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How Precious is Life
Rev. Thomas A West, Sr
October 3, 2021
Exodus 20:13
Introduction
September 27, 2021 Headlines
1. Eight year old killed, shot while playing on his front porch
2. Sixty-two year old grandmother killed by jealous boyfriend
3. 16 year old hits 6 cyclist while trying to make them eat his exhaust.
4. Passenger attacks train conductor who asked him to put on a face mask.
With all that is going on in the world today, I believe the Lord our Father is leading me to begin a series in the Ten Commandments …
Sermon Title
Today the title for our message is more of a question for each of you listening today; “How Precious is Life”
Our Scripture is taken for Exodus Chapter 20 verses 1 through 17.
With our focal verse being Exodus 20:13
Exodus 20:13
Shell, we begin with this story …
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her class of five- and six-year-olds.
After explaining the commandment to honor thy father and thy mother, she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?”
Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, “Thou shalt not kill.”
There is a positive and a negative message.
That is true of all the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are not only a list of “don’ts”; it is a list of “dos” as well!
So, let’s talk about the sixth commandment.
“You shall not murder” The King James Version states “Thou shalt no kill.”
That sentence or shall I say that command is found three, yes three times in the scriptures:
In Exodus 20:13 we find that the Lord has given Moses instructions to go down from Mount Sinai and speak to the people the instructions given by God.
{{Read the Ten Commandments}}
In Deuteronomy 5 and 17 we find that Moses again read the Ten Commandments as a reminder to the children of Israel after they had defeated the Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan.
This reading occurred on the east side of the Jordan river.
In Matthew chapter 5 verse 21 we find Jesus giving the people a reminder of the sixth commandment, “You shall not kill” as He teaches on the Beatitudes.
{{don’t read}}
Many of us think of the Ten Commandments as a list of rules, but God’s intention is evident in His words to Moses: “so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” Deuteronomy 5:29
We see in verse 33 that Moses recognized God’s desire, saying that obedience to the decrees would result in their enjoyment of His ongoing presence with them in the promised land.
1. God Proclaims the Sanctity of Human Life
The First Murder
The first Murder of a human being was reported shortly after sin entered the world.
Most of us know the story of Cain and Abel.
Cain brought an offering to the Lord that was not the best of the crops he grew, while Abel brought an offering from his flock which was the first born, the best of the best shall we say.
The Lord respected Abel and his offering, while He did not respect Cain and his offering.
Cain wasn’t very happy with this and when he was alone with Abel, he killed him.
(Genesis 4:1-11)
As I was preparing this message I found this prophesy from the late Pope John Paul II.
In the late Pope John Paul II’s 2000 Christmas message, he warned of a “culture of death” threatening the world.
Looking around the world at the violence in the Middle East, as well as many other places in the world, he saw a culture of death.
Little did he know that nine months later, the world would witness the barbaric taking of three thousand lives on September 11, 2001.
📷 Photo of World Trade Center
We see the culture of death everywhere—in daily life, movies, video games, schools, etc.
God speaks to our culture of death in this simple command.
He is saying that murder is wrong because human life is sacred.
Why is human life sacred in contrast to animals?
Because we are made in the image of God (Genesis 9:4–7).
Genesis 9:4-7
According to God’s command, when a man’s blood is shed there must be an accounting for it.
Because man is made in the image of God, his life is inherently precious and cannot be taken without giving account to God.
Because life is valuable, when murder is committed the death penalty is in order.
In its original languages the Bible makes a distinction between killing and murder.
Not all killing is murder, because there are cases where there is just cause for killing (self-defense, capital punishment with due process of law, killing in a just war).
There are other instances where killing is accidental.
This is killing, but not murder.
The Bible also consistently teaches that the punishment of the guilty is the role of human government (Romans 13:1-4) so as to restrain man’s wickedness.
Scripture also teaches that the guilt of unpunished murder defiles a land (Numbers 35:31-34).
As Luther said, “God establishes government and gives it the sword to hold wantonness in check, lest violence and other sins proceed without limit.”
The question is, why is there a culture of death?
Well, it could be because our culture has forsaken the biblical teaching that man is made in the image of God.
Have you ever heard of Planned Parenthood?
Margaret Sanger, its founder, said, 1920 book Women and the New Race when she said, “The most merciful thing a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill it.”
Elsewhere in The Pivot of Civilization, she referred to undesirable people and races as “human weeds.”
That has happened in Western civilization and as believers, we must proclaim the sanctity of human life.
We must counter the prevailing philosophy being taught in our schools and institutes of higher learning that says that people are no different from animals.
We must do everything we can to promote and protect
human life.
2. God Prohibits the Murder of a Human Being.
When God commands “Thou shall not kill”
What is God forbidding here?
Well, I want to address right off the bat what it is not talking about.
• It is not forbidding the taking of a life in war.
A Christian soldier is not violating this command.
Neither Jesus nor Paul condemned soldiers as murderers.
• It is not addressing the taking of a life in self-defense.
• It is not addressing the taking of a life by a police officer in the line of duty.
• It is not forbidding the killing of animals (Gen.
9:2–3).
• It is not forbidding capital punishment.
There are no fewer than eighteen crimes for which the Bible calls for the death penalty.
To put a criminal to death is not murder, but justice.
This, according to Paul, is the role of government (Romans 13:1–5).
What the commandment forbids is not killing, but the unlawful killing of a human being.
I know you are thinking, Pastor, I am so confused.
What is God forbidding here?
Well, there are Three classifications of murder:
1. Intentional Murder
2. Invisible Murder
3. Insidious Murder
Let me explain
1. Intentional Murder
Intentional murder is the malicious, unjust murder of a legally innocent life.
There are many examples of intentional murder.
a. Homicide
b.
Suicide
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