6th Commandment

I know it is Mothers Day and normally or historically we have done a sermon around mothers and then on fathers day a sermon around fathers

I thought it would be OK to change it up this year

We have celebrated our moms

And so we will continue on with our 10 Commandment series

I hope you are starting to understand that when they were given to the nation of Israel

It would have dealt more with the physical

And then in the New Testament we see Jesus taking the physical and also making it a heart issue

If you will recall

The law or the 10 commandments are summed up by Jesus with the first and second greatest command

Matthew 22:37–40 NASB95

37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Remember the first 4 commands are summed up with Loving Jesus with your entire being

They are first because that is the most important relationship

Then we start to deal with the other commands that deal

If you will recall last week we started the second tablet of commands

And remember the 5th command other than your relationship with God has such an impact on you

So much so that good or bad it has an impact on you

And church please remember this

You are to Honor your Father and your Mother

Even when you don’t think they deserve it

Even when they themselves are not walking with Jesus

Church you are to honor your father and mother

And sometimes you do that by living for Jesus in front of them

This morning we go to our 6th command

Now we might laugh about talking about how you are not to murder on mothers day

But yea moms you are not to murder

Exodus 20:13 NASB95

13 “You shall not murder.

See clear and simple

And for most of us this is something we can adhere to

In the physical sense

In this command we see that

God regards life as sacred and important

That Life is not something to be taken lightly

The taking of a life is to be done on Gods terms and is to be done out of anger or greed or revenge

The word used here is not killing but the intentionally planned out taking of a life

The word used is not meant during war or for some form of punishment

We see throughout the Bible God calls the nation of of Israel to go to war and completely wipe out other nations

We also see that God has set up punishments of death when certain things are committed

It was God who has given us life

Genesis 2:7 NASB95

7 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.

See God is the author and perfecter of life

God is the life giver

So because of that life is sacred to God and dare I say it church it should be to us as well

Which is why we are told to not murder

On the physical we understand it but the deeper level is that it drives us to being imitators of God

When we start to take life as sacred and important and view it as such we start to become imitators of God

See before you and I were alive God knew you and I

that is how God sees life and how important it is

Jeremiah 1:5 NASB95

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

These are Gods words to the prophet Jeremiah but it goes to show the character of God and how he views life

church it is not something to just be tossed around but it is something to be valued and important

Up to this point all of are probably innocent of this particular command

Right I can say for about 99% but you can never know for sure about people this side of heaven that no one has murdered anyone

But

See Jesus changes things

Life is so important to God that Jesus the Son of God Himself confirms and reestablishes it in the new testament

Matthew 5:21–22 NASB95

21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Church this is how Jesus changes the law

This is why Jesus came to fulfill the law make it complete and not get ride of the law

Church we get to see how the law if fulfilled in Jesus’s teaching

Jesus takes it from the physical

Yes no one in here as physically killed someone

Jesus takes if from the physical and makes it also a matter of the heart

So now it is no longer just the physical but the physical and the heart

And scripture says that if we have anger in our heart towards someone we will stand guilty of murder in the court of law

Because church life is valuable to God

Wow

So yes you are probably innocent of the physical side of it but church what about the heart

And lets be clear and honest about it

You and I both stand guilty for the anger for the frustration name calling, for the hate that we have in our heart

So yes it is simple but when Jesus changes things and makes it not just about the physical side anymore and makes it a matter of the heart

I bet we all stand guilty this morning

But church the beautiful thing about this and we are not left alone after being told we stand guilty

That is the Gospel Message

That you aren’t left all alone standing before God guilty of the breaking the law

Guilty of sin

See God the father loved you and I so much that He sent His only Son to deal with the sin problem

John 3:16 NASB95

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

We all know this verse

But oh how true it is

This morning you thought we would be talking about murder

And we are

And you may have shown up this morning thinking I am good with this command and you probably are in the physical sense

Then Jesus changed it and fulfilled the law by making it also a matter of the heart

And this morning you are now guilty of sin before God

And church the good news is that Jesus does not leave us there

Sure the Holy Spirit has shown us our sin and this morning I believe He has shown us that we have broken the law and stand guilty of murder this morning

But

The Good news is that there is grace and mercy at the cross for sinners

The Good new is that Jesus died and already paid for your debt of sin

Our response and how we accept that freedom that Jesus offers is to repent from our sin

Which is different than asking for forgiveness to repent is the verb of forgiveness I believe

Closing

So church this morning as we move to our time of invitation our time of response by you to what you have heard this morning from God

maybe you showed up with morning thinking this would be easy I am not guilty of sin before God especially murder

But now you realized that you are guilty of murder because Jesus fulfilled the command and made it a matter of the heart as well as the physical side

And this morning church you stand guilty of sin before God

But because of Jesus and His death on the cross and His resurrection

You don’t have to stay in your sin

How you respond to being convicted of sin

Some of you will say ok yep no problem I will fix it on my own and you won’t

Some of you will say ok yep I will pray about it

Some of you will say ok yes God please forgive me but not change your ways

Or some of you will say oh, ok God change my heart towards people and you will repent

This is your time this morning to do business with Jesus

If you need to speak with someone there will be someone at the altar

Church the alter is open