're made in God's image, murder is an attack against God himself. We are made in God's image, and therefore if I kill, if I willfully kill, murder another human being, I am attacking God. You may not have thought of it that way before, but that is a true statement. After the worldwide flood, God established a specific penalty for murder. And the penalty is stated in Genesis chapter nine, this is verse six. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God, he made man. So this verse connects those two things together. When one person kills another person, that is an affront to God, that is an offense to God, because humans are made in the image of God. That may seem basic, but it's very essential to what we're studying today. We need to understand that God created people in his image so that when one person attacks, when one person murders another person, that is going against God. Now, are there any exceptions to the punishment I just read? We call that capital punishment today. Are there any exceptions to that? And the answer is yes. Old Testament law established a less severe penalty for accidentally killing someone. In biblical terms, two guys are out in the woods. They're cutting down trees with an ax. Each one has an ax. The ax head flies off, kills the other guy. It was an accident. He didn't know his ax head was loose. He didn't mean to kill the other person. What can he do? Old Testament law under God's order for Israel, you can flee to a city of refuge and not face the death penalty. So, again, trying to put it in our terminology, banishment was the penalty. And it could last up to a lifetime because you would have to stay in that city of refuge, assuming you were taken in, you would have to state your case and they would say, yes, you may stay here, and you would have to stay there until the death of the high priest, which could be longer than you are alive, so it's almost a life sentence. but it's not death. So that's what God established, and we'll talk about that some more when we get to Exodus 21, because that's where it appears for the first time. But we've talked already about the meaning of you shall not murder, and now I'd like to spend some time applying that command to our lives. Because as you may have figured out from our other studies in the Ten Commandments, they're actually a lot broader than they appear at face value. So where should we, where can we go with this as far as applying it to our lives today? Here we go. I'm gonna give you a list as we discuss these. And the first is murder itself. So what about murder? I don't think the act of murder is something that most of you are going to struggle with this week. I don't think so. We don't face that on a day-to-day basis. Some of you are nervously smiling at each other. I'm not sure what to make of that, but I don't think this is a struggle for us. Getting more serious now. Few of us, if any, in the room have committed murder. I'm not aware of any. But if we had, let's start with this one. Can a murderer be forgiven? Yes. God provides forgiveness for any sin, and I'm gonna keep reminding you of that as we look at these different scenarios. Even a murderer can be forgiven. There would be consequences for a crime committed. Legally, there would be consequences, but God forgives sin. Are you glad that God forgives sin? Both the ones that we think of as big and the ones we think of small, they are sin, and God forgives sin. Now, how do I know that? Let's look at an illustration. Saul, also known as Saul, was a murderer. We know that from Acts chapter 9 verse 1. Now he didn't know Jesus yet. 1 Timothy tells us he did it ignorantly in unbelief. Last week we talked about honoring parents. Those of you who were here may remember we talked about honoring parents, the previous commandment. And I read this paragraph from Romans 1, so I'm going to read it again. This was written by Paul, who had been a murderer. Here we go, Romans 1, starting in verse 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, here it is, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, Violent proud boasters inventors of evil things. Here's what we looked at last week disobedient to parents Undiscerning untrustworthy unloving unforgiving unmerciful Who 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. They approve of those who practice them I want to zero in on that You see, there was a time when Saul approved of murder. You can read about it in Acts 8, verse 1. He held the coats. He was the overseer of the execution of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. He approved of that. Now, I believe we need to be careful not to approve of murder. What do you mean, Bob? We should not approve of those who practice murder. And what I mean by that is that we need to be aware of entertainment that glorifies violence and desensitizes us to it. And that could include books or TV shows or movies or websites or social media or video games. It could be any of those things. I'm not picking on any one of them. And furthermore, just for clarity, I'm not saying that you have to draw the line where I personally draw the line. That's not why I'm saying this. But what I'm saying is that we should prayerfully consider drawing a line. It doesn't have to be the same line. There are a bunch of people in this room. We would have different lines, perhaps. But there should be some kind of limitation on our receiving entertainment from and thereby approving violence, and murder. We can talk about that more, we can talk about it Wednesday night, we can talk about it after the service, but I believe we need to be careful, anything in that list, right now we're talking about murder, anything on that list, we should not be condoning, we should not be celebrating, we need to be careful in our entertainment choices that what we are viewing, what we are listening to, what we are reading, is not glorifying sin. That's what I'm saying. Second one for our list is abortion. There could be someone in this room who has had an abortion or who has encouraged someone else to have an abortion. As tragic as that is, there is still forgiveness for that. There is hope in Jesus. There is restoration for that. Does the Bible talk about life in the womb? Yes, it does. In a future study, we'll look at some verses in Exodus 21 that deal with this specific issue. And if you're taking notes, I'm just going to give you some references to look up on your own. One of them is Psalm 139. Psalm 139, 13 through 16. Another one is Jeremiah 1.5, and another one is Luke 1, 39 to 45. Some of you are familiar with Psalm 139, talking about God creating us in our mother's womb, being fearfully and wonderfully made. Beautiful verses in that passage. Jeremiah 1.5 says that God knew Jeremiah and called him to be a prophet, a spokesman for him from his mother's womb. God had purpose and plan for you before you were born, before your parents met you. God had a plan for your life. And if you look at that passage in Luke, what you're gonna see is we have Elizabeth who is expecting, what's her baby's name? Little boy named John. We know him as John the Baptist. And then who comes to see Elizabeth? Mary. She had a baby we're also familiar with. What was his name? Jesus, okay, and what it tells us is Elizabeth, who is about six months pregnant at that point, Mary walks in and John the Baptist leaps in her womb. This is something I've never experienced, but you ladies, some of you have experienced this, that kick or elbow or whatever the baby is giving you, that's a reaction, that's showing personality of John the Baptist six months from conception. It's there in the Bible. Life is a gift from God. Life originates with God. Life begins at conception, and you can study those passages out a little bit more on your own. Next one I want to discuss is euthanasia. That English word, euthanasia, comes from literally good death. Sometimes it's also called mercy killing. or assisted suicide, or a popular term right now is death with dignity. Now I realize this is another sensitive subject, because who among us would ever choose for a friend or loved one who has a terminal illness to suffer longer than he or she has to? We would not choose that. But it's not our place to end an innocent human life. The end of a life is God's responsibility according to His wisdom and timing. And I guess while we're on this topic, I should clarify for just a minute, I believe that there's a difference between ending a life and ending treatment. Some of you may be familiar with do not resuscitate orders. Or maybe you know someone who has chosen to stop having chemotherapy or what have you, whatever the treatment might be. I don't believe the Bible's telling us not to do that. That is between you and the Lord and you and your doctors and family members. What I'm saying is no doctor, no family member, and no individual should be deciding, I am proactively going to choose to die. I'm going to commit suicide or have assistance with committing suicide. Do you understand the difference what I'm trying to get across? Some of you are familiar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. World War II. Lots of biographies about him, some recent movies and that kind of thing. He was a German theologian, and he had a lot of experience with suffering. He was imprisoned under the Nazi regime, and he was eventually executed. But while in prison, he wrote a book that was compiled after his death into a title, Ethics. And this is what he wrote. In the light of God's revelation in Jesus Christ, human life can no longer be understood as an isolated, self-determined existence. Rather, it is understood as a life that is given and led by God. Human beings are not in control of their own life. and they cannot claim the right to dispose of it according to their own will. The life of the individual is reserved for God because only God knows the goal toward which a life is being directed. I think those are wise words. I think they're biblical words. We can pray with the psalmist, Lord, teach us to number our days that we may obtain a heart of wisdom. That brings us to the topic of suicide. And I know that unfortunately there are people in this room who have been touched by suicide, a friend or a family member. And I know that's hard. And I'm sorry. We do need to understand that suicide is also murder. It is me taking my own life. Many people, more than have had direct interaction with suicide, many people have suicidal thoughts, and the Bible addresses both of these things as well. You may be able to think of some people in the Bible who took their own lives. I thought of three as I was writing down my notes. King Saul, Ahithophel, and Judas Iscariot in the New Testament. But there are some who thought of suicide or who wanted to die. And here are some of those that I wrote down. Job, Solomon, Elijah, Jonah, and even the Apostle Paul, despaired of life, wanted to die, God to kill them. Now if you are having suicidal thoughts, please talk to someone. Talk to me, talk to someone in this church body, get help. There is hope in Jesus, but I also realize there are times we are discouraged, we are despondent, we are depressed. And even though we know the truth, it's just not making sense at that moment. So please reach out for help. I also want to address, because some of you have had someone commit suicide in your life, I don't know where this error came from, but there are people who say that someone who commits suicide automatically goes to hell. That is not true. That is not what the Bible teaches. Yes, I believe Judas went to hell, but not because he committed suicide. The only reason anyone goes to hell is not because he's a murderer, or because he's involved in euthanasia, or she's involved in abortion, or he commits suicide. It's not that. The only reason anyone goes to hell is dying without believing in the saving work of Jesus Christ. That is the only thing that has ever or will ever send anyone to hell. So if you've ever heard that teaching, please put it out of your mind. It is not biblical. It is not true. That is not the unforgivable sin. Now, This has been heavy, I realize. I'm gonna finish off with a couple that are not quite so heavy, but that may apply to more of us. And this first one in this section is hatred. Hatred. You probably don't think of that as having anything to do with murder, but the Bible says it does. Here's one definition I found of hatred. Hatred is a settled resentment A permanent and vindictive grudge. The desire to get back at someone. It is really a way of wishing someone were dead. So can I back that up biblically? Yes I can. 1 John 3.15. Whoever hates his brother is what? What does it say? Is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Is there somebody in your current life or someone in your past that you hate? One you just can't forgive or think you can't forgive? God calls those he's forgiven to forgive others. If you don't believe me, study out the story Jesus told in Matthew 18. He wants us to forgive others. Forgiving people, forgive people. We must not hold on to past hurts. And we must not allow bitterness to destroy us or the relationships around us. Closely related to hatred is anger. My anger is like murder? Actually, yes it is. Let's look at it. When Jesus preached the sermon that we call the Sermon on the Mount, he frequently presented a law or commandment his audience knew quite well, and then he explained what it really meant. So here's what he did with murder. This is from Matthew chapter five, verse 21. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, so this is Jesus with his authority correcting their misguided thinking about one of the commandments. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Now let's look at the two parts of that. First, anger. There are two Greek words translated anger. This is from one of my commentaries. The first refers to the anger one feels that causes veins to bulge and your face to get red. But the word here is a word that refers to the anger that smolders internally. Day, after week, after month, after year. This is closely related to the concept we were talking about a minute ago with hatred and unforgiveness. So we could call it bitterness. We could call it a grudge. We could go with simply unforgiveness. But whatever we call it, that's the type of anger that Jesus says is equivalent to murder. Second part of that is name-calling. And I heard one person paraphrase this word for raka as bonehead. Because it means empty-headed. What it's suggesting is a person's stupidity or inferiority. But it was offensive. It was an offensive derogatory term of that time. And Jesus is saying, that's equivalent to murder. Now I know we can tease each other, but we need to be careful, even here. And especially if what we're saying is attacking the person's value. Attacking that person's good character. Because remember, when you're attacking someone who is made in the image of God, you're attacking God. And that's what Jesus was bringing out. He was vastly broadening their idea of what Moses had taught. He's saying, no, it's not just about not stabbing someone to death. It's about caring for someone. It's about loving and having compassion for others. James. in his letter taught that we shouldn't bless God and then turn around and curse people out of the same mouth. We must not assault another person verbally because he or she is made in the image of God. Now I know we've covered a lot of ground this morning and I know there's a lot more we could say and I know this has been a very heavy sermon. But what I want you to take with you are those first two main points I gave you. That God creates life. It comes from him. And he chooses when life begins and when it ends. God's people should seek to bless, protect, and preserve the lives of others. That's what we should be focused on. Believers, How are your actions and how are your attitudes concerning other people? Do they reveal love and forgiveness? Or do they reveal hatred and murder? Now we've been taking the same formula, the same plan each week from Ephesians 4, put off, be renewed, put on. So what are we supposed to put off here? That should be obvious. We are supposed to put off murder, hatred, smoldering anger resulting from unforgiveness. How can we renew our minds? We can acknowledge that life itself and all of its blessings are gifts from God. Be encouraged this morning by John 10 10. Second part of that verse says that I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus brings life. Jesus brings abundance, pleasure, blessings to our lives. And we should also remember that our lives belong to the Lord. Romans 14, eight. For if we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. We belong to Him. What should we put on? I have one more quote I'd like to share with you. It's from Philip Graham Rykin. He said that keeping the sixth commandment means more than not murdering anyone. It means loving our neighbor. It means showing kindness to strangers and mercy to our enemies. In other words, we need to put on good works. That's what we need to put on. Galatians 6.10, therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. And then Colossians tells us very specifically to put on tenderness, mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, forgiveness, and love. That's a long list, but here are the verses. You can look at them in more detail later on your own. Colossians 3.12, therefore, as the elect of God, if you're a believer, holy and beloved, put on, here it is, tender mercies, tenderness of heart, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection, completeness. and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you were called in one body and be thankful. Those are the things we need to put on. There could be somebody here this morning, somebody who's joined us online, you don't know Christ, you don't have a relationship with him, but you can. He loved you enough to die in your place. He was executed for your sin and for my sin. And you can put your faith in Him today. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Our Father, we are thankful that you've given us your word. You have taught us what we need to hear. Sometimes it's hard to hear. So Lord, we pray that you would help us. Help us to obey. Help us to love others, it is not natural to us. But you have loved us and you have forgiven us, so help us to love others and forgive others. We can't do that apart from you, but we desire to do it in your strength, by your grace. So please help us, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.