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Thank you, Mark and Roxanne.

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It's good to see you both here today and have here as our guests.

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Well today is a special day in the life of Phil Thompson.

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I don't see him in this service, but if you see him around the church, you can let him

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know that you know the truth about him.

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He is pondering up there the things of the past, what life used to be like before he

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went over the hill at 40 years of age.

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We congratulate him.

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Phil, of course, is still on our staff even though he's not our youth pastor.

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And of course, now you know why he's not the youth pastor.

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Phil is working with us part-time in evangelism and we're glad for that ministry that God

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has called him to.

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Well, I invite you to open your Bible with me please to the book of Exodus and today

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to the 20th chapter again as we continue looking at the Ten Commandments.

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And today verse 13, which is the sixth commandment, and says, you shall not murder.

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If you were to list the Ten Commandments in order of the frequency with which you broke

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them, you personally broke them, I would make two predictions.

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First of all, that you would keep your list private.

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Secondly, that murder would be at the bottom of the list.

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It is the best known of the commandments perhaps, and yet it is the one that we all feel the

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most content about.

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A commentator named Byers said, thou shalt not murder bothers most of us about as much

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as if God had commanded, thou shalt not spit on the moon.

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It just seems so far out of the realm of possibility that we would ever be guilty of breaking this

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commandment.

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But you and I live in a culture that has been called the culture of death.

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On June the 6th, 1997, Melissa Drexler, a teenager in Aberdeen, New Jersey, went to

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her prom, and when her labor pains got strong, she went to the bathroom, gave birth to a

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son, wrapped him in a garbage bag, and tossed him into the trash.

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She then returned to the dance floor and continued to party.

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You say that's a terribly unique story.

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Well, perhaps not as much as we think.

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The murder of infants less than one week old has increased 92 percent in the last 25 years.

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The entertainment industry glorifies killing.

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We have video games like Mortal Kombat that had an ad recently that asked the questions,

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have you ever killed anyone with a chainsaw, would you like to?

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Movies glorify murder.

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Bill Brown writing in World Magazine claims that the average American adult has seen 100,000

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murders in movies and on television.

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The music industry glorifies killing, Marilyn Manson pleads, kill yourself, and Eric Clapton

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warns, I may have to blow your brains out, baby.

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This is the culture in which you and I live.

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I know that there are people who say, well, let's just pretend, and the kids all know

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that.

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The facts may say otherwise.

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The facts may be indicating that kids are having a hard time telling the difference

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between reality and fiction.

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When high school students in Jonesboro, Arkansas were told of the shootings at the nearby middle

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school recently, some of those high school students laughed.

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We find a command here that values life.

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God says, you shall do no murder.

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That is literally what the Hebrew says.

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You shall do no murder.

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The giving of this commandment in the 14th century B.C. does not imply that taking another's

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life before this was not sin, for it was.

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We see that as early as Genesis chapter 4 where one brother murders another, Cain murdered

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Abel, and it is called a sin.

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It is interesting that the first fruit of sin in a social context is that of murder.

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It is stated in the decalogue, this commandment is, in order to inscribe this ethical standard

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into the covenant of the law.

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It is put here as a testimony of God to people of all ages and all cultures regarding the

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value that he places upon human life.

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Now I want us to look at this commandment from several aspects.

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First of all, I want us to notice that this commandment makes clear that God deems human

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life as uniquely sacred.

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God deems human life as uniquely sacred.

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Now this is a biblical worldview that stands in stark contrast to the humanistic evolutionary

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worldview.

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That worldview can be summarized by this statement by James Rachel, who is a professor at the

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University of Alabama, Birmingham, professor of philosophy.

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He says, quote, after Darwin, we can no longer think of ourselves as occupying a special

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place in creation.

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Instead, we must realize we are products of the same evolutionary forces working blindly

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and without purpose that shape the rest of the animal kingdom.

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It is that kind of thinking that has led us to the absurdities in this day of the so-called

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animal rights movement, which in its extreme forms actually elevates animal life above

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that of human lives.

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Indeed, this commandment, you shall do no murder, makes it clear that God values and

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deems human life as uniquely sacred.

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Human life is unique.

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It is distinct from the life that he has given to the animals.

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Yes, animals have a personality, but it's a limited personality.

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They have varying capacities to learn and to respond, but animals do not think.

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They can remember and they can react by instinct or by training, but they do not consider.

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Animals do not create.

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Animals do not imagine.

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Only human beings do that.

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Animals do not bear the image of God, as do human beings.

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Animals serve God's purpose and they can be wonderful friends.

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They provide us assistance and they provide food for mankind.

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We certainly agree that animals ought to be respected and not to be abused or mistreated,

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but folks, let's understand that the Bible says that human life is unique, that we are

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not merely animals.

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Humans are different than animals.

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God has a different purpose for us and God has made us spiritually different than the

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animals.

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Human life is also sacred.

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It is consecrated.

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It is sacred because of its source.

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God gives mankind our essential existence from Himself.

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In Genesis 2.7 it says, Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed

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into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

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So the very essence of our existence, which we have derived from our parents, comes originally

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from God Himself.

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That is what makes us living beings.

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It is God's breath that is given to us.

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The Apostle Paul in preaching to the philosophers in Athens said to them, And this God, the

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God, He made from one source every nation of mankind to live on the face of all the

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earth.

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For in Him we live and move and exist, even as some of your own poets have said, for we

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also are His offspring.

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As the source of life, God provides for life's protection, and He reserves for Himself the

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authority to end it.

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It is the nature of life which gives force and value frankly to the rest of the Ten Commandments

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regarding stealing and adultery, lying and coveting.

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If life is in fact from God and is a privilege given by God, then life is also accompanied

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by responsibilities for its use.

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Thus there is a judgment that awaits all people.

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It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment, the Bible says.

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And there are other worldviews with lesser ideas of human life as we have already seen.

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These other worldviews have no sound basis upon which to build their ethical systems.

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There are no moral absolutes for them.

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They base their ethical thinking upon the consensus of society, which is where we are

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moving today, in morality by polls, or they base their ethical systems upon personal choice

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or upon situational ethics or circumstances of the individual.

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You see, it is the uniqueness and the sacredness of human life and the absolutes that therefore

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come with that that empowers the other commandments.

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God deems human life as uniquely sacred.

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There is another idea I want us to think about in relation to this commandment.

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This commandment refers to the willful taking of human life, because you see all killing

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is not murder.

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You say, well what killing would not be murder?

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Well for example, the accidental killing of another person, or manslaughter.

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In fact, in the very next chapter in Exodus chapter 21 and verse 12, it says, He who strikes

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a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

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But if he did not lie and wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will

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appoint you a place to which he may flee.

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If however a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor so as to kill him craftily, you

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are to take him even from my altar that he may die.

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And so God makes an exception there.

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He says there may be cases where it does not happen on purpose.

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Circumstances evolve in such a way that the person is killed accidentally.

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And God says, I will make a place for you to flee.

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These were later called the cities of refuge that God established in Israel.

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Furthermore, killing is not murder when it is ordered by proper authorities.

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God himself ordered people groups in Canaan to be exterminated.

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God issued the command himself that these people were to be killed, old and young alike,

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and not one of them left alive.

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Now there were reasons why God did that.

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It was a judgment upon their culture, upon them as a people, because of their forsaking

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of the truth that their ancestors had and their turning to idols and the horrible debauchery

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and immorality that came out of that.

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And God said there is no hope for this culture, destroy it.

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But the people of Israel were not committing murder when they obeyed God's command in

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those killings.

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God authorizes human government likewise to execute people for capital crimes.

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We saw that in Exodus chapter 1.

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He says, you are to even to take a person from my altar, that is to the altar of God

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where he's come to plead for mercy.

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You're to take him from my altar and to put him to death, says God.

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God authorizes the government to bear the sword and that is not in vain.

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The idea of capital punishment goes all the way back to the Noach covenant in Genesis

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chapter 9 where God says, I will surely require your life blood.

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From every beast I will require it, and from every man and from every man's brother I

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will require the life of man.

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Whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed.

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Why?

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For in the image of God he made man.

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You see human life is uniquely sacred and only God himself has the right to order its

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end.

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So all killing is not murder, but killing that is personal and not authorized and premeditated,

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not unintentional, is the transgression of this commandment.

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And so this commandment refers to the willful taking of another human life.

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Now regarding this commandment there's a third idea I want to talk about and that is that

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this command raises questions about its application in our world.

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And we ask the question, well what about war?

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As I've already said, God commanded Israel to conduct warfare on certain nations.

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In doing that he did not contradict himself and this commandment.

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God cannot do that.

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God commanded warfare in certain instances.

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I believe that there is such a thing as what is called a just war.

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When one nation is able righteously to declare war on another nation because of certain principles

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that have been violated.

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Let me give you an up to date example of that.

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Could it be murder for the forces of NATO to bomb and attack Kosovo and the forces of

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Yugoslavia in order to protect the Albanian refugees?

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Would they be guilty of murder in doing that?

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I do not believe so.

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Because it has been amply demonstrated that the forces of Yugoslavia have been involved

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in genocide, in the taking of the lives of unarmed civilians including women and children

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and old people and burying them in mass graves.

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That is wrong and it requires an action from nations that have any idea of justice.

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I would include that as a just kind of warfare.

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I know that there are people who say that the kingdom principles of Jesus rule out the

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possibility of a Christian being involved in warfare.

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Love your enemies, for example, Jesus said.

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How can one who loves his enemies be involved in warfare?

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But there are some questions to ask about that.

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How can kingdom principles be applied in a non-kingdom world?

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And if they are to be applied, how broadly are they to be applied?

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And by whom?

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By only believers or by all people?

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And do these principles of Jesus, which are the bedrock of New Testament ethics, somehow

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contradict other parts of the Bible that talk about matters that we are talking about here?

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God is not going to be contradictory.

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Those principles have to work together.

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So I believe that in warfare, if it is a just war, those who are involved in killing are

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not guilty.

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I think it would have been criminal if nations had not risen up against Nazi Germany.

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On that, most people would agree.

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I recently went to see The Saving of Private Ryan with my son.

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Now I must tell you, that was a powerful movie to me.

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Very, very moving.

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I have never been involved in warfare, nor have most of us sitting here this morning.

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If you want to be confronted with the horrors of war, go see that.

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But take some Kleenex along, if you're like me.

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Because it is a movie that grips your soul.

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And you see how awful war is.

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But on the other hand, there are times when a just people can only respond to the atrocities

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of other nations by declaring war.

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And when that is the case, it is not murder to be involved in warfare.

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Now there are many other questions that we could ask this morning regarding war and its

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issues.

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We don't have time to do that or to answer all of the questions.

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But generally, let's just say this, that this commandment, the sixth commandment regarding

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murder, applies to individuals who take matters into their own hands.

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It does not apply to governments declaring warfare.

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It does not apply to service personnel that are obeying orders, or to policemen who are

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protecting society, and therefore may find themselves in a place of having to take another

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person's life.

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Those are always terrible decisions to have to make.

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But sometimes it is necessary in the carrying out of their societal duties and responsibilities.

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But then we ask the question, what about abortion?

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How does this command apply to abortion in our modern world?

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Is abortion murder?

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Is the fetus only a piece of tissue within the mother's body that can easily be discarded

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without thought?

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Or is it another person's life?

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When does it become viable life?

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These are all questions that are asked.

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There is reason to believe that life is present from the moment of conception.

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Now if that cannot be scientifically proven to everyone's satisfaction, then surely reasonable

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people would say that it's only right to disallow abortion until it can be demonstrated that

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life is not present.

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It seems to me.

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Is it murder in every circumstance when abortion takes place?

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I am convinced that it is always the taking of a life.

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But sometimes abortion has to occur in order to save the life of the mother.

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I didn't say the health, I said the life.

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The life of a mother may be spared through that process.

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You say, why is that?

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Because in a fallen world like ours, true absolutism is extremely difficult to follow

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through with.

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I believe in an ethical system called graded absolutism.

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It says that there are times when the lesser of two evils has to be chosen.

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You have two evils in a case where a mother is dying and the baby is within her causing

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that death, which is the lesser of two evils.

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People may come to different opinions about that, but my opinion is that it is permissible

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in that case to save the life of the mother even if abortion is necessary.

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And that, by the way, there is not guilt in doing that.

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And we come to another area that is increasingly present and controversial.

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I mean, this is almost unthinkable to me, but it is what about suicide?

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I could not have imagined, frankly, when I began ministry 25 years ago, that I would

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be standing before a group of people talking about this subject as though there were those

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in our society who think it is a viable option.

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But that is where our culture of death has brought us.

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Suicide today is considered viable for people in many circles.

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The Hemlock Society asks the question basically, doesn't an individual have the right to end

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his own life with dignity when he chooses or to be assisted by medical intervention

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if life is painful and useless?

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Does he have that right?

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How does this commandment relate to suicide?

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Well, let's begin by saying that suicide is murder.

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It is self-murder.

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It removes the prerogative of life from God and it takes it to oneself.

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Suicide is murder.

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And yet we have in our nation today the growing acceptance of physician-assisted suicide.

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That is the result of an abortion culture.

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We are on a very steep slope in the United States.

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We are sliding in the same direction that Europe has gone, most notably the Netherlands.

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Let me talk to you for a moment about the Dutch experience by quoting from a book called

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Seduced by Death written by Herbert Hennen, MD.

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He says, the experience of the Dutch people makes it clear that legalization of assisted

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suicide and euthanasia is not the answer to the problems of people who are terminally

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ill.

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Now he talks about what has happened in the Netherlands.

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He says, the Netherlands has moved from assisted suicide to euthanasia, from euthanasia for

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people who are terminally ill to euthanasia for those who are chronically ill, from euthanasia

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for physical illness to euthanasia for psychological distress, and from voluntary euthanasia to

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involuntary euthanasia, called, quote, termination of the patient without explicit request, close

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quote.

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The Dutch government's own commissioned research has documented that in more than 1,000 cases

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a year, doctors actively cause or hasten death without the patient's request.

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That is the very same direction that we are heading in this country.

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Because once you're on this slope of a death culture, there is no stopping.

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Here is the intentional premeditated taking of another life when that act is not empowered

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by government decree, even if it is the taking of one's own life.

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But I can hear somebody saying here this morning, well, thank God this is one commandment that

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I don't really have to sweat, because I'm not going to kill anybody, and I'm not going

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to kill myself, so let's get on to the next commandment.

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But before we leave this one, let's remember the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, where

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He expands upon this commandment regarding murder by saying, you have heard that the

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ancients were told, you shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable

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to the court.

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But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the

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court, and whoever shall say to his brother, racha, one paraphrase has put the word in

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there, you idiot, racha, you idiot, shall be guilty before the Supreme Court, and whoever

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shall say, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

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In other words, Jesus is pointing out here and with some other illustrations that these

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outward actions in themselves start within the heart, within the attitude, and that the

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attitude, the response of hatred and anger toward another person brings us under the

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condemnation of the sixth commandment.

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You say, you mean, I'm as guilty as if I had committed murder if I hate somebody?

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Yes, you are as guilty.

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That is not saying that the crimes are equivalent.

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They are not equivalent crimes, but they're in the same category and bring guilt to the

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soul.

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The Apostle John adds in 1 John 3.15, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you

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know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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And so the sinful attitudes of anger and hatred bring us under condemnation of this commandment

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that says, you shall not murder.

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Bernard Schneider writes, most will doubtless consider themselves innocent before this commandment

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when actually few of us can stand in its light.

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There's bad news that goes with this.

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There's some good news, too.

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But the bad news is this, that no murderer will go to heaven.

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It says in Revelation 21.8, but for the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, and murderers, their

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part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

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That means not just if I've actually taken another life, but if I have hated someone else.

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If I have been so angry at someone else that I wanted to kill them, I cannot go to heaven

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because I'm guilty of murder and no murderer can go to heaven.

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That's the bad news, but there's good news.

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It's the good news of the gospel that Christ died for murderers, just like he died for

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every other kind of sinner.

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Christ paid the price for murder when he died on the cross and is therefore able to forgive

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those who are guilty of murder.

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He says, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more, Hebrews 10.17.

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You see, no sin, even that of murder, is beyond forgiveness.

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God will forgive sin when the sinner repents and believes on his son as the only acceptable

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sacrifice for his sin.

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Friends, this was Paul's testimony, the Apostle Paul.

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It says in Acts chapter 7 that when Stephen was murdered, the people who had the stones

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in their hands and threw them at him laid their cloaks down at the feet of this young

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man Saul, who became the Apostle Paul.

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He felt himself guilty of that crime of murder.

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He talks about his ways in Acts 22 verse 20 and 26 verse 10.

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He summarizes his life in 1 Timothy 1 when he says, even though I was formerly a blasphemer

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and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, I was shown mercy.

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It is a trustworthy statement that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

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among whom I am foremost of all.

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And yet for this reason I found mercy that in order that in me as the foremost Jesus

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Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe

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in Him for eternal life.

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What's he saying?

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He is saying that God showed mercy to someone like me so that I could be an example for

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those in future generations to know that God can forgive sins.

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And if He can forgive somebody like me, then He can forgive them.

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And God can forgive you this morning.

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You may not be a Carla Faye Tucker who was executed earlier this year in Texas and who

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after committing murder came to faith in Jesus Christ in that prison and who died as a strong

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testimony of faith in the Lord when she was executed.

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You may not be a Carla Faye Tucker who has actually committed murder, but my friend,

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if there has been murder in your heart, you are guilty of the Sixth Commandment and need

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the forgiveness of God.

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And God offers it to you this morning.

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If you will open that heart and say, Lord, see, here it is.

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Here's my sin.

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Forgive me.

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I believe that Jesus died for this sin, for my sin, and I receive Jesus into my life right

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now as an act of faith.

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And if you will do that, then He will not remember any longer your iniquity and your

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sins either.

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Let's pray together.

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Amen.