Introduction:

                1. One American is shot, stabbed, beaten or strangled every minute

                2. Young people are no longer worried about failing a test at school.

                                a. They are concerned that they might not live through the day at school.                            

                                b. Half a million kids say that they are afraid most of the time at school.

                                c. Children have become vicious, cold-blooded killers.

                                d. Human life no longer has value - murders by children tripled in 1990s.

                3. Planned parenthood has counseled teen girls to abort their babies.

                                a. Unwed girls are killing their babies believing the lie that it is only a glob of tissue, not a human being.

                                b. No wonder people have a cheap view of life.

                4. Murder is a horrible crime against God and our fellow man

                                a. Given the enormity of death and what follows thereafter, murder may be the biggest offense of all

                                b. To murder is a wrong that once done cannot be undone

                                c. Life is God's gift and we must not tamper with it

                5. "Thou shalt not kill" could literally be translated, "Thou shalt not murder"

                                a. All murder is killing, but not all killing is murder

                                b. Accidental killing is not murder

                    1. God gave the cities of refuge - Num 35:11-28

                    2. Killing someone in a car accident does not make one a murderer

                                c. Capital punishment is not murder

                    1. God lays down the principle of capital punishment

                    2. Ge 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

                    3. Le 24:17 And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.

                    4. Whether one agrees with capital punishment or not, it is clear that the Bible authorizes it

                                d. Killings that take place during war are not murder

                    1. At times nations have to defend their borders

                    2. God sent the children of Israel into battle at times

                                e. Kills resulting from self-defense are not murder

                    1. Police officers might have to shoot someone in the line of duty

                    2. Homeowners may need to protect their family or property

I.    Murder Intrudes into God's Territory

A.  God Controls Man's Entrance into Life

1.     The Bible teaches that God created all life

2.     The wrongness of murder is closely connected to the fact that man was created by God

3.     Job 33:4 - Elihu's view of the beginning

Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

4.     Because life is from God, no person has the right to take another's life

B.  God Controls Man's Exit from Life

1.     Since God controls man's entrance into life, it stands to reason that he also controls man's exit from life

2.     God is not only the source of life, but he is also the sustainer of life

3.     God establishes the boundaries across which no one can cross

a)    Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

b)    Ps 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

4.     We can do things to shorten our lives

a)    Pr 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

b)    Ec 7:17 Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

5.     Only God has the right to take away life

6.     If we take the life of another, then we have stepped in and taken the  place of God

II.  Murder Interrupts a Human Life

A.  A Definition of Murder

1.     The unlawful and malicious  or premeditated killing of one human by another

2.     Not manslaughter

B.  A Description of Murder

1.     Physical Murder

a)    This murder has been around as long as the world itself

b)    In Gen 4:8 the first murder is recorded

c)    Since then, society has been marked by a string of murders

2.     Personal Murder

a)    We call this suicide

b)    Some in this room have been impacted by suicide

c)    It can leave emotional scars that never heal

d)    A person may feel overwhelmed by life and may be unable to cope any longer with life

e)    No one has the right to murder someone else and no one has the right to murder himself

f)      It is selfish and sinful

3.     Physician-Assisted Murder

a)    This is mercy killing or euthanasia

b)    Dr. Kevorkian put this in the news several years ago

c)    Terminally ill patients or those in chronic, extreme pain go to the suicide doctor and he hooks them up to the machine and they press the button, ending their own lives

d)    Holland has already legalized this process

4.     Pre-natal murder

a)    This is abortion

b)    The Bible teaches that life begins at conception

(1)    Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

(2)   Lu 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

c)    Since abortion was legalized in America there have been over 42 million deaths, about 4300  per day or one every 20 seconds

d)    Some claim that the mother has the right to choose but it seems to me that she made her choice when she chose to have unprotected sex

e)    When we refuse to respect and protect the lives of our most helpless citizens, no one is truly safe

5.     The shame of it all is that in the U.S. there is more protection by law for snails in certain rivers than it is for an unborn baby in the womb of its own mother.

III. Murder Involves More than Killing – Matt 5:20-26

·         At first glance, the 6^th commandment appears to be the easiest to obey

·         Most individuals have never murdered anyone and don't intend to.

·         So why waste time addressing the issue? 

·         Why not just move on to commandment number seven?

·         Well, before we decide to bypass this command, we need to pay special attention to what Jesus had to say about it.

·         Please look with me at Matthew 5:20-26.

A.  JESUS CONFIRMS THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

1.     Jesus in this passage is not changing the sixth commandment.

2.      In vs 21, I believe that Jesus confirms the seriousness of this commandment.  He addresses the moral law of God.

B.  Our Savior Endorses the Sanctity of Human Life

1.     Why is human life sacred?  Human life is sacred because God Himself is the source of all life.

2.     If you believe evolution then that places man on a level no higher than animal life.

3.     If you believe in divine creation, then you believe that every human life is precious in the sight of God and that only the God who gave life has the right to take that life away.

4.      I remember reading about Napoleon making plans for a great battle. 0ne of his associates assessing the cost of the conflict said to Napoleon, “this battle will cost 100,000 of our men.”  Napoleon replied, “100,000 men!  What are 100,000 men to me? “

5.      Many in our culture, like Napoleon, do not value human life.

C.  JESUS CLARIFIES THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

1.     To put it quite simply, Jesus was saying that there is more than one way to murder a man.

2.     It is possible to violate this commandment right here and never get arrested.

a)    You can violate this commandment and never go to jail and never serve one day in PRISON.

b)    You can violate this commandment here and it never be seen.

c)    Jesus says… Unresolved Anger is Sin – vs 21-22

                           21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt  not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:

d)     We know from other Scripture and from Jesus' own life that he didn't prohibit all anger.

e)    He's not referring to the kind of righteous anger that motivates us to deal with a problem and resolve it immediately, such as when he drove the moneylenders out of the temple in Matthew 21.

f)      Jesus is referring to a kind of brooding, simmering, grudge- holding anger that we refuse to let go of.

g)     Jesus’ point is that killing starts off with anger in the heart

h)     Do You have anger in your heart toward someone?

i)      There is a legitimate anger. The Bible says be angry and sin not.

j)       But there is an illegitimate anger.

k)     The Bible says let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

l)      Anger nourished in the heart, anger gloated over in the heart easily turns to hate.

m)    Hate is the prelude to murder.

n)     1 Jn 3:14,15... 14: We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.15: Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

o)     As Jesus clarifies this commandment, I believe the application is clear. 

p)    We had better be careful about anger.

3.     Jesus also says…. Reconciliation is Your Responsibility

                         23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;  24 Leave  there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

a)     Jesus is saying that religious rituals won't get you anywhere if your heart isn't right with others.

b)    Church attendance won't impress God, tithing won't impress God, going to board meetings won't impress God, singing in the choir won't impress God, teaching Sunday School won't impress God.

c)    All these efforts we make to prove that we are religious will be nothing more than exercises in futility if we intentionally leave conflicts with others unresolved.

"I'm a housewife and a registered nurse from Jacksonville. I worked the 11 pm to 7 am shift and when we weren't busy I'd go over to help with the newborns. One night I saw a bassinet outside the nursery. There was a baby in the bassinet - a crying, perfectly formed baby - but there was a difference in this child. She had been scalded. She was the product of a saline abortion.

This little girl looked as if she had been put into a pot of boiling water. No doctor, no nurse, no parent was there to comfort this burnt, hurt child. She was left to die alone in pain. They wouldn't even let her in the nursery - and they didn't bother to cover her.

I was ashamed of my profession that night! It's hard to believe that this can happen in our modern hospitals, but it does. It happens all the time. I thought that a hospital was a place to heal the sick - not a place to kill the innocent.

I asked a nurse at another hospital what they do with their babies who survive a saline abortion. Unlike my hospital, they put the infant into a bucket and then they put the lid on to suffocate the baby. Death by suffocation.

Another nurse I know had to stop helping with abortions. The little severed arms and legs from suction abortions were just too much for her to look at. Aren't you happy that we weren't born in this generation. It could have been one of us in that lonely bassinet or  in the bucket with the lid on tightly. "