ILL: We have snow, dusting, white out, blizzard, white stuff, flurry, sleet, hail, freezing rain. The Eskimos have over 100. Even though both blizzard and flurry mean it will snow, they do not mean the same thing. In Hebrew there are 9 different words that mean to cause the death of another. But they do not all mean the same thing. The commandment is against murder, not death.

When Noah emerged from the ark the world had changed. Until the flood, God was readily accessible to men. When Cain offered the wrong sacrifice God rejected it and Cain knew it. When Cain slew Able, it was God who actively stepped in as judge and jury. Cain was condemned to exile from the ranks of godly men. He fled away from the gates of Eden and built his own civilization without God.

When God was fed up with the sinfulness of man, He decided to destroy man from under heaven, except for Noah. God came down and told Noah to build an ark. When the time came Noah and the animals entered the ark and God closed the door. God executed the wicked of Noah's day.

But when the flood waters had receded and the ark emptied its contents on the slopes of Ararat, God told Noah that He would no longer be the first judge of men. From this point on men would be responsible for order in their society. God was becoming a little more distant as mens perceptions became a little more dull. In Genesis 9:6 God commanded, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Murder was to be punished by men. There was a reason. Man is made in the image of God. While men are busy building images and worshiping them God laughs. In Isaiah He taunts the man who cuts down a tree dividing the wood in half. The one piece the man carves and overlays with gold. He sets it up and worships it. The other piece is broken into pieces and used for fire wood. Does man burn his gods, or worship his firewood.

Man is the image of God. That image has been marred by sin, and sin brings death. God is offended when one man ends the innocent life of another as a grandmother would be offended by a person who tore up a picture of her grandchild. God is offended as a king whose statue is defaced publicly. God is offended as society was a few years ago when a maniac took a sledge hammer and marred the pristine beauty of Michelangelo's Pieta.

Only the offense is far worse. In our examples we have mentioned items of memory or beauty which enjoy affection. When you attack the image of God, you attack God himself. When you disrespect another man, you disrespect God. God does not take this lightly. When God gave the command for capital punishment He impressed us with the sanctity of life. Each time a life is needlessly taken we should feel a sense of outrage. Until the murderer is found and brought to justice we should feel a sense of outrage. Only when the blood of the murderer has covered the blood of the innocent victim can we find closure in the matter. This is not revenge. It is the remnant of Gods holiness and justice in us manifesting itself.

Some would say, but that is Old Testament. Didn't Jesus tell us to forgive? The answer, Yes. and Yes. But the third and fourth questions have not been asked. Does the New Testament teach capital punishment? And, who is to do the forgiving?

The New Testament does teach capital punishment. In Romans 13:4, speaking of the magistrate or police authority of the state, Paul wrote, For he is the 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. The magistrate has a sword and may use it. The policeman has a gun and may use it. The judge has the lethal injection, electric chair, or gallows and may use them.

Who is to forgive? The individual who suffers the loss cannot long survive if he or she cannot let go of the crime. Bitterness and unforgiveness kills as surely as a gun, it just takes longer. We cannot go through life bearing both the pain of loss and the fire of hatred and revenge. The individual is to forgive, but the society is to execute. Even under the Mosaic law, it was not the offended person who was to avenge. The government was given the exercise and responsibility for capital punishment.

The reason given was simple. Deuteronomy 13:11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. It is a deterrent. It cannot bring back the life of the murdered, but it secures society and brings a sense of justice to the grieving.

B. Killing in war is not murder

War is a horrible thing. It should be avoided at all costs. William T. Sherman, one of the first practitioner of total war, once said, War is hell. And it is. No amount of romanticism, patriotism, and pride can replace a son or daughter lost to the whim of Ares. Vietnam and the invention of the TV camera that brought the horrors of battle into the living rooms of Mom and Pop back home ended those foolish notions. For almost a generation we avoided any engagement which even looked like war.

Then came the Gulf War. We won and it costs us little. We dropped a whole generation of outdated military ordinance scheduled for the junk heap on a country which had no real defenses against it. This time the cameras showed missiles dropping down vent pipes and patriot missiles blowing scud missiles out of the air. We bragged on our accuracy and ability to strike from afar. By the time our young people moved in on the ground the battle was over. We won and we were happy. War wasn't such a bad thing anymore.

Or was it. We only saw one side. Those tanks which were destroyed with surgical precision were filled with Iraqi young people would not go home. The military bases and depots destroyed by smart missiles were full of people who would not go home. The highway to hell where our planes obliterated the fleeing convoys of tanks and military vehicles was a fiery holocaust for thousands who would not go home. War is a terrible thing.

But sometimes it is necessary. There are causes that are just and necessary. There are abuses and inhumanities which must be resisted at all costs. There are freedoms which must be gained and tyrants who must be dethroned. We live in a sinful world where men selfishly pursue their own interests at the expense of others, sometimes to intolerable extremes. When the cause is right, we must fight. There is no shame or dishonor in war. War is not murder to the soldier fighting for home, country, and his own life in the trenches.

C. Self-defense is not murder.

All law and order is an extension of self-defense. It is not demanded, neither is it forbidden. It is the basis of all law. It is a right. When the colonists looked for a justification for the American Revolution they found it in the writings of Rutherford in a book called Lex Rex, (the law is king). The book written during the Puritan reign of Cromwell was a scriptural defense of Cromwell's rebellion. Rutherford established self-defense as the ultimate justification for all government.

The concept that governments rule with the consent of the governed was based on this principle. It was defended from the Scriptures citing the double anointing of Saul, and David. They were appointed by God but did not become king until accepted by the people they would govern. In converse, Rehoboam lost the kingdom. On the death of his father Solomon he demonstrated an arrogant, elitist attitude. The nation refused the rightful heir. Ten tribes chose Jeroboam instead. God never condemned them for rejecting Rehoboam. Rutherford's conclusion was that they did it in self-defense. This was the reasoning in 1776 which persuaded a Christian, conservative thirteen colonies to rebel against a king in violation of the laws of his own nation. It is the basis of the Declaration of Independence.

Men may defend their homes and families. Men may defend themselves. Both Jacob and Moses were attacked by God or an angel. Both fought through the night in self-defense. Lamech in Genesis killed in self-defense. David took a sword and ran from Saul, determined to fight if need be. Killing in self-defense is not murder.

D. Accidental Deaths - Cities of Refuge - Numbers 35:15-16 These six cities shall be a refuge, [both] for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.

A. Being angry without a cause - Matthew 5:20-22 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Notice that the Bible does not say being angry. It is being angry without a cause which is murder. Justified anger has a solution. Either the offender admits guilt and makes restitution or the offended grants forgiveness, or both. Anger without a cause has no solution. Ultimately it finds an expression which is always negative. It may express itself in character assassination, or random violence, or even actual murder. Because it is the root of murder, it is murder. Jesus warned about it. Paul gave good advice when he said in Ephesians, Be angry and sin not.

 B. Abortion - Exodus 21:22-23 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart [from her], and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges [determine]. And if [any] mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

 Abortion is murder. In this judgment God said if two men fight and accidentally cause accidental injury to a pregnant mother there are consequences if the child is prematurely born as a result of the injury. If both mother and baby are fine, the offender may be sued for money and forced to pay for pain and suffering. If either mother or baby dies as a result of the blow, the offender is to be put to death.

 An unborn baby is afforded the same protection as a baby after birth. The scriptures contain several references to unborn children as people. In Jeremiah and Psalms he speaks of the unborn being the person. In Luke 1 the word used to describe John the Baptist in the womb is the same word used to describe Jesus in the manger. A child is a child from the time of conception. Its life is as sacred as that of the born.

 C. Destroying your own life - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Suicide is murder. You are murdering yourself. Is it the unpardonable sin? No! But, it is objected, how can you confess the sin and be forgiven if you are dead? The answer is simple. We are not saved because we confess our sins. We are saved because we have received the salvation provided by God in Christ.

But suicide is not always obvious. Sins of the flesh which shorten our physical lives, self-destructive behavior i.e. gluttony, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, lack of sleep, etc., all shorten our lives and rob God of the opportunity to glorify Himself through us. They are sin. They are murder.

D. Destroying a church - Proverbs 6:19 A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Destroy the reputation of a church and stand guilty for the souls it could have reached.

E. To Reject Christ -

Hebrews 6:4-6 For [it is] impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.

 Hebrews 10:26-36 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance [belongeth] unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. [It is] a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

 As wicked as murder is, it will not send you to heaven or hell. Rejecting Christ will. Jesus died for your sins. He paid the full price for your disobedience. He offers his finished work to you. He offers you forgiveness, sonship, and eternal life in heaven. To reject Christ right now is the equivalent of crucifying him again. That is the only sin which God will not allow to pass in silence.