Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5. Deuteronomy chapter 5, our focus will be on verse 17, you shall not murder. But I do want to begin reading in chapter 5 at verse 1. Hear now the word of the living and true God.

And Moses called all Israel and said to them, hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.

I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and you did not go up the mountain. He said, 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. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but 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 ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you are a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in 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 wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. These words, the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the midst from the, I'm sorry, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice.

And he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Father, we thank you for the written word. We thank you for the commandments of God. We know men aren't saved by the law, but by the law is the knowledge of sin. It serves that purpose to direct men to the cross.

As well, that law does restrain the wickedness of man on earth. And in this we give you thanks and praise and glory. And we pray that in this aspect or in this function it would be recovered as well within the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we see it as that rule, that standard for our lives in terms of our sanctification.

We thank you that the law drives us to Christ and Christ then sends us to the law in order that we may have that pattern for life in your kingdom. We pray, God in heaven, that you would grant us grace to think biblically concerning this sixth commandment. Help us as well to see its application in our own society and in our own age. Give us the grace, Lord God, to weep with those who weep concerning such things.

Give us grace to pray to you, a holy God. Give us grace to know what scripture says concerning these issues. And give us grace to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. and give us boldness to hold forth your word of truth. And we do cry out to you, most high God, that in your wrath you would remember mercy, that you would turn the hearts of men, women, boys, and girls from this murderous rage to embrace the truth as it is in Jesus.

We know that murder is ultimately devilish. It is of that one whom Jesus calls the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. We see the wretchedness of this in abortion clinics, we see it with euthanasia, we see it in murder across the board. We would pray to you, God Almighty, that you would send forth your word, that you would save more sinners, that you would sanctify your people.

And do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions. And whenever we come to your law, may we always refresh our hearts with the fact that Jesus Christ lived in absolute and perfect obedience to that law, that he was crucified on our behalf, that he was raised the third day, and it's as a result of his finished work that we have acceptance with God. In this we rejoice, most high. We praise you for your gospel, and we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Introduction

Well, we'll get right to our study this morning. I want to look at the sixth commandment, as I said, Deuteronomy 5.17, you shall not murder. The first place, I want to look at the basis for the commandment. Secondly, the prohibition of the commandment.

And then thirdly, and probably very briefly, the positive aspect of the commandment. In other words, when we find a commandment that is a prohibition, don't murder, we ought to infer properly that there's a positive injunction or positive aspect as well. If we're not supposed to murder people, then we are supposed to promote life and health and safety and all those sorts of things. So in the first place, we ought to consider the basis of the commandment.

I want you to turn to Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1, why does God forbid or why does God prohibit the crime, the sin of murder? Well, because

God as Creator: The Imago Dei

God made man in his image. And as Gerhardus Vos says, in life slain, the divine majesty is assaulted. In other words, when an image-bearer is murdered, it is an attack upon God Most High. And that is absolutely prohibited by God.

It is unlawful, it is ungodly, it is unrighteous. So notice in Genesis 126, looking at the basis for the Sixth Commandment, We see God as creator, specifically God making man in His image. Notice in verse 26, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him. Male and female, He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." You will not find that recorded of any other created thing in the creation narrative. The Baltimore Aureole is not made in the image of God. The beluga whale is not made in the image of God. The cow is not made in the image of God.

Now that doesn't mean we ought to mistreat and we ought to abuse animals, but rather we are to exercise godly dominion, subdue the earth as God commands us, but recognizing that man alone is the image of God. Man alone is from God in a special way that the animal animals are not. So the image of God is the basis for, or foundation of, or at least part of, this prohibition against murder. And we see the image of God consists before the fall, Genesis 1, 26 and 27.

We see the image of God consists after the fall. There is some degree of debate concerning this reality. But I think it is safe to say, at least in terms of man's dignity, man's representation, man's place over animal, he retains the image of God after the fall. James 3.9 alludes to this.

We'll look at that particular passage tonight as we return to our exposition of James. And then we see the image of God in the pre-born. And when I say in, it's sort of hard to convey. It's not as if, you know, you've got a thumb, and you've got a heart, and you've got a leg, and you've got a head, and then the image is just sort of in there somewhere.

I can't really think of any other way to convey it but to say the image of God in the pre-born. But the pre-born is the image of God. Man doesn't contain it, man is it. Man is the image of God Most High.

And we'll see that as it applies to the pre-born in a few moments. We see the image of God in children. Leviticus 18.21 contains a prohibition. You cannot offer your children to Molech.

You're not supposed to cause them to pass through the fire. Why? Because they are image bearers. As well, we see Paul's admonition in Ephesians chapter 6.

He wants fathers to bring up their children in the training and admonition of the Lord. He wants to make sure that fathers do not exacerbate or rather destroy or hurt or or have a negative or adverse effect upon their children. Why is that? Because their children are the image of God Most High.

We see the image in the handicapped. We see the image in the ill. We see the image in the elderly. Again, we'll investigate text more specifically as we proceed.

So we see the basis for the commandment is God the Creator. Vis-a-vis, He made us in His image. But as well,

God as Lawgiver

the basis for the commandment is God the Lawgiver. God prohibits murder. God says no to murder. It's obvious there in Deuteronomy 517.

You'll notice something about the outline, or probably you've noticed something about the outline of the Ten Commandments. The first four contain our duty toward God, and the last six contain our duty toward men. They're often referred to as the two tables of the law. Of course, the sixth commandment finds its place in that second table.

It is our duty toward man. You want to know how you're supposed to treat your fellow man? Don't murder him. Don't commit adultery with his wife.

Don't steal from him. Don't lie and ruin him. And don't covet from him. It's a pretty simple code.

The problem isn't the code, the problem is the human heart. We have an ax to grind with God, and as a result, we have an ax to grind with men. And it exhibits itself in the sorts of lawlessness and violations of these commands that we see so rampantly. Now, the second table of the law, that duty toward man, is summarized in Leviticus 19.18, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The first table is summarized in the Shema of Deuteronomy chapter 6. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But the second is summarized in this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The commandments are in the second table, protect authority, the fifth word. Children, obey your parents. Honor your father and your mother. That's not only familial, but it's societal as well.

When you hit 18, it's not the case that you no longer have to be subordinate to an authority. We're all subordinate to the governing authority. This is something that is still binding on all persons and all ages all the time. There's always some authority in our life.

And what are we told by God with reference to that authority? murmur against them, complain against them, disobey them, treat them with, you know, with ill treatment. No, you're supposed to obey. You're supposed to honor. Insofar as your parents or the government does not tell you to sin, you need to obey and toe the line.

That's God's Word for us. Notice the sixth commandment, as I said, protects life. The seventh protects marriage. The eighth protects property from invasion or attack.

And then the last two move from deed to word and thought. protects our speech against others, and protects our minds in terms of what we want in this life. Craigie summarizes and says, since each individual Israelite was bound to the Lord and the covenant, his life lay in God's hands. God alone, who had made man in his own image, had the right to terminate life. So it's important for us to remember, especially with the issue of euthanasia, well, they chose to die.

They want to die. They want any help along because of the misery. That's not their call. It's God's alone.

Now that may be a tough pill to swallow for somebody that's in a great deal of pain, but it's a pill they need to swallow because God alone is the Lord. God alone has sovereignty. God alone has authority. It is never the case wherein we can say, well, a conspiracy to murder is okay if one of the conspirators happens to be the object.

No, it's still murder. It's still conspiracy to murder. You cannot do that and think that all is well. Craigie goes on.

Thus an act of murder involved the abrogation of divine power, the taking away of that which God had given and which God alone could give, namely life itself. So when we look at this sixth commandment, when we consider this prohibition, you shall not murder, we need to think God is creator. and we bear his image, and we need to think God as lawgiver. We obey what he commands us and tells us. Brethren, one of the things that ought to concern us is that Ben Shapiro is a better spokesperson for anti-abortionism than much of the church.

Why doesn't the church mount a better apologetic or a better sort of, and I respect what Ben Shapiro does. I'm not saying he's a bad guy. I mean, he's shocking and jiving with the most rabid God-haters, and I realize he's not a God-lover, because he doesn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but he's smart, and he's able to defend the anti-abortion position. And somehow, sometimes, you meet with Christians, well, I think the Bible says we're not supposed to, oh yeah, I'm sure of it.

Brethren, we are perishing for a lack of knowledge in the church today. Someone was once asked, what's wrong with the church's doctrine of God today? And he said, their doctrine of God. We might say the same thing.

What is wrong with the church's approach to social and societal ethics in the church today? The church's approach to social and societal ethics. On the one hand, we typically don't even talk about such things because it's just so unsavory. It's just not something pleasant.

And if it's not about pleasant, then I don't want it. We have let our feelings override biblical truth. We have let our desires trump God's holy word. And we have made our feelings the determiner of what we'll hear and what we'll approach when it comes to God's word.

I'm sorry that this is an unsavory subject, but we live in a very unsavory world, a godless, wretched, vile, wicked world that opposes the Lord at every step, and this Sixth Commandment is basically something that has been trampled on for many, many years now. And the church, unfortunately, and I don't mean you guys go home and cry because I said this, but the church in general just doesn't have the goods anymore. So we need to appreciate the basis for the commandment. God the creator, God the law giver.

Prohibition of the Commandment

Secondly, the prohibition of the commandment. The prohibition of the commandment. You shall not murder.

The Internal Disposition: Hatred and Anger

I think it addresses in the first place an internal disposition. An internal disposition. In other words, it doesn't do us any good to pray for the destruction of Planned Parenthood, as I suggested in the earlier hour, that we should. Doesn't do us any good to pray God destroy Planned Parenthood because they're destroying babies and then to hate our brethren in our hearts.

I mean, I think it's still good to pray for their destruction, but we're not supposed to hate brethren in our hearts. There is an internal disposition dictated by the commandment, and you see this throughout scriptural exposition. You see the external act condemned, and we'll look at that in just a moment, but before we get to the hand, we ought to consider the heart. Tonight, we will see the tongue's role in this murderous activity as well.

Notice the hatred of others, condemned in Leviticus 19, verses 17 and 18. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. We considered that in the last hour. Jesus says, you have heard that it was said to those of old in Matthew 5.43, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

No, you're not supposed to hate anybody according to the Old Testament. It says, 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 Yahweh. What's he saying? I am your creator. I am your lawgiver.

Therefore, don't hate one another. Zechariah 7, 9, and 10 summarizing a tradition throughout the Old Testament. We always think of Micah 6, 8 to 10. What does the Lord require of you?

Well, that's one in a string of passages that say the same thing. The Micah 6 one is intriguing because God condemns them for their wickedness in their approach to Him. And he says, he has shown you, oh man, what is acceptable. This isn't new information through Malachi or through Micah the prophet.

You've always known what the Deuteronomy laws demands. It's that you're just sinning against God. It's not a lack of information that Micah's hearers had suffered. It's a lack of heart.

The Zechariah captures it in 7, 9, and 10. Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion, everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.

So there's this internal disposition that is condemnable as well, that is prohibited by the sixth word as well. When John comes to deal with the people of God in his first epistle, and he talks about murdering, He's probably not suggesting to them or to us that there were actually persons in the congregation that took out their 38s, wandered into the homes of other Christians, and shot them between the eyes. When he appeals to Cain, killing his brother Abel, and he applies all that murder language to the church, again, I really don't think he means that physical Christians were physically murdering other Christians. It's the hatred of the heart.

It's the internal disposition. You are Cain-like whether you bash your brother's head in physically or spiritually. That's condemned by the Lord in this sixth word, the prohibition against unwarranted anger. In Matthew 5.22, I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

Without a cause it's important because we see Jesus angry in the New Testament, don't we? When he drove out the money changers, when he drove out those who were prostituting the very temple precincts with their wares, I doubt he did it with a big fat smile on his face. Some hippie sort of encounter where he was drinking chamomile and gently turning tables over. He drove them out because he was angry.

When the Pharisees get into his face in one particular instance, he says he looked at them with indignation. There is a righteous anger, brethren, but the commandment condemns an unrighteous anger. What do you think resentment and bitterness, if we trace those out to their source in the Decalogue, it has to be the sixth word. This bitterness, this anger, this resentment, this critical spirit, it originates in our ultimate hatred for others and our desire to do them harm.

We just don't do it with 38s. And then we see in Matthew 5 the prohibition against character assassination. Again, we need to understand what Jesus is talking about here. The Proverbs speak about fools a lot.

Is Solomon a wretched guy going to hell? No. The idea of being is that when we assassinate the character of another human being, we are assassinating the human being. You know that old saying, sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me?

That's absolutely contrary to the truth. Bones heal. A ruined reputation doesn't. You know, in a litigious age, you know, everybody is guilty of sexual harassment or racism or whatever it is, whatever happens to be on the front page today.

We need to be very careful before we level accusations against, and I'm not saying, you know, shame on all, I don't know, but we need to be very careful about the reputations of other people. You're gonna destroy somebody? You're gonna ruin their lives? You need to be very careful.

I need to be very careful on this whole issue. Spurgeon says, to call a man raka or worthless fellow is to kill him in his reputation. Spurgeon also says, thus our Lord and King restores the law of God. to its true force and warns us that it denounces not only the overt act of killing, but every thought, feeling, and word which would tend to injure a brother or annihilate him by contempt. And 1 John 3, 15, whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Again, I doubt that John is writing to churches where people are physically terminating the lives of other Christians. It's this hard disposition, it's this internal mess that the law speaks to as well. But certainly, once that hard disposition is entertained, it does flesh itself out in external conduct. And certainly the prohibition applies to that.

You shall, as well, you shall not murder.

The Term: Murder Versus Lawful Killing

Now the word used is a word that means murder. The old King James here translating it as thou shalt not kill is not the most helpful way to approach this particular term because there are instances of lawful killing in the Bible. We're going to look at those in just a moment. Again, the idea being that we need to know what the Bible says.

And people out there will say, well, you can't consistently oppose abortion and favor the death penalty. That's just contradictory. No, it's not. It's absolutely consistent, and the Bible demands.

There's another thing. It's just suggested to have these positions. I remember asking a pastor one time, have you ever preached against abortion? Well, it's such a hot topic, I just kind of avoid it.

I said, do you ever preach against death penalty? Well, the Bible, the Old Testament seems to teach it, but Jesus just didn't. This is a pastor. I can't imagine his flock or congregation was more adamant to say, absolutely, we embrace the prohibition and we see that abortion is wrong and the death penalty is absolutely essential.

When was the last time this even came up in political discussion? When was the last time that any political party said, hey, we want to reinstitute in Canada something that was done away with in 1967 that God commands? Is it even in the horizon? Is it even in the arena of discourse anymore to consider that a government official would say that a convicted murderer ought to be executed?

Oh, he would be a fanatic. He would be tarred and feathered. What I'm saying this morning is probably hate speech. Probably not only microaggressive, but macroaggressive, and soon I'll be hauled off to jail.

That's where society is going, and the church doesn't do anything. We don't like such sermons. We don't want to think about such unsavory things. We don't want to have to think beyond what we're having for lunch this morning.

Brethren, if we don't start thinking, if we don't start praying, if we don't start looking at these things and start defending the truth, we are in a whole world of trouble. The word used, Walter Kaiser says, while Hebrew possesses seven words for killing, the word used here, ratzah, 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. In other words, not all killing is murder.

The Bible makes this distinction. Non-murderous killing is called manslaughter. And the Bible makes the distinction. If you are chopping wood and your axe head flies off and finds its way into your neighbor's head such that he dies, you had no malice aforethought.

There was no premeditation. You didn't hate him and lay in wait for him. It was an accidental homicide. That man doesn't get executed by the government.

That man doesn't get the death penalty. That man must flee to a city of refuge, which even that shows us the value upon human life that God places. It was an accident. Yeah, but your life's going to be disrupted for a little while.

Why? Because you need to learn not to have such accidents. You need to make sure your axe heads are fastened on, because life is so precious, life is so valuable, it ought not to be the case that your axe head takes a leap and finds its way into your neighbor's head. That city of refuge law shows us God's concern for death.

So you see, the Bible makes the distinction, and we as God's people need to make the distinction as well. Premeditation, malice, hatred, planning, all those things are necessary for murder. There is an accidental homicide. There is murder.

Now, based on this,

Three Instances of Lawful Killing

we can conclude or infer or imply that there are three instances of lawful killing in the scriptures. There are three occasions wherein persons may justly kill another person. Again, we've passed microaggression. We're right into macro, so just bear with me here.

The first instance is the legitimacy of the death penalty. And that's not a mosaic law. Sometimes you see people do that. They say, well, that was in the law of Moses.

No, it's in the Noahic covenant. What happens when Noah gets out of the ark? What happens when they embrace their role as the new man on earth? What happens when God essentially repeats the creation mandate to Noah as a sort of a new Adam?

Wasn't Adam told to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth? Isn't Noah told to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth? You see, something had happened after Adam. By the time we get to Genesis 6, the earth is corrupt and full of violence, exceedingly corrupt and full of violence. such that God condemns the world, save Noah and his family.

So when Noah and his family emerge from the ark, you know what one of the first things is that God says to Noah? Whoever sheds man's blood by man, his blood will be shed, for in the image of God he made man. In other words, Noah, we're not going to do it the same way this time. We're not going to have Lamech boasting in the amount of blood that he had spilled.

We're going to put the sword in the hand of the civil government, and they're going to execute criminal offenders. We get to the Mosaic legislation, and it details for us all the capital crimes. It highlights everything that is punishable by God. We get to the New Testament, and people say, well, that was in the Old Testament.

You've got a problem with Romans 13. You've got a problem with Romans 13, 1 to 4. He goes on to say whoever resists the authority resists God. And then he describes the civil magistrate with this terminology.

He is God's minister, his deacon. Same Greek word. The deacon in the church is a servant in the church. The deacon in the magistrate is a servant of society.

And God has given him the sword. That does not necessitate that every punishment be the sword, but it certainly includes the right to capital punishment. That's legit. It's not only legit, God says in the book of Numbers that if we accept a payment, if we accept a ransom for murder, then we have defied God.

He says there is only one payment acceptable for the crime of murder and that's blood. You see, it's not just a suggestion. This is the way to order a civil polity in a good way, in a helpful way. Nations are sinning against God Almighty when they don't institute this.

Again, I just don't know that we ever think about such things. Secondly, the legitimacy of self-defense. Contrary to people out there, God authorizes self-defense. Doesn't Jesus assume it?

If the strongman knew when the master was going to be at home, he wouldn't come then. What is Jesus assuming then? The master is there, probably not with a 38 or a 308, but with a stick or a club of some sort, because he doesn't want the strongman to come in and plunder his home. There's a specific law that protects people with reference to self-defense in the book of Exodus, specifically Exodus 22 verses 2 and 3.

And I'll just give you the gist of that law. We can't spend too much time on any one text. I hope you're jotting these things down. Reflect upon them later.

But in Exodus chapter 22, it says if a man breaks in to another man's home and the man who broke into his home dies in the exchange, the homeowner's not guilty. What happens today? Somebody breaks into your house and they trip and they hit their head and then they sue you. In the ultimate punishment upon the victim, which our society is just keen on, what happens to somebody when they get caught?

They go to jail to pay their fine to the state. They didn't steal the state's car, they stole my car. They should pay me back. The whole structure could use a great big dose of God's law.

We take guys that aren't violent, we take guys that aren't threats or menaces to society, and we send them into prison to become that. But in Exodus 22, if someone breaks into your house and you're trying to keep them from taking your stuff or hurting your family, you happen to kill them, that's not murder, you're not guilty, that's self-defense. Now, there is a stipulation, if the man breaks in during the day, that's a bit of a different story. I think the idea is, is that if somebody comes into my house during the day, I'm better able to assess the threat, my neighbors are awake, we're able to oppose and stop the man.

But if he comes in at night, I don't know what he's doing there, and I'm not supposed to sit and dialogue with him to figure it out. I'm supposed to stop him. to keep him from my wife, to keep him from my kids, to keep him ultimately from killing me. That's legit. Matthew Henry makes the comment with reference to Exodus 22, 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. It's another problem, Ecclesiastes. Because the sentence against unrighteousness is not executed speedily, the sons of man are given over to evil. I mean, face it, brethren, there's no threat, no consequence.

We can do whatever we want. We're really probably not gonna get in trouble. I'm not saying go out and steal today, but... Not but, I was gonna say, but if you do, you probably won't even go to jail.

Don't take it that way. There's not a lot of consequences. I mean, the fact that a murderer, again, I don't think life imprisonment, I think that's far more barbaric than the death penalty. But life imprisonment should at least be the minimum for a murderer.

That's not the case anymore. You can commit murder and get out of jail? What kind of a society is that? and Christians and people who believe the Bible are barbaric. You wanna talk barbaric, look at the current way that we treat people in prisons.

I mean, I would opt for the death penalty if it was that or life in prison, because I think it's far more humane to end that way. And then of course, the legitimacy of, and I will add the adjective here, just war. Just war. It's a whole huge topic on what does constitute a just war.

I'm not here to have that debate. But it is legitimate. When the magistrate bears the sword, according to Romans chapter 13, it's not just to punish criminal offenders in their own society, but it's to protect their people from encroaching armies. I mean, again, this whole idea of, you know, pacifism.

Have you read scripture? Have you ever looked at these things? I mean, how could you come out of scripture with this idea that pacifism is right? And it's not just the Old Testament and the Holy War instituted by God where the Israelites went into Canaan and destroyed every inhabitant of Canaan.

That's not what I'm talking about. There's a favorable view of military in the New Testament. What does John the Baptist say when the soldiers come and they want to repent? What does John say?

Well, you need to renounce your service to the state. Get this, in the Roman Empire even. No, John says be content with your wages and don't extort people. Jesus treats soldiers well.

The Book of Acts treats soldiers well. Notice Paul's not lecturing Cornelius on, you got to renounce your job. And then, of course, the magistrates function in Romans 13. 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.

You see, those are the three instances of lawful killing. Those are three instances that are not murder. Again, I've seen this happen where the people of God say, I don't know. How can I be opposed to abortion and support the death penalty?

Doesn't that just seem so contradictory and so different and so paradoxical? No, not at all. They're both grounded upon the dignity of the image of God in man. The argument for the death penalty is for, in the image of God, he made man.

Therefore, God puts a premium upon those who are murdered. Those who are his image bearers, when they are put to death, the right response is for the government to execute those murderers. It doesn't show the lack of value of human life, it shows the value. Dare I say it, the death penalty is an argument for the sanctity of life.

Humanists everywhere would freak out at that statement and probably a lot of Christians would freak out at that statement. But if you understand what scripture is teaching us, the death penalty is an argument for the sanctity of life. Brethren, we ought to consider as well. We're looking at the external act.

We've looked at the word used, the lawful instances of killing.

The Criminal Nature of Murder

We need to understand thirdly, the criminal nature of murder. Some sins aren't crimes. Some crimes aren't sins. Murder has the, what's the word I'm looking for?

Murder has the ability to be both at the same time. See, not all sin is crime. You do not want the government punishing the 10th Commandment. Do you?

That you're supposed to be going, no, I don't want the government punishing the 10th Commandment. I really, really don't want that to happen. But not all crime is sin. If you were preaching the gospel on a public corner in Saudi Arabia, it would be a crime.

But it's not a sin against God. See, murder is always both criminal and sinful. God is always going to deal with the murderer, but the state must as well. And by state, I mean those in civil authority given that prerogative by God.

Now, fourthly,

Specific Violations in Modern Society

I want to conclude this section by looking at some specific violations in modern society. The first, as I've already mentioned, is the act of euthanasia on the ill and or the elderly. Euthanasia, also called mercy killing. It is a sin and it ought to be a crime because God's word forbids it.

The Bible holds these weak ones in esteem. We're not supposed to look at somebody who's ill as a plague. We're not supposed to look at somebody who's handicapped as a hindrance. We're not supposed to look at the elderly as if they've gone past their time and it's just better now that they leave.

No. How does the Bible address the subject? We are to honor the presence of an old man. We are not to put a stumbling block before someone who is blind.

Does our Savior show the dignity, the beauty, the glory involved in the handicapped when Bartimaeus says, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. The crowd didn't see his dignity. The crowd didn't see his usefulness. The crowd saw him as a blind beggar.

And they told him, you need to be quiet. This Jesus has more important things to do than you. Praise God for blind Bartimaeus. What does he do?

He doesn't kowtow to the crowd. He doesn't listen to those who are in the know. He raises his voice and once again says, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. It says that Jesus stopped, Jesus walked over to him, and Jesus says, what would you have me to do?

That's a beautiful passage, brethren. What are the sick people in the church supposed to do? Schedule the pill? Call the doctor?

I've heard it's delivered to your door in certain countries. We're not far. Remember when it was instituted or applied in this particular context, my brother phoned me and said, it's chilling, the briefing we just got at work today. It's a brave new world, and it's certainly not a good one.

What are sick people in the church supposed to do? Call the euthanasia hotline and schedule a pill? No, call for the elders of the church. You're not a second-class citizen because you're sick.

You're not a second-class citizen because you're handicapped. You're not a second-class citizen because you're old. You're not. You are the image of the living and true God.

And as a result, you, nor any other person, has the right to execute you. So again, that argument, well, they chose it. Imagine how that would go in any other sphere. Well, he chose to deploy that bomb on the airplane.

Oh, well, since he chose to, it's okay. Why when it comes to conspiracy to murder and the actual act of murder, us choosing it somehow, well, then it's okay. You cannot choose to terminate your life. God the Lord alone is sovereign.

God the Lord alone is authority when it comes to this matter of life. We see this with reference to abortion. Proverbs 31.8 says, open your mouth for the speechless and the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously and please the cause of the poor and the needy.

We see the image of God in the preborn. Genesis 25, Jacob and Esau in the womb. Not product of conception, not a mass of undefined cells, but children. We see Job's testimony to God's divine handiwork in the womb in Job 10 and again in Job 31.

We see the divine weaver in Psalm 139. I'm sure that text has been read and preached all over the world today on Sanctity of Life Sunday. He's saying, God knit me together in my mother's womb. You see, the scriptures are not silent when it comes to what's in the womb.

The scriptures are deafening on what's in the womb. It's just that man rejects it. Man wants convenience. Man doesn't like anything that will stop his trajectory to success.

And if a baby gets in the way, the baby's going to die. That's the society we live in. That is where we find ourselves. The New Testament, the Greek word that is used of John the Baptist in the womb, the Greek word that is used of Jesus in the womb, is the same Greek word in Luke 18, when they bring the infants, the little ones, to Jesus to bless them.

There's no separate word. There's no, well, you've got an out-of-the-womb baby or child, and you've got the in-the-womb product of conception, or the in-the-womb undefined mass of cells. No, that's not it. It's a baby in there.

It's a baby. There's a specific text that treats, that deals with. Again, some of this may be repetitious. My hope is, until the day I die, I'll preach this sermon, and maybe after 20, 25 years, if I die in five years, you'll say, I know what the Bible says about that.

Not because Jim Butler said it, but because I'm directing your attention to consider texts. Notice in Exodus 21. 22 to 25. If men fight and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, she shall surely be punished accordingly, as the woman's husband imposes on him. And he shall pay as the judges determine.

But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. You, King James, excuse me, and the ESV have the accurate translation. If you have a translation that says, miscarries, it's wrong. If you have a translation, the Message Bible is especially terrible.

I know that some pastors use the Message Bible to preach from. That's a whole different way to come at the issue, but man, the church is in a bad state when the message becomes a pulpit Bible. Yeah, we might as well hang our heads in shame and just say, you know, we're done. But if the translation you hold in your lap says, if men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she miscarries, it's wrong.

You see, that translation supports this view. If two men fight and they hit a woman that's pregnant and she miscarries, yet no harm follows to the woman, then. It's premature and ought to be read this way. If men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows to the woman and the child, then.

You see, if we translate it miscarry, which Hebrew has words for miscarriage. Hebrew has words for one untimely born. They're not in this text. This text uses the language literally and her children.

It's a plural form of the noun to envisage the possibility of twins, triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets and whatever goes on from there. It's not even, I mean, premature, gets it, it's good, good translation, but it's literally, and her children come out, yet no harm follows to mother and the children who have come out. Then the man will pay a fine. But if harm follows to mother and children, then he shall pay a fine, the death penalty.

This is a text that protects babies in their mother's wombs. And we ought to appreciate that in many respects, and I'm using this terminology loosely, but I think you'll follow the argument, this is an accidental abortion. These two brain surgeons that are fighting on the city streets are not trying to murder the baby in this mother's womb. These two fools, for whatever reason, break out in a fight with one another.

And a woman who is pregnant happens to be standing there, arguably, probably a wife of one of the men that are involved in the brawl. And in the course of their fight, which is the focus, she gets hit, and then harm follows. So it's really an accidental abortion. That wasn't the focus.

That wasn't the goal. The fellow didn't rise up in the morning and say, I really want to kill the baby that's in that mother's womb. So I'm going to fake a fight with this guy. I'm going to blow this way.

And if that happens, then that's not what happened. They got in a fight, and in the course of that fight, she had harm to her and her baby, or babies, and therefore, he must pay the ultimate price with his own life. Now, if this text speaks to accidental abortion and protects babies in the womb like that, what should we think of the sorts of places that exist today? What should we think of Planned Parenthood?

You know that recently in America, get a little information with reference to America, Canada's just bad. There I said it. There's this idea in Canada that we, and I'm a Canadian citizen, so grant me the right to speak on behalf of the citizenry today. Oh, those Americans are terrible.

You know, a million abortions a year. Yeah, ours is 100,000. And we have 30 million people in our country versus their 300 million. As far as my son tells me, that's the same percentage.

We're not any better. You know, there's no law whatsoever in terms of terminating a baby in Canada. Did you ever try Mester? I mean, so there I said it.

Recently in America, they voted to pass the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, something that was voted against by Barack Obama when he was a senator. Now, let me just tell you what this means. If a baby survives an abortion, this law mandates that the medical staff does everything in their power to make the baby live. What kind of a ghoul votes against that law?

What kind of a monster votes against that law? Well, you survived the abortion, good on you, now we're going to leave you in a bucket to die somewhere. No, this law says no. If they survive the abortion, the medical staff is now duty-bound to try to make sure the baby lives.

That was just passed in America. Again, it's mind-blowing that that seems a victory, but that's how bad things are. You know what Planned Parenthood says? How dare anybody do such a thing like that?

You have an organization that is so committed to what has become sacramental to the left that they will condemn the efforts to try to save a human being who has escaped the clutches of death via doctors. I mean, I just, yeah, we look at the Bible and say, wow, that's terrible. You know Ahaz the other day, 2 Kings 16, what did he do? He made his children pass through the fires.

That meant he offered them up to Molech. We do the same thing today. We're engaged in the same practice today. We treat babies with as much disdain today The increased protection for the pre-born is set forth by the text and then the penal sanction involved for those who cause harm to follow either on the mother or on her children.

But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. John Calvin made this observation concerning abortion. He says, if it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light. The Didache, which was an early Christian sort of teaching manual, it dates to probably one, I mean, late date is 120, 8120.

Some say it was 8110. You shall not abort a child or commit infanticide. You see, this is not new. There's nothing new under the sun, brethren.

It's just become somewhat more polished, somewhat more acceptable, somewhat more in vogue and, dare I say, somewhat more celebrated in our own day and age. Jesus speaking his wisdom in Proverbs 8 says that he who hates me loves death. I think that's such a commentary upon society today. He who hates me loves death.

Jesus said to his disciples, or rather in the context of dealing with his disciples, the Pharisees and the scribes, of course, oppose him. And he says to the Pharisees, you are of your father, the devil. You're of your father the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning.

He is the father of lies, the sorts of things that you are doing. The fact that you want to murder Jesus, the fact that you do nothing but lie shows your solidarity with Satan himself. That's our society in many respects, brethren. So we see euthanasia, abortion, and then I'll just close by saying a societal application is the neglect of the death penalty. the neglect of the death penalty.

Watson puts it in a way that I couldn't. I was thankful for Watson yesterday. I pulled his Ten Commandments out, and he's discussing the crime of murder, and he deals with this. Neglecting the death penalty is a violation of the sixth word.

He says, by not executing the law upon capital offenders, a felon having committed six murders, the judge may be said to be guilty of five of them, because he did not execute the felon for his first offense. Man, if we applied that today, that is just epic. You know, and persons say, well, if you took that seriously, the gutters would run with blood. Now, if it had always been in place, persons would know the boundaries.

Persons would know the limitations. Persons would know that if I go out and murder somebody, I'm gonna be executed by the state. Ergo, I'm not gonna go murder somebody. We've never tried that approach.

You hear the argument against capital punishment. Well, it's not a deterrent. It is in one instance. I guarantee you 100% money back.

It deters that man from ever going out and murdering again. You know, Paul tells us differently. When we see the magistrate functioning the way he ought, how are we supposed to respond? But fear.

In other words, Paul says in Romans 13, as the people of God, you ought to realize God means business and that he has instituted the civil government to execute criminal offenders. As the people of God, and I would argue outside the people of God, the creatures of God should see a fully functional civil authority and be afraid to go out and commit crime.

Positive Aspect of the Commandment

Positive aspect of the commandment, be nice to people. What is required in the Sixth Commandment? The Sixth Commandment requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life and the life of others. It's the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Application: The Church and Murder

Brethren, in conclusion, the Bible and murder highlights its pervasiveness. its pervasiveness. In Genesis chapter 4 verse 9, Cain tries to cover up the fact that he murdered Abel. By the time we get to the latter part of the chapter, his great-great grandson Lamech glories in murder. Didn't take long for that sin to catch.

Didn't take long for the violation of the Sixth Commandment to spread. God arms the civil magistrate with the sword and the responsibility to execute murderers, according to Genesis 9.6. for the purpose of ensuring that the earth does not once again become exceedingly corrupt and filled with violence. So for the civil government to resist that and to reject that and to disobey God's commandment in that is wickedness. As I said, Proverbs 836, he who sins against me wrongs his own soul.

All those who love me love death. John Murray well said, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of life. You see the wretchedness of it underscored throughout scripture, but two particular passages I direct your attention to. Proverbs 6, these six things Yahweh hates, yea seven, are an abomination to him.

Hands that shed innocent blood. I saw recently where there's a Christian abortionist that thinks they're doing God's will. How does that happen? I can't blame pastors or churches, but how does that kind of a mindset get spawned?

From whence does that flow, that somebody actually thinks that they could be a Christian and a murderer of babies in their mother's womb? I get it, brethren. Remaining corruption is a reality, but not that kind of remaining corruption. And then Revelation 21, John tells us, who is populating the lake of fire.

Murderers. murderers. Secondly, we ought to consider the state, civil government, and abortion. There's an interesting website. I'll just tell you right now, you should grab onto your chair when you click on it, because it's horrifying.

It's a counter, www.numberofabortions.org. tells you how many abortions in the U.S. I don't know if there's a Canadian one. U.S. this year. U.S. since Roe v.

Wade. Worldwide over the last however many years. How many since you clicked on this page. It's horrifying.

You know what some geniuses say? Well, the government's not commanding persons to murder their babies. The government doesn't command men to engage in bank robbery and murder people in that pursuit. It doesn't make it right.

If abortion is murder and it is murder, it ought to be condemned every step of the way. I think that in our, I don't know if it's a craving, desire maybe, longing for the government to do everything for us, we forgot that they're not doing what they're actually supposed to do. You get that? Again, when you look at Romans 13, the role of government is pretty delimited.

When you look at the Old Testament theocracy, and again, I'm not saying we're the New Testament theocracy, you can say, well, you know, Herman, I get it, but if you look at what God thinks of civil polity, it's a great place to go, the Old Testament theocracy, and ask, how does God approve of government run? It's a very small government. Israel was not populated with prisons. People who stole had to pay back.

I mean, there's just some things in there that, you know, far from being barbaric, makes our current system look absolutely and tragically barbaric. Brethren, what is the purpose of the civil government? It's to wield the sword. But no, no, what about this care and that plan and this subsidy and this program and this regulation?

I mean, it's gonna be the case where we can't flip our lights on. Well, we can't even buy the old light bulbs anymore. Whoever said they wanted the government involved in light bulbs or toilets? One of the libertarian economists made this observation.

If the federal government was given charge of the Sahara Desert, it would be void of sand in five years. We want them to do all this stuff except what they're supposed to do. I think Machen was a whole lot better on the ball than we are. He says the state exists for the repression of evildoers and the protection of individual liberty.

Man, that's so far gone from us today. No, the state exists for me, to make sure I can get whatever I need, to care for me in my young age, to care for me in my middle age, to care for me in my old... What happened to the family? There's a pecking order in God's word.

If you got problems, your first stop ought not to be to Canada services. It ought to be to your kids, or your parents, or your sisters, or your brother. And then the church. You see, we want the state to do everything except what the state's supposed to do.

How did we end up here? The state exists for the repression of evildoers and the protection of individual liberty. And finally, the church and murder. We ought to appreciate the connection between internal and external.

The commandment forbids abortion. The commandment forbids euthanasia. The commandment forbids the lack of death penalty. But the commandment also forbids hating your brother in your heart.

I guarantee you, you're not going to be able to go fix the abortion problem tomorrow, but there is one thing you can work on and probably gain a degree of success in. Stop hating your brother. Secondly, we need to appreciate that with reference to this issue of abortion, the people of God sometimes lack knowledge. That's why I preach the law on this particular Sabbath day, because I want you to understand, what does the text of scripture say?

I know these are unsavory topics. I know they're not happy topics. I know you don't run out of, you know, here today and say, man, I just feel a boost. I feel so invigorated.

You might, but it's for a different reason. I've come to embrace the thought that I need to pray against this particular sin. It's not one of those sermons where, you know, you leave skipping. I get that.

I understand that. The preparation of these kinds of sermons and other sermons are different as well. There's a heaviness. You look at numberofabortions.org and just kind of want to sit there and melt and say, why am I even here?

This is happening constantly, regularly. Since I clicked on this page, there's been 40 abortions. I mean, that stuff's difficult to deal with. But brethren, you need to know what the scripture says.

You need to understand God's mind on this. It's not mysterious. It's not esoteric. I saw a debate recently, a clip of one, with Ben Shapiro and a guy, Dave Rubin, I think it was.

And Ben said, you know, it's not that hard. The baby in the womb's a human being. You shouldn't kill it. He says, I think we complicate the discussion and the debate.

We make it a lot more difficult than it needs to be. If what's in that mother's womb is a human being, then you're not supposed to kill it. It really is that simple. As you get Christian, I don't know.

We can't explain justification by faith. We can't give any explanation in a six word. What are we doing? What is our purpose?

It's to shine His lights in a crooked and perverse generation. One man, Randy Alcorn, in his book says that the church, or the professing church, abortion is rampant within it as well. So the professing people of God have a problem with surgical abortion. They do it.

They engage in it. Davis on 2 Kings 16 verse 3. We looked at that on Wednesday night. Ahaz made his sons to pass through the fire.

Davis makes this observation. Of course, our abominations are often desacralized. In other words, it's not a religious context. We're not making these children pass through the fire to that particular idol.

He says, of course, our abominations are often desacralized. In my own country, or in my own land, our fertility rates are more often celebrated in university dormitories than at Asherah chapels, and Molech receives his due in sterile clinics rather than at religious shrines. He's right. It's just as bad.

I mean, just because we have, and I use this word, not, it's more ironic, because we have perfected the art of murder, doesn't make it okay. Just because we remove it out of the public eye, we take it to these particular clinics, we have it out of sight and out of mind, doesn't mean it's any less horrific than throwing babies into the arms of Bale as he stands in the fire. And I think that's one of the machinations of the devil himself. You see, he's not only a murderer, but he's a deceiver.

He's the father of lies. How many of you this past week thought once about abortion? Don't raise your hands. How many of you this past week prayed once for God to intervene with reference to abortion?

It's out of sight, out of mind. It happens in medical clinics. And we can't even use the word sterile anymore. I mean, didn't Gosnell show us that?

The feds came in to raid his abortion clinic. They were horrified. They're not pro-life Christians, but even God-hating pagans are repulsed by the way that that mad man, not mad because he's mentally out of it, mad because he's a baby murderer, conducted business. Disgusting.

And as well, the professing people of God and the voting booth. I hear this a lot. Well, you can't turn the pulpit into a political vehicle. I'm not, I just can't imagine for the life of me, that's how pastors get around that.

I just can't imagine how anybody could vote for Justin Trudeau. Now, again, if you did that, you're gonna go home and you're gonna probably have a problem with me. But here's a guy who celebrates abortion. You can't be in his liberal party unless you're pro-life.

Here's a guy who touts himself as a feminist and will not speak to the issue of sex-selective abortion. That's between a woman and her doctor. If you're a feminist and you're a champion of women, why don't you champion those little ones that are in their mothers' wombs? or Barack Obama, the man who died, or who did as a senator, vote against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. I remember the Gosnell situation.

I remember speaking about Gosnell. I'm not looking for credit here. When the feds did raid him, this was bad. And then as the years went by, everybody heard about what this monster Gosnell had done.

But I remember very specifically, because we were in Idaho, we were visiting Micah, and we were watching the news, and it was the week that Gosnell was in trial. That same week, Barack Obama spoke at a Planned Parenthood conference, and he ended his speech by saying, God bless Planned Parenthood. How can any believer who knows the fear of God vote for something like that? If I have betrayed my calling, if I have preached politics, then they can take me away today to jail.

That's fine. But you need to deal with that observation. How do you vote for that? Could you imagine voting for a pro-rape candidate?

Oh yeah, he believes rape's okay, but he's good with economics. A pro-pedophile candidate? Oh yeah, he's got this affinity for children, but boy, he's really good over here. Can we do that with a pro-murder candidate?

Really, brethren, we just need to think through these things. We need to have our minds informed. I have other things, but I don't want to keep going. It's unsavory, unhappy, but I would highlight the professing people of God and sexual immorality.

No good thing comes from sexual immorality. Do you know that abortion, a lot of times, is to cover up sexual immorality? Don't do that. Even pornography.

Jonathan Van Maren wrote an article on that particular topic. What does pornography do? It strips down inhibition. It helps us to overcome obstacles.

You know, when most of us were kids, there was a lot of steps involved to try to get pornography. Those of you who are kids have the potential in your pocket at any given time during the day. You start playing games with that, you start filling your minds with that, you say, well, that doesn't necessarily follow, that everybody who looks at porn is going to commit abortion. No, it doesn't necessarily follow, but I would suggest that those who look at porn will oftentimes take it to the next level.

They'll take the next step. It reduces inhibition, it breaks down boundaries. Ultimately, they may find themselves in that position of fornication, wherein a baby now arrives. And more often than not, abortion is the method to try and clean it up.

And that brings us finally to the consideration of the gospel.

The Gospel for the Guilty

I am not suggesting for a moment that persons who have had abortions or even abortionists are outside the saving power of the gospel. Isn't King David great? King David's great because he wrote many of the Psalms. King David led an exemplary life in terms of devotion to God.

But King David's also great because he shows us that with thee there is forgiveness, that thou mayest be feared. King David teaches us that one of the effective arguments in the private place is Psalm 2511. Pardon my iniquity, O Lord, for it is great. Imagine that as an argument that God would forgive you because it's sinful, it's bad.

Can you imagine going to the bank and saying, please cancel out my debt because I owe you a million dollars? You can do that with God. You can go to God. The Lord Jesus is a real Savior for real sinners.

The Lord Jesus bled for sinners. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. David rejoices in the Savior in Psalm 32. David rejoices in the Savior in Psalm 25.

David rejoices in Psalm 130. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. That passage that Steve referred to in Matthew 11, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden.

He doesn't mean physically. He doesn't mean you only got three hours in the rack last night. You've been burning the candle. He means those who are weary and heavy laden with sin.

Come and you will find rest. What did we see when we considered the baptism of Abigail Stair? What did we see of Emma Jones when we looked at Acts chapter 2? Who is Peter addressing?

Jerusalem sinners. What was the characteristic crime of Jerusalem sinners? The murder of the Lord of glory. If you have committed this sin, come to the Savior.

If you have ordered the commission of this sin, come to the Savior. Men get off all the time. Oh, those women, those women, those women. Behind every woman is a man writing a check.

Behind every woman is a man pushing her into that position. There are blessed exceptions. And you read of those men sometimes that are hurt and aching because their wives or their girlfriends went and murdered the babies. But for the most part, it's not just a woman thing.

And this is what drives us crazy as well. Well, it's a woman's issue. No, it's not. It's a theological issue.

For in the image of God, he made man. That's where we go. Brethren, there is forgiveness with God that he may be feared. If you have participated in this, then come.

Come to the Savior. Come to Jesus and know the rest that he alone gives. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. We thank you that it speaks not only to church life, but to society as well. We know that you are not just Lord over the church, but you are Lord over creation. that your Ten Commandments are binding upon all men in all places and every age.

And Father, we pray that you would arouse the church to preach the law, to preach the gospel, to preach the truth as it is in Jesus. And God in heaven, we cry out to you for mercy. We know that we live in a sin-sick world and society, a society that celebrates death, a society that hates Christ, a society that murders the most helpless among us. God, we pray that you would send forth your gospel, that you would save men, women, boys, and girls.

As one has well said, we want to have it such that such a sin, such a crime would even be unthinkable in a civilized society. We do pray now that you would go with us, we pray that you would help us to glorify you on this day, and we ask in Jesus' holy name, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1:26-27; 4:9; 9:6; 25:22-23
• Exodus 21:22-25; 22:2-3
• Leviticus 18:21; 19:17-18
• Numbers 35:31
• Deuteronomy 5:17; 6:4-5
• Job 10:8-12; 31:15
• Psalms 25:11; 32:1-2; 130:3-4; 139:13-16
• Proverbs 6:16-17; 8:36; 31:8
• Ecclesiastes 8:11
• Micah 6:8
• Zechariah 7:9-10
• Matthew 5:22; 5:43; 11:28
• Luke 2:12
• Acts 2:36-38
• Romans 13:1-4
• 2 Kings 16:3
• Ephesians 6:4
• James 3:9
• 1 John 3:15
• Revelation 21:8