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You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 20. Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday, 
so it's always a good reminder what the scriptures say concerning 
human life and the attack or assault upon it. So we're gonna 
look at the sixth commandment today, specifically Exodus chapter 
20 and verse 13, but I'll read the section beginning in verse 
one. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your 
God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 
of bondage. You shall have no other gods 
before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is 
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 
You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord 
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who 
hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love 
me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy. Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work. The seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you 
nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your 
female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within 
your gates. For in six days the Lord made 
the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, 
and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, 
that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your 
God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit 
adultery. You shall not steal. You shall 
not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not 
covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's 
wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, 
nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Now 
all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, 
the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when 
the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they 
said to Moses, you speak with us and we will hear, but let 
not God speak with us lest we die. And Moses said to the people, 
do not fear for God has come to test you and that his fear 
may be before you so that you may not sin. So the people stood 
afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God 
was. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our gracious 
God and Holy Father, we see a beautiful day out there. We see your handiwork 
demonstrated in the created order. We see your sovereign power and 
wisdom and glory manifested through the things made as well in the 
way that you uphold and you govern all your creatures and all their 
actions. And we rejoice that it's the Lord's Day. We rejoice 
that it's the Christian Sabbath, that we can reflect very specifically 
upon the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. We thank you for that one who 
is the way, the truth, and the life. and that no one comes to 
the Father except through Him. So we thank you for your sovereign 
grace. We thank you for election and predestination. We thank 
you for blood atonement at the cross and for the washing of 
all of our sins and transgressions and the imputation of Christ's 
righteousness. Certainly, so many things to 
be thankful for and to express praise to you for. We ask now 
that you would guide us by your Holy Spirit as we consider this 
sixth commandment. We pray that you would indeed 
forgive us and cleanse us from all remaining corruption. And 
may the word of God speak to our hearts. May it cause us to 
reflect upon these things in a way that is sober-minded, in 
a way that is responsible, in a way that responds in prayer 
and preaching. and ministering the gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. And God, be merciful to any here 
that are not saved, to any unbelievers. We pray that today would be the 
day of salvation, to convict them of their sin and show them 
the glory of the Redeemer, even the Lord Jesus Christ. And we 
pray in his most blessed name. Amen. Well, I remain convinced 
that ministers of the gospel must also preach the law. And 
if we don't preach the law, we're gutting our efforts to preach 
the gospel, because how do we know our sin and misery? The 
law of God tells us so. So if there's no law preaching, 
if the sinner isn't called out on his rebellion against God, 
he'll never see the reason or the rationale to come to the 
Savior. But as well, for the people of 
God, we need to be reminded what Scripture says. I know that a 
sermon like this will be written off as political. I don't think 
the law of God, though it has political implications, is politics. It is the law of God. It is His 
revealed mind and His word and His will for His creation. And as Reformed believers, we 
have a rich heritage when it comes to the law. We have what's 
called the threefold division of the law, and then we have 
what's called the three uses of the law. We'll look at the 
three uses of the law as we conclude the sermon later. But in terms 
of the threefold division of the law, what I just read to 
you is called the moral law of God. The moral law of God is 
a revelation of who God is. reveals to us what is unchanging 
as far as God is concerned. So the moral law remains. It 
is perpetual. It doesn't matter whether you're 
in the Old Covenant or the New Covenant. The moral law of God 
is binding. And then as we continue on in 
the book of Exodus, you see another division in the law in chapters 
21 to 23. We call that the judicial law. 
And those were the laws that were based on the principles 
of the 10 commandments to be fleshed out in civil society 
in old covenant Israel. So that's the judicial law. Our 
confession says that that judicial law has expired with the Commonwealth 
of Israel, but there is a general equity that does abide. And that's 
a, Another whole sermon all on its own. But then after Exodus 
23, you've got Exodus 24. This is great numbering here. 
Mathematician in your midst. Chapter 24 is the ratification 
of the covenant. Remember, they sprinkle the blood 
on the people. The people swear fidelity to 
Yahweh. And then you've got that third 
division in the law called the ceremonial, and that takes place 
from chapters 25 to 40. Basically, you have instruction 
on the building of the tabernacle, you have the instruction on the 
ordination of the priesthood, and then you see those things 
come to fruition. So the threefold division of 
the law, moral, judicial, and ceremonial. We would argue that 
the ceremonial is no longer binding on us in this new covenant era 
because Christ fulfilled it. We're not bound to keep the Jewish 
calendar. We're not bound to keep those 
food laws. Those things were fulfilled by 
our Lord and are no longer binding. As I said, judicial law has a 
general equity principle. There's some wisdom that we can 
glean from there. But the moral law does bind all men everywhere. Jew, Gentile, believer, unbeliever, 
Muslim, whatever place you hail from, the law of God speaks to 
you. So after that lengthy introduction, 
let's look specifically at chapter 20, verse 13, which is the sixth 
commandment. It's a very simple statement, 
you shall not murder. So first, I want to explain the 
command, and then secondly, apply the command. In terms of explanation, 
there's four things here. The definition, the prohibition, 
the exceptions, and the assumption. So first, the definition. Walter 
Kaiser makes the observation. While Hebrew possesses seven 
words for killing, The word used here appears only 47 times in 
the Old Testament. If any one of the seven words 
could signify murder, where factors of premeditation and intentionality 
are present, this is the verb. The Old King James has, you shall 
not kill. I'm not sure and I'm not convinced 
that's the best translation. Because killing, all murder is 
killing, but not all killing is murder. And we're gonna see 
that in just a moment. So the idea behind this is premeditation. It's malice aforethought. There's 
hatred in the heart of the person that engages in a violation of 
this particular commandment. Webster, in his famous 1828 dictionary, 
explains it as this, to kill a human being with premeditated 
malice. And that's not just made up by 
Noah Webster. Turn to Exodus chapter 21, specifically 
in verses 12 and 13. You see a distinction made between 
what we know to be murder, which is premeditated, which contains 
malice aforethought. It contains hatred and enmity, 
a desire to end somebody's life. Notice in 21, 12, he who strikes 
a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if 
he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, 
then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee." It's a distinction 
between murder and manslaughter. There's a distinction between 
murder, which contains hatred, premeditation, malice aforethought, 
lying in wait, versus manslaughter. It was an accidental situation 
that obtains in verse 13. In Deuteronomy 19, there's a 
longer explanation for these cities of refuge that exist in 
Israel so that one who engages in accidental homicide can go 
live there. And the biblical example is the 
axe and the axe head. If you lie in wait for your neighbor 
to come home, you're hiding in his bush, you have your axe in 
your hand, he gets out of his car and he walks up to the door, 
and you jump out because you loathe him, and you bury that 
axe in his head, you are a murderer. But if you are in your backyard 
and you're cutting wood and the axe head flies off and it finds 
its way into your neighbor's head, you're not a murderer. 
There was no malice aforethought, there was no hatred, there was 
no premeditation. Now, I explain all this because 
I'm convinced that when it comes to the realm of ethics, When 
the Christian church responds to the barbarities of our day 
and age, if we don't think biblically and we don't think clearly, we're 
going to look like morons. We're going to look like dummies 
and we're going to be bested by the godless heathen in our 
generation that have utter disregard for human life. So it's very 
important that we understand definition. It's very important 
that we understand distinction. It's very important that we understand 
exceptions. It's very important that we understand 
something so simple as all killing, or all murder is killing, but 
not all killing is murder. If we don't get that, we're going 
to be accused of not really being pro-life. You've probably heard 
it. How can you be against abortion but pro-death penalty? Because 
I believe the Bible. That's why the Bible is against 
abortion, but the Bible upholds the death penalty. And if you're 
pressed by a pagan on that, you need to be able to explain it. 
So distinction and definition and articulation are crucial. 
So note then, after definition we see prohibition. It's very 
simple, but I think it contains the entirety of man. You shall 
not murder. The external act obviously means 
don't stop somebody's heart from beating. Don't stop somebody's 
blood from flowing. Don't stop somebody's lungs from 
being able to suck in air because of your premeditation, because 
of your hatred, or because of your malice aforethought. So 
there's an external dimension that we would all agree with, 
that in order for murder to take place, there has to be a victim 
who no longer lives. You see, the Bible is more comprehensive 
than that. It speaks not only to the external 
act, but it speaks to the inner heart. And we'll see that later, 
because I'm pretty confident, or at least I hope and pray, 
that nobody in our church is about abortion, or going for 
abortion, or that nobody is encouraging that practice, or nobody's encouraging 
euthanasia. But I think one of the things 
that the church has problems with is what Jesus addresses 
in Matthew 5. If you have unrighteous hatred 
in your heart for a brother, you're guilty of the Sixth Commandment, 
violating the Sixth Commandment. If you engage in character assassination, 
you call your brother fool, raka, empty head. If you destroy him 
in that particular manner, then that is a violation or transgression 
of the Sixth Word. So we'll look at that again later. 
And when I say later, we're not talking two hours. You know, 
don't think, okay, we're going to be here all afternoon. I will 
try to remember brevity and lucidity. So we've got the external act, 
but we've got the internal disposition, the hatred of others. Leviticus 
19, the great love chapter in the Old Testament. You're not 
supposed to hate your neighbor. It wasn't okay in the Old Testament. It wasn't acceptable in the Old 
Testament. The antitheses that Jesus engages 
in in the Sermon on the Mount is not pitting himself against 
Moses. It's pitting himself and Moses 
against the Pharisaic misinterpretation. When Jesus says, you have heard 
that it was said to those of old, but I say to you, He's not 
saying that Moses got it wrong. He's saying that the religious 
leaders of Old Covenant Israel got it wrong. And they've been 
perpetuating this madness that insofar as we don't stop somebody's 
heart from beating, then we're not really murderers. That's 
why Jesus corrects them in the antithetical statements there 
in the Sermon on the Mount. Unwarranted anger against another 
person. The assassination of another 
person's character. Calvin says the hand indeed gives 
birth to murder, but the mind, when infected with anger and 
hatred, conceives it. So it's a comprehensive approach 
that we're looking at. Now that brings us then thirdly 
to what I'll call the exceptions. And it's unfortunate that we 
actually have to deal with this because if murder involves, by 
necessity and by definition, malice of forethought, some type 
of hatred, some sort of a premeditation, these exceptions that I'm going 
to give you, they contain none of that. And the first is the 
death penalty. The death penalty. Again, brethren, 
why do we affirm the death penalty and why do we abominate abortion? 
Because the Bible tells us so. Whoever sheds man's blood, Genesis 
9, 6, by man, that's the agency of execution. By man, his blood 
will be shed. And the theological rationale 
is given, for in the image of God, he made man. That's not 
just an Old Testament thing, but let's just say for a moment 
it's just an Old Testament thing. It's part of the Noahic Covenant. 
The Noahic Covenant is a common grace covenant, not a special 
redemptive grace covenant. There's no end to the Noahic 
Covenant. There's no expiry date. It is still binding. It is still God's purpose and 
plan not to destroy the earth while there is seed time and 
harvest. God Almighty entered into that 
and God Almighty upholds that. But you've got the clear statement 
in Romans chapter 13, verses 1 to 4. Let every soul be subject 
to the governing authority, for there is no authority except 
from God, and the one who exists is established by God. And then 
Paul goes on to detail that the primary emphasis with reference 
to civil government is the sword that the magistrate wields. And 
brethren, I'd argue just from that passage, government should 
be tiny. It should be miniscule. It should 
not be cradle-to-grave assistance for every jot and tittle of your 
life. You know what the government's 
supposed to do, at least according to the Bible? It is to punish 
criminal offenders in the civil polity, and it is to defend the 
civil polity from outside foreign invasion. That's it. What about this three-letter 
organization? Get rid of it. What about this 
particular agency? Get rid of it. What about this 
particular group? Get rid of them. We shouldn't 
have to have that, but I digress. Sorry. He's so political. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, death penalty. Watson says, to kill an offender 
is not murder, but justice. A private person sins if he draws 
the sword. A public person sins if he puts 
up the sword. It's one of the things that disgusts 
me, or it should disgust us all. We don't even expect a government 
to talk about the things they should actually do anymore. We 
just want them to spend a whole bunch of money on whatever our 
pet projects are. No, just do the job that you've 
been given by God. Defend me from ISIS and defend 
me from the criminal thug downtown. That's it. Seriously. It's not even on the horizon. 
Death penalty? What are you, one of those extremists? Those right-wingers? Yeah. Yeah. It's funny how everything's 
written off now because you're a right-winger. That's the bad 
and the most vicious crime. In a nation that celebrates the 
death of the unborn, in a nation that celebrates barbarically 
the death of the elderly and the infirm, There was an article 
not a week ago, two weeks ago in the Federalist on how the 
discussion now in Canada is do we actually engage in made by 
the harvesting of their organs? Or is it okay just to harvest 
the organs after we off them? That's actually a discussion 
right now. And what a unique situation. I mean, we kill people, 
take their organs to save people? If we're rabbits, or lab rats, 
or worse, cats, as I look at my brother Cam, that conduct 
is perfectly acceptable, but image bearers of the living and 
the true God are to be treated with dignity and with love and 
with respect. Why? Because the Bible tells 
us so. The death penalty is not murder. Now, brethren, let me qualify 
this. I'm not sure I want the sword 
in the hand of the current magistrate, just so we all know. There's 
got to be some serious checks and balances. But I think that 
if we actually had a functioning magistrate that engaged in these 
sorts of activities, perhaps it would push us with a little 
bit more pressure to vote for the right people. The thought 
of giving the current Prime Minister the sword to wield, I'm pretty 
sure he'd come after us. That's a horrifying thought. 
So, you know, let's be careful what we ask for and let's realize 
there's a lot of stuff that needs to happen before we're in a functioning 
polity where the death penalty is practiced responsibly. So 
I'm not just saying, you know, let's just vote for Justin to 
get the sword. No, I'm not there. And I'm not 
necessarily advocating that. Watson again says, a magistrate 
ought not to let the sword of justice rust in the scabbard, 
as he shall not let the sword be too sharp by severity, so 
neither should the edge of it be blunted by too much levity. 
You don't want a severe magistrate that's executing people because 
they stole the Snickers from Walmart, but you don't want too 
much levity. There's been horrific examples 
of that in the Western world. Persons that came in illegally, 
persons that weren't dealt with properly end up going on to commit 
vicious crimes against the civil polity. That's levity, brethren, 
and that's a bad thing. That is not a help for society. So the death penalty. The second 
exception, again, not an exception, I'm just using that sort of term. 
There's no premeditation, there's no malice of forethought in a 
legitimate war. Again, huge sermon series on 
what defines or constitutes a legitimate war. I mean, I'm sure we'd all 
disagree, at least in some jots and tittles, but that the Bible 
teaches the legitimacy of war, we have to all agree. God commands 
holy war in Deuteronomy chapter 7, and military officers are 
looked at very favorably in the New Testament documents. In other 
words, John the Baptist, when he's preaching repentance, does 
not preach pacifism to the soldiers. He preaches contentedness with 
their wages and make sure you don't go out and extort and take 
more than what is owed you. With reference to Romans 13 again, 
the whole concept of the sword, not only to punish criminal doers 
in civil society, but to punish foreign invaders that want to 
come in and upbraid that civil society. Turretin says, from 
the very fact that Christ did not take away but confirmed 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. Again, the legitimacy aspect, 
I mean, we could argue about wars in the 20th century, wars 
in the 21st century. Are they legit? Are they right? 
Are they just? I've got opinions and views on 
that, but that's outside the scope of this sermon. The point 
is, does the Bible authorize it? And yes, it does. And then 
the third is self-defense. I realize that victimhood is 
celebrated all over the world today. Probably nowhere more 
than in the Western world. Being a victim and liking it. 
Being a victim and then being an influencer based on it. The 
Bible is very pro-victim. It's not pro-criminal, it's pro-victim. While you're there in Exodus 
20, look at Exodus 22. Exodus 22. And the idea of self-defense 
is assumed by Jesus in an analogy that he uses concerning his coming, 
or concerning the devil. If the strong man knew the hour 
that the thief would come, he wouldn't be asleep in his bed. He'd be at the door with his 
gun. Jesus just uses that as a familiar, 
simple sort of a thing to illustrate a particular spiritual point. 
Now, I'm not saying the point is go get yourself a gun. That's 
not what I'm saying. But I'm saying that in the hands 
of Jesus, the reality, the inherent-ness of self-defense is such that 
he can appeal to that to make a spiritual lesson. Now look 
at Exodus 22, dealing with property rights, laws concerning property. Verse one, if a man steals an 
ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore 
five ox and four an ox and four sheep for a sheep. Now verses 
two and three are very important for our understanding with reference 
to self-defense. If the thief is found breaking 
in and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt 
for his bloodshed. Do you hear that? It says what 
it says there. The qualification coming in verse 
3. We'll look at that in just a moment. But if the thief is 
found breaking in and he is struck so that he dies, there shall 
be no guilt for his bloodshed. You know as well as I do, brethren, 
if that happened today, you'd probably get sued by the victim 
family or by the criminal's family. My darling son was there for 
cultural enrichment. He was just trying to help himself 
on how to be a better guy. And this homeowning thug ended 
his innocent life. You'd probably go to prison. 
Not according to biblical law. He comes in, and there's an exchange, 
and he dies in that exchange. There's no guilt for you as the 
homeowner. Now, verse 3 qualifies it. It tells us, but if it's 
daylight, then there will be some responsibility on your part. Notice in verse 3, if the sun 
has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. Notice, he should make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall 
be sold for his theft. You ask the question, what's 
the difference? The difference is, if the sun is shining, you're 
better able to assess his motivation. You're better able to assess 
why he's in your kitchen. If it's dark and everybody's 
asleep and some guy wanders into your house, you don't know why 
he's there. It may be to steal a ham out 
of your fridge, but it may be to rape or kill your wife and 
daughter. So when you don't know that, 
the sun is not shining, you can't assess what's happening, and 
there's an exchange and he dies in that exchange, there is no 
guilt on the homeowner. But if the sun has risen, you 
can better assess the situation. You use that force necessary 
to keep him from stealing your ham. That doesn't mean you cut 
his throat. It doesn't mean you shoot him 
in the head. It means you stop him from doing that. As well, 
when the sun is shining, the supposition is that neighbors 
will be awake. You can call out. You can cry 
out. You can say, let's get this guy 
and stop him from stealing my ham. The point is, is that self-defense, 
if in the midst of it, you end up killing somebody, you shouldn't 
be held criminally responsible for that or liable for that. 
So with reference to murder, it includes malice, aforethought, 
premeditation, hatred of some sort. And then the assumption. So we've seen the definition, 
the prohibition, the exceptions. What's the assumption behind 
the command? The assumption behind the command 
is that we're not rats. The assumption behind the command 
is that we're not cats. The assumption behind the command 
is that we're not rabbits. We're men and women created in 
the image of God most high. You see that in the book of Genesis. 
What distinguishes in terms of the created order the creature? It's the one group who's created 
in God's image that has rational capacity, that can dialogue with 
God, that can hear commands from God, that can break commands 
from God. The cat's not addressed by God 
in terms of the response to the tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil. That's just not gonna happen. The birds aren't told 
how they should fly and where they should. We're different. Mankind is image bearer of God. Now there's debates on that proposition, 
but for the moment, just accept the generality. God made man 
in his image. And what I mean by that is, in 
what does the image of God consist? It's not the point of this part. But when you look at the Bible, 
Man is made in the image of God, Genesis 1, 26 to 28. Genesis 
5 indicates that even post-fall, man is in the image of God. And 
it's not just man, adult, mature man, Adam, being able to receive 
commands and being able to operate and function in the garden. We 
see in God's word that at every stage of man's life, he's considered 
with that dignity, with that sanctity. You see it in the womb. You see it in Psalm 139. You 
see it in the book of Genesis. The twins come out. You see David, 
when he's tracing back his native depravity, he says, in sin my 
mother conceived me. It's not saying the act itself 
was sin, but as soon as there was a me, David says, which is 
true in the womb, I was sinful. So the babies are protected. 
We only see a text that speaks specifically to the protection 
of the unborn, but we see it in children. What was a frequent 
prohibition to the covenant people of Israel, which is odd. Odd 
that they'd have to be prohibited from this, but hey, that's the 
nature of sin. Don't throw your children into 
the fire. Isn't that just a natural part 
of parenting? I don't think I ever got a father-of-the-year 
coffee cup, but I think I always knew, don't throw the little 
ones in the fire. Whatever else we're supposed 
to do with these kids, I think keeping them alive is probably 
right up there at the top. What was the point? The Israelites 
are surrounded by the pagans. And the pagans take their babies, 
and they throw them in the arms of their gods, and they bounce 
out and into the fire. So what do the Israelites do? 
Well, they do that, and then there's rain on their crops. 
So why don't we do that, too? They ape the nations around them. 
This is one of the reasons for the holy war imperative in Deuteronomy 
7. Get them out of the land. Why, 
God? Because if you don't, you're 
gonna be worshiping with them. If you don't, you're gonna be 
bowing with them. If you don't, you're gonna be 
casting your little children into the arms of Molech with 
them. God knew exactly what was going to happen with Old Covenant 
Israel. When Mark mentions AD 70, I'm 
sure they were surprised, but not that surprised. It happened 
to the northern kingdoms, it happened to the southern kingdom, 
and they were under that section of Deuteronomy's law. You transgress the covenant, 
God will break you and decimate you. So children are protected. that the handicapped are protected. Oh, this person's handicapped, 
so therefore there's no contributions in society. What? Remember that scene when 
Jesus is passing by Jericho and blind Bartimaeus knows that Jesus 
is coming and he cries out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy 
on me. I guess all the people around them had that sort of 
utilitarian thinking. Well, he doesn't want to hear 
you. He doesn't have time for you, 
blind Bartimaeus, beggar. Jesus doesn't care about you. 
So what does Bartimaeus do? He screams louder. Jesus, thou 
son of David, have mercy on me. What does the text say? The text 
says that Jesus stopped, went over to Bartimaeus and said, 
what would you have me to do? So the handicapped are protected 
by God's law. The sick in the church, protected 
by God's law. Older people, we're just so barbaric 
in our generation that these things go unchecked and unnoticed. 
You young guys in a bus, not that I'm sure any of you ride 
buses, but if you find yourself in a bus, get up and let the 
woman sit or let the old man sit. That's what God's law says, 
rise in the presence of the hoary head. Oh no, not us. Who cares about any of these 
groups? God does. God legislates, God commands, 
God gives us detailed law on how to respect each of these 
people groups. They're all made in this image? 
So that's the assumption behind the text. And then with reference 
to animals. Brethren, the righteous man treats 
his animal righteously. I'm not an advocate of just going 
out and clubbing animals because it's fun. If that's fun to you, 
you might need some help, seriously. But to kill an animal to eat? To listen to these weirdos in 
PETA? No, God says you can eat. He gave you the teeth, the digestive 
system, the appetite. It's intriguing, right? These 
cave paintings, never a salad, never broccoli, but always a 
beast. Man has dignity over the animals. And that in a society like ours, 
we care more about certain species than human babies? There's a 
point where we should just hang our heads in shame. Like, what's 
happened? Why? Why can't a politician stand 
up and say, I oppose abortion? But it's perfectly acceptable 
for another one to say, oh, I welcome it at every step of the way. What? The one is politics and 
the other is not? It's disgusting is what it is. Now in terms of application. 
You're probably thinking, well, we just had 20 minutes of application. 
First of all, the general application, the unlawful killing of others 
and the unrighteous hatred of others. Again, we'll visit that 
in a few moments. But there are horrors being practiced 
in our day. Euthanasia, I already mentioned 
it. There's 40 million people in this country. There's 40 million 
people in a country that has gas, that has natural gas, oil, 
food. I don't get it. What's driving 
this desire to kill people? We're going to run out of food? 
That comes through moron management politicians that don't know what 
they're doing. It's not because the earth doesn't 
yield. It's not because the ground isn't fertile. It's not because 
there aren't farmers out there willing to do some work. Brethren, 
euthanasia is horrifying. Medical assistance in dying. You know what that should mean? 
I'll get you a blanket and help you and give you some medicine 
to try to remedy your situation, not speed it along in the opposite 
direction. Medical assistance in dying? 
It sounds so innocuous and it sounds so good. It's vicious, 
it's vile, it's wretched. God alone is sovereign over man's 
life. That's it. Jesus holds the keys 
of Hades and death according to Revelation. It's not up to 
you. It's not up to your doctor. It certainly shouldn't be up 
to your government. It's horrifying, the very notion 
of it. And then it working hand in hand 
with this whole organ donation thing. It's just ghoulish and 
vicious. And we're targeting the elderly 
and the infirm. Maybe the elderly and the infirm 
need a hug. Maybe they need some encouragement. 
Maybe they need some love. Not a pill or a shot or some 
method to check them out. It's wretched. It's well. We've got abortion. The nature 
of a pre-born baby is that he's an image bearer. There's dignity. Turn to Exodus 21. It's good 
we stayed there. There's specific legislation 
dealing with abortion in verses 22 to 25. You see, this is an accidental 
abortion. not a state-sanctioned abortion 
by a doctor. Notice in verse 22, if men fight 
and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, 
yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly 
as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the 
judges determine. Pretty simple scenario. A couple 
of rocket scientists get into a fight out in the streets. One 
of their wives is standing there, she's pregnant. In the midst 
of the exchange, she gets struck. and the baby, literally the children, 
come out. That's the language that's used. 
Some translations have miscarries. Miscarries is not the Hebrew 
word here. There's a Hebrew word for miscarry, 
that's not it. The language is the language 
of birth. The language is the language 
of the potential birth of babies, yet her children come out. premature birth. She gets smacked, 
there's a bit of trauma to the body, she goes into labor, and 
she has a baby. Notice, look at the text, if 
men fight, hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth 
prematurely, or her children come out, yet no harm follows. To the mother or to the children 
that just came out. See, they're protected by biblical 
law here. They're covered by God through 
Moses, giving us a judicial application for the civil polity based on 
the sixth commandment. I'd say that's a general equity 
principle that we'd be wise to import from the old covenant 
into our situation. But then notice, so he shall 
be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him, 
probably a monetary fine. You messed with my wife, you 
jeopardized my wife, my wife went into such a bit of trauma 
that the babies came out, so I want money. But notice how 
verse 23 continues, but if any harm follows, what's in view? The mother and the children who 
came out. Again, this is accidental. These 
morons didn't get on each other for the purpose of striking one 
of their wives so that the babies in her womb would die. That's 
not it. This is an accident. So from 
a lesser to the greater standpoint, what do you do with a government 
that says it's okay? or doctors who swear the Hippocratic 
oath to preserve life, but attack it in its most vulnerable state. 
So notice in verse 23, but if any harm follows to the mother 
of children, 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. The law of retaliation applies 
to that man who accidentally struck a pregnant woman and that 
pregnant woman's children came out and harm followed either 
to her or those children. That man is liable to execution. So we got some huge problems 
going on in society today. The murder of the preborn is 
heinous. It is shockingly cruel and inhumane. It is a practice that indicates 
that we generally, I don't mean you and I specifically, we generally 
hate Christ. It's really a spiritual thing. 
Christ speaking his wisdom in Proverbs 8 says, whoever hates 
me loves death. How do you describe a death culture? 
How do you describe a culture that goes after babies in the 
womb, that goes after old people in the home, that goes after 
the infirm, the mentally infirm? Really? Maybe some fresh air 
and a steak and some exercise would be a help to that guy who's 
got some mental issues. Help! Doesn't have to be a shot 
in the arm. Doesn't have to be however they 
do it nowadays. As well, it is an alignment with 
the devil. Remember Jesus' famous words 
in John chapter 8 to the religious leaders in Israel. He says, you 
are of your father, the devil. Could you imagine Jesus getting 
away with something like that today? The church would excommunicate. You can't say that. That's not 
nice. That's mean, Jesus. You can't say that. Well, He's 
Jesus. He can say whatever He wants 
to say. It's not sin or denial of Himself, obviously, within 
the context of His holy will. He says, you are of your father, 
the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. Well, 
what are those desires, Jesus? He was a murderer and a liar 
from the beginning. When you see a society saturated 
with the blood of innocence, it is not good in that society, 
spiritually speaking. I don't think you need a major 
Bible degree to come up with that. Calvin 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. He's right. I would 
argue that I think I'd rather be murdered in a field than in 
my living room. I wouldn't want to be murdered 
in a field, to be honest with you, but given the option, my 
living room is my living room. I don't want my throat cut in 
my living room. Again, don't want it cut in the 
field, but I can see it a bit more. So what's Calvin's logic? You're going into the womb of 
a mother and killing the baby. Now fetus means unborn baby. They like to hide behind the 
Latin because that depersonalizes everything. It's always about 
depersonalizing. We need to personalize their 
babies, their image bearers. They're going to go through the 
gestation period and come out the same as they were in, but 
a little bit stronger and a little bit more in terms of how they 
grow and mature. It's a wretched practice, a wretched, 
wretched, vile practice. And I would suggest the neglect 
of capital punishment. I would suggest that when the 
magistrate fails to carry out his primary task, what happens 
in a society like that? Violence flourishes. There shouldn't 
be too big of a leap in understanding what happens at the flood to 
what happens in the covenant with Noah. What's the pre-flood 
conditions like? I don't mean ecologically. I 
don't mean firmament. I mean ethically. What was wrong 
with the earth? It was corrupt and filled with 
violence exceedingly, is what it says. So when Noah and his 
family emerged from the ark, God says, here's the sword. to make sure that those pre-flood 
conditions ethically don't obtain post-flood. In other words, a 
man who's a menace to society up to and including murder is 
a man who should be excluded from society up to and including 
the death penalty. See, what happens prior to the 
flood is wretched. And I speak in the manner of 
men. It provoked God. Again, the Genesis 6 language 
uses that analogical predication, speaking in the manner of men, 
to relent that he had made man on the earth. And there's no 
change in God. He doesn't move from point A 
to point B, but it's to show us or demonstrate to us God's 
holiness and his righteousness and just how corrupt and messy 
the earth had become. So post-flood, here's the sword, 
Noah, and here's the command. Whoever sheds man's blood, by 
man his blood will be shed. For in the image of God, he made 
man. That is the mandate. Ersinus 
in his commentary on the Heidelberg says, the magistrate therefore 
may be guilty of doing wrong, not only in being cruel and unjustly 
severe, but also in being too lenient in granting permission 
to certain persons to injure others. You've got a responsibility 
to curtail the wicked deeds of vile men. That's the job, not 
regulating my conduct from cradle to grave. Guess what? I'm not 
going to go into a school and shoot them up. It's just not 
going to happen. So why the fascination with regulating 
me and all the while these wretched, reprobate, murdering, horrible 
people? are allowed to continue on. We've 
got problems. That's all I'll say with politics. 
At the end of the scenario, there is a positive aspect of the command 
as well. And here I'll cite Westminster 
Larger, because they leave no stone unturned. If you ever want 
some good commentary on the Ten Commandments, read the Westminster 
Larger Catechism. Number 135. What are the duties 
required in the Sixth Commandment? The duties required in the Sixth 
Commandment are all careful studies and lawful endeavors to preserve 
the life of ourselves and others by resisting all thoughts and 
purposes, subduing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations, 
and practices, which tend to the unjust taking away the life 
of any, by just defense thereof against violence, patient bearing 
of the hand of God, quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit, 
a sober use of meat, drink, physics, sleep, labor, and recreations, 
by charitable thoughts, love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, 
kindness, peaceable, mild, and courteous speeches and behavior, 
forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and 
forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for evil, comforting and 
succoring the distressed, and protecting and defending the 
innocent." Some positive stuff there. Ought to keep you busy 
in the course of a day, isn't it? It's not just about don't 
stop somebody's heart from beating, but try to promote people's hearts 
to beat properly. Look after yourself. Look after 
your family. Look after the defenseless. Look after the babies. Look after 
the old folks. Look after the infirm. Look after 
people positively. The people of God should be very 
pro-life. Jesus says, I am the way, the 
truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through 
me. So in conclusion, you need to understand the wickedness 
of the crime. John Murray makes this observation in his Principles 
of Conduct. Nothing, I think he's right, 
you can always find an exception, but I think he's right in this 
general statement, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people 
or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of 
life. What's the litmus test in a society? Well, we hate babies, we hate 
old people, we hate infirm people. We really love seals though. 
And if you club a seal, man, you're going to prison forever. 
That's got problems. Again, I'm not into clubbing 
seals for sport. But if it's you or that seal, 
club it. If it's you got to eat, then club it. That's the marching 
order, the pecking order. We got problems. I would suggest, 
then, with reference to the uses of the law. I mentioned the threefold 
division. This would be a great time for 
a quiz. But we're not going to do that. Remember, moral law, 
judicial law, and then ceremonial law. Well, the three uses of 
the law. The first is called the civil 
use. or sometimes it's called the 
political use. See, back in the Puritan era and before that, 
they didn't cringe at the mention of politics and somehow think 
that you were going to burst into flames if you set it in 
a pulpit. So the civil use, basically, is that God's law functions in 
such a way to restrain the wickedness of men. Right? It's there. It's a parameter or a hedge. And it just restrains man, the 
civil or political use. This is where I would hope we'd 
see some assistance instead of some active opposition in terms 
of government. I love what Machen says. He says, 
the state exists for the repression of evildoers and the protection 
of individual liberty. That statement is so far wild 
to the church, let alone the world. Individual liberty? What 
are we, right-wing extremists? Listen again to mention, the 
state exists for the repression of evildoers and the protection 
of individual liberty. That's your function. You had 
one job. Not to wipe my nose when I was 
a baby. Not to school me when I was a toddler. Not to medicate 
me when I was a young man. Not to look after me. There's 
family to do that. There's personal responsibility 
and self-government. Why do we dump everything upon 
the feds? Well, I realize they want it, 
but we shouldn't want them to want it. He also said, the civil 
government, and this is very important, is not intended to 
produce blessedness or happiness. They're not. You know, remember 
during COVID, we love you and we hope you are safe. I have 
a mother to do that. I traditionally send out a notification 
to remind us of the time change. And I have a dear brother in 
the church that reminds me that I sound like the government when 
I'm doing that. And I must agree, and yet I do 
it anyway. There's something there. He said 
the civil government is not intended to produce blessedness or happiness, 
but intended to prevent blessedness or happiness from being interfered 
with by wicked men. Civil use of the law. God gave 
it, it's good, it functions the way he intended to restrain the 
wretched heart of man. But then there's the pedagogical, 
the child tutor use. I mentioned this in the introduction. 
If we don't tell people that murder is wrong and sin, and 
you're gonna go to hell and be punished by God eternally as 
a result, why would they come to Jesus? Why would they see 
their need for Jesus? You cannot miss that inextricable 
link between the knowledge of sin and the knowledge of Jesus. 
For by the law, Romans 3.20, no flesh will be justified in 
His sight, But by the law is the knowledge of sin. We've got 
to preach the law. We've got to preach the sixth 
commandment. We've got to preach the first, the second, the third, 
the fourth, the fifth. We've got to preach the seventh 
through the tenth. We've got to preach the law so 
that man sees his misery and man sees his need for the Lord 
of glory. And then there is what we call 
the third use of the law, the normative use. And that simply 
means that when we're justified freely by God's grace through 
faith in Jesus, we now have the Holy Spirit, we're now living 
the life of sanctification. Where do we get the definition 
for sanctification? Is it what we feel? Is it the 
Mormon burning in the bosom? Is it what the elders? It's what 
God says in his law. The normative use of the law 
is that we look at the law as a revelation of who God is and 
what God desires of us. So we don't commit idolatry. Hopefully we don't blaspheme. 
We keep the Sabbath day holy. We are subordinate to those authorities 
in our lives. We should pray for each other 
on that one. for sure, because it's probably a tough one. I'm 
not talking about the kids here. It may be tough for you too, 
but when you grow up a little bit, you'll realize that that 
fifth commandment and its political application at times can be a 
struggle. Murder, adultery, theft, lies, covetousness. We need to 
preach that. for the conversion of sinners, 
but when sinners are converted by God's grace, we need to see 
those things as a pattern, as an expression, as a definition 
of what sanctification is. Jesus prays in the high priestly 
prayer, sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth. It 
is a means in the hand of the Spirit to move us into a direction 
of good living. So I wanted to end with Matthew 
5 in a specific application for the church. Matthew 5, and a 
specific application for the church. Matthew 5, 21, you have 
heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, 
and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I 
say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause 
shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 
Rachah, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 
you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Now, there's a 
lot to be said here. I'm not going to say a lot. I 
simply want to remind you of another text that we see in 1 
John. Whoever hates his brother is 
a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life 
abiding in him. We're going to see tonight in 
Philippians 2, Paul's admonition and exhortation of the church 
to maintain unity. Again, I hope nobody that heard 
this sermon this morning is planning an abortion for Thursday. or 
is gonna tell their mom, yeah, I think it's time, I'll take 
you to the hospital, we'll get you made. I hope that's not in 
the hearts of anybody here. But if your heart's like my heart, 
if your heart has remaining corruption, admonitions to not hate your 
brother, admonitions to be kind to your brother, admonitions 
to be loving to your brother, those are admonitions we continually 
need to hear. So that's an application for 
the church. And one other application for 
the church is in Psalm 119. You might be wondering, why didn't 
Mark read that part of Psalm 119? So I think in Psalm 119, 
there's three statements, at least I've used it this way, 
as a help on how to navigate in a situation like we find ourselves 
in. So Mark read the section that 
contains verse 158 in Psalm 119. I see the treacherous and am 
disgusted because they do not keep your word. That's a legitimate 
expression in light of abortion, in light of euthanasia, in light 
of a magistrate that's more concerned with making sure that a child 
has a hot meal at school. And again, I'm not saying children 
should starve to death. That's not the implication. Then 
whether or not a criminal offender, a murderer runs amok in society, 
I think disgust is legit. And that the psalmist, under 
inspiration by the spirit, Jesus is disgusted. Yeah, I stand with 
him there. But then look back at 136, another response. Rivers of water 
run down from my eyes because men do not keep your law. It's 
legit to shed some tears on behalf of the babies. It's legit to 
shed some tears on behalf of the old folks and the infirm. 
It's legit to shed some tears when we're faced with ghoulishness 
and lawlessness and reprobate behavior that goes completely 
unpunished. But then there's one other. Notice 
in verse one, I'm sorry, verse 53. Verse 53. Indignation. It means anger. These sermons are not pleasant. 
I doubt you're thinking, well, this is a great up-building sermon. 
Man, I'm so happy. Let's go eat soup. It's a great 
way to start a beautiful Sunday. I mean, the sun is shining. He 
comes and brings black clouds upon us. It's tough, brethren. 
How do we deal with it? Disgust is legit. Indignation 
is legit. Tears are legit. Prayers that 
come as a result of that is legit. The proclamation of God's holy 
law is legit. Witnessing and testifying and 
telling sinners what the scriptures say is legit. We ultimately know 
that the most legit response for it all is the gospel of our 
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have blessed forgiveness in 
the Son of Man. We have blood atonement. We have 
the riches of grace poured upon us. I'm not so naive as to think 
that everybody sitting here has a perfectly spotless and holy 
and pure background. How did we get to where we're 
at? Through the blood of the Lamb. And that gospel, my brothers 
and sisters, is what this generation desperately needs to hear. I've 
already said, preach the law for sure, But preach the cross. Preach the cross in its efficacy. 
Preach the cross in its glory. Preach the cross, the one on 
the cross, who lived for us, who died for us, and who was 
raised again for us, such that even that thief on the cross 
would enter into paradise that very day, based on what Jesus 
had accomplished. So we need to know these things, 
but we need to have a good biblical response, and you will never, 
ever be wrong to preach Jesus and Him crucified. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father in heaven, thank You for Your Word, and 
thank You that there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be 
feared. And we pray that this gospel would be preached throughout 
the earth today, that it would run swiftly, that it would be 
glorified, and as well, that it would be the balm of Gilead 
for the needy souls of Your people. May we be encouraged of the fresh 
view of our Lord and Savior, that He didn't die for potential 
sinners, He didn't die for halfway sinners, but He died for an Apostle 
Paul, the chief of sinners, who wanted to persecute the very 
Church of God itself. And He's died for us, those of 
us who've committed grievous sins against a gracious and a 
holy God. We rejoice in the blood of Jesus 
Christ, your Son. We ask now that you would go 
with us, help us to have a good Lord's day, to reflect upon your 
word and your works and may it be unto edification in our families 
and as brothers and sisters. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord, amen. We can turn in your hymn books 
as we end our service this morning with 572. 572, we'll stand as 
we sing together. As it was in the beginning, is 
now, and ever shall be, world without end. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you 
all. Amen. Well, please be seated for a 
brief time of meditation.