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Promises Of The Law - Part 15

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• I have in verse 17. We're still on the series, "The Promises of the Law." This is number 15, and we will be dealing with the Sixth Commandment today. So, Deuteronomy chapter 5, look if you would please at verse 17. You will also find this same passage in Exodus 20 and verse 13, but Deuteronomy 5 verse 17 says simply, "Thou shalt not kill." The Sixth Commandment is the shortest of all commandments.

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• However, that does not mean that it is easily comprehended or understood. There are many implications in the Sixth Commandment. Obviously, in today's unbiblical and post-Christian society, murder is acceptable. And when I talk about murder being acceptable, I'm talking now about aborticide, infanticide, even euthanasia. If you've never looked on the Internet at the abortion clock, I would encourage you to look at the abortion clock. In fact, there are numbers of sites that have the abortion clock on them. And some of them, if you look at them, will be rather disturbing.

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• But let me give you one or two statistics. Do you realize since Roe v. Wade in 1973, up until this month in the United States alone, there have been 61,292,330 abortions? Worldwide,

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• there have been 1,527,177,165. When you stop and think, there is an abortion every 26 seconds in this country. That means there are 137 babies aborted every hour.

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• 3,304 aborted every day, 23,196 aborted every week, and 100,516 every month. So even while I just spoke, there's been a number of babies that have been killed, murdered, aborted.

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• Now just to show you how insane, how delusional, and how absolutely insensitive Americans have become in their thinking, I want to read you an article on Brianna and her baby. I want you to think about this if you would please. This is from New Jersey. The pregnant cow that narrowly escaped slaughter last month by kicking open a door, jumping off a two-level cattle trailer onto Route 80 in Patterson, then giving birth a few days later at a sanctuary, is getting the attention of lawmakers. Brianna's Law has been introduced by Assemblyman Benji Wimberly, Democrat of Passaic. He would make transporting pregnant livestock for slaughter and killing pregnant livestock fourth-degree crimes. Wimberly says cattle can't defend themselves or speak up for themselves on issues like this. "It's animal rights. It's the right thing to do. It's the moral thing to do."

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• "And you're protecting something that really can't protect itself," he said. Wimberly said Patterson's animal control officer, John DeCando, was one of the officers who helped corral Brianna on Route 80. When he found out the cow was pregnant, he felt that something needed to be done to prevent any pregnant cow from being slaughtered. Wimberly said he had to do something because DeCando is on the top of things when it comes to animal rights and safety. "Once John DeCando called you, you know it's legitimate. You know it's the right thing to do," Wimberly said.

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• If the bill becomes law, there would be fines of $3,000 to $10,000 for each conviction and a potential for 18 months in prison. A civil penalty of $3,000 to $5,000 for each pregnant or slaughtered pregnant cow is also included in the bill. Wimberly said he's been getting tremendous support for the bill. He expects it to fly through the Assembly and the Senate. A spokeswoman for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said her group was happy to see a bill introduced and hopes it will open people's eyes to the alleged abuses in the dairy industry. State Senator Nellie Pou, Democrat of Passaic, is also drafting legislation to prevent similar situations. Wimberly believes the cow knew exactly what she was doing during her escape.

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• He even talked about it with his pastor, who said, "Brianna knew she had to save her child." I'm like, wow, that's pretty deep. Brianna went on to give birth to a calf named Winter at the Skylands Animal Sanctuary in Wantage. Well, obviously, and you've heard me preach this before, it is against biblical law to kill a mother and her young on the same day. God simply forbids it.

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• And I pointed out that is respect for family. And anyone who listens to my preaching and anyone who knows me knows that I have a real genuine love for animals. In fact, I have cows and all my cows are pets. I have a 3,000-pound bull. I can run my hands all over and pet him like a little dog. Other bulls and other cows. I mean, there's no two ways about it that I really respect and I love my animals. But I'm gonna tell you something, as much as I love my animals, an animal's life is nothing in comparison to a baby's life. And for a Democrat, for a politician to say, "These animals can't speak for themselves. They can't defend themselves."

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• What do you think about a child in the womb? What do you think about a little child? And to be concerned for animals, which I concur, there should be a concern there. But to have a concern for animals, but no concern for humans, is something that is quite beyond me. I want to compare this Brianna's Law with something that was written by Mike Adams, who is the Health Ranger. And he's talking about the aborticide law that is now in effect in New York. Here's what he wrote. "Under a new law that just took effect in New York, a child may be aborted up to the due date or even during the birth itself. If that child survives the attempted abortion and is born alive, that child may be murdered on sight by an abortionist to complete the abortion."

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• When the law was passed, New York Democrats applauded and cheered in the state Senate chambers, and Cuomo ordered a prominent building lit up in pink light to signify the blood of the children that Democrats are ecstatic to see spilled on a daily basis. The second article is from the Daily Sheeple and it goes like this: "As heinous as New York's new abortion law is, allowing for unborn babies to be legally murdered right up to the point of birth, it's actually a lot worse than that. After a careful reading of the law's provision, it is clear that in addition to legalizing abortion at any point during pregnancy, the changes to section 4164 of New York's public health law also allows for babies to be aborted after they are born, a form of murder known as infanticide. As reported by Life News, the legislation's wording suggests that botched abortions, in which an unborn baby ends up being birthed rather than murdered, can be attempted again after the baby has left the birth canal. 'When an abortion is performed after the 20th week of pregnancy, a physician other than the physician performing the abortion shall be in attendance to take control of and to provide immediate medical care for any live birth that is the result of the abortion,' the law reads.

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• In other words, should a baby be born instead of aborted as intended, another physician can step in and engage the process a second time. This law guarantees it, sweeping away a large chunk of the penal codes that protected abortion survivors. Tony Perkins said that from the Family Research Council. Now, so the law in New York says if the abortionist does not really complete the abortion, there can be a second physician that can step in after the baby is born and kill the baby. Wow. When you stop and think about all of this, if we really understood the Sixth Commandment and its implications, and if we really applied the Sixth Commandment, we would then have regard for all life, not only for the lives of animals, but also for the lives of humans as well. I pointed out many times that the positive side of the Sixth Commandment—the negative is "Thou shalt not kill"—the positive is "Thou shalt preserve life." That means then we have a duty to preserve life. We have a duty to preserve all life.

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• And since God is the author and the creator of life, then life can only be taken on God's terms. I'm not going to go into some of the messages that I've taught in times past, but if you listen to the two-part series on the biblical doctrine of self-defense, I listed 17 reasons based upon the Word of God why human life could be lawfully and legitimately taken on God's terms. God puts forth very clearly in His Word.

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• But now, when you stop and think about animals, most people have no conscience when it just comes to killing animals. I've told you before I've seen tracks where people purposely ran off the road just to kill one of those gopher tortoises, to run over him and crush him. And the old gopher tortoise doesn't do anything but eat grass and dig a hole in the ground. And then it's not on top of the ground where you can fall into it, it's usually at an angle. So, it's just almost insane that people today have no concern for life. When you look at how easily people murder today, I just read this past week where a 69-year-old woman murdered her husband because he had promised her that he would quit watching pornography and she caught him watching pornography again and so she killed him. I mean pornography is bad enough but just to murder someone. And recently I read where another man murdered another over a nickel. And some time ago you remember one brother murdered his brother because he believed his brother was using too much of the internet on his playing his games.

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• Why is life meaningless and valueless today? And the answer is because we certainly do not understand the Sixth Commandment. We don't apply the Sixth Commandment.

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• Now when you are talking about animals, certainly there are biblical, lawful, and legitimate reasons why animal life can be taken. One of them is self-defense. I mean I love my cows, but I've got news for you, if one of my cows turns and tries to kill me, I'm going to kill the cow if I can to stop her from killing me. I mean obviously the human life is more valuable and above an animal's life. You may kill in self-defense. You may also kill for food and clothing. God gave animals to us for meat and for clothing or for whatever. And of course we can also kill lawfully and legitimately if something is hindering dominion. Now I don't eat rabbits, but if a rabbit is eating up my garden he is hindering dominion and I would kill the rabbit.

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• Now if I could give it to someone who ate rabbits, wonderful, I would do that as well. But you know anytime that anything is hindering dominion it is then a nuisance and it can be taken out legally and lawfully. So there is a general rule I think that we can see. The general rule is this: if you do not have a regard for the lives of what you and I would call the lower animals, you are not going to have any regard for the lives of the higher animals.

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• In other words it starts at the bottom and it works up. It is an argument from the lesser to the greater.

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• Now the Bible tells you in the book of Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 10, that a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. So, if you have a beast, if you have an animal, if you're righteous, you're going to regard its life. That's all there is to it. I knew a man many, many years ago because when I was a boy, you farmed and you plowed with mules.

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• Tractors were just really coming in. And I knew this one man. In fact, he lived next to us. He had such a temper you would not believe. And when his mule would jump the trace, tear apart the ground, he would get so angry he would go get his rifle, kill the mule, and turn around and go buy him another one. I mean just ridiculous. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

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• Now God's Law distinguishes in His Word between murder, manslaughter, and what you and I would call accidental killing—misadventure sometimes it is called—and what we would call justifiable homicide. You'll find all of that in the Scripture as well. But the sum of the Sixth Commandment is this, that we are not to do any unjust violence to anyone or anything. And certainly the Scripture tells us that the Sixth Commandment also includes the tongue. And when I say the tongue, I want you to listen very carefully.

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• Proverbs chapter 18 in verse 21. The Bible says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." So if you love life, then you're going to be controlling your tongue and you're going to eat the fruit thereof. If you don't control your tongue, then you love death and you're going to eat the fruit thereof regardless of what you do. God says you're going to be eating the fruit thereof.

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• All of us have heard of character assassination. All of us know about the horrors of gossip and slander and libel. That's why there are laws against those things. I know, I personally know pastors that have had their lives, their families, their ministries ruined because someone told a lie about them. And sometimes those lies are very far-reaching. But I want you to look in your Bibles—hold Deuteronomy 5—but look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, and you'll see very clearly that our Lord includes the tongue in the Sixth Commandment. Matthew chapter 5, beginning there with verse 21. Matthew 5 verse 21. And look if you would please at what our Lord says. Remember if you would in this passage our Lord is correcting the misinterpretation and the misapplication of the law by the Pharisees. So He says in verse 21, "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."

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• So they're talking about a physical murder. Then He goes on to say, "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, that is 'you stupid idiot, you worthless rascal,' shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

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• So, our Lord then in verse 22 is incorporating the tongue under the Sixth Commandment as well. So, the Sixth Commandment not only refers to our actions but also to our attitudes, our dispositions, and our tongues.

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• Now, in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 13 it is the same command, "Thou shalt not kill." I want to read to you what Matthew Poole says on the Sixth Commandment. Listen to this. He says, "to wit any man or woman without authority and without just cause, which exception must necessarily be understood because many other scriptures command the magistrate to kill great offenders. And this prohibition being delivered by God, who made and searcheth and demands men's heart, must be extended not only to the external act of killing, that is, 'Thou shalt not kill,' but to all motions of the heart or tongue which tend that way as anger, hatred, envy, malice, strife, blows, and the challenges of duelists, which is clearly manifest by comparing this with other scriptures."

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• And here, as in the rest, is commanded the contrary duty of preserving the lives of our neighbors as much as lies within our power. So, when you talk about the Sixth Commandment, you have a negative and you have a positive. The negative, "Thou shalt not kill." The positive is, "Thou shalt preserve life."

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• Now, since we're talking about the promises in these commandments, there is an implied promise here. That implied promise is this: if we obey the negative and do no unjust violence, and if we obey the positive and we seek to preserve life, then inevitably, inevitably, we're going to learn not only the value of life, but we're going to learn to love life ourselves. And God has promised long life to those who love life.

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• For instance, look in your Bibles to the book of Psalms, Psalm 34. Psalm 34, and let's begin reading there with verse 11. Watch carefully if you would. Psalm 34, verse 11, the psalmist says, "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good.

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• Seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles."

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• Now, before I get to verse 12, which is what I want to deal with, I want you to look back at verse 11. "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." So let me ask a question. What is the fear of the Lord? In times past I brought a number of messages on the fear of the Lord. But without re-preaching those messages, I want you to very quickly turn with me just to the book of Deuteronomy. We'll start in Deuteronomy chapter 6. And I want to just take the book of Deuteronomy and show you what the fear of the Lord is as it is revealed in this book. We could go to the book of Proverbs. We could go to the book of Psalms. We could go to about every book of the Bible. But notice in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verses 1 and 2.

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• "Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged." Now if you will look closely at verse 2, fearing the Lord is equated with keeping His statutes and His commandments. And then He says, if you do that, then your days shall be prolonged. Skip down to verse 13. He says, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name." So fearing the Lord here relates to serving Him—that would be through obedience, that would be through worship—and swear by His name because He alone is the one sovereign and true God. We acknowledge Him, we confess Him, and He is our God. So He said, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his

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• name." Look in verse 24 of the same chapter. The Bible says, "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God," note if you would, "for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day." Now you remember earlier He talked about your days being prolonged; now He's talking about preserving our lives. And fearing the Lord once again is obeying His Word. It is obeying His law. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 8 if you would please and verse 6. Deuteronomy 8 in verse 6. "Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him." Note if you would, we're to keep the commandments of God, and that is walking in His ways, and that is fearing Him. Look if you would to Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verse 12. Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12. "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in

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• all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?" Note, if you would, what does God require of thee but to fear the Lord? What is fearing the Lord? It's walking in all of His ways. It's loving Him. It's serving Him with all your heart, with all your soul. Verse 13, "To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good." Wow. Then if you look in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 13 and verse 4. Deuteronomy 13 and verse 4. "Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him." So once again fearing the Lord is summarized in these passages. Fearing the Lord is obeying Him, is keeping His commandments. It's worshiping Him. It's serving Him. It's cleaving unto Him. It's saying, "He is my God and He is the one whom I love and whom I will serve." Now I want you to go back if you would to Psalm 34. Psalm 34, because in this passage,

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• He says, "Come, my children, and I'm going to teach you the fear of the Lord." Now I want you to remember He talked about prolonging your days. He talked about preserving your life. Then He says this: "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?" Wow. "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." Now go back. Look at verse 12. "What man is he that desireth life?" Everyone wants to live.

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• You know, I have known some people that have said that they wanted to die. In fact, I know two right now. They're still alive. They're elderly. They have problems and they're ready to die. They're waiting to die. They want to die. But I have sat by the bedsides of many people that have died in the hospital and at home. And the interesting thing is, even those who say they want to die, when it comes time to die, their body fights for life. Isn't that amazing?

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• Because that's just our nature. And so now He says, "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days?" He wants to live a long life, "that he may see good." In other words, he's not just living a long life. He's living a good life. He's living a happy life. Listen, if you would, here's what John Calvin said on verse 12. "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?" He said, "The prophet does not inquire if there be any man so disposed, as if all men voluntarily brought upon themselves the miseries which befall them. For we know that all men without exception desire to live in the enjoyment of happiness. But he censures severely the blindness and folly which men exhibit in the forwardness of their desires and in the vanity of their endeavors to obtain happiness.

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• For while all men are eagerly intent upon acquiring what is for their profit, there will be found scarcely one in a hundred who studies to purchase peace and a quiet and desirable state of life by just and equitable means. The prophet therefore admonishes his disciples that nearly the whole world are deceived and led astray by their own folly, while they promise themselves a happy life from any other source than a divine blessing which God bestows is not viable." In other words, everybody wants to live a long life. Everybody wants to live a happy life. But what the psalmist is saying is, look, if you want to live a long life, if you want to love life, you have to have a godly life, an obedient life, and one that is in line with God and His Word.

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• So it is only a righteous life that is going to lead to happiness, to satisfaction, and enjoyment. Now, the Bible tells you in Proverbs 19 in verse 23, "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." Now listen, "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide satisfied." He that hath it shall abide satisfied. He shall not be visited with evil.

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• I have never known one genuine, sincere Christian who wished he was anything other than a real, genuine, sincere Christian. Obviously. So, the fear of the Lord tends to life. The Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse 21, "He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour." And then the Bible tells us in Proverbs 22 and verse 4, "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life."

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• Now, the interesting thing is that which is promised in the Old Testament is also promised in the New Testament. So I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. And let's begin there with verse 10. 1 Peter 3 and verse 10. Watch verse 10.

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• "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

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• Now, go back, if you would, to verse 10. "For he that will love life, and see good days." So if you love life and you want to have a good life, "let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile." And then verse 11, "let him eschew evil." You know in the book of Job chapter 1 the Bible said that Job feared God and eschewed evil. You know what the word "eschew" means? It means to spit out. You can't stomach it. You can't swallow it.

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• I thought this morning about something that happened to me when I was a child. My parents had gone to the neighbors to visit with them. And my sister and I were playing in the kitchen with their children. I don't remember how old I was. Eight, nine, ten, something like that. I don't remember. But it was the year that saccharin first came out. And my father and mother with their friends were in the living room drinking coffee. And my dad called me and said, "Son, come get me another cup of coffee."

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• And I said, "Yes, sir." And I went and got his coffee cup. I filled it with coffee. And Mrs. Young hollered, "The saccharin is on the table." I'd never heard of saccharin before, never seen it before. And all I knew is my dad always took two teaspoons of sugar in his coffee. So I put two teaspoons of those little round pills in that coffee and stirred them up. And I remember when my father took that cup of coffee and turned it up, the first thing he did was spit it out right on the carpet. And then he looked at me and said, "Son, if I didn't think this stuff would kill you, I'd make you drink every drop." But now that's what "eschew" means: you spit it out. You can't swallow it.

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• You can't stomach it. He couldn't even hold it in his mouth, not because of the heat but because of the extreme sweetness. So the Bible says very clearly then, if we want to live a long life and a good life and a happy life, we have to eschew evil and do good, seek peace and ensue it.

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• Now the interesting thing is Adam Clarke in his commentary said in this passage there are five truths that are revealed and five things that we must do. Number one he said we must refrain from evil speaking, lying and slandering. Number two, we must avoid flattery and fair speeches which cover hypocritical and wicked intentions. Thirdly, he must avoid evil and keep going away from evil. And fourthly, he must do good, he must walk in the way of righteousness. And fifthly, he must live peaceably with all men, seek peace where it has been lost, restore it where it has been broken, pursue it when it seems to be flying away. He who lives thus must live happy in himself.

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• And as excess in action and passion always tends to the shortening of life, and nothing preys on the constitution more than disorderly passions, he must live not only happiest, but longest who avoids all these things." Now, let me point out something. Each of these things relate to the Sixth Commandment. "Thou shalt preserve life." If we understand the Sixth Commandment, that means that we're going to do everything that we possibly can to preserve our lives. That means that we're going to take care of our health. In other words, I'm not going to do anything to my body that's going to shorten my life.

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• You read every day about people who kill themselves with drugs and overdoses. You read of people doing absolutely stupid things. I've often said, I don't want anything in my body that's not supposed to be in my body. I don't even like pharmaceuticals. So the truth of the matter is, I mean here are people that will not take care of themselves. They will not eat right. They'll not live right. They'll not do right. And you know, they let their health just simply go to pot. And anything that you do that would add to your self-destruction is a violation of the Sixth Commandment. Of course suicide would be a violation of the Sixth Commandment as well. But obviously not taking care of your own health is truly a violation.

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• The Bible says in Proverbs 11 in verse 19, "As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death." As righteousness tends to life, you pursue righteousness, you're pursuing length of life, and good life, and long life. You pursue evil, you pursue it to your own death.

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• Now, let me give you another implication of the Sixth Commandment that we do not normally think about. When we're talking about preserving life, we're also talking about preserving the lives of what you and I would call the stranger, the disadvantaged, the unprotected. We're not just talking about babies. We're talking about widows. We're talking about orphans. We're talking about strangers. Just because someone is easily taken advantage of does not mean that you should take advantage of them.

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• For instance, look in your Bibles, if you would, to Exodus chapter 22. Exodus chapter 22. And notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 21. Exodus 22 and verse 21. Notice, if you would, what God says.

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• "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless." Now, I don't know about you, but that seems to me like a very solemn promise because God says, "Thou shalt not in any wise afflict them," the widow, the orphan, the stranger. Lord, you are not to take advantage of them just simply because they are easily taken advantage of.

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• You are to do everything you can to preserve their lives as well. Look in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 24. Deuteronomy 24. And let's begin reading there with verse 17. Deuteronomy 24 verse 17. God says, "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing." "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge."

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• Have you ever stopped to think that our entire judicial system today is set up to take advantage of the poor and the widows and the strangers? If I am wrongly accused and I'm a poor man, I can't afford an attorney. I may not even be able to afford court costs. You say, "Well, all you've got to do is ask for a public defender." Yes, and I understand public defenders.

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• They get paid and they don't represent you, usually. There are exceptions, I understand that. But I'm just simply saying, I have known people that were wrongly accused of things, and they were given a horrendous fine and they paid the fine because it would cost even more just to fight it. And it was an economic determination, not necessarily one of guilt. So I'm just simply saying, God is saying, look, you just can't do this.

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• You have to learn to preserve life in those who are unprotected, those who are poor, those who are disadvantaged, those who do not have the means to help themselves. God says part of the Sixth Commandment is preserving their life and protecting them as well. Now if this is true, and it is true, consider this in light of the abortion that's going on in this land today. There's no one more unprotected today than the child in his mother's womb, and no one to speak up for them. Hardly. I want you to turn in your Bibles if you would to Luke chapter 10. I want to just try to show you a great application of the Sixth Commandment. In fact, this application is made by our Lord Himself. Luke chapter 10, you will recognize the story once I begin reading it. Luke chapter 10 in verse 29, our Lord has been talking to a certain lawyer who asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. And God told him to love the Lord with all his heart and love his neighbor as himself.

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• And the Bible says in verse 29, "But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?" Watch. "And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, who's supposed to be a teacher of the law, by the way, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, whom the Israelites despised—they called them dogs, because they were mongrels,

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• they had intermarried with the heathen—but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him;

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• and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." So here's some questions. Did the good Samaritan obey the Sixth Commandment? And the answer is yes. Did the good Samaritan love life? The answer is yes. Did the good Samaritan seek to preserve life? And the answer is yes. Did he love the life of a stranger? And the answer is yes. When the priest and the Levite passed by one of their own. So the implied promise in the Sixth Commandment is this: if we obey the negative and if we obey the positive, we're not only going to learn to value life, we're going to learn to love life. Now let me make just a couple of applications. The first one is this. If we truly love life, even our lives, we will be constantly and continually praising our God for life, for health, and for happiness.

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• You've probably heard me say this, but I'm going to say it again. There are two verses of scripture that I quote every day. I quote them to myself. When I awaken every morning before I ever get out of bed, I thank the Lord for allowing Alice and I to live through the night. And I quote Lamentations 3:22-23. "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." And every night when I go to bed before I go to sleep, I thank the Lord for allowing us to live through that day. And I quote that passage again, and I ask for those same mercies to be extended to us through that night so that we can awaken the next morning by His grace and by His compassion and by His faithfulness. When you stop and think about this, when I look at our local paper, and I read the obituary columns, and I see people who have died that are in their 20s, 30s, 50s, 60s, even 70, I just have to stop and say, "Father, thank you for allowing me to live as long as

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• I have lived and enjoy the life that you have given me." When I pass those crosses on the road where people have been killed, I thank the Lord for life and health. The point I'm trying to make is this: if we really understand the Sixth Commandment, we're going to really appreciate and we're going to love life.

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• Now you say, "I don't have too much to praise the Lord for." Well, if you'll turn with me very quickly to Psalm 103, I think you have a lot to praise the Lord for. In fact, here is a primer. Psalm 103, the first five verses. Look at it if you would, please. Psalm 103, verse 1, look what David says. And I think you can identify with this. David says, "Bless the Lord,

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• O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." That is, think about all those gracious things God has done for you. And here's some of them: "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." Can you imagine?

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• Have you ever sat down to a wonderful meal and everything was just absolutely exquisite and delicious? Can you not be thankful that not only you had a good meal, but you were able to enjoy it? And I'll tell you something else I do. Each night when I sink down in that tub of hot water, I thank the Lord for a hot bath. And I think of those people in India, in China, in Africa, who don't even have enough water to drink, much less to bathe in. Or if they bathe in it, it's a filthy—they come out worse than when they went in. I'm just simply saying, if you truly love life, then obviously you're going to be thankful for everything that God has done.

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• The second application is this. If we love life, we will regard all life, even the lives of animals. We'll protect and promote life in every area and learn to take life only on God's terms. I think there's only one passage that would be really fitting to close this message today. And that's Proverbs chapter 8 verses 35 and 36. And let me quote it. Our Lord said, "Whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord." That's true. Whoever finds Jesus Christ finds life and they obtain favor of the Father.

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• But the next verse, verse 36 says this: "But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death." If you understand the Sixth Commandment, you'll learn to love life. If you don't understand the Sixth Commandment, you'll learn to love death. "All they that hate me love death." I prefer to love life and to love the Lord Jesus and walk as He has commanded. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.

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• We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You for life, Lord. We thank You for health. We thank You for every blessing. And help us to say with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, and forget not all His benefits." Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T12:59:30Z