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down with reference to chapter 
20 as it is the Ten Commandments, it is the Decalogue, the Ten 
Words, and then chapters 21 to 23 will basically extrapolate 
or rather apply those commandments to the polity, the civil polity 
of Israel as they have tenure in the land. So our focus tonight 
is on verse 13, the sixth commandment. Now I cover a lot of this material 
in January on Sanctity of Life Sunday, so I'm going to go a 
bit slower. We can go through the actual 
text. Typically I just call them off and rattle them off and allude 
to them in the course of a brief sermon. And yeah, I said brief. Exodus 20, I'll read this section 
and then as I said we'll focus on verse 13. And God spoke all 
these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you 
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You 
shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself 
a carved image. Any likeness of anything that 
is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that 
is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them 
nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting 
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and 
fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to 
thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. 
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for 
the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work. The seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you 
nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your 
female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within 
your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 
earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh 
day. Therefore the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, 
that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your 
God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit 
adultery. You shall not steal. You shall 
not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not 
covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's 
wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, 
nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Now 
all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, 
the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when 
the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they 
said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear. But let 
not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people, 
do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that his fear 
may be before you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood 
afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God 
was. Amen. So as we look at this particular 
commandment, it's very simple. If you look at verse 13, you 
shall not murder. So we see, I want to first give 
an explanation of the command, and then secondly, the application 
of the command. God willing, tonight we'll take 
up the explanation, And then next Wednesday, look at the application. But with reference to the explanation, 
there's four sub points here. First, the terminology explained. Secondly, the prohibition stated. 
Third, the exceptions noted. And then fourth, the reasons 
specified. So first of all, the terminology 
explained. Isaac, is it OK to ask questions? 
All right. I ask Isaac because he knows 
about the microphones. When you look at that command, 
you shall not murder, how many have the King James here? Does 
anybody have the King James? It has you shall not kill. What's 
the better translation? You shall not kill or you shall 
not murder? Murder. Does the Bible authorize 
killing? Yes. Yes. So we might be able 
to say, or we can say, that all murder is killing, but not all 
killing is murder. And so when you look at the New 
King James and other modern translations, this isn't to diss the King James. 
It is simply to suggest that the commandment is not, you shall 
not murder. Because there are, as I said, 
three instances of lawful homicide in the Bible, which we'll look 
at in a moment, but you shall not murder. And Walter Kaiser 
makes the observation, while Hebrew possesses seven words 
for killing, the word used here appears only 47 times in the 
Old Testament. If any one of the seven words 
could signify murder, where factors of premeditation and intentionality 
are present, this is the verb. So that is absolutely crucial 
to establish the crime of murder, is that there is intentionality, 
there is premeditation, there is malice aforethought. And you 
see this in the Bible. There's a distinction made with 
reference to homicide. Look at chapter 21 in the book 
of Exodus at verses 12 and 13. It says, He who strikes a man 
so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if 
he did not lie and wait, but God delivered him into his hand, 
then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man 
acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by 
treachery, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. So Webster's original 1828 dictionary 
defines murder this way, to kill a human being with premeditated 
malice. So premeditation, intention, 
studied vengeance, malice of forethought, and deliberateness 
are essential to establishing murder. There's two parallel 
passages to the Exodus 21, 12, and 13 passage. Numbers 35, 9 
and following. It's a large section. And then 
Deuteronomy 19, 4 to 13. So let's look at the Deuteronomy 
one. Similar in nature to the Numbers one, but just a bit briefer. So Deuteronomy 19 at verse 4. So it's speaking technically 
about the cities of refuge. And the cities of refuge were 
provided in Israel as a penal sanction for accidental homicide. So if you accidentally killed 
somebody, you could flee to these cities of refuge, and that would 
be your punishment or your penalty. Now, it was a punishment or a 
penalty, and it was about discouraging foolish or unwise behavior in 
the body politic. And if we look at the particular 
passage, we'll see what's going on. So notice in 19.1, when the 
Lord your God has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your 
God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities 
and in their houses, you shall separate three cities for yourself 
in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God is giving you 
to possess. Before we continue on, it is intriguing that there 
is so much legislation given in order to regulate the conduct 
of the children of Israel when they go to the land of promise. And that is because people are 
sinners, and people do foolish things, and people engage in 
crime. And so you need a robust law 
in order to regulate that conduct, to hold out penalty and punishment 
for those who violate that conduct, and to provide protection for 
innocent persons in that particular society. Now notice in verse 
four, and this is the case of the manslayer who flees there 
that he may live. Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, 
not having hated him in time past, as when a man goes to the 
woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a 
stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips 
from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, he 
shall flee to one of these cities and lives. live, lest the avenger 
of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and 
overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though 
he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim 
in time past. Therefore I command you, say, 
you shall separate three cities for yourself." The prohibition 
there, or the commandment rather, regulates foolish conduct. You 
should make sure that your axe head isn't going to fall off. 
If it does and it buries itself into the head of your neighbor, 
then you're going to be in convenience for some time as you flee to 
this city of refuge. Notice in verse 8, now if the 
Lord your God enlarges your territory as he swore to your fathers and 
gives you the land which he promised to give to your fathers, and 
if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command 
you today to love the Lord your God and to walk always in his 
ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides 
these three. Lest innocent blood be shed in 
the midst of your land, which the Lord your God is giving you 
as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you. Now 
notice, but if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, 
rises against him and strikes him mortally so that he dies, 
and he flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his 
city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over 
to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your 
eyes shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt 
of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you." 
So there's a distinction made in the law of God between murder 
and homicide, or what we call murder and manslaughter. Manslaughter 
sounds particularly vicious, but it's actually homicide. It's 
not with intention. It's not with malice aforethought. 
So we need to keep that distinction in mind. Not all killing is murder. All murder, however, is killing. 
And so we need to make sure that we operate accordingly. Now secondly, 
in terms of the prohibition, the commandment again is very 
brief. You shall not murder. But as we look through the law 
of God, as we look at New Testament teaching, we note that not only 
is the external act of murder condemned, but so is the internal 
disposition. So it's not only the act of causing 
your neighbor's heart to stop is obviously a violation of the 
commandment, but so is the internal disposition. So with reference 
to the external, the act of murder occurs when a person unlawfully 
and with premeditation ends the life of another person or their 
own life. Typically reformed commentators, 
commentators in general, understand that suicide is prohibited by 
this. It is an act of self-murder and 
that is condemned as well. God does not authorize the individual 
to take his or her own life. Maid should concern us. Euthanasia 
should concern us. This idea that it's mercy killing 
should concern us. It is a violation of the law 
of God. It is a transgression of His order with reference to 
the preservation of life. So obviously the external act, 
but then the internal disposition. Turn over to Leviticus chapter 
19. We see that the hatred of others is prohibited and it would 
fall under this commandment, the sixth commandment. We see 
Jesus make that clear in the Sermon on the Mount. But notice, 
when Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, when he appeals 
to the Sixth Commandment specifically, he says, "...you have heard that 
it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, but I say 
to you..." He's not saying that the Law of Moses was somehow 
deficient, or that the Law of Moses did not cover the internal 
disposition. He is rather saying that the 
Pharisees and the misinterpreters of God's law, they didn't cover 
the internal disposition. The old covenant law always prohibited 
not only the external act, but it also condemned the internal 
disposition. So, for instance, with the seventh 
commandment, it's not just that in the new covenant you're not 
supposed to lust after your neighbor in your heart. No, that was condemned 
by the Old Testament as well. So Jesus is not strengthening 
the law and showing it or applying it now to the internal disposition. The Old Covenant law always did 
that. The Pharisees and the misinterpreters 
of God's law simply focused on the external. If you don't actually 
cut somebody's throat and cause their heart disease, then you're 
okay in terms of the law. Look at Leviticus 19, verse 17. You shall not hate your brother 
in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your 
neighbor and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance 
nor bear any grudge against the children of your people. But 
you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. And then if you turn to the prophet 
Zechariah, you see this doubly emphasized. And actually, Zechariah 
7, 9 and 10 is a text that you're familiar with, but under the 
prophet Micah. Micah chapter 6, verse 8, he 
has shown you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord require 
of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
your God. If you look at Zechariah 7, notice in verse 8, So Micah 
6, 8 as famous as it is, is not a 
one-off. It actually goes all the way 
back to Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 12. That's where you 
see that sort of emphasis on our duty to God and our duty 
to men. You see it also in Hosea 12.6, 
you see it here, or Micah 6.8, here in Zechariah 7, but then 
Matthew 23, when Jesus condemns The religious leaders of his 
day, you tie the mint, the anise, and the cumin, but you neglect 
the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. Again, Deuteronomy, Prophet Micah, 
Prophet Hosea, Prophet Zechariah, Prophet Jesus Christ. They are 
banging the same drum. We have a duty to God, and we 
have a duty to man. And one of the aspects of our 
duty toward man is not to murder him, whether it be externally 
or in our hearts. Notice at 817 in the Prophet 
Zechariah. Let none of you think evil in 
your heart against your neighbor, and do not love a false oath, 
for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord." Calvin 
says, the hand indeed gives birth to murder, but the mind, when 
infected with anger and hatred, conceives it. And we need to 
understand, not just the external is condemned, but the internal 
disposition. So you have hatred of others. Turn over to the Sermon on the 
Mount in Matthew chapter 5. We see that the unwarranted anger 
against other persons, 522. A, notice in 521, 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 that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall 
be in danger of the judgment." Now this without a cause is a 
textual variant, but it's certainly warranted by the text. But with 
reference to this without a cause, the people of God Get angry from 
time to time. God is angry with the wicked 
every day. Our Lord Jesus, when He's flipping 
over the tables and He's driving out the beasts and He's sending 
out the money changers, probably didn't have a big goofy smile 
on His face while He was engaged in that particular activity. 
In fact, there are instances and times in Scripture where 
we see that Jesus looked at them and He was angry with them. but 
this unrighteous anger, this despising persons in our hearts 
with reference to their being. And this is obviously a commandment 
that has great impact upon us today with reference to our disposition, 
say, to our civil government. We need to guard our hearts and 
our minds, or at least one of us does, with reference to this 
particular passage, because it is wrong to have unwarranted 
anger. I would argue there's a warrant 
for that anger, but we have to keep it in check at all times. But then notice Jesus also deals 
with the assassination of another's character. You've heard the old 
adage, perhaps when you were a kid, sticks and stones may 
break my bones, but names will never hurt me. That's simply 
unbiblical and it is simply untrue. If you damage a man's reputation, 
you have done him a great disservice. And that's what Jesus addresses 
in the rest of verse 22. Notice, 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. So again, most likely 
what is in view is the assassination of a man's reputation, the assassination 
of a man's character. Turn back to the book of Proverbs 
for just a moment to see how important a man's reputation 
is, at least with reference to due process. Proverbs chapter 
18, if there were two passages I could... grind into everybody's 
head, it would be Proverbs 18.13 and Proverbs 18.17. I'm convinced 
that we don't not only know that these are in the Bible, but typically 
we don't care that they're in the Bible by the way that we 
conduct ourselves and by the way that we give judgment and 
by the way that we deal with persons that we are surrounded 
by. Notice in Proverbs 18.13, he who answers a matter before 
he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. You're not God. You're not infallible. You don't 
have divine intuition to be able to understand all of the particulars 
of an event. He who answers a matter before 
he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. How many times 
does this happen in terms of politics? We already rush to 
a conclusion that a person is guilty before he's ever had his 
day in court, before he's ever stood before the bench. We already 
know that he's guilty based on what we saw on CNN. Just kidding 
there. Notice Proverbs 18, 17. The first 
one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes 
and examines him. How many times do people engage 
in character assassination? How many times do people engage 
in character destruction because they violate this principle of 
Proverbs 18, 17? The first one to plead his cause, 
of course he seems right. until his neighbor comes and 
examines him, and tells you the actual context, and gives you 
the nuances, and gives you the facts from the other perspective. Due process is in the Bible for 
a reason. We are not infallible interpreters, 
and as a result, we need to proceed the way that God calls us to. 
So when you look at Proverbs, and it's not just here in chapter 
18, but you see throughout the book, Solomon is very intent 
to make sure that we don't ruin another man's reputation. Now, 
thirdly, in terms of the exceptions noted, so we go back to the commandment 
in Exodus 20, 13, you shall not murder. So operating under the 
assumption that when we see murder, it has to do with premeditation, 
malice aforethought, some sort of intentionality, some sort 
of a wickedness in our heart wherein we stop the life of another 
human being. So the exceptions to this particular 
rule, it's not murder. So it's actually two different 
categories, but because we don't think that clearly at times, 
and I don't mean us particularly, I mean we in general as the human 
species, it is important for us to note those exceptions to 
the rule of you shall not murder. And again, the very definition 
of murder would indicate the validity of what I'm about to 
say. In the first place, you have the death penalty or capital 
punishment. The death penalty or capital 
punishment is not murder. That's not malice aforethought. It is premeditated because there 
has to be decisions made in terms of when this criminal is going 
to breathe his last breath. But there's no malice on the 
part of the executioner. There's no sort of personal vendetta 
against him. So the death penalty is warranted 
in, first of all, Genesis chapter 9. You can turn there. Genesis 
chapter 9 authorizes the death penalty. It is in what is called 
the Noahic Covenant. And as many persons who have 
studied covenants have realized, the Noahic Covenant is a common 
grace covenant. All of the other covenants are 
redemptive in nature, or we might say are special grace covenants. And with reference to the Noahic 
covenant, it is general, and it is with reference to common 
grace, and it applies to the entirety of creation. But then 
notice, so it is after the flood, Noah emerges from the flood, 
go back for just a moment to chapter 6, at verse 5, to get 
a kind of an idea of what was going on in the earth prior to 
the flood. Genesis 6, 5, then the Lord saw 
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that 
every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 
And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and 
he was grieved in his heart. So the Lord said, I will destroy 
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man 
and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry 
that I have made man. But Noah found grace in the eyes 
of the Lord. Now notice at verse 11, the earth 
also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with 
violence. So God looked upon the earth, 
and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their 
way on the earth. So go back to Genesis chapter 
9. So they emerge from the flood. It's time to legislate and regulate 
conduct in this post-flood world. And if there was this problem 
in the pre-flood world of rampant violence and corruption, then 
a means by which God would have control over society, it would 
be through civil government. Notice in 9.6, whoever sheds 
man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image 
of God he made man. Now again, people try to say, 
well that's the Old Testament, that's the book of Genesis, that's 
not for us now. This covenant was made with all 
creation. This covenant is universal in 
scope. This covenant continues until 
the end of this age or the end of this world. And if you notice 
specifically, whoever sheds man's blood, we will have to fill in 
that particular proposition with what we find later in the legislation 
in terms of the difference between a homicide or manslaughter and 
murder. If someone sheds man's blood 
because they were a moron and didn't fasten their axe head, 
but there was no premeditation or malice aforethought, then 
that man has recourse or redress for the city of refuge. So obviously, 
we need to take that later legislation and help us to understand what 
the offense here. Whoever sheds man's blood in 
murder, whoever unlawfully terminates another human being, Notice, 
by man, the agency. It's not God. God ultimately, 
because God is sovereign over all things, but God institutes 
man as the agent for the dispensation of the punishment. So by man, 
his blood shall be shed. Later on in the law, you'll see 
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, burn for burn, life for life. The civil government has authorization 
given to it by God to execute criminal offenders. Luther said, 
this was the first command having reference to the temporal sword. 
By these words, temporal government was established and the sword 
placed in its hands by God. So back to verse 6, whoever sheds 
man's blood, that's the offense. By man his blood shall be shed. That's the agent and the punishment 
involved. And then notice the reason or 
the rationale. It is theological in nature. 
For in the image of God, he made man. Now in the history of interpretation, 
interpreters go one of two ways with this. For in the image of 
God, he made man. Thus, man is the agent to inflict 
capital punishment on the criminal. That's certainly an option. I 
take it in the second way. For in the image of God he made 
man. This is why you execute a criminal 
offender who is guilty of the crime of murder. Because in life 
slain, it is ultimately the image of God that is assaulted. That's 
what Gerardus Vos says in his biblical theology. So the command 
given to Noah. And then if we had the time, 
we would go through the detailed legislation in the Old Covenant. There you not only have distinction 
between manslaughter and murder, but you have additional capital 
crimes supplied by God through Moses. And so we have all of 
this information telling us that this is the way you dispatch 
criminal offenders in an Old Covenant setting. Now turn to 
the Book of Romans to see that this is repeated in the New Covenant. Because persons will say, well, 
the death penalty certainly was in play at the time of Old Covenant 
Israel, but this is no longer Old Covenant Israel, therefore 
this is no longer binding on us. Well, Romans 13 functions 
in terms of the government's role, civil magistrates' role. Notice in 13.1, let every soul 
be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except 
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 
Notice how verse 1 starts, let every soul be subject. Verse 
1 doesn't start off with an and, or a but, or an or, or something 
like that. Verse 1 starts off as if it's 
continuing from chapter 12, because it is. If you go back to chapter 
12 at verse 17, it says, Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard 
for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, 
as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, 
do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, vengeance 
is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy 
is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a 
drink. For in so doing, you will heap coals of fire on his head. 
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Notice 
verse 4. We'll look at verse 1 and following, 
but notice in verse 4 of chapter 13. For he is God's minister 
to you for good, but if you do evil, be afraid, for he does 
not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and 
avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. You see the 
close connection between chapter 12, verses 17 and following, 
and chapter 13 and verses 1 to 4. So we're not to take vengeance 
for those things that are done against us, but rather we're 
to give place to wrath. Now I suggest that giving place 
to wrath as the people of God means, at least in one instance, 
praying the imprecatory Psalms of David, praying the anathemas 
of the Apostle Paul. That is a legitimate expression 
of us giving place to wrath. But secondly, it is recognizing 
the lawfulness of the civil magistrate to execute criminal offenders. 
Christians ought not to be the kind of people that say, well 
you know we have to forgive. We can forgive and still demand 
the execution of justice. That can be had in the heart 
of a believer. We can forgive somebody for their 
personal sin or crime against us and still be fine and dandy 
with the execution of God's judgment via the civil government. So 
we ought to sort of repudiate this mindless, this nonsensical 
Christian approach that we're always only ever to be about 
love. We can love somebody and watch 
them be executed. Love means we don't do them harm. 
Love means now we're not doing them harm. They did themselves 
harm by engaged in a criminal act, and thus the magistrate 
is executing them. This idea that it's wrong to 
invoke, or it's wrong that Christians want the death penalty, you see 
it clearly taught in the Bible. It's wrong to not embrace it. It's wrong, and it's anti-Christian, 
to reject the concept of capital punishment. But back to chapter 
13, verse 1. Let every soul be subject to 
the governing authorities, for there is no authority except 
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 
Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance 
of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil." I suggest 
you supply works after evil. I think that's what the context 
makes clear. Rulers are not a terror to good 
works, but to evil works. They're not a terror to thought 
crime. They're not a terror to what you may potentially do in 
the future. There are some very disturbing 
trends happening in our country right now. Some things that ought 
to cause us to quake in fear, not because we're cowards and 
sissies and that sort of thing, but they are coming after us 
in ways that the word of God never authorized. Evil works. You should be punished for criminal 
activity. You should be punished for wrongs 
committed. Not thoughts, not recklessness, 
not things that are between you and God. God will punish your 
sin. Make no doubt about that. If you're a racist, God will 
deal with your racism. But the civil government, if 
you haven't committed a crime that is racist, you actually 
haven't cut someone's head off because they're a color that 
is different from you, that is not for them to police. Brethren, 
when we give authorization to our leaders to police our thoughts, 
We are in a bad place. So that's not Paul's point in 
verse 3. Rulers are not a terror to good 
works, but to evil works. They're there to punish criminal 
activity. That's it. Do you want to be 
unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will 
have praise from the same. See, the deterrent effect. Arguments 
against the death penalty go this way. Well, they don't really 
deter anybody from committing the crime. They certainly deter 
the fellow that's capitally executed. He'll never offend again, I guarantee 
you. He doesn't come back from the 
gas chamber and go out and molest or rape or engage in other godless 
activity. But notice, do what is good and 
you will have praise from the same. Now the praise there isn't 
you'll have parades in your honor as you drive down Wellington 
Avenue because you're such a good and upstanding citizen. I take 
it this way, they'll leave you alone. You can work, you can 
make money, you can buy groceries, you can do your thing. Isn't 
that the praise we want from our government? That's what I 
want. I don't want medals, I don't want honor, I want to be left 
alone to do my thing. Now notice in verse 4, for he 
is God's minister, the word there is deacon. It's got an ecclesiastical 
use, a servant in the church, and it has a civil use, a servant 
in the civil sphere. Now again, that's not what we're 
witnessing. We're not witnessing servanthood 
on the part of our elected officials. We are witnessing lordship. We 
are witnessing kingship and queens. We are witnessing them doing 
all that they do and commanding us at their behest. That's not 
what Paul is addressing here. Paul is not suggesting that tyranny 
is perfectly acceptable. Tyranny is a wonderful way to 
live. Oppression is great. Those people of Israel, when 
they were back in Egypt, they should have just knuckled under 
and loved everything that came their way through the viciousness 
of Pharaoh. That's not Paul's point. He says, Now, the sword does not always 
mean the absolute execution of the criminal offender, but it 
certainly involves that. There are punishments that fall 
short of capital punishment, but the fact is, is that God 
authorizes capital punishment on the part of the civil magistrate. 
And just while we're here, notice in verse four, but if you do 
evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. That's 
the primary emphasis of the civil government. He is to bear the 
sword. He is to protect the body politic 
from criminal offenders within the body politic, and he is to 
protect us from enemy invaders from without. That's the focus 
for civil government in the New Testament. That's the focus for 
civil government in the Old Testament as well. Not to rule your life 
from cradle to grave. not to clothe you, not to feed 
you, not to raise your children, not to take care of every jot 
and tittle of your life. Where we got this idea that civil 
government is to be the nanny state, it's certainly not from 
the scripture. Brethren, we've got big problems 
right now, but it's been happening for a long time. We have been 
giving the civil government more and more power, and as Hobbes 
warned, it's become the Leviathan that is now about to devour us. And this is not a good thing. 
But back to the text, he bears the sword and he doesn't do it 
in vain. When was the last time any of our elected officials 
actually addressed things like punishing crime or things like 
defending us from the assaults of ISIS or whoever? It's all 
about equity. It's all about this racial injustice. And I'm not saying these things 
are necessarily evil, but that's not why these elected officials 
have jobs. They're not to regulate our conduct 
in every jot and tittle of our lives. They're to protect us 
from murderers, from rapists, and from bombers that will come 
to destroy us. So the lawfulness of capital 
punishment, we see it in both testaments. Or Sinus in his commentary 
on the Heidelberg says, the magistrate, therefore, may be guilty of doing 
wrong, not only in being cruel and unjustly severe, but also 
in being too lenient in granting permission to certain persons 
to injure others. What happens when the magistrate 
doesn't punish criminal offenders? What happens when they get two 
years for the crime of murder? Do they typically get fixed and 
rehabilitated? No, usually they're repeat offenders. 
But again, the deterrent effect of capital punishment is a 100% 
success rate in the case of a murderer when he is executed. And then 
turn to Numbers 35 to see God's emphasis on this. A very terrifying 
passage if you understand how wayward our own civil governments 
are. Numbers 35, specifically verses 
31 to 34, we'll pick up in 29. and these things shall be a statute 
of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your 
dwellings. Whoever kills a person, the murderer 
shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses, but one 
witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death 
penalty. That counteracts another complaint by opponents of the 
death penalty. Well, if the death penalty's 
in play, then the rivers will run with blood, everybody will 
be executed. No, it says that without The 
plurality of witnesses, there can be no capital punishment. 
Now obviously DNA helps us and the various things that are at 
our disposal now in terms of witness testimony, but the bottom 
line is that God knew these things, God instituted these things, 
and God put in structure and parameters such that though there's 
still the cause or the possibility for abuse, nevertheless it's 
greatly inhibited by the strictures in place. Notice in verse 31, See what it says? You don't have 
the prerogative to suspend the death penalty. You don't have 
the prerogative to let a murderer live. Verse 32, You shall take 
no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he 
may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. 
So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood 
defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for 
the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who 
shed it. Therefore do not defile the land 
which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, the 
Lord, dwell among the children of Israel." Again, a terrifying 
thing. We're talking about, you know, 
diversity and all of the things that the LGBTQ and the grooming 
children and the transgenderism of children and the puberty block, 
get out of that business, take up the sword and do the job you're 
actually paid to do. That should terrify us when we 
consider all of the unrequited blood in our land, not least 
of which are all the babies that have been murdered as a result 
of abortion, and all of the people that have been euthanized. All 
of the blood guiltiness that is in our land pollutes the land. So the death penalty or capital 
punishment is not condemned by the Sixth Commandment. It's not 
murder. It is not premeditated malice 
aforethought, anger, intentionality. It isn't all of those things. 
It is an act of lawful killing. The second is just war. You can 
turn to Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy 7. Now, there will 
be great questions as to what is and what isn't a just war. I don't have those answers tonight, 
but I do know that just war is not killing or murder. When you kill people in war, 
that's not murder. If you're out in the trenches 
or you're flying a plane or you're going to deal with your enemies, 
It's not because you have a personal offense against him, and you 
have malice aforethought, and you're going to lie in wait, 
and then you're going to let him have it. That's not what war is. War 
is when people kill each other and break things. That was how 
Rush Limbaugh described war, and I think it's a pretty apt 
descriptor. But notice in 7, 1, when the Lord your God brings 
you into the land which you go to possess and has cast out many 
nations before you, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the 
Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, 
and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you. 
And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer 
them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with 
them, nor show mercy to them, nor shall you make marriages 
with them. You shall not give your daughter 
to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. for they 
will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. 
So the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy 
you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with 
them. You shall destroy their altars, break down their sacred 
pillars, cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved 
images with fire. Have no political alliances with 
them. Have no social alliances with 
them. Have no religious alliances with them. What are you supposed 
to do? You're supposed to kill them. Why? Because the Lord your 
God is giving you this land. Leviticus 18 explains for us 
why God does this. It's not because Israel was this 
upright, wonderful nation. They just weren't as bad as the 
Canaanites at this particular time. So God raises up the Israelites. They are the means of judicial 
punishment that He wages against the Canaanites. Now when Israel 
occupies the land and they act like Canaanites, what happens? 
God sends judgment their way, first through Assyria in 722, 
and then through Babylon in 586. So when they increasingly become 
Canaanite-ish, when they dwell in the land, God deals with them 
according to the same standard of justice. But holy war is authorized 
by God in the Old Testament. Now turn over to the New Testament, 
because again, you'll hear people say, well, that was then, but 
this is now. As if now doesn't ever demand 
nations going to war with other nations. I realize these aren't 
happy subjects, but brethren, we need to deal with that. In 
the New Testament, you see that persons of war are treated with 
a lot of respect. Notice in Matthew 8 at verse 
8, the centurion answer. A centurion was a military leader. A centurion commanded troops, 
a hundred troops. Lord, I am not worthy that you 
should come under my roof, but only speak a word and my servant 
will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, 
having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, go, and 
he goes. And to another, come, and he comes. And to my servant, 
do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled 
and said, I cannot believe you're a military officer. You need 
to quit. You need to resign your commission. You need to go work 
at Walmart. He doesn't say that to him. He 
says, Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, 
not even in Israel. He commends the man. He doesn't 
tell the man to get a new job. He doesn't tell the man he needs 
to get into flower arrangement. He tells the man that in light 
of his duties, nevertheless, he reveals that he has great 
faith. Notice the preaching of John the Baptist in Luke's gospel. 
Luke chapter 3, same emphasis. If military, which exists, again, 
not to celebrate diversity, but the military exists to defend 
a country. to go and conquer other countries. That's the purpose. You want 
alpha males that are good shots to go into combat and bring the 
greatest amount of destruction. I don't know why we lost our 
way with this, but flight suits for pregnant pilots, that's just 
not a good idea, brethren, in any realm. Notice in Luke 3, 
John's exhortation to the soldiers that come to him. Notice in Luke 
3, verse 10. So the people asked him, saying, 
What shall we do then? He answered and said to them, 
He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has not. And 
he who has food, let him do likewise. Then tax collectors also came 
to be baptized, and they said to him, Teacher, what shall we 
do? And he said to them, Collect no more than what is appointed 
for you. Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, And what shall 
we do? Notice again, he doesn't say 
resign your commission, get out of your military service, and 
go find a nice job at a department store. No, do not intimidate 
anyone or accuse falsely and be content with your wages. It's 
almost like there's a favorable treatment of military people 
in the New Testament. Look over at Luke 14. Luke 14. Specifically at verses 31 and 
32. Well, we'll pick up in verse 
25 because it's a good lesson. And whoever does not bear his 
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of 
you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count 
the cost, whether he has enough to finish it? Lest, after he 
has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see 
it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was 
not able to finish. Or what king going to make war 
against another king does not sit down first and consider whether 
he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 
20,000. Or else while the other is still a great way off, he 
sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever 
of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. 
Obviously, the emphasis is on counting the cost. Obviously, 
the emphasis is upon consider what it is to follow Jesus. But 
intriguingly, he uses two real-life scenarios that everybody can 
kind of sink their teeth into. You don't buy or build half a 
house, because everybody's going to walk by and say, look, he 
wasn't smart enough to build that whole house. And if you're 
a king, you don't take your army out to battle if you're going 
to get bested on the battlefield. You would never do that. You 
fight to win is what Jesus assumes by way of analogy. And then notice 
Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter 10. One of the least 
a Gentile conversion in terms of the book of Acts. Acts chapter 
10, this man Cornelius, notice in 1 and 2. There was a certain 
man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called 
the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with 
all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and 
prayed to God always. Because everybody has heard of 
the Anabaptists. The Reformed Baptists, or Particular 
Baptists in the 17th century, wrote their first confession. 
And on the title page, it was to distinguish their beliefs 
from the Anabaptists. One of the things that is typical 
of Anabaptists is pacifism. Reformed Baptists, Particular 
Baptists, were not pacifists. Their section on the civil magistrate 
in the Confession of Faith is not pacifistic. The Bible is 
not a pacifist document. The Bible sees military in a 
favorable way. Now, are there challenges? Yeah. There's probably challenges in 
flower arranging to do it in a strictly godly way. There's 
challenges in every job. There's challenges in every venture. 
There's challenges in everything because of our remaining corruption. 
But just because there's challenges doesn't mean they're insurmountable. 
and therefore a man can't join the military or a man can't be 
engaged in military service now if you're thinking that way please 
see me before you go and sign up in light of the current situation 
there might be some other concerns that you want to want to entertain 
but notice spoken of favorably and then as well the role of 
the civil government. We've already seen that. Romans 
13, he bears the sword. Not just in reference to the 
internal workings of the civil polity, but in terms of foreign 
threat or domestic or external threat to the body politic. He 
bears the sword so that when the enemy invades, he can mount 
a legitimate defense and protect the people within that body politic. 
Now, when that is happening, when people are killed, that's 
not murder. That's lawful homicide. Again, 
there can be, you know, things that go awry, obviously, in a 
wartime situation, but the exchange of bullets and the exchange of 
bombs and the killing of persons do not fall under the prohibition, 
you shall not murder. Turretin says, from the very 
fact that Christ did not take away but confirm the authority 
of the magistrate, he also approved of the right of carrying on war, 
since it pertains to the magistrate to defend his subjects against 
unjust violence, which certainly cannot sometimes be done without 
war. Now, again, this is upon us. 
We're watching it happen in Eastern Europe. We've seen it happen 
in history. Solomon tells us there is a time for war in Ecclesiastes 
chapter 3. It's not a happy thing. It's 
not a good thing. We look forward to those days 
spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when they take their instruments 
of war and they beat them into agrarian tools. That is the goal. That is the hope, to be sure. 
But until such time, there are seasons and occasions for just 
war. So with reference to the exceptions, 
the death penalty is not murder. Just war is not murder. And then 
thirdly, self-defense. You can turn to Exodus 22. Just 
give a brief statement here, because eventually we're going 
to be in Exodus 22. And I've actually got a couple 
of messages on this passage. So Exodus 22, specifically at 
verses 2 and 3. The larger context are laws on 
property damage. laws dealing with property damage. Previous you have laws on bodily 
injury and death and now property damage. Again, in a body politic, 
God knew obviously, so he legislates how the people can function one 
with another and if there are crimes or if there is problem, 
then there is redress in the law of God that deals with the 
innocent parties. Now notice in Exodus 22, 2 and 
3. If the thief is found breaking 
in and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt 
for his bloodshed. Pretty simple, right? Pretty 
simple. If the thief is found breaking 
in, so the idea is you're at home and a thief is breaking 
in and in the midst of that exchange you strike him and he dies, you 
are not held responsible for his bloodshed. I mean, things 
are so whacked out nowadays. I remember hearing of cases in 
the 80s. I'm sure John Curry remembers 
and others that were around then. If a guy broke into your house 
and he hurt himself while he was breaking into your house, 
he could sue the householder and win. I mean, that really 
is a shocker. Maybe that was just California. 
All the weird stuff seems to have happened there, and it still 
happens there, but there are instances of that. Somebody breaks 
into your house to steal from you, and in the midst of their 
breaking in, while they're on your property, they hurt themselves, 
and then they can file a civil suit and get money from you. Not according to Exodus 22 too. You come down for a late night 
snack, and you see somebody in your kitchen, and you engage 
in an exchange, and you kill him, there shall be no guilt 
for his bloodshed. Now notice, Verse 3, If the sun 
has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He 
should make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall 
be sold for his theft. So if the sun has risen on him, 
there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. What's the difference? 
The difference is that at nighttime, you don't know what the threat 
is. At nighttime, when you're wiping the sleep out of your 
eyes and you see that guy in your kitchen and you take the 
lamp and you smack him in the head, you don't know why he's 
there. He could be there to murder you 
and to abduct your children. He could be there with great 
thoughts of great harm to inflict upon your family. In the hours 
of sunlight, however, if he's not there to kill, maim, or kidnap, 
then you can't dispatch of him. Well, he was here so I bludgeoned 
him to death with this lamp. No, you can't do that. And the 
fact that it's daylight probably bespeaks to the thought that 
there's help or you can get help because there are others around. 
And so in the last statement, he shall make full restitution. 
This is if the guy steals from you, you didn't hit him with 
the lamp, he's alive but he's caught, he should make full restitution. Notice, if he has nothing, then 
he shall be sold for his theft. That's indentured servitude. And while people say, that's 
barbaric, I would argue it's far more barbaric to go to a 
prison for 20 years than to go to a covenant home and basically 
function in such a way that you pay back your debt. and then 
you go your merry little way. I'll take the latter. I'll take 
the biblical if I'm a criminal. I'd rather go live at your house 
and shovel manure, pay off my debt, and return to my life than 
go to 20 years in the prison and have horrible and unspeakable 
things done to me there and me learn crime even better than 
I ever had before. Matthew Henry comments here. 
He says, a man's house is his castle, and God's law, as well 
as man's, sets a guard upon it. He that assaults it does so at 
his own peril. I think that's absolutely positively 
correct. Turn to Luke chapter 12. We're 
going to end here. Luke chapter 12. Just an assumption 
by our Lord. Again, the passage is not teaching 
on the contours of self-defense. It is not teaching about the 
reality that somebody is in your kitchen when you come down for 
milk and you hit them with a lamp. That's not it. He's using an 
illustration, but the illustration assumes the legitimacy of self-defense. It'd be hard for us to say, why 
would he use that if he denies the legitimacy of self-defense? Notice in Luke 12 at verse 35, 
let your waist be girded and your lamps burning, and you yourselves 
be like men who wait for their master when he will return from 
the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to 
him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, 
when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that 
he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will 
come and serve them. And if he should come in the 
second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, 
blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master 
of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would 
have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into. 
Why? Because we're not hippies and this isn't a commune and 
you can't just come in and take whatever it is you want. There 
is a right to private property protected by the 8th commandment 
that applies to individuals, it applies to families, and it 
applies to the federal government as well. They do not have the 
warrant to violate or to transgress the 8th commandment. So Jesus 
assumes that if the master of the house had known what hour 
the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed 
his house to be broken into. Would that have been with a lamp? 
Would it have been with a gun? Who knows? But he would have 
defended his domicile. He would have defended that primary 
means that supports his life. Now you're probably thinking 
of Matthew 5 and the prohibition by Jesus with reference to resisting 
an evil person. I'll just read the passage and 
then I'll invite you to come when we're in Exodus 22. Matthew 
5, 38. You have heard that it was said, 
an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you not 
to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right 
cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue 
you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 
and whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him. Go with him, too. Give to him 
who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you. Do 
not turn away." This can be harmonized. This is not dealing with matters 
of self-defense over your property or over your person. It has to 
do with a mindset that was typical of the Pharisees, and Jesus is 
cautioning against them. If we take this passage and we 
say that it delegitimizes self-defense, then it delegitimizes locks on 
your doors. It delegitimizes subterfuge. When a man comes into your house 
and says, you know, I've just had your wife, where are your 
daughters? Well, they're right down the hall. No, you'd deceive 
them, you'd take the lamp, you'd do whatever you could to stop 
them. This passage does not treat the sorts of crimes that these 
other pieces of legislation are treating. It has to do with personal 
offense and this kind of a vindictive attitude that was typical of 
the Pharisaic religion that Jesus is condemning. But as I said, 
there'll be more explanation when we get there to Exodus chapter 
22. So a lot of stuff. We'll look at the reason specified 
next week, God willing, and then the application of the command 
to various things that we see going on in our own day. So I'll 
close in a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for its clarity 
and its consistency. And God, I pray that you would 
help us to think clearly concerning such things in light of our situation 
in this country. Help us, Father, to be faithful 
as your people. We pray for our civil authority, 
that they would function in a manner that is consistent with the revealed 
will of God as it comes to us in the Bible, and that they would 
have wisdom for their particular task. And we ask this in the 
name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.