If you were to rate the Ten Commandments in order of the frequency with which you personally broke them, I would make two predictions. I would predict, number one, that you would keep your list hidden somewhere. Number two, I would predict that the sixth commandment with which we deal today would be the last one on your list. God says in Exodus 20 verse 13, you shall not murder. This is the best known of the Ten Commandments, according to surveys that have been taken.
And yet it is the one with which most people feel most personal content that they have not broken it. Displaying his sense of humor, Pastor Douglas Beier has said, Thou shalt not murder bothers most of us about as much as if God had commanded, thou shalt not spit on the moon. You see, the possibility for any of us committing murder seems awfully remote, doesn't it? We certainly believe what this command says, but that's for them people out there somewhere. We don't have to struggle with it.
Well, perhaps with our study today we'll see that it comes a little bit closer to home than we might like to realize at first. The Hebrew actually says in this verse, literally, you shall do no murder. The giving of the sixth commandment in the fourteenth century before Christ does not imply that taking another's life before this was not sin. Indeed, it was sin from the beginning. We've already read in our scripture reading this morning about Cain's murder of Abel.
That is the first fruit of sin in a social context, at least in the biblical record. The first fruit of sin in that kind of a context is murder. It was wrong when Cain murdered his brother, and the whole narrative there clearly says that. So it was wrong long before this commandment was given in Exodus chapter 20.
But it is stated in the decalogue to inscribe this ethical standard upon the covenant of the law, and as a testimony to all people in all times of the value which God places on human life. God says to us, you shall not murder. What does God mean by that? First, God is trying to tell us that he deems the gift of human life as uniquely sacred. Now I say human life because there are other kinds of life that God has given. God has given a certain kind of life to the plant world.
God has given another kind of life to animals. Nowhere does God say, you shall not kill plants, or you shall not kill animals. Now it may be that the killing of an animal would be cruel in a certain situation. In another situation, it may be that the killing of an animal would even be unlawful. If it was an endangered species. But nowhere does God say that the killing of an animal is sin. But God does say that the killing of a human being is sin.
You see, he deems the gift of human life as uniquely sacred. Because that life is from God, even his very breath. In Genesis 2, it says, And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. The New Testament statement of Acts 17, 28 undergirds this. In him, God, we live and move and exist. As the giver, the source of life, God has provided not only for its giving, but for its protection.
And he reserves for himself the authority, the prerogative, to end it. Now of course, if there is no God, then what I have just said is meaningless. If God does not exist, then human life is not sacred. And we need not be concerned about preserving it. And if evolution is true, if man evolved and is only a higher form of animal life, then life really has no intrinsic value or worth above that of any other animal. So let a man die. What is the difference? He dies like a dog.
He was here, he is gone, so what? If evolution be true. But those of us who know the truth, who understand the teaching of the Word of God, know that life is sacred, that God has given life. It is the nature of life that we've just talked about that gives value and force to the rest of the Ten Commandments. What makes the difference if I steal from someone, or if I commit adultery, or if I lie, or if I covet? If life has no value anyway.
If there is no ultimate accountability for the use of life, what difference does it make how I use it? I will use it as I will please then. You see, no Bible believer can live that way because we know that life is given as a gift from God, and we are held ultimately accountable to Him. Otherwise, there are no morals that are absolute. Right and wrong is simply based upon the changing consensus of society.
So that as people change their attitudes about what's right and wrong, right and wrong changes with them. There are no absolutes. Or we say that the best good in a given situation determines what is right. The situation ethics, the Fletcher. But there are no absolute morals if life does not have intrinsic value. So if I may insert this comment, that is the real heart-gut issue of the right to life movement in this nation.
It is not only a concern over the life of an unborn child, but it is concern for the very moral fabric of our whole society. For once life has lost meaning, then all of our moral and ethical standards have been undermined. God says in this commandment that it is murder to intentionally take the life of another person, and that is sin. Now all killing is not murder in God's eyes. An example of that would be that God Himself ordered the extermination of whole nations.
Men, women, children, animals, everything was to die. And so if all killing were murder, then God would be ordering people to commit sin and be the author of sin. And that He cannot be. All killing is not murder in God's eyes, as we see furthermore in the difference that God makes between manslaughter and murder. And that happens even in the next chapter here in Exodus 21 and beginning in verse 12. Notice what God Himself says.
He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from my altar, that he may die. What is God saying? God is saying, I see a distinction.
It is a distinction between the man who craftily, with premeditation, presumptuously kills his neighbor. That man, He says, is to die. He's committed murder. But He says, if on the other hand it's happened accidentally, or in the fit of rage, there was not premeditation and intent, then He says, I will appoint a place of refuge. That is done as recorded in the Bible in Numbers chapter 35. Cities of refuge were established within Israel.
A man who was guilty of manslaughter, accidental death, could flee to the city of refuge and there be protected from the avenger of blood, a kinsman of the murdered who was out to avenge the death of his loved one. That was before there was a central government in Israel to care for it. The man who was guilty of manslaughter could go to the city of refuge, there were six of them, and appeal to the elders of the city for a trial. They would hear the trial, hear the case.
If they concluded that in fact it was a case of accidental death, the man was allowed to stay in that city and be protected from the avenger of blood, who would avenge the death if he came out of the city. The man had to stay in the city, if he left the city the avenger could have his way. He had to stay there until the death of the high priest and then he was free to go. So you see there was a certain kind of punishment built into it.
He was confined to that city of refuge, he could not leave there without endangering his life. But God made a difference between that man who accidentally killed another and the man who intentionally killed another. God says, even take him from my altar, though he comes to the altar and takes hold of it and pleads for mercy, take him from my altar and kill him, because he is a murderer. So God made a difference, you see all killing is not murder in God's eyes.
But God does forbid the intentional taking of another human being's life. Now in the light of what I've said, we need to talk about some applications to our present world. Some of what I'm going to say will be controversial, some of you will disagree with it, others of you may be even angry. But bear with me to the end if you will. Let's talk about war. How does the sixth commandment apply to war? Well I remind you that God himself ordered war.
He commanded Israel to declare war on certain nations to utterly annihilate them. And so from that we would observe at least this, that not every war involves the transgression of this command not to murder. So can there be such a thing as a holy war? We hear that term today, jihad is the Arabic term. The Palestinians claim to be on a holy war against Israel. A war declared by their God, Allah. Is there such a thing biblically though today as a holy war?
My answer to that is no. I don't see how there can be in this age. God is not commanding his people and the church to go out and destroy civilizations and societies and nations. But that brings to mind a second question that's somewhat related to it. Can there be a just war? That is a war that has a just basis to it so that this commandment is not broken. There are people who say that it is impossible to have a just war anymore because the world is just too complex.
Well that may be so. That's worth discussing and we're not going to take time to do it this morning. But I have a question about that at least. Suppose that we were in a situation today similar to World War II where we knew that there was a people being exterminated. In other words, the Jews. Would it be appropriate, would it be just for the United States to intervene to declare war in order to rescue those people?
My answer to that is in the affirmative, although some may disagree and I would respect their right to disagree with that. But another way to ask a similar question would be, should the United States protect a weak or poor nation from the aggression of a stronger, more powerful nation? For example, Grenada. Life was lost. People were killed. Was our government guilty of breaking this commandment of God in declaring that limited war in Grenada to protect the people? I do not believe so.
Now I have someone who is very close to me in my own family who is a pacifist. She grew up with that tradition as a Mennonite in Kansas and she and I have had limited brief discussions on this subject because we want to stay in the same family. But with those who are of that persuasion, and I want to respect them as believers in Jesus Christ, I have to ask them the question, would you fight, even kill, to protect our nation? And often the response is, well no, I don't think we should do that.
Then my next question is, would you fight, even kill, to protect your own family? Well, that brings it a little closer to home because that can happen. Would you fight, even kill, if necessary, to protect your wife from being assaulted or a child of yours from being kidnapped and taken from you? Well, the answer to that is easier to say yes, isn't it? Well, the next question is, well, then in that case, if you're willing to fight for your family, why are you not willing to fight for my family?
And for the family in the next state in the time of war, because we're all under threat then. But there are those who say, but the kingdom principles of Jesus, you know, Jesus taught us to love our enemies. Not to hate them, not to kill them, we're to love them. But I would ask, are these kingdom principles of Jesus to be applied in a non-kingdom world? And if it be argued that they should be, then how broadly are they to be applied?
And by whom? Are they for believers only, or are they for all people? How does this commandment of God apply to war? Well, each of us might come up with a little bit of a different answer regarding that. It's not all as black and white as some of us would like to see it be. But I think one way that we can cut through some of the fog is by noticing that this commandment was given to individuals within the nation, and not to the nation as a body, as a corporation, as a government, as a whole.
It was given to individuals within the nation to observe. Thus, I would conclude this, that a serviceman who fights and kills at the order of his nation is not guilty of breaking this commandment of God, assuming that as he does his work out there, that he's commanded to do, he does not do it for personal anger or vendetta against some particular person.
A policeman, likewise, is not held accountable by God for the breaking of this commandment if in the carrying out of his duty as to protect the citizenry of our city, he must kill an individual. God does not hold him accountable to this commandment if in the carrying out of his duty he has to kill. That's not to say he may not have guilt feelings about it. It's not to say that he may not struggle with it. I talked with a man in the office right here several years ago who sat down.
He was a man, at that time, I would think in his late 50s, early 60s, he had fought in Vietnam as a green beret. And one of the things he was struggling with that became obvious is the fact that as he told me, with his own hands, he had killed over 300 people with his own hands. And that was on his conscience. But had he broken this commandment? Well, I don't know each of the cases, but I can only say in general that I don't believe a soldier does.
Let's talk about another issue that may even be more controversial, and that is capital punishment. Because there are those who say that for the state to execute a person is to commit murder. It is state-sponsored murder, they say. Are there, in fact, crimes that are so heinous that criminals should be caused to forfeit their own lives? Well, God's answer to that, at least in the Law of Moses, is emphatically yes.
Did you realize that God ordered execution for those who committed murder, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, kidnapping, the rape of an engaged girl, who sacrificed to another god, those who cursed their mothers or fathers, those who struck their mothers or fathers? God commanded execution of people in all of those cases.
Even the owner of an ox, which had gored another person to death, if it had happened before and the owner had not confined the animal, the second time it happened, that owner was to be executed according to the Law of God given through Moses. So yes, there are crimes so heinous that a person should be executed. You say, well, that's the Law of Moses. Well, none of the Law of Moses today, but I want to show you something. That principle predates the Law of Moses.
Go back with me to Genesis chapter 9, as Moses and his sons came out of the ark to establish a new civilization, a new human race through them. God, at that point, institutes an elementary form of human government. He says in verse 5 of Genesis 9, And surely I will require your life blood. From every beast I will require it, and from every man, from every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man.
Notice that the principle involved here is not that God orders it in the commandments. The commandments are not even given. But God says because life is uniquely sacred, because God has created man in the image of himself, man's life is to be protected, and if a man kills another, then his life is to be taken as punishment. But you say, wait a minute, this is the Christian dispensation. I mean, we're in a different part of history today.
Do you realize that Genesis chapter 9 and what is said there regarding human government, at least as I've found in the Bible, has never been superseded? Now when God gave that order in Genesis 9, he wasn't giving it to individuals per se, but he was giving it to government, human government. Government as a body is responsible for the protection of the citizens that it holds. The venging of murder is not the whim of a relative.
It was for a limited time in Israel when there was no, it wasn't a whim, but it was limited to the responsibility of an individual in that time when there was no central government. The responsibility is given to law. It's not to be done by the whim of a judge or a prosecutor. It has to be carried out equally and fairly according to the laws of society and after investigation and proof has been given. You say, well, there's no word about this in the New Testament.
Well, I think I disagree with that. Turn with me to Romans chapter 13. Let me show you a verse that I think does contradict the fact that some try to teach that capital punishment is not for today. In Romans 13, we have a paragraph in the first seven verses regarding human government. Now I'm going to pick out one verse for times sake. In verse four, it says, For it is a minister, that is, the government, the power, the authority over you is a minister of God to you for good.
But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword for nothing. For it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. So it seems to me that God restates clearly here the responsibility of human authority in government that has been duly established over a people. And it involves even the use of the sword to avenge, to bring wrath upon those who do evil. Time is fleeing. I must go on to the next application of this.
Just in summary, though, let me say I do not believe that capital punishment, when it is properly carried out according to the law, is the breaking of the sixth commandment by the state. What about abortion? This brings us to a highly emotional subject in our day. How does this commandment apply to abortion? Is the fetus only a piece of the mother's body, or is it another person, another life?
There are some who say it is only a piece of the mother's body until it becomes viable, that is, until it could sustain itself outside of the mother's womb. And they estimate that that is somewhere after the second trimester. And so there are those, even some Christians, who would advocate abortions up to the point of the seventh month of pregnancy.
The problem I have with that kind of reasoning is, what proof is there that life begins at the seventh month, or at the so-called point of viability? What scientific proof is there? Well, there is none. There is a growing consensus, in fact, that God-given life is present from conception. I think President Reagan's reasoning, while it is not based upon the Bible necessarily, is nonetheless legitimate.
It is this, that if in fact it cannot be scientifically proven when life begins, beyond a reasonable doubt, then the only reasonable thing to do is not to allow abortions until we do know, scientifically. Now, biblically, I think it can be argued and even proven that there is human life there from the moment of conception. I am personally convicted of that truth. But let's just lay that aside for a moment and talk in terms of rational thinking.
If today there is no scientific evidence that can conclusively say when life begins, then why are we even messing with it until we do know? I believe, and I don't say this to hurt anyone, but I do believe it and I want to say it because I believe it's right. I believe that generally speaking, abortion is murder. It is the taking of another person's life. Now you say, is it always murder under every circumstance? My response to that would be not necessarily.
For example, I would personally lean to the position that it is not murder if the procedure was necessary for the protection of the life of the mother. In that case, it is a matter of self-protection, self-preservation, and could not be classified as murder. It is the taking of a life. But not murder, the intentional taking of another person's life in the sense of murder. It is in the sense of self-protection and self-preservation which is allowed in the scripture.
Now we could talk about that a long time. I'm going to leave it at that point. I realize that I may have really laid a guilt trip on somebody who's here and has had an abortion. I do not want to place any heavier load on you than you already have regarding that. So if you fall into that category, just hang in there for a few more minutes with me. I want to go on to talk about one more matter. How does this commandment apply to suicide?
Doesn't a person have the right to end his own life when he chooses? I mean, when a person gets to the point of not being able to function, gets to the point he has to depend upon machines to live, doesn't he have the right somewhere to pull the plug and say, I've had enough, I want to die? Well, of course there are those who advocate not only that, but that at any time. If a person gets to the point of deciding he's had enough of life, he should have the privilege to kill himself.
And there are societies like the Himlok Society and others which advocate this position and even publish materials telling a person how to commit suicide painlessly. Now the whole problem I have with that kind of thinking is that it places our own thinking, our own knowledge, our own prerogatives above that of God. God knows how much a person can take. God knows when there is life there. Cannot we trust God to do it in his time, at the right time?
It seems to me that what we have in this new movement advocating suicide is pure humanism. Self-murder, suicide, is still murder in the eyes of God, and it's sin. It's wrong. But it also seems to me, in some of the cases that at least I've been familiar with, the greatest example, the epitome of self-centeredness and selfishness.
They say, well, you know, I'd rather enjoy this sermon today because I have a committed suicide, and I'm anti-abortion, I believe in capital punishment, I'm okay on war. But before you get too smug, before you go away and think that you've just been free this morning, stick out your feet a little further and let's see if we can't get on your toes too. Go back to Matthew chapter 5 with me, because I want you to see that murder is more than the actions that we've just talked about.
Matthew chapter 5, verse 21, we'll get to the point. These are the words of Jesus, our Savior. You have heard, he says, that the ancients were told, you shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you, and now he's going to broaden it, everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. Whoever shall say to his brother, Rocka, you empty-headed person, shall be guilty before the Supreme Court.
And whoever shall say, you fool, shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. What in the world is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying to you and me that if we are controlled by anger, that we have committed the equivalency of murder of the person with whom we're angry. Just as surely as if we had taken a gun and shot them. I recognize there's righteous anger that is not what Jesus has in mind. This is the self-centered, selfish anger that all of us recognize as sinful.
Anger is the same as murder. Now, are you quite as free from this commandment as you thought? Turn with me to one more passage, the 1 John, in chapter 3, verse 15. John says, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. And so hatred, the hating of another person, is also the same as murder.
The potential of the deed you see is present within the heart of every one of us. None of us can escape it. Murder is there. It's potential, at least. And when we hate, when we are angry, the feelings that we have, though they come short of the action of murder, nonetheless make us guilty of breaking the sixth commandment. Bernard Schneider said, most of us will doubtlessly consider ourselves innocent before this commandment, when actually few of us can stand in its light.
I wish we had time this morning to talk about a couple of other things that are not considered in my message and the application of this commandment. For example, what about a corporation which endangers life by its careless discharge of its pollutions? Who is it that makes the decision on that, resulting in the death of people? Is that person guilty of breaking this commandment of murder?
Or what about a corporation that in order to increase profits, reduces its safety features so that the lives of the workers are more at risk? Suppose someone is killed. How does this commandment apply to that corporation? Or in another realm, how does the sixth commandment relate to the advance in medicine and technology, which is able to extend biological existence without extending life quality? Or in other words, is it murder to deny a patient the continued use of such machines?
You see, some of these things are not easy to answer. And frankly, we need to be thoughtful and biblical as we approach them. How does the Word of God apply in these situations? But apart from these questions that do need careful thought and skillful answers by evangelicals, we can focus this morning on the issues which are already most clear, where there is no question. Murder is the taking of another person's life or my own, intentionally and with premeditation.
Furthermore, murder is expressed in anger and hatred. The essence of the act, you see, is in the attitude of the heart. That is why Jesus said, from within, out of the heart of man, proceed murders. That's where it begins. Did you notice that Cain was guilty of both anger and hatred? He was angry at God and angry at his brother. And he hated his brother, according to 1 John. And out of his heart came murder. There's one other matter that is most clear in the Word of God.
And that's found in Revelation 21, 8. And it's this, that no murderer can go to heaven. No murderer can go to heaven. Whether it be done in act or in thought, no murderer can go to heaven. It's impossible. But let's read the whole verse. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
So you see, it's not just murderers that aren't going to heaven. Liars aren't going to heaven either. Or the cowardly or unbelieving or idolaters. It is impossible for those people to go to heaven. This is said again in verse 27. It says, And nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it. What heaven that he's describing. They shall never enter into it. Their part is in the lake of fire that burns with fire and brimstone forever and forever.
So do you see if you've committed murder, whether it be in act or whether it be in anger or hatred, you can't go to heaven. If you've told one lie in your life, the doors of heaven are barred to you and the lake of fire awaits. It gets pretty desperate at this point, doesn't it? Because there aren't many of us in here who can say we've never lied or ever been angry. Go on to read verse 27. But only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
You see, when our names are written in the Lamb's book of life, a wonderful thing happens. In the first place, God takes the record of all of those sins, being murder, lying, stealing, whatever they've been. He destroys it. He just wipes it out. It's gone. Not only does he wipe that out, but he puts to our account the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So before we had sin that prohibited our entrance into heaven, now we have perfect righteousness, not ours but Jesus'.
And that righteousness means that we are qualified to go to heaven. And then he writes our names in the Lamb's book of life. And when he does that, he gives us a new name. So no longer are we called murderer, thief, liar. But we're given a new name, child of God. Has your name been written down in the Lamb's book of life? Your past, with all of its sins and stains, has it been cleansed? Are you on your way to heaven?
You see, every one of us here today is either on our way to heaven or we're on our way to hell. There's no middle ground. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will ever enter into heaven. Would you have your name put there today? Let's pray. With your head bowed, your eyes closed, the way your name is written down, my friend, is by your simply trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
Are you today bearing a load of guilt? Do you know that your destiny is hell, you feel it within your bones? Would you today allow your past to be forgiven? Allow Jesus Christ to give you his righteousness and will you allow him to write your name, your new name, in his book of life? You say, Pastor Call, I struggle with that. I sense my need within. I am in a quandary to know what to do. I wish you would pray for me. I'd love to do that. I'm not going to come down and get you.
I'm not going to point you out or embarrass you. But would you with your uplifted hands say, Pastor Call, pray for me because I'm in the balance today. I'm not on my way to heaven. I need to make a decision. God bless you. Anyone else? Pray for me. I'm not right with God. Just lift your hand and put it down. If I miss it, God will see it. I want to pray for you. Anyone else? Heavenly Father, I thank you for making provision for sinners like us through the death and resurrection of your Son.
I thank you for making salvation so simple and available. And I want to pray for those who lifted the hand. I pray that right now, today, they will make the decision that will change their destiny and give them eternal life. Help them to do the right thing now in trusting in the Savior. In His name we pray, amen.