Sermon 5 of Ten on Ten Commandments 7/19/09-
Sermon 5 of 10 on the Ten Commandments.
7/21/09
Text Exodus 20:13
Title: God’s Word for living a happy life.
Today we are going take a look at the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shall not kill”. A better way to say it, more in tune with the Hebrew meaning of the commandment is, “You will not murder. The word murder as the Hebrew people would understand it applies to premeditated murder, what we call manslaughter, a crime of passion, and accidental murder. In other words it applies to all form of taking a human life except in self-defense and the legitimate taking of a human life by government action.
The Fifth commandment prohibits, not only violence to the body, but what is of far greater consequence; injury to the soul. What I mean, is that the Fifth Commandment is broken when a person corrupts an innocent, seduces another, or persuades another to do evil.
Taking this commandment literally the vast majority of Christians could stand before God and declare their innocence. That is until we read in the Bible, Jesus’ timeless words for us today a passage in Matthew 5:21-26, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.”
We see that not only are murder and violence prohibited by it, but even provoking words, and angry thoughts. Now the Fifth Commandment is getting personal, especially as it concerns our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, for they are fellow saints with us in the Kingdom of God.
Of course like I have said in each one of my sermons we are free of the condemnation, the wrath of God, since Jesus took the wrath we still deserve upon himself as he hung on the cross. When he said, “It is finished” it was finished once and for all. God cannot punish us.
Just because Jesus took our punishment freeing us of God’s wrath does not give us free reign to break any of his commandments, for when a person willfully breaks the Fifth Commandment whether deliberately or through anger or any of the other ways you can break the commandment, you still have to bear the consequences of our actions. You might still have to face government actions, broken relationships, and self guilt. And most of all when a person is unrepentant, especially in believing that they will repent later have put our soul in jeopardy, for to be unrepentant is to refuse God’s forgiveness. It is to crucify Christ over and over again.
God gave us this commandment, as he did all the others, so that we can live happy lives under his rule. He knows that the root of bitterness where murder springs, comes either from some fierce passion, or some misplaced desire. To be secure from murderous impulses, we must be free from such emotions as these. We must have tender and loving feelings towards all our fellow-men. Love is the fulfilling of the law and unless a person really loves he or she has no security against being surprised into violence toward another person which might result in the person’s death.
An interesting statistic, albeit a sad one that I ran across this past week concerning murder is that almost 61% of all murders committed were against fellow family members. And contrary to what you might believe 86% 0f whites were murdered by whites and 94% of Blacks were murdered by Blacks.
The daily average of abortions in the United States is 3700 per day. Ninety-six percent of all abortions according to government statistics’ were done not because of rape or incest, or health reasons, but because the baby was not wanted by its mother,. Sixty percent of all abortions were performed on white women. And one statistic that tells us about the failure of the church in today’s society there were fewer abortions among women that listed no religious background than those who professed to be Christians.
Martin Luther was once explaining to his students that they are to do good as God does good. It was in one of his lectures on God’s grace toward sinners where he was telling them how their salvation does not rest upon their own good works but upon the saving work of Jesus Christ. “If what you’re saying is true,” the student objected,” then we may live as we want!” Luther replied, “Yes. Now what do you want?”2
What do you want? Do you want to live as God wants you to live or do you want to live as unbelievers live? God in his perfect wisdom leaves that up to each one of us, for we are either for him or against him. You see the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:16, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God” It is because we have been set free by God’s grace that we are free to love and obey God. The Apostle Paul adds in Galatians 5:13, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love”.
Notice what Peter and Paul are doing in these verses: They are telling us to love God and to love our neighbor, which is exactly what the Ten Commandments are all about. Paul makes this connection explicit when he goes on to say in vs. 14, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself”.
But of course Peter and Paul were simply repeating what Jesus said when he summarized the law in two Great Commandments in Matthew 22:37-40, “Love God and love your neighbor” and in John 14:15 Jesus also said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command”. The gospel of Jesus Christ obligates us to keep the law of God not in a have to love God out of fear of punishment, but out of wanting to love, as God loves.
As believers in Christ, we are called to live in a way that is pleasing to God, which means we are to fight against our sinful desires, so that we live more closely in tune with his perfect standard. God’s standard has not changed, as if somehow his grace has redefined his righteousness. On the contrary, the moral law that the Ten Commandments expresses shows us the very character of Christ.
And since we are united to him body and soul through our baptism they are still our teacher and our guide. Thomas Watson wrote, “The moral law is the copy of God’s will, our spiritual directory; it shows us what sins to avoid, what duties to pursue.”3 Writing in a similar vein, the Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle argued that, “There is no greater mistake than to suppose that a Christian has nothing to do with the law and the Ten Commandments, because he cannot be justified by keeping them. The same Holy Ghost who convinces the believer of sin by the law, and leads him to Christ for justification, will always lead him to a spiritual use of the law, as a friendly guide, in the pursuit of sanctification.”4 The Law of God is useful for instructing us in righteousness. It helps us to know what is pleasing to God. It shows us how to live happy lives.
That's why this Commandment assumes a positive thrust in our lives, as we live God pleasing lives in patience, meekness, kindness, peaceableness, mercy, and in every circumstance a tender and friendly heart, devoid of all hatred, anger, bitterness toward any person, even our enemies[1]. The 5th Commandment is truly one of God's Ten Words for a Happy Christian Life. AmenIn the last verse of today's gospel reading Jesus says, "If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it." Now you have to admit that is pretty powerful statement. Let me ask you. What is that you crave?
2 Martin Luther, as recounted in Michael S. Horton, The Law of Perfect Freedom (Chicago: Moody Press, 1993), p. 263.
3 Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments (1890; repr. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1965), p. 14.
4 J. C. Ryle, Holiness (1879; repr. Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1979), p. 26.
[1]Luther, M. (1999, c1968). Vol. 43: Luther's works, vol. 43 : Devotional Writings II (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (43:22). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
7/21/09
Text Exodus 20:13
Title: God’s Word for living a happy life.
Today we are going take a look at the Fifth Commandment, “Thou shall not kill”. A better way to say it, more in tune with the Hebrew meaning of the commandment is, “You will not murder. The word murder as the Hebrew people would understand it applies to premeditated murder, what we call manslaughter, a crime of passion, and accidental murder. In other words it applies to all form of taking a human life except in self-defense and the legitimate taking of a human life by government action.
The Fifth commandment prohibits, not only violence to the body, but what is of far greater consequence; injury to the soul. What I mean, is that the Fifth Commandment is broken when a person corrupts an innocent, seduces another, or persuades another to do evil.
Taking this commandment literally the vast majority of Christians could stand before God and declare their innocence. That is until we read in the Bible, Jesus’ timeless words for us today a passage in Matthew 5:21-26, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.”
We see that not only are murder and violence prohibited by it, but even provoking words, and angry thoughts. Now the Fifth Commandment is getting personal, especially as it concerns our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, for they are fellow saints with us in the Kingdom of God.
Of course like I have said in each one of my sermons we are free of the condemnation, the wrath of God, since Jesus took the wrath we still deserve upon himself as he hung on the cross. When he said, “It is finished” it was finished once and for all. God cannot punish us.
Just because Jesus took our punishment freeing us of God’s wrath does not give us free reign to break any of his commandments, for when a person willfully breaks the Fifth Commandment whether deliberately or through anger or any of the other ways you can break the commandment, you still have to bear the consequences of our actions. You might still have to face government actions, broken relationships, and self guilt. And most of all when a person is unrepentant, especially in believing that they will repent later have put our soul in jeopardy, for to be unrepentant is to refuse God’s forgiveness. It is to crucify Christ over and over again.
God gave us this commandment, as he did all the others, so that we can live happy lives under his rule. He knows that the root of bitterness where murder springs, comes either from some fierce passion, or some misplaced desire. To be secure from murderous impulses, we must be free from such emotions as these. We must have tender and loving feelings towards all our fellow-men. Love is the fulfilling of the law and unless a person really loves he or she has no security against being surprised into violence toward another person which might result in the person’s death.
An interesting statistic, albeit a sad one that I ran across this past week concerning murder is that almost 61% of all murders committed were against fellow family members. And contrary to what you might believe 86% 0f whites were murdered by whites and 94% of Blacks were murdered by Blacks.
The daily average of abortions in the United States is 3700 per day. Ninety-six percent of all abortions according to government statistics’ were done not because of rape or incest, or health reasons, but because the baby was not wanted by its mother,. Sixty percent of all abortions were performed on white women. And one statistic that tells us about the failure of the church in today’s society there were fewer abortions among women that listed no religious background than those who professed to be Christians.
Martin Luther was once explaining to his students that they are to do good as God does good. It was in one of his lectures on God’s grace toward sinners where he was telling them how their salvation does not rest upon their own good works but upon the saving work of Jesus Christ. “If what you’re saying is true,” the student objected,” then we may live as we want!” Luther replied, “Yes. Now what do you want?”2
What do you want? Do you want to live as God wants you to live or do you want to live as unbelievers live? God in his perfect wisdom leaves that up to each one of us, for we are either for him or against him. You see the Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:16, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God” It is because we have been set free by God’s grace that we are free to love and obey God. The Apostle Paul adds in Galatians 5:13, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love”.
Notice what Peter and Paul are doing in these verses: They are telling us to love God and to love our neighbor, which is exactly what the Ten Commandments are all about. Paul makes this connection explicit when he goes on to say in vs. 14, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself”.
But of course Peter and Paul were simply repeating what Jesus said when he summarized the law in two Great Commandments in Matthew 22:37-40, “Love God and love your neighbor” and in John 14:15 Jesus also said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command”. The gospel of Jesus Christ obligates us to keep the law of God not in a have to love God out of fear of punishment, but out of wanting to love, as God loves.
As believers in Christ, we are called to live in a way that is pleasing to God, which means we are to fight against our sinful desires, so that we live more closely in tune with his perfect standard. God’s standard has not changed, as if somehow his grace has redefined his righteousness. On the contrary, the moral law that the Ten Commandments expresses shows us the very character of Christ.
And since we are united to him body and soul through our baptism they are still our teacher and our guide. Thomas Watson wrote, “The moral law is the copy of God’s will, our spiritual directory; it shows us what sins to avoid, what duties to pursue.”3 Writing in a similar vein, the Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle argued that, “There is no greater mistake than to suppose that a Christian has nothing to do with the law and the Ten Commandments, because he cannot be justified by keeping them. The same Holy Ghost who convinces the believer of sin by the law, and leads him to Christ for justification, will always lead him to a spiritual use of the law, as a friendly guide, in the pursuit of sanctification.”4 The Law of God is useful for instructing us in righteousness. It helps us to know what is pleasing to God. It shows us how to live happy lives.
That's why this Commandment assumes a positive thrust in our lives, as we live God pleasing lives in patience, meekness, kindness, peaceableness, mercy, and in every circumstance a tender and friendly heart, devoid of all hatred, anger, bitterness toward any person, even our enemies[1]. The 5th Commandment is truly one of God's Ten Words for a Happy Christian Life. AmenIn the last verse of today's gospel reading Jesus says, "If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it." Now you have to admit that is pretty powerful statement. Let me ask you. What is that you crave?
2 Martin Luther, as recounted in Michael S. Horton, The Law of Perfect Freedom (Chicago: Moody Press, 1993), p. 263.
3 Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments (1890; repr. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1965), p. 14.
4 J. C. Ryle, Holiness (1879; repr. Durham, England: Evangelical Press, 1979), p. 26.
[1]Luther, M. (1999, c1968). Vol. 43: Luther's works, vol. 43 : Devotional Writings II (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (43:22). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
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