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