Lesson 20: God's Holiness Generates a Reminder, part 13

The sixth commandment reminding us that God is Holy and we are not, is in Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder."

The sixth test God puts us through revealing His Holiness and our sinfulness is the prohibition of murder. Most countries break this commandment all the time. Too many people in our world care nothing about this commandment. But as horrible as those stats on the murder of adults are, it is NOTHING compared to the murder of children. Worldwide we have now murdered nearly 1.5 billion babies, and worldwide we are murdering a child every second.

What makes it even more horrible is that many so-called Christians are starting to slide on this issue because they have fallen for a lie! Yes, they say abortion is murder, but now they are being conditioned to think it is okay under certain circumstances. To show you what I mean, let's take a little so-called abortion test. You tell me if it is ever acceptable. Would you consider abortion in the following situations?

1. A preacher and wife who are very, very, poor. They already have fourteen children. Now she is pregnant with her fifteenth. They are living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty, and the excessive world population, would you consider recommending she get an abortion?

2. The father is sick with sniffles, the mother has TB. They have four children. The first is blind, second is dead, third is deaf, fourth has TB. She finds she is pregnant again. Given the extreme situation, would you consider recommending abortion?

3. A man raped a thirteen-year old girl and she got pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?


4. A teenage girl is pregnant. She is not married. Her fiancée, not the father of the baby, is very upset. Would you consider recommending abortion?

If you said yes in the first case, you have just killed John Wesley, one of the great evangelists of the nineteenth century.

In the second case, you have killed Beethoven, the great composer of the late 1700’s.

In the third case, you have killed Ethel Waters, a great gospel singer.

And if you said yes to the fourth case, you have just approved the murder of Jesus Christ!

Matthew 5:21-22 - "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire."

Jesus declares that murder in God's eyes not only includes death with a weapon, but death with your mouth. When you get angry with someone to the point where you call them an idiot, or you curse at them, you are just as guilty as a serial killer because you killed them with your words!

* What is God’s punishment for murder in Numbers 35:20-21?