Dr. Patrick Ramsey’s sermon below is on commandment 6. He is preaching through Deuteronomy and this sermon is from chapter 5, verse 17.
The sermon title is “Life.”
The following points are highlights from his 28 minute sermon which follows the points:
- You shall not murder
- The 10 commandments are summaries of what God requires from us as human beings; the sanctity of human life is at the heart of this command: it is to humans; about humans
- A lion is not guilty of murder when it kills a Zebra; if a human kills a lion, a plant, a virus, then he is not guilty of murder
- God commands humans not to kill humans because our Creator has established that human life is sacred, holy, precious
- Human life is set apart from other forms of life because we are made in the image of God
- God Himself made us in His image; we do not claim this status for ourselves; you do not have to do something to be human; your humanness is not based on your performance, your usefulness, your IQ…
- You do not have to “self-identify” as human to be human
- Even if you were to self-identify as something else, that would not be true; you would still be human – illustrations provided about people treating others as less than human
- Commandment 6 has particularly been transgressed in our day, regarding the unwanted, unborn child; these children, however, remain human beings made in the image of God
- Human life is sacred, we are to nourish and cherish it as we do our own lives
- Yet the sanctity of human life is NOT absolute; the Bible indicates the following:
- God alone, the giver of life, determines what is lawful and unlawful killing
- The following answers two questions: what does this command require of us? And what does it NOT require of us?
- Firstly, we are not to intentionally kill another human being
- Even though abortion is legal in the US, it violates commandment 6
- We must not kill ourselves, suicide. Many defend suicide by saying that others were not harmed; but our life was given us by God and He has authority over it…
- We must not kill the sick, the elderly, or those who desire to be killed via medical procedures, etc.
- Murder is the intentional taking of another’s life regardless of the motive
- Distinction: when a decision is made that, for example, a terminally ill patient receive no further medical treatment, this is not murder
- In the Bible, cities of refuge were created for those who unintentionally killed another human; they were permitted to flee to those cities for safety from the ‘avenger of blood’ in their victim’s family who sought their lives
- Today, unintentional murder is called homicide; now, and then, homicide stemmed from carelessness about the life of another human being
- In those cities of refuge, a person was protected only if he remained in the city; this and other biblical stipulations required that person to learn to be ‘careful’ about his own life
- Therefore, part of what the 6th command requires is that we protect life; that we be careful about our own lives as well as the lives of others
- Various Covid 19 practices, for example, were driven by the aforementioned concern; but some of these measures ought to be reexamined in terms of whether or not they have accomplished that end – they may need to be adjusted based on their observable impact
- Another aspect of this command requires us to NOT hate or hurt other people
- Jesus spoke to this aspect of human interactions in His Sermon On The Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) when he addressed angry thinking and indicated that it was the root of murder
- That is, our thinking is the root of our emotions and conduct: yes, angry / hateful thoughts are at the opposite end of the spectrum when compared to murder, but both are sins that transgress the 6th command
- Hateful thoughts are telegraphed; that is, your hateful thoughts will intentionally or unintentionally be conveyed to the object of those thoughts [your tone of voice, body language…will telegraph these to the person who is the object of them; and God knows our thoughts as clearly as a hearing able person discerns our words]
- The following scriptures were among those cited: (Prov 11:9 [ESV2011] With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. (Prov 12:6 [ESV2011] The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.(Prov 15:4 [ESV2011] A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
- Today, people who engage in using hurtful words to harm others are called bullies. “Cyber bullies” for example, write hurtful words about their targets, other people [doxxing and cancelling are more aggressive forms of bullying that are very common in our day; social media is rife with such behavior]
- Some believe that all forms of physical violence are forbidden, but God’s word permits self-defense; defending others; war; and capital punishment
- That is, if you are being attacked, it is biblically permissible to defend yourself; you shouldn’t however exceed the force required to do that
- Jesus addressed that aspect also in Matthew 5, the second chapter of His sermon in verses 38 – 42: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also….
- To “not resist evil” does not mean to let the other person physically harm you. This statement is about insults from another person and it prescribes not returning evil words for evil words; in other words, do not retaliate or seek vengeance as with your words – Prov 24:29 [ESV2011] Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
- Christians are to absorb the evil that it ends with them; in that way, they honor God and command 6
The following 28 minute audio track is Pastor Ramsey’s sermon:
To hear other sermons by Dr. Ramsey that have been posted in this blog, see: Archives:
- July 8, 2020 — The Christian’s Most Important Question, part 2
- July 7, 2020 — The Christian’s Most Important Question, part 1
- June 9, 2020 The Holy Spirit
- June 7, 2020, Ascension of Christ
- May 24, 2020, Faith is NOT
- May 3, 2020 – Dealing with Fear;
- April 26, 2020 – Godly Instruction for Dealing with Sin and Guilt;
- October 2019: The Lord’s Supper; and
- July 8, 2019, Saving Faith.
Dr. Ramsey can be heard at sermonaudio by clicking the following link:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=nashuaopc
Sermon Audio is a great place to hear sermons about specific scriptures that you would like to understand more fully. You can search the site by speaker, scripture, topic, category, language, and date.
Sermon Audio also offers the sermons of great preachers of the past like C H Spurgeon. These are read by others. So, if you like the writings of a pastor from the past such as Spurgeon, you may hear his sermons and possibly audiobook readings at Sermon Audio.
Sermon Audio also offers a ‘church finder’ function. It is on the right column of the page, about midway down from the top. It provides locations of reformed churches worldwide.