Galen Call's Sermon Library
"The Ten Commandments: You Shall not Murder" - October 18, 1998
Thank you, Mark and Roxanne. It's good to see you both here today and have yours, I guess. Well, today is a special day in the life of Phil Thompson. I don't see him in this service, but if you see him around the church, you can let him know that you know the truth about him. He is pondering up there the things of the past. What life used to be like before he went over the hill at 40 years of age, we congratulate him. Phil, of course, is still on our staff, even though he's not our youth pastor, and of course, now you know why he's not the youth pastor. Phil is working with us part-time and evangelism, and we're glad for that ministry that God has called him to. Well, I invite you to open your Bible with me, please, to the book of Exodus and today to the 20th chapter again as we continue looking at the Ten Commandments. And today, verse 13, which is the sixth commandment and says, "You shall not murder." If you were to list the Ten Commandments in order of the frequency with which you broke them, you personally broke them. I would make two predictions. First of all, that you would keep your list private. Secondly, that murder would be at the bottom of the list. It is the best known of the commandments, perhaps, and yet it is the one that we all feel the most content about. A commentator named Byers said, "Thou shalt not murder bothers most of us about as much as if God had commanded, Thou shalt not spit on the moon." It just seems so far out of the realm of possibility that we would ever be guilty of breaking this commandment. But you and I live in a culture that has been called the culture of death. On June 6, 1997, Melissa Drexler, a teenager in Aberdeen, New Jersey, went to her prom. And when her labor pains got strong, she went to the bathroom, gave birth to a son, wrapped him in a garbage bag, and tossed him into the trash. She then returned to the dance floor and continued to party. She'd say that's a terribly unique story, well, perhaps not as much as we think. The murder of infants less than one week old has increased 92% in the last 25 years. The entertainment industry glorifies killing. We have video games like Mortal Kombat that had an ad recently that asked the questions, "Have you ever killed anyone with a chainsaw? Would you like to?" Movies glorify murder. Bill Brown writing in World Magazine claims that the average American adult has seen 100,000 murders in movies and on television. Their music industry glorifies killing, Marilyn Manson pleads, "Kill yourself." And Eric Clapton warns, "I may have to blow your brains out, baby." This is the culture in which you and I live. I know that there are people who say, "Well, it's just pretend, and the kids all know that." But the facts may say otherwise. Facts may be indicating that kids are having a hard time telling the difference between reality and fiction. When high school students in Jonesboro, Arkansas were told of the shootings at the nearby middle school recently, some of those high school students laughed. We find a command here that values life, "God says you shall do no murder." That's literally what the Hebrew says. You shall do no murder. Now the giving of this commandment in the 14th century BC does not imply that taking another's life before this was not sin, where it was. We see that as early as Genesis 4 where one brother murders another, Cain murdered Abel, and it is called a sin. It is interesting that the first fruit of sin in a social context is that of murder. It is stated in the Decalogue this commandment is in order to inscribe this ethical standard into the covenant of the law. It is put here as a testimony of God to people of all ages and all cultures regarding the value that he places upon human life. Now I want us to look at this commandment from several aspects. First of all I want us to notice that this commandment makes clear that God deems human life as uniquely sacred. God deems human life as uniquely sacred. Now this is a biblical worldview that stands in stark contrast to the humanistic evolutionary worldview. That worldview can be summarized by this statement by James Rachles, who is a professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, professor of philosophy. He says, "After Darwin, we can no longer think of ourselves as occupying a special place in creation. Instead, we must realize we are products of the same evolutionary forces working blindly and without purpose that shape the rest of the animal kingdom." It is that kind of thinking that has led us to the absurdities in this day of the so-called animal rights movement, which in its extreme forms actually elevates animal life above that of human lives. Indeed, this commandment, "You shall do no murder," makes it clear that God values and deems human life as uniquely sacred. Human life is unique. It is distinct from the life that he has given to the animals. Yes, animals have a personality, but it's a limited personality. They have varying capacities to learn and to respond, but animals do not think. They can remember and they can react by instinct or by training, but they do not consider animals do not create, animals do not imagine. Only human beings do that. Animals do not bear the image of God as do human beings. Animals serve God's purpose, and they can be wonderful friends. They provide us assistance, and they provide food for mankind. And we certainly agree that animals ought to be respected and ought to be abused or mistreated. But folks, let's understand that the Bible says that human life is unique, that we are not merely animals. Humans are different than animals. God has a different purpose for us, and God has made us spiritually different than the animals. Human life is also sacred. It is consecrated. It is sacred because of its source. God gives mankind our essential existence from himself. In Genesis 2, 7, it says, "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being." So the very essence of our existence, which we have derived from our parents, comes originally from God himself. That is what makes us living beings. It is God's breath that is given to us. The Apostle Paul, in preaching to the philosophers and Athens, said to them, "And this God, He made from one source every nation of mankind to live on the face of all the earth. For in Him we live and move and exist, even as some of your own poets have said, for we also are His offspring." As the source of life, God provides for life's protection, and He reserves for Himself the authority to end it. It is the nature of life which gives force and value, frankly, to the rest of the Ten Commandments regarding stealing and adultery, lying and coveting. If life is, in fact, from God and is a privilege given by God, then life is also accompanied by responsibilities for its use. Thus, there is a judgment that awaits all people. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment the Bible says. Now, there are other world views with lesser ideas of human life, as we've already seen. These other world views have no sound basis upon which to build their ethical systems. There are no moral absolutes for them. They base their ethical thinking upon the consensus of society, which is where we're moving today in morality by polls, or they base their ethical systems upon personal choice, or upon situational ethics or circumstances of the individual. You see, it is the uniqueness and the sacredness of human life, and the absolutes that therefore come with that that empowers the other commandments. God deems human life as uniquely sacred. There's another idea I want us to think about in relation to this commandment. This commandment refers to the willful taking of human life, because you see, all killing is not murder. You say, well, what killing would not be murder? Well, for example, the accidental killing of another person, or manslaughter, in fact, in the very next chapter in Exodus, chapter 21 and verse 12, it says, "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, but if he did not lie and wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee." This, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from my altar that he may die. And so God makes an exception there. He says there may be cases where it does not happen on purpose, circumstances evolve in such a way that the person is killed accidentally, and God says, "I will make a place for you to flee," these were later called the cities of refuge that God established in Israel. Furthermore, killing is not murder when it is ordered by proper authorities. God himself ordered people groups in Canaan to be exterminated. God issued the command himself that these people were to be killed, old and young alike, not one of them left alive. Now, there were reasons why God did that. It was a judgment upon their culture, upon them as a people because of their forsaking of the truth that their ancestors had and their turning to idols and the horrible debauchery and immorality that came out of that. And God said, "There is no hope for this culture to destroy it." The people of Israel were not committing murder when they obeyed God's command in those killings. God authorizes human government, likewise, to execute people for capital crimes. We saw that in Exodus chapter 1. He says, "You are to even to take a person from my altar." That is to the altar of God where he's come to plead for mercy. "You're to take him from my altar and to put him to death," says God. God authorizes the government to bear the sword and that is not in vain. The idea of capital punishment goes all the way back to the no-ake covenant in Genesis chapter 9 where God says, "I will surely require your lifeblood. From every beast I will require it. And from every man and from every man's brother I will require the life of man, whoever sheds man's blood. By man his blood shall be shed." Why? For in the image of God he made men. You see human life is uniquely sacred and only God himself has the right to order its end. So all killing is not murder, but killing that is personal and not authorized and premeditated not unintentional is the transgression of this commandment. And so this commandment refers to the willful taking of another human life. Now, regarding this commandment, there's a third idea I want to talk about and that is that this command raises questions about its application in our world. And we ask the question, what about war? As I've already said, God commanded Israel to conduct warfare on certain nations. In doing that he did not contradict himself and this commandment, God cannot do that. God commanded warfare in certain instances. I believe that there is such a thing as what is called a just war. When one nation is able righteously to declare war on another nation because of certain principles that have been violated, let me give you an up to date example of that. Would it be murder for the forces of NATO to bomb and attack Kosovo and the forces of Yugoslavia in order to protect the Albanian refugees? Would they be guilty of murder in doing that? I do not believe so. As it has been amply demonstrated that the forces of Yugoslavia have been involved in genocide in the taking of the lives of unarmed civilians, including women and children and old people and burying them in mass graves. That is wrong and it requires an action for nations that have any idea of justice. I would include that as a just kind of warfare. I know that there are people who say that the kingdom principles of Jesus rule out the possibility of a Christian being involved in warfare. Love your enemies, for example, Jesus said. How can one who loves his enemies be involved in warfare? But there are some questions to ask about that. How can kingdom principles be applied in a non-kingdom world? And if they are to be applied, how broadly are they to be applied? And by whom? By only believers or by all people? And do these principles of Jesus, which are the bedrock of New Testament ethics, somehow contradict other parts of the Bible that talk about matters that we're talking about here? What is not going to be contradictory? Those principles have to work together. So I believe that in warfare, if it is a just war, those who are involved in killing are not guilty. I think it would have been criminal if nations had not risen up against Nazi Germany. On that most of people would agree. I recently went to see the saving of Private Ryan with my son, and I must tell you, that was a powerful movie to me, very, very moving. I have never been involved in warfare, nor have most of us sitting here this morning. If you want to be confronted with the horrors of war, go see that. But take some Kleenex along, if you're like me. Because it is a movie that grips your soul. And you see how awful war is. But on the other hand, there are times when a just people can only respond to the atrocities of other nations by declaring war. And when that is the case, it is not in murder to be involved in warfare. Now, there are many other questions that we could ask this morning regarding war and its issues. We don't have time to do that or to answer all of the questions. But generally, let's just say this, that this commandment, this sixth commandment regarding murder applies to individuals who take matters into their own hands. It does not apply to governments declaring warfare. It does not apply to service personnel that are obeying orders, or to policemen who are protecting society, and therefore may find themselves in a place of having to take another person's life. Those are always terrible decisions to have to make. But sometimes it is necessary in the carrying out of their societal duties and responsibilities. But then we ask the question, what about abortion? How does this command apply to abortion in our modern world? Is abortion murder? Is the fetus only a piece of tissue within the mother's body that can easily be discarded without thought, or is it another person's life? When does it become viable life? These are all questions they are asked. There is reason to believe that life is present from the moment of conception. Now if that cannot be scientifically proven to everyone's satisfaction, then surely reasonable people would say that it's only right to disallow abortion until it can be demonstrated that life is not present. It seems to me. Is it murder in every circumstance when abortion takes place? No. I am convinced that it is always the taking of a life, but sometimes abortion has to occur in order to save the life of the mother. I didn't say the health, I said the life. The life of a mother may be spared through that process. You say why is that? Because in a fallen world like ours, true absolutism is extremely difficult to follow through with. I believe in an ethical system called graded absolutism. It says that there are times when the lesser of two evils has to be chosen. We have two evils in a case where a mother is dying and the baby is within her causing that death, which is the lesser of two evils. Though people may come to different opinions about that, but my opinion is that it is permissible in that case to save the life of the mother, even if abortion is necessary. I believe that, by the way, there is not guilt in doing that, but we come to another area that is increasingly present and controversial. I mean, this is almost unthinkable to me, but it is what about suicide? I could not have imagined, frankly, when I began ministry 25 years ago that I would be standing before a group of people talking about this subject as though there were those in our society who think it is a viable option. But that is where our culture of death has brought us. Suicide today is considered viable for people in many circles. The hemlock society asks the question basically, doesn't an individual have the right to end his own life with dignity when he chooses or to be assisted by medical intervention if life is painful and useless? Doesn't he have that right? How does this commandment relate to suicide? Well, let's begin by saying that suicide is murdered. It is self-murder. It removes the prerogative of life from God and it takes it to oneself. Suicide is murder. Yet we have in our nation today the growing acceptance of physician-assisted suicide. That is the result of an abortion culture. We are on a very steep slope in the United States. We are sliding in the same direction that Europe has gone, most notably the Netherlands. Let me talk to you for a moment about the Dutch experience by quoting from a book called Seduced by Death, written by Herbert Henan, M.D. He says, "The experience of the Dutch people makes it clear that legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia is not the answer to the problems of people who are terminally ill." Now he talks about what has happened in the Netherlands. He says, "The Netherlands has moved from assisted suicide to euthanasia, from euthanasia for people who are terminally ill to euthanasia for those who are chronically ill, from euthanasia for physical illness to euthanasia for psychological distress, and from voluntary euthanasia to involuntary euthanasia, called, "Termination of the patient without explicit request." The Dutch government's own commissioned research has documented that in more than 1,000 cases a year doctors actively cause or hasten death without the patient's request. That is the very same direction that we are heading in this country, because once you're on this slope of a death culture, there is no stopping. Murder is the intentional premeditated taking of another life. When that act is not empowered by government decree, even if it is the taking of one's own life. But I can hear somebody saying here this morning, "Well thank God this is one commandment that I don't really have to swim, because I'm not going to kill anybody and I'm not going to kill myself, so let's get on to the next commandment." But before we leave this one, let's remember the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, where he expands upon this commandment regarding murder by saying, "You have heard that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court, and whoever shall say to his brother, "Racha," one paraphrase has put the word in there, "You idiot." "Racha, you idiot, shall be guilty before the Supreme Court, and whoever shall say you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." In other words, Jesus is pointing out here and with some other illustrations that these outward actions in themselves start within the heart, within the attitude, and that the attitude, the response of hatred and anger toward another person brings us under the condemnation of the Sixth Commandment. You say, "You mean I'm as guilty as if I had committed murder, if I hate somebody?" Yes, you are as guilty. That is not saying that the crimes are equivalent, they are not equivalent crimes, but they're in the same category and bring guilt to the soul. The Apostle John adds in 1 John 3, 15, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." And so the sinful attitudes of anger and hatred bring us under condemnation of this commandment that says, "You shall not murder." Bernard Schneider writes, "Most will doubtless consider themselves innocent before this commandment when actually few of us can stand in its light." As bad news as it goes with this, there's some good news too, but the bad news is this, that no murderer will go to heaven. It says in Revelation 21, 8, "But for the cowardly unbelieving abominable and murderers, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." That means not just if I've actually taken another life, but if I have hated someone else, if I have been so angry at someone else that I wanted to kill them, I cannot go to heaven because I'm guilty of murder and no murderer can go to heaven. That's the bad news, but there's good news. It's the good news of the gospel that Christ died for murderers, just like He died for every other kind of sinner. Christ paid the price for murder when He died on the cross, and is therefore able to forgive those who are guilty of murder. He says, "And their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more," Hebrews 10-17. You see, no sin, even that of murder is beyond forgiveness. God will forgive sin when the sinner repents and believes on His Son as the only acceptable sacrifice for His sin. Friends this was Paul's testimony, the Apostle Paul. It says in Acts chapter 7 that when Stephen was murdered, "The people who had the stones in their hands and threw them at Him laid their cloaks down at the feet of this young man's soul who became the Apostle Paul." He felt himself guilty of that crime of murder. He talks about his ways in Acts 22, verse 20 and 26, verse 10, and he summarizes his life in 1 Timothy 1 when he says, "Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, I was shown mercy." It is a trustworthy statement that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners among whom I am foremost of all. And yet for this reason I found mercy that in order that in me as the foremost Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. What is He saying? He is saying that God showed mercy to someone like me so that I could be an example for those in future generations to know that God can forgive sins. And if He can forgive somebody like me, then He can forgive them. And God can forgive you this morning. You may not be a Karl of faith tucker who was executed earlier this year in Texas and who after committing murder came to faith in Jesus Christ and that prison and who died is a strong testimony of faith in the Lord when she was executed. You may not be a Karl of faith tucker who has actually committed murder, but my friend if there has been murder in your heart you are guilty of the Sixth Commandment and need the forgiveness of God. And God offers it to you this morning. If you will open that heart and say, "Lord, see, here it is, here is my sin, forgive me." I believe that Jesus died for this sin, for my sin, and I receive Jesus into my life right now as an act of faith and if you will do that, then He will not remember any longer your iniquity and your sins either. Let's pray together. [BLANK_AUDIO]