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you you It's not on me you you you you you They passed the Kevin which one which clock do you look out this one or the one at the back on the back? Just there for show now Okay you Okay, you just want some Bible trivia. Yeah, maybe just for the boys Adam and Eve had three sons one was Cain one was Abel. What was the third one? Nicholas yes All right Good work Johnny. Yeah, ten points Here's a here's a harder one Cain had a son what was his name? No, no, no, it was What now is the night Tim no close in Enoch Oh Seven minutes. Yeah, actually I'll try and name them. We got Prancer Rudolph Blitzen Blitzen why they call him blitz, but is it blitz all glitzen? Oh, okay Rudolph I don't know That's a good one You Okay, good evening everybody Welcome to church Please turn in your hymnal. It's hymn number three I'm gonna sing Jesus paid it all him number three Here the Savior say thy strength Indeed is small child of weakness watch and pray find in me thine all in all Jesus paid it all all to him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow But now indeed I find thy power thine alone Can change the leper's thoughts and melt the heart of stone Jesus paid it all all to him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow For nothing good have I Whereby their grace to claim I'll wash my garment's white In the blood of Calvary's slam Jesus paid it all All to him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow And when before the throne I stand in him complete Jesus died my soul to save My lips shall still repeat Jesus paid it all All to him I owe Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow Amen Okay I'll ask our brother Matt Could you have him a word of prayer? Thank you Dear Lord, thank you for coming to church today We pray you'll rest in service And may you hear our prayers And our songs that we sing to you Lord And we receive them gladly We pray you'll feel positive The Holy Spirit is reached as well And all these things we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Amen Okay Psalm 119 We need to go Yeah I did Alright guys take your Bible and turn to Psalm 119 And we are continuing our reading through The verses So we're up to verse number 81 Psalm 118 And verse number 81 I don't even know how to pronounce that I think it's cap Because many times when I look at the different letters I hear them pronounced The H many times are silent So I'm assuming it's cap But we're going to be reading together from verses 81 to verse 88 So verses 81 to verse 88 Let's read it together My soul fainter for thy salvation But I hope in thy word Mine eyes fail for thy word Saying When will thou comfort me For I am become like a bottle in the smoke Yet do I not forget thy statutes How many are the days of thy servants When will thou execute judgment on them that persecute me The proud have digged pits for me Which are not after thy law All thy commandments are faithful They persecute me wrongfully Help thou me They had almost consumed me upon earth But I forsook not thy precepts Quicken me after thy loving kindness So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth Now before I hand back over to brother Tim I just want to take sister Leticia to prayer We know that she's having some early stages of The contractions, baby's not out just yet Unless brother Anthony has updated us But let's just quickly take the family to a word of prayer And the baby and delivery So let's just pray Heavenly Father, Lord I do want to thank you for the Griffin family And the blessing they are to this church And the friendship they've given each one of us Lord we do bring our sister in prayer Leticia before you Lord right now Lord I thank you for the fruit of the womb Which is your reward And Lord I pray for Well we know labour is not smooth It's not easy I can't pray for an easy labour necessarily Lord but labour is challenging It's difficult We read about this Lord from the very beginning in the book of Genesis But Lord I do pray that it would be a safe delivery Lord I pray you'd strengthen and comfort Leticia As she's going through this time of contractions Lord and the excitement that the family has Lord I pray that both herself and Anthony would get plenty of sleep Lord prior to the delivery Because I know that can take up a lot of energy And Lord I do pray for this little baby That it would be well and healthy And Lord that it would be a blessing not only to the family But to the entire church We pray these things in Jesus name Amen Amen Alright thank you brother Alright Hymn number 4 The way of the cross leads home Hymn number 4 The way of the cross leads home I must needs go home By the way of the cross There's no other way but this I shall ne'er get sight Of the gates of light If the way of the cross I miss The way of the cross leads home The way of the cross leads home It is safe to know As I onward go The way of the cross leads home I must needs go on In the blood sprinkled way The path that the Savior trod If I ever climb to the heights sublime Where the soul is at home with God The way of the cross leads home The way of the cross leads home It is safe to know As I onward go The way of the cross leads home Then I bid farewell To the way of the world To walk in it nevermore For my Lord says Come and I seek my home Where He waits with the open door The way of the cross leads home The way of the cross leads home It is sweet to know As I onward go It is sweet to know As I onward go The way of the cross leads home Okay now for our Christmas hymn Turn to hymn number 423 I believe Sister Carissa picked this one for us this evening So thank you Joy to the world The Lord is come Let Earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing And heaven and heaven and nature sing Joy to the world The Lord is come Let Earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns. Let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love. Okay, now it's time for the Bible reading. We'll be reading from Genesis chapter 4, King James Bible, Genesis chapter 4. I might put my mic on, might be a good idea. Okay, Genesis chapter 4. And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought forth the fruit of the ground, and offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering, but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had no respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tellest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid. And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. And it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch. And he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Ired. And Ired begat Mehugeel, and Mehugeel begat Methuseel, and Methuseel begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives. The name of one was Ada, and the name of the other Zilla. And Ada bare Jabel, he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal. He was, and his brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zilla also, and Zilla she also bare Tubal Cain, an instructor and of every artificer in brass and iron. The sister of Tubal Cain was Nahima. And Lamech said unto his wives Ada and Zilla, Hear my voice ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech, for I've slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth. For God said, For God said she hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son, and he called his name Enos. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Let us pray. Dear Lord, thank you once again that we've been gathered here this evening. Please bless us as we hear your word. Help us to have open minds and open ears, and let this sink deep into our hearts. And may it be applicable to our lives. And yeah Lord, we just pray that you would be with us. In Jesus name. Amen. So we're continuing our Ten Commandments series. Ten Commandments. Anyone know what we're up to? Which number? Commandment we're up to? Commandment number six. Okay. Commandment number six, which is, Thou Shalt Not Kill. Which is the title for the sermon tonight, Thou Shalt Not Kill. Now you know when you look in, when you're reading through the book of Exodus, and you're reading through the Ten Commandments, that's the one verse that you get. Thou Shalt Not Kill. You want to memorize the verse? Thou Shalt Not Kill, you've memorized the verse. You just remember that? You know, when it comes to the topic of killing, to me it is so, it's an issue which is so simple, so straightforward, like, you know, just don't take another man's life, all right? I mean, just don't kill a baby in the mother's womb. How about that, okay? How about we don't abort babies? Like, to me, it's such a simple thing, but then at the same time, once you do kill, once you do commit some level of homicide, it does become extremely complicated. You know, there are many things in the Bible that are very straightforward and simple. Marriage. Let me explain marriage. Marriage is supposed to be one man, one woman, together for life till death do us part. It's, you know, it's the beginning of family, having children, straightforward and simple, isn't it? But as soon as people get divorced, and they get remarried, or there might be even step-parents, and it's not necessarily anyone's fault, or they don't know any better, they don't know the Bible, you know, if you kind of start messing up that, it becomes very messy. Families can become very messy. You know, children don't know necessarily, do I listen to my stepfather, do I listen to my biological father, and then, you know, I've got brothers and sisters in this family, you know, I can spend time with my dad here, I can spend time with my mother, like it becomes so complicated, you know, families that are separated and divided, just because they don't follow just a simple command about marriage, you know, one man, one woman for life. There are many things in the Bible that are just simple, straightforward, you know, we just follow the Bible away, we just give in to it, you know, we just put away the pride, we humble ourselves, and we just do the best we can according to God's Word. Life can be very simple. But then when it comes to the topic of murder or killing, yeah, it seems simple to me. I've never killed a man, I don't intend to kill a man ever, okay, and as long as I keep my hands clean in that area, my life is going to be straightforward and simple. But once, of course, you break this commandment, it can become very complicated. Now, there are times, of course, you know, the word, I use the word homicide because that's the word we use, it's not a Bible word, it's a word we use today. The word homicide is a very general term, it just basically means that someone has died, okay. I mean, you might, you know, it happens all the time, you might be driving a car innocently, you have a car accident, you know, someone makes a mistake, just obviously not your intention to kill a man, someone can die from that result, that is still a homicide. You know, homicide is basically the death of a human being, and we're going to look at this, we're going to look at how there are different degrees, different, yeah, different degrees of, you know, you have probably heard of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, etc. And the Bible kind of touches upon this topic as well, and it is something that we need to be aware of, we need to understand that just because someone loses their life, it doesn't mean that they've broken this commandment, commandment number six in the Bible, and this is why it can become very complicated as, as we look into this topic. But the reason we read Genesis chapter four is because, you probably realize, it contains the very first murder that we see in the Bible, where Cain slew his brother Abel. And one thing that's very good with the Bible, it gives us a lot of information about this topic, about these commandments. And what we're going to be looking here in Genesis chapter four, and we're just going to look at a few chapters here, a few different chapters in the book of Genesis, is the story of murder. Like, you know, the first murder, what, what are the, what's the aftermath? And, and what is it that God wants to do as far as, you know, ensuring that, that, you know, justice is served when someone loses their life. So let's start there in Genesis chapter four and verse number eight. It says, And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Now, I won't have, to have too much time to go into why he slew him. You know, basically, they both came to present a sacrifice before God. God accepted Abel's sacrifice, God did not accept Cain's sacrifice, and Cain became very envious about that. And he decides, hey, he finds a time that he can spend time with Abel, and he kills his brother, the very first murder that we see in the Bible. Now, Jesus Christ does speak about another murder rate from the beginning, and that, of course, is the devil, okay? And when I think about the devil as a murderer, yes, you know, the devil is to blame for many of the murders and many of the deaths of human beings throughout the centuries, okay? But the reason it's called a murderer is because he caused Adam and Eve to sin in the garden. They've taken off that tree of knowledge of good and evil, and they did die. You may, you know, they did die spiritually. They didn't die physically, but they died spiritually. And the reason why, you know, the devil played such an instrumental part in mankind dying spiritually, you know, and going to hell, and this is why Jesus Christ described the devil as a murderer. And, you know, this is the devil's plan. He doesn't just want to destroy human beings' lives on this earth, and he successfully does that, but he also wants people to die, spiritually die, and go to hell, okay? Now, I won't be talking about the spiritual death here. We're going to be primarily looking at the physical death, life and death situations that we have in our lives, okay? But let's keep going there in verse number nine. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? So what's he trying to cover up the murder? Trying to pretend I don't know anything about this, okay? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shout thou be in the earth. So this is the punishment for Cain, for killing his brother. Now, the Bible does teach the death penalty, okay? If you know your Bible as well, you know that the Lord God says, if you commit murder, you deserve to be put to death, okay? The Bible's pro-death penalty, okay? It's what God wants for many, yes, murder, but many other sins, many other crimes that we have in the Bible. But I want you to notice here that God had not yet instituted the death penalty for murder, okay? The laws of Moses, the old covenant, had not yet been put into place. And here, basically the punishment that Cain is receiving is not the death penalty, but rather that he will no longer be able to profit on the earth. If he tries to till the ground, if he tries to grow his crops, it's not going to work out for him. He's going to be a vagabond, he's going to be a beggar. You know, it's going to be basically this guy that just goes around like a... What do you call them in Europe? Gypsies. They come around from place to place, stealing, they're just trying to get through life. They're not productive at all, and that's the punishment that falls upon him. It says in verse number 13, And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold... Now I want you to notice what Cain says here, okay? Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. And that's what he says, I think the next words are very telling. And it shall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me. Now, when it comes to the population on this earth, Cain and Abel are the first generation from Adam and Eve. So obviously the people that he's talking about that are going to find him and slay him are the other brothers that were born, because we know that Adam and Eve had many other children besides Cain and Abel, though we're not given all their names, okay? And so really, right now on the earth it's just this one family, and we are one family at the end of the day, but you know, this one family there, and he's worried that his siblings, or even maybe his nephews at this point in time, you know, might rise up in vengeance to kill him. Now I think it's very telling what Cain says here, because it shows the nature of man. We know that if someone commits murder, they should die. Like, we don't really need that written in law. Like, written in our hearts, we know a murderer should die. Right? We know somebody that just takes any man and, you know, sheds any blood to just, you know, pay the penalty. And obviously he's speaking about family here. Hey, you killed my brother. Cain, you're a wicked man, and out of revenge, someone might be driven to kill that individual. This is why the death penalty is so important for murderers, because it gives the families closure. All right? Yes, okay, you know, it's sad that my, you know, my family member, my loved one's been killed, but thank God, you know, this person's been found guilty, and now he dies of death, and now for the rest of the years that I have this bitterness with me, I can go to the murderer's grave and spit on his grave. Right? I mean, this man's been put to death, he's out of society, and he's not going to, obviously he's not going to be able to do it again. All right? So it does give families closure when the murderer is put to death. And Cain recognized this. He goes, yeah, they're going to want to kill me. You know, mankind, the nature of man, they're going to want some type of revenge. Blood for blood. So look what God says in verse number 15. Now, some people say, what is that mark? And they think it's like some physical mark, right? I've heard it said that, isn't it the Mormons that say he became black? Yeah, he became a black man, that's the mark. This makes no sense. There's one family on the earth. They're all brothers and sisters and nephews. They know who Cain is, okay? The mark is not some physical mark. The mark is that if you, it's basically this promise from God that if you go and kill him, it's going to be seven times worse for you, okay? It's already bad for Cain. He's going to be unproductive on the earth, okay? And it's going to be seven times worse for you if you, out of vengeance, go and kill Cain. He doesn't need to be marked as a black man to identify who he is. They know who he is. They're all direct families right here, okay? So it's ridiculous to think there's some type of physical mark, all right? But notice, if you drop down to verse number 23 now, now, we read about another murder that takes place here in verse number 23. Now, I don't know if this is the second murder to ever take place. We don't know. Generations go by in the Bible. It says here in Genesis 4 23, And Lamech said unto his wives, Ada and Zilla, hear my voice, you wives of Lamech. Harken unto my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. So he says, look, I've killed a man, okay, to my wounding. I don't know whether he's saying that he personally got wounded in this battle with this other guy, or he realizes that he's going to be cursed by God the same way that Cain got cursed by God. But I want you to notice, because there is no death penalty, okay, I want you to notice what this man says in verse number six, how he tries to justify himself of this murder. He says, whoso shed of man's blood Sorry, I'm reading the wrong verse there. Sorry, verse number 24. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech 70 and sevenfold. Now, God's not said this to Lamech. Lamech's just saying it to himself. Lamech is saying basically, look, if Cain can be avenged sevenfold, it's going to be seven times worse for those that kill Cain, then surely me, I guess he thinks he's better than Cain for whatever reason. Okay, surely me 77 times. You know, someone comes and avenges that man's murder upon me, that person should be cursed 77 times worse for that person. Again, God did not say this is what the man's saying. So what are you finding in society? As someone gets away, well seemingly gets away with murder, God did judge Cain. But it seems like here that, look, people are committing murder, and they're just trying to justify themselves. Well, if Cain's protected sevenfold, then I can be protected 77 times. Okay, 77 fold. And so you can see that if you have a society that's just getting away with murder as it were, okay, thinking that, you know, well, you know, I can kill a man, but if someone kills me, I'm safe, and it's gonna be worse for you, then you can see how the society can go down a downhill trend right here, okay? So go to Genesis chapter six now, just go two chapters later, Genesis chapter six. And I want you to see what the world has become without the death penalty. And obviously there is other wickedness going on in this world. But in Genesis chapter six, verse number five, it says, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And he repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and he grieved him in his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. And so society becomes so wicked. It starts with Cain, and then you've got Lamech, and you've got wickedness, and just every thought, every imagination, every wicked thing you could potentially think about is taking place on the earth. I mean, mankind is completely wicked. Of course, Noah finds grace in the eyes of the Lord. And so we have the story of Noah and the ark that he built, and the flood of Noah as well. And so truly, yeah, God does decide, mankind has become so wicked. He destroys the earth. Noah and his family, they're safe on the ark. And as you know, they get off the ark eventually. And I just want you to fast forward here. Go to Genesis chapter nine now, and I want you to notice the difference pre-flood to post-flood, okay? So Genesis chapter nine, verse number five. Genesis chapter nine, verse number five. Genesis nine, five says, so Noah comes off the ark, and this is what God says to Noah. It says, and surely your blood of your lives will I require. So God is already, as soon as they come to the ark, is already thinking about murder, okay? And again, you put it all together, it's very clear, there must have been a lot of murder going on prior to the flood. So this is one thing that's on the top of the Lord's mind. And surely your blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every beast will I require it. He says, even if an animal kills a man, that beast should be put to death. And we do have those laws, even in our country today. If you have some wild people or something and it tears apart a little baby or something and it kills, it is lawful to take that dog away and to kill it, okay? And so yeah, that's how God feels. Even if an animal goes and kills a man, God expects that animal to be put to death. And then he says, and at the hand of man. So if a man murders another man, God's gonna require that blood as well, okay? That man should be put to death. You see, this is the first time, even before the Lords of Moses, that God brings in the death penalty. It's after the flood. There was no death penalty before the flood, all right? And so God knows, in order to create a society where people are actually afraid of murder, he's gotta put these in place, you know, blood for blood. So not only does it say at the hand of every beast will I require it and at the hand of man, but then he says, at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. And I truly believe, you know, the Lord's basically thinking about Cain and Abel right there, at the hand of every man's, because a man, of course, a man is a man, but then God just makes it very clear, even a brother, you know, even if Cain kills Abel, that Cain should be put to death, will I require the life of man. And so it's, you know, it's kind of like, well, the way God speaks, he kind of like gets progressively worse. So it's bad to die from the hands of an animal, okay? Yeah, it's even worse to die in the hands of a man, okay? Man murders another man, it's even worse. But even worse is one brother kills another brother, you know? And so God makes it very clear that he's going to require that life. Look at verse number six. Whoso shed off man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. So this is one of the first things that God says when Noah comes off the ark. So it's something top of the mind for the Lord God. As I said, you know, I truly believe if you just follow the story there from Genesis 4 to the flood, it's quite clear to me that one of the major sins that's taking place on the earth is just murder, okay? And people just, well, Cain got away with it, so I can get away with it. Lame it got away with it, so I can get away with it. And God, no, no more, okay? No more. Now you'll be put to death. The death penalty gets brought in, in Genesis chapter nine. This is why some people, some people, some Christians are against the death penalty. They recognize that it's part of the commandments that God has given in the old covenant. And they'll say, well, that's old covenants. You know, we're in the new covenant now, and we shouldn't have any death penalty. That's what some Christians say. But notice the death penalty is put into place even before the old covenant, okay? So this is something God's put from the very beginning once he's restarted, you know, kind of restarted the earth with Noah and his family. Now, I've heard people take, you know, these verses about, you know, taking the blood of your lives and say, well, vegetarians and vegans, what do they say? They say, basically, if you're eating meat, that you've killed, or that, they'll say murder. They won't just say you've murdered an animal. You know, if you're eating some fish, okay, you're eating a hamburger, they say, look, you've killed a cow. You know, there's been murder to a cow there. And they elevate animals to the height of human beings. But I want you to notice they're still in Genesis chapter nine. If you just go up just two verses, we read Genesis nine five, look at Genesis nine three. Another thing that God changes when they come off the ark is in Genesis nine three, he says, every moon thing that liveth shall be meat for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things. So as soon as they come off the ark, God says, look, whatever moves on the earth, whatever animal, you can eat of it, okay? And then he goes on about the murder. So obviously, when he talks about murdering, he's not talking about hunting an animal and eating of that animal, okay? So these vegans that say it's murder if you're eating an animal, obviously, they just don't know the Bible, okay? They're idiots, they're idiots, okay? The life of an animal cannot be compared to the life of a man, okay? Why? God said, because man is created in the image of God. All right, so that's the introduction, that's the history of death, murder, and the punishment, the death penalty. And we can see, you know, even to this day, you know, unfortunately, Australia, you know, we no longer have death penalty. I can't remember exactly when it all got, it was at the 80s or the 90s. But I think it was different states though, wasn't it? Yeah, the last man that was hung was in the 60s. But the death penalty was still in effect, but they just weren't enforcing that law, okay? Now, go to Genesis chapter 20, please. Genesis chapter 20 and verse number 13. So we're just going to the 10 commandments here, Genesis chapter 20 and verse number 13. And again, I just wanna show you this one verse, very clear, Genesis chapter 20, verse number 13. Thou shalt not kill. Now, when I read that verse, and I remember just even as a child, reading this verse, thou shalt not kill, it was very clear to me that this is murder. Because I recognize that nations go to war against nations. I recognize that soldiers fight in battles, they're gonna shoot their bullets, people are gonna die, this is the nature of war. I also realize that in the Bible, you know, and yes, we have war in our world today, but we know there's war in the Bibles. We know that many times God directs the nation of Israel to go to war, you know, in the land of Canaan, for example, they go to war against the Philistines, for example, and people die, all right? And we also have the death penalty that God put into place. Even as a child, I would read, thou shalt not kill, and I knew there were different conditions of what that meant. Like it was very clear to me, when God says thou shalt not kill, he's saying thou shalt not murder, right? Like first degree murder. You premeditate to just take someone's life, okay? And you just kill the man. Yeah, I mean, that was very clear to me. But I remember going to church, I remember going to Christian school, and they want to complicate this. And it's like, well, then, you know, some people are against like going to war. You know, they think Christians should not be soldiers. They should not go to war, okay? And they say, well, it says thou shalt not kill. Well, you know, that's not what it's about. That's not what it's talking about, for example, right? And so people have, look, I think many of the wars that we go and fight these days are useless. Like I would never want my boys to join the army. Let me just put it that way. I think many of the wars are just unjustified, all right? And, you know, we have wicked men, wicked politicians making decisions to go to war. You know, there are times when war is necessary. And you know what? If a Christian man, you know, goes as a soldier, defends his nation in self-defense for the nation, you know, and ends up killing people, obviously that person has not killed. He's not a cold blooded murderer in that sense, right? And so to me, it was very clear. But what's wonderful about, if you can actually keep your finger there in Exodus, we're gonna come back to Exodus, but turn to Matthew chapter 19. Turn to Matthew chapter 19. And actually, Christian, can you turn on that air con for me? Genesis chapter 19 and verse number 18, please. Genesis chapter 19, verse number 18. Jesus Christ starts to list some of the commandments here. And I want you to notice how he, Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, explains thou shall not kill, or how he words it, how he phrases it. In Matthew 19, verse 18, it says here, he's safe unto him which? Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. So Jesus Christ here is naming some of the commandments here. But notice he doesn't say thou shalt not kill. He says thou shalt do no murder, all right? So it's clear. If you just compare scriptures with scriptures, you compare how Jesus Christ phrases that commandment, it's clear to Jesus, it's common sense, that thou shalt not kill is thou shalt not do murder, all right? Now, again, I bring this to your attention because I remember I was a teenager. We had someone come to the door of our house, someone preaching their false gospels. I can't remember if it was a JW or for some, I have a feeling it was some other religion. I can't remember what it was right now. And the 10 commandments came up, because you know how people preach a false gospel, and they say, well, in order to go to heaven, you've got to keep the 10 commandments, all right? And they started to give me some examples, and they gave me the example of thou shalt not kill. So they're like, this really took place. They said, so even when I walk on the streets, I check am I about to step on an ant. And if I step on an ant, you know, I've committed murder, and I've got to go to God and ask for forgiveness. Because these people, they're just stupid. They've got a false religion. They don't understand, right? They haven't got the spirit of God. But I'm just showing you how something that is so simple, so basic, even me as a safe child with the spirit of God, I can understand thou shalt not kill. These false religions, what, you step on an ant? I mean, is that really how God wants us to live our life? This took place. I can't remember why. I don't think it was the JWs now that I think about it. I can't remember who they were. I remember, I think it was some church that was started out of Mexico from, I'm just trying to remember now. I think it started out of Mexico, and they were trying to plant a church down here in Sydney, and some people came knocking my doors and just explaining the 10 Commandments to me, had to be saved by keeping the 10 Commandments. So man, stepping on an ant, you know there's smaller things than ants in this world. You know, there are microorganisms. They can't even see the naked eye. So man, you know, you just walk, you just go out for a walk. You need to go confessing your sins that you're a murderer then, if that's legit. But it's stupidity, of course. But I just want to show you once again, thou shalt not kill is thou shalt not do murder. Now, I started by beginning, you know, speaking about the degrees of murder. And the Bible does go into this. You know, you can accidentally kill a man. You know, it's still called homicide. Hey, you could kill a man in self-defense. Someone might be trying to hurt you. Someone might be trying to kill you. Hey, someone might be trying to kill my children, my family, right? I don't know. You know, if a man breaks into my house, I don't know what his intentions are, and I might end up killing that man. And so, you know, that's very different, of course, from just cold-blooded murder, okay? So there are different degrees of murder. I told you to go back to Exodus, keep your finger in Exodus. So please go to Exodus 21. Go to Exodus 21. So Exodus 20 has the commandment, thou shalt not kill. And then God does start to explain different elements of this. So Exodus 21, please. Exodus 21, verse number 12. Exodus 21 and verse number 12. The Bible reads, He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. Okay, the death penalty. You go and commit murder, you should surely be put to death. But notice verse number 13. And if a man lie not in wait, so this is not premeditated. It's not like you're waiting to kill this person, right? You're not lying in wait. But God deliver him into his hand. Then I will appoint thee a place, whither he shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, and slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. So verse number 12 and verse number 14 is about someone who, the Bible says presumptuously, okay? So presumptuously is basically premeditated. We use that term premeditated murder, okay? That person, yeah, he goes out cold blooded murder, he should be put to death, all right? But verse number 13 has it a little bit different. It says, I'll read it again. If a man lie not in wait, so you don't intend to kill that, but God deliver him into his hand, so he ends up dying, like, you know, it's like God just allows it to take place where he dies, where, you know, it can be any other scenario, right? It could just be as it were. I said drive in a car, you know, and you accidentally hit a pedestrian and he dies, you know? It wasn't, you didn't lie in wait. You didn't, it wasn't premeditated. You're not trying to go out and kill somebody, you know? As I said, someone breaks into your house and you're trying to defend your family, defend, you know, maybe you don't even intend to kill the guy, you know, but you smite him and he dies, you know? He wasn't presumptuous. Then God says in verse number 13, then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. Now this is important because even if you kill someone by accident or self-defense or defending your family or whatever other way you could kill someone, God understands that there are going to be people that are still seeking revenge even if it's an accident, okay? And so because of this, God's going to appoint a place for that man to flee. All right, so in the Bible days, if you ended up killing a man, you would flee into, God created these cities of refuge. Now I haven't got time to go into all of this brethren, but for your homework, okay? So your homework for this week before Sunday, I want you to read Numbers 35, okay? The big chapter in the Bible about murder and whether it was like first degree murder, second degree murder, whether it was manslaughter, manslaughter is like accidental death, right? Numbers 35 has all of that detail. I'm not going to go through Numbers 35. It's a big chapter. There's a lot to read through, but that's your homework, okay? But basically in Numbers 35, God explains further what he's covering there in Exodus 21. And basically God would have certain cities in the nation of Israel that if someone did end up killing a man, that he could flee into that city. And someone that was seeking revenge or to slay that man, that they would not be allowed to enter that city and kill that man, or they'll be completely guilty if they did something like that, okay? They themselves will be put to death. And the idea behind this city is, of course, when there's death of a man, there's going to be passions, there's going to be revenge, there's going to be a desire for vengeance, even if it's an accident. And that's where the man would be safe in one of these cities of refuge. And while that man would be in the city of refuge, it would be determined, right, whether this guy is a cold-blooded murderer or whether he's not, whether it's not presumptuously, okay? And if they find out, you know, this guy did commit first degree murder, then he'd be taken out of the city and stolen to death, death penalty, all right? And if you fled there and like, yeah, it wasn't your intention to kill the man, the man died unfortunately for whatever reasons, and that's found, you're to remain in that city until the high priest of that day would pass away, okay? Then you'd be free to exit the city, all right? So you could be in that city for quite a while, but again, it's for the protection of that person, okay? It's for the protection of the one that slew the man. And so the point being, brethren, again, I don't have time to go through all the detail here, but the point being, you can do your own homework, is that even God identifies that there are different murders, that that can take place. This is what I'm saying, it's straightforward, just don't kill a man, and you'll be fine. But if a man ends up dying, the Bible can, you know, things can become extremely complicated. Now, thank God, even our court systems understand this, all right? A big difference between just cold-blooded first degree murder or something like manslaughter, you know? And there are different types. I was reading through different countries have different laws, you know, you've got first degree murder, second degree murder, third degree is often manslaughter, you've even got like, I think it's called vehicle or something like this, vehicle homicide, where if you're driving recklessly, okay, and you end up killing someone, there's a crash, there's an accident, someone dies, then you're going to be judged a certain way versus if you're just driving normally and it's just a random accident, then, you know, you might still face some level of penalty, but not as bad as someone that is actually driving recklessly. And so even our governments today recognize that someone's life could be taken, and but there are various, you know, laws as to how that person should be punished. But a person that's, yeah, definitely committed first degree murder, there are two or three witnesses that testify of that and he's found to be guilty, then he should be put to death. Now, you should still be in Exodus, so go to Exodus 22. Go to Exodus 22. Let me just show you self-defense, okay? Exodus 22 in verse number two. Now, self-defense should be a given, all right? If someone's trying to hurt you, someone's trying to kill you, and you end up killing that man, I mean, common sense should say you're not a murderer. You know, you're innocent. You know, you're guilty of that man's blood. That's what common sense should tell us, right? But anyway, I'm thankful that God does put this stuff in the Bible because we don't live in a society with common sense anymore. But Exodus 22 verse number two, it says if a thief be found breaking up and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. So if someone's trying to break into your house, all right, and then, you know, you're trying to stop that guy from breaking in, a scuffle breaks out, you end up hitting the guy, and he dies. Well, you're not guilty of murder. Obviously, you did not premeditate it. You weren't out there to just kill someone today, okay? You're trying to protect your property. You're trying to protect yourself. You're trying to protect your family. Now, if we keep going to verse number three, it says if the sun be risen upon him, so if someone tries to break in, so you know how the Bible kind of separates someone trying to break in at night and someone trying to break in when the sun is risen, okay? Because when someone's trying to break in, and look, most theft is going to happen at night. That's just a common thing, okay? But obviously, when it's taking place in the nighttime, there's no light. It's hard to judge that person's intentions. You're more likely to kill a man, you know, out of self-defense when it's dark because you don't know what kind of weapons he might be carrying. You don't know when it's dark. You can't see clearly. You're just trying to do whatever you can to defend yourself, all right? But if the sun be risen upon him, meaning you have a greater outlook as to what this person's intention is, okay? It says there shall be bloodshed for him, for he should make full restitution if he have nothing, then he should be sold for his theft. So this is a man who basically breaks in, all right, and let's say, you know, it's June of the day, so he takes whatever he wants to take. Instead of that man being put to death, instead of being put to death, he should restore whatever he stole. And we know the Bible commands different, like, different laws where maybe sometimes you have to restore threefold or fourfold, but there is a difference between these things, okay? And I just wanted to show you that, the Lord does speak about self-defense in the case that there be some type of murder when a thief is trying to break in, all right? Not only that, but Jesus Christ said in Luke 22, 36, this is when he's preparing his disciples because he knows he's going to go to the cross. He says in Luke 22, 36, then said he unto them, but now he that have a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip, and he that have no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. Why would Jesus Christ say, hey, if you've got no sword, sell one of your garments, sell some clothing, because clothing back then was very expensive, all right? And go and buy a sword. What would you need a sword for? Self-defense, all right? I mean, they're going out, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. People might hate them. People might be trying to attack them. Hey, and if there's a threat of their life and threat of their health, of course, take the sword and defend yourself. This is why, you know, self-defense is just fine. We should, you know, our guns in Australia were confiscated. When was this, brethren? Was it mid 80s or mid 90s? The guns in Australia were confiscated, and it's against the teaching of Jesus Christ. You know, he wants people to feel safe. You know, you can't even walk around with a knife in your pocket, legally, okay? Unless you're like a tradie or something, then you can walk around with a knife in your pocket because you need it for work. But generally speaking, even Australia, even, what are those guns that shoot those middle balls? But they're not deadly. A BB gun. BB gun. You can't even have a BB gun in Australia without, you know, it's illegal. You know, in Australia, we're not allowed to defend ourselves. But according to Jesus Christ, you know, we have the right to have a sword, you know, to defend ourselves somehow. But anyway, I'm trying to teach you that even from the Old Testament to the New Testament, even the words of Christ, he's all for self-defense. And we understand that if you were to kill a man out of self-defense, that you would be innocent of his blood, okay? No blood should be shed for him. All right. Now, let's talk about governments very quickly. Turn to Romans chapter 13. Turn to Romans chapter 13. Now, when it comes to governments, God has given governments powers, yeah? Number one, we've already talked about, governments should have the power to put in place a death penalty. And our nation did carry out the death penalty, okay? They didn't always carry out the death penalty righteously. You know, there are many people that are put to death throughout history for things that aren't even considered worthy of the death penalty, okay? So, there's always been wicked governments, you know? If you're putting people to death over things that God says they're not worthy of death of, that's a wicked government. But if a government that does away the death penalty and doesn't ever apply it for the things that God clearly says it should be applied for, that's a wicked government as well. But the point is, government does have the right, God-given right for the death penalty. Now, we should follow the principles that are laid out for us in the Bible. Not only that, we spoke about governments, they have the right, they've got the power to put an army together, you know, a defense force together. A defense force, not an attack force. What's happening today? What's happening over the last few decades? Governments, it's no longer a defense force, it's an attack force, all right? In America, they're sending their armies across other countries, other nations, across the seas, that they've got no authority over and they're going out for the attack. And they're saying, well, they attack someone else first. No, it's a defense force. It's defend your country, defend your nation. That's what a defense force is. But I want you to notice here in Romans 13 and verse 103, the point is the death penalty or soldiers dying in warfare, this is obviously not murder. This does not fall under the category of thou shall not kill. Because in Romans 13, three, it says, for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shall have the praise of the same. Have praise of the same. For he is the minister, who's the he? That's the rulers, the people in authority, the governments. For he is a minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. God has given governments the power to have the sword. God has not given them the sword in vain. Just like Christ says, that we should have a sword. Okay, it's not in vain. You know, the sword is to be used to kill, you know, to put people to death, to be able to send your soldiers out to protect the nation. And if the opposing force loses soldiers in death, then that's not murder. And so, I just want to show you, yes, governments are allowed, they've been given the right to take away life, but it's not murder in that sense, okay? Now, the governments here in Australia, they've put into law that mothers can murder their children, that doctors can murder children in the mother's womb. Now, that's lawful. The government's passed the law, but it's against God's word. It's cold blooded murder. It's first degree murder is what it is. What's that baby done? The baby's innocent. Oh, but it's going to ruin the mother's future. The mother wants to get an education. The mother wants a career. Yeah, well, so kill a baby? That's first degree murder. And Reverend, I know, you know, we look at what's happening right now across our nation, abortions, and once again, these doctors, they should be put to death. They deserve to die, okay? And I understand, you know, that things aren't right. We're not going to see these doctors put to death in our lifetime. Hopefully we do. We're unlikely going to do that, but don't forget that one day we're going to rule with Christ for a thousand years, okay? And guess what's going to happen in the millennium? Any abortions that take place, we're going to take those doctors and put them to death. We're going to stone them to death because that's what they deserve, all right? So things are going to be different when Christ rules this earth. But the point is, you know, governments do have some elements of authority, but once again, it's not whatever, it's not, they can't just kill whoever they like, you know? There are some governments, there are some people that kill their, you know, their rivals in governments. This is where dictatorships take place, right? They end up killing any other rivals that might raise up against them, and that's wrong. That's not the right thing to do. You know, God has given certain conditions on when governments are allowed to put people to death. Now, the question that comes up when we talk about thou shalt not kill, these are the Ten Commandments. Who brought the Ten Commandments from God to the nation of Israel? It was Moses, right? It was Moses. And, you know, I have said in the past that, well, basically Moses is a picture of an Old Testament pastor, because the children in the wilderness are also in the New Testament called the church in the wilderness. And so in many ways, the Moses represents an Old Testament pastor. He wasn't just an Old Testament pastor. He was basically the government as well. He was in charge, and he had direct access to God. And so he's not exactly a pastor, but he is a good picture. Like his temperament, his leadership is what I look to when I think about, you know, being a good leader, you know, a good pastor. But people often recognize, well, hold on, you know, Moses, you're bringing the Ten Commandments thou shalt not kill, but didn't Moses commit murder? You know that story? Well, let's have a look at it. Let's go to Exodus chapter 2. Let's go to Exodus chapter 2. Question becomes, what about Moses? What about Moses? Now, I would never ordain a man who deserves to have been put to death. Like if someone's committed murder, brethren, all right, and they're part of our church, well praise God that the person got saved, right? I mean, look, obviously we can't, we're not here to carry out, you know, that level of justice or that level of, you know, we don't have that power as a church, okay? If someone in a church has a history where one day in the past they actually committed, you know, first degree murder, they are welcome to our church. I want you to understand this. Now, should they have been taken and put to death? Absolutely, all right. Hey, that person may very well become a great church member, married with kids, regrets his mistakes, right? Justice was not done on this earth, but let me just tell you, I would never ordain a man into the office of a bishop who's done a crime that is worthy of death. I would never do it. And so what about Moses? He committed murder. Well, let's have a look at it. Exodus chapter 2 and verse 11. Exodus chapter 2 and verse 11. And it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren and looked on their burdens and inspired an Egyptian smiting in Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. So, I mean, if you just read Exodus 2 there, doesn't that just sound like Moses went out, cold-blooded murder? He goes, man, this Egyptian, he's treating these Israelites poorly, right? He's putting these burdens on these Israelites and he starts to get, you know, because he recognizes the Israelites even though he was raised by Pharaoh's daughter, even though he's part of the royal family, he's been educated in Egyptian ways, he looks at his people, all right, of his flesh and he can't handle that, they've been afflicted so heavily. So he looks one way, he looks another way, hey, it looks like he's not trying to get caught here, right? And he goes, kills this man and buries him in the sand. I mean, I don't know about you, but I read Exodus 2 and it sounds like this guy, Moses, he just committed cold-blooded murder, first-degree murder, all right? So I forgive you if you thought that as well. Now, if you go to the book of Acts, go to the book of Acts chapter 7, Acts chapter 7, and don't forget, the New Testament is like a commentary to the Old Testament, okay? It shines a light on the Scriptures. We should understand the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament, all right? Acts chapter 7 and verse number 23. Acts chapter 7 and verse number 23. It says that when he was full, 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, notice the next words, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. So Acts chapter 7 brings to light something else here. It wasn't just anger. It wasn't just this guy is treating this Israelite poorly. Moses goes in and defends the Israelites. He defends him, okay? Now, but Pastor Kevin, that's not self-defense. We have a term in our court system about this kind of, you know, homicide, and it's called justifiable homicide. Justifiable homicide. It's similar to self-defense. But look, if I see a man who's, let's say, let's say there's someone who's out to kill one of my children, okay, and I know that's his intention. He's causing, and not even kill. Maybe he's just causing excessive harm on my child. Don't you think I'm going to jump in and stop that man, okay? And look, it may even result in death, okay? And even in our court system today, we understand this idea of justifiable homicide, where you go and you kill someone who is the violator, and you're actually protecting someone else. In fact, this is what happens in the police force all the time. You know, you've got somebody, in fact, just remember, not even long ago, just a few months ago, we had, it was all over the news, because it was during the whole Black Lives Matter situation, and there were some police officers that attended a fight that was taking place, this was in America, on an American street, and there were two ladies fighting, and one of the ladies pulls out a knife, and she's about to stab the other woman, and they're both black women, and the police officer pulls out his gun, and shoots the woman with a knife. Now, obviously, he's not defending himself. He wasn't, you know, the woman wasn't attacking him with a knife, but she was about to go and stab another woman. I mean, it could be a deadly stab wound. You know, if not, it would just be, you know, a serious injury, but it could be deadly. The police officer shoots that woman that pulled out her knife, and then during the whole Black Lives Matter, they're trying to demonize this cop. You know, they're trying to say, you know, why did he shoot? You know, it's white on black murder. Black Lives Matter, right? And they're trying to destroy that cop. Look, I think any good man would have made that same decision. This person's pulled out a knife. He's about to harm someone. I'm going to take, I've got my gun. This is the only thing that will stop this woman right now, is that bullet, okay? Now, I'm not here to try to defend every police action. You know, there are many wicked cops, and they take advantage, and they've got power, you know, the power goes to their heads. I understand that. I understand there are many wicked, there are many wicked people in many professions. Would it surprise me if I told you there are many wicked pastors in churches as well? There are wicked people in all professions, including the police officers, okay? But this is basically what Moses did, okay? He was concerned about this Israelite. It's not just been afflicted. This Egyptian was causing major harm to this individual, all right? And within Moses, he said, man, this man's under severe harm. This guy's causing a lot of damage here. I mean, potentially death, I don't know. Moses jumps in, defends the man, defending him. It wasn't about killing the man. He wasn't like, I'm just going to go kill an Egyptian. He goes and tries to defend, and out of that defense, he ends up killing that man. And so, it says here, when he was full 40 years old, this took place when Moses was 40 years old. And at that time, he knew that God would use him to deliver the Israelites out of the hand of the Egyptians. Because it says in verse 25, for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. And we know that this event caused Moses to flee out of Egypt. And then, how old was he? Does anyone know how old was Moses when he actually did deliver the Israelites out of Egypt? 80. Another 40 years. I'm 40 years old right now. You know this tells me that at 80, I can do even greater things for God. Like I think now I'm 40, maybe I can do great things for God, but maybe it's not real. Maybe God has greater plans for me when I'm 80. Dad, you're approaching 80. Now maybe God has the greatest things for you when you turn 80. And then, you know, we know Moses lived to 120 though. You know, we know there was 40 years in the wilderness, and God, you know, Moses would pass away before the children of Israel would enter into the land of Canaan. So Moses lived a long time, 120 years all right. But anyway, I'm getting off track here. But I just want to show you that Moses was not a cold-blooded murderer. You know, if Moses was that cold-blooded murderer, of course God would not have used a man like him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Can you please turn to Matthew 5? Matthew 5. Matthew 5 and verse number 21. Now, I don't know if you've ever committed murder or homicide, I should say. I don't know. I don't want to know. It's not important to me. But, and look, it's very unlikely that you would. It's obviously a very rare occasions that you would take another man's life. But we should not allow this commandment to go over our heads and think, well, then, you know, it doesn't apply to me in any way, shape or form. One thing that I love about Jesus, when he came to this earth, yes, he reinforced the commandments that God had given in the Old Testament, but one thing that Jesus Christ does, he's amazing at doing, is he rises that, he raises that bar even higher. Okay. And, you know, you even have that story of the rich young ruler coming to Jesus asking, what good thing, you know, shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus just raises the bar. He goes, well, you've kept the, the guy thought he kept all the commandments. Jesus goes, well, sell everything you've got then and follow after me. Jesus Christ, what he does, he comes, you know, on the earth, he just keeps raising that bar and showing that even, even if you try to keep all the commandments perfectly, you're still not good enough for heaven. Now, none of us can keep it. Okay. You know, keeping the commandments perfectly still doesn't, doesn't qualify you for heaven because we're born of a sin nature. Okay. It's within us. And Christ is here raising that bar. He says in Matthew 5 21, You have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shall not kill. Yep. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. Yeah. So Christ saying, yep, we've heard this in the old times. Verse number 22. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Wow. Have you ever been angry at a brother? Have you ever been angry at someone? Of course. Now look, this is not saying being angry is a sin. All right. Jesus Christ says that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause. All right. I can be angry at certain people because of a situation, because they caused some type of conflict or someone's been wicked. All right. I can be angry at the, at the abortion doctor because I've got a cause. They've committed murder. Hey, I can be angry at the pedophile. I can hate the pedophile either. Okay. It's not without a cause. But the point of here without the cause is basically if I just, if I'm just angry at you, I just hate you for no reason. Like we just have a personality conflict. We just, we don't see eye to eye on certain things. Yeah, we just don't get along because our personalities clash and now I'm just angry at you about that. Well, that's sinful. You know, we should strive to get along with other people. You know, I don't expect everybody to just be in lockstep with me about everything. And you know what? Even when people talk to me and I disagree with them, you know, I just, I just want to get along. I'm not there to just argue everything and just cause conflicts and fights about every little thing. And so we need to be careful not just to get angry for whatever reason, for any stupid reason. Now if you've got a real cause to get angry, it's not a sin. But notice how Christ just raised that bar. Like I've never killed a man. I never intend to kill a man. I hope to never kill a man. But I can get angry at people. And now Jesus Christ starts to apply it to our thought life. That's what Christ does all the time. It's not always the outward, but Christ also focuses on the inward. What's taking place in the hearts? What's taking place in the mind? And then he keeps going there in verse number 22. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Rehka shall be in danger of the council. Now that word Rehka, I forgot to look it up, but from memory, it's got, it's basically, you're kind of like cursing your brother or you're saying like you're nothing, you're worthless, you're hopeless. You're basically just cursing your brother out. Then you should be in danger of the council. So your brother might take you to court, you know, of a defamation or slander or these kinds of things. And then it says, but whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. What do you think of that? Okay, danger of hellfire. Now people try to think that, oh, you can lose your salvation. Now, if you just say to someone, you're a fool. Now you've lost your salvation. Now you're in danger of hellfire. But I want you to just notice very quickly, and this is just to give you the answer because I know that's going to process in your mind. I want you to notice the differences in how Christ explains this. It says in verse number 22, and I say to you that whosoever is angry with his brother, okay, shall be in danger of the judgment. And look at that, it keeps going, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Rekha. So obviously Christ is speaking here about the brother. It's the, you know, it's a saved brethren. All right, talking about the saved people. But then it says here, but whosoever shall say, thou fool, so no longer is it about a brother. It's no longer referring to yourself or the other person as a brother. So this is just in general, okay. Even in general, if someone just hates another person, thou fool, and that person never gets saved, they're going to pay for that sin in hell. They're going to suffer in hell even for thou fool. Hey, even a single lie casts you into hellfire, okay. So that's what Christ is telling us, all right. Verse number 23, Therefore if thou bring thy gifts to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother have ought against thee, leave there thy gifts before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gifts. So notice that Christ takes the teaching about thou shalt not kill, and then he starts dealing with the personal conflicts that we have with each other. So thou shalt not kill is more than just the outward, but it's also the inward. It's also the personal conflicts that we develop in our lifetime. And you know what, it's wrong for us to come to church and bring our sacrifices of praise before God, and we have an open conflict with our brethren, okay. What is God going to do? First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gifts. You say, Pastor Kevin, I have a conflict right now that's been unreconciled. Well, here's the thing, you can't necessarily reconcile every conflict, can you? I mean, sometimes you've gone and tried to reconcile, but they don't want to reconcile. Then what do you do? Are you just not going to go to church and offer your gifts of sacrifice to the Lord? No, you do what you can do, obviously. You know, you try to make peace, you try to reconcile, but if other people do not want, well, you keep coming to the Lord God and you do what you need to do, all right? But these are issues of the heart, and that's what I want you to be thinking about tonight. You can't necessarily apply murder and all these kinds of things, but you can definitely apply anger. We've all had conflicts. We've all had conflicts with our brethren. We've all argued with someone in church or with our family or whatever. Brethren, please go and reconcile your differences. Just get along, all right? Why live a life of misery and bitterness and anger? You know what? Just try to reconcile, and you know, usually, if you just humble yourself and try to get things right, most people will just appreciate it and just put those differences aside. You know what? It's like, well, look, we don't have to be best friends, but we don't have to be enemies either. That's what most people would be like, all right? And again, there are certain people that will not want to reconcile with you. What more can you do? All right? You've done what you can. You just go and serve the Lord. Now, please turn to Romans chapter 13. We are near the end. Romans chapter 13 and verse number 8. We'll end on this one. Romans chapter 13, verse number 8. The Bible says, O no man anything, but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandments, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. I love this as well. So we're up to these final commandments that we're going through. Thou shalt not commit adultery, we've just covered tonight, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. So these are the final commandments that we'll be looking at. But you know what? Instead of you being worried about every single commandment, right? Am I doing commandment number six? Am I doing commandment number seven? You know what? Just love your neighbor as thyself. And if you do that, obviously if you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to go out and kill someone. You're not going to go and covet what other people have. You'll be appreciative that my neighbor's been blessed by God and he's got whatever he's got, okay? You're not going to go out and steal the things that belong to your neighbor. And so brethren, just therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. That's what's wonderful about the New Testament. It summarizes the 10 commandments, summarizes the commandments. These commandments that deal with our relationship with mankind, with our neighbors, with our brethren, just love. Just show people the love of Jesus Christ. You know, and that truly, you know what? If you just receive the love of the Father and you love what God loves and you hate what God hates, hey, you get angry with the things God gets angry about, it's fine. You show love to your brethren. You won't even need to worry about keeping every single commandment because it's going to, obviously you're not going to be able to break these commandments simply because you're loving your neighbor as thyself. And so brethren, let that be a thought for us tonight. It's not just the outward. It's not just the wicked abortion doctors. It's not just wicked murderers and serial killers and pedophiles and whatever people know. You know what? Thou shall not kill applies to us. Do you have anger? Do you have hatred for your brother? Without a cause. Do you have broken, you know, relationships? Do you have conflicts? Go and resolve it. Go and resolve it before you come to church this Sunday. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word. I thank you for Jesus Christ and Lord, the fact that he raises the bar so high and Lord, when the bar is risen, we actually realize just how far we've come short. And Lord, of your glory, of your righteousness. And Lord, thank you so much for giving Jesus Christ our Savior. And Lord, I thank you as we keep studying for this series on the Ten Commandments that we would also just consider, Lord. Not as just commandments that took place, Lord, in the time of Israel. Lord, I do want to pray, Lord, that we would bring back the death penalty in Australia. Lord, I pray you'd move in the hearts of our politicians. That we'd be brave enough, Lord, to punish the wicked, these people that deserve to die. Lord, and yeah, Lord, I do pray for a righteous government. Please bring people in our political system that have fear of God, that will push legislation or that honors your word. And Lord, help us not to be angry with our brethren without a cause and help us to be peacemakers and not people that are driven to have conflicts. Lord, I thank you so much for being a great God and great Savior. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, brethren, please take your hymnals. We'll end with hymn number 363. Hymn number 363. We'll sing Wonderful Words of Life. Three, six, three. Wonderful Words of Life. Let me more of their beauty see Wonderful Words of Life. Words of life and beauty Teach me faith and duty Beautiful words, Wonderful words, Wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, Wonderful words, Wonderful words of life. Christ, the blessed one, Gives to all Wonderful words of life. Sin, a list to the loving Paul, Wonderful words of life. All so freely given, Woo in us to heaven. Beautiful words, Wonderful words, Wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, Wonderful words, Wonderful words of life. Sweetly echo the gospel call, Wonderful words of life. Offer pardon and peace to all, Wonderful words of life. Jesus, only Saviour, Sanctify forever. Beautiful words, Wonderful words, Wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, Wonderful words, Wonderful words of life. Brother Michael, would you close us in a word of prayer? Would you close us in a word of prayer? Would you close us in a word of prayer? Would you close us in a word of prayer?