Do Not Commit Heart Murder

We have been covering a little bit at a time the Ten Commandments together, and today we're going to discuss the Sixth Commandment. I think it's very appropriate because of what we see going on in the world today. The war in Ukraine, right now the estimates are that on both sides at least 500,000 soldiers have died. That's a half a million soldiers have died on both sides. As well as tens of thousands of civilians, innocent people, just caught in a crossfire. And unfortunately, that usually happens in every war. In the Gaza-Israel war, over 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza, many civilians, the majority civilians. And 1,500 Israelis have died during the Israel-Hamas war. So with that as a background, let's go to Exodus chapter 20 and verse 13 and read the Sixth Commandment. Very short, to the point. And for those of us who are in the faith and part of the New Covenant, there's a much, much deeper meaning than these four words we will read here. And we'll discuss that as we get closer to the end of the sermon and how Jesus taught the spiritual intent of this law. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 13, parallel to Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 17, which essentially says the same thing. You shall not murder. Again, very short commandment, but there's a lot to it. And I think there's a lot of understanding that we need to have in appreciating this commandment. The Hebrew word for murder here is ratach, and it's used here only a few times in the Old Testament, and it means murder. Almost all modern translations translate it as the word murder. The Old King James Version used the word kill, which is a different, in most of the Bible in the Old Testament, is a different word, katal. And because of the way that the Old King James wrote it, many people think murder and killing are synonymous, that they're basically the same thing. And from a biblical perspective, there is a difference. Murder is the intentional slaying of an innocent person who has committed no evil, whereas killing, more generally, is the taking of a life. And we'll talk about the nuances between those two terms, murder and killing, as we continue to go through this sermon. Understand why murder of a person is so reprehensible to God. It violates his values. It's one of his great Ten Commandments. Let's start out to go back and review the very first murder recorded in Scripture. In Genesis chapter 4, if you'll turn there with me, Genesis chapter 4, beginning in verse 3. The very first murder recorded in Scripture. And it's not unlike the same background or reasons that we have many murders today in the 21st century. Jealousy, envy leads to bitterness, it festers in a person's mind, and then that leads to them lashing out and hurting another. Genesis chapter 4, beginning in verse 3. And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. Now we have to read a little bit behind the lines here to understand the difference. So Cain brings some fruit, and that's okay, but fruit comes in abundance. Fruit is easy to pick if you have an orchard. It's not that much of a sacrifice. Abel, on the other hand, brings something that's living, an animal, something that's much harder to raise, something in which you have a greater investment in.

By the way, something that also, when you shed his blood, pictures what Jesus Christ would do thousands and thousands of years later. So God was impressed with the greater sacrifice offered by Abel. Then he was to just a little basket full of fruit that was offered by Cain. And Cain was very angry. He's eating. He's thinking about this. And we've all been in this situation. You get a little aggravation. You use a cowboy term, a burr under your saddle. And you think about it, and you just kind of get angrier and angrier and madder and madder. And this is what's happening in his mind. And his countenance fell. He's not smiling. He obviously looks serious. He looks like he's angry. And God can sense that. So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? Why do you look so bitter? If you do well, will you not be accepted? God says, I don't have anything against you. Just stop giving me your seconds. I'm the great God. Give me the best that you have, not your leftovers.

And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And God could sense that Cain's jealousy and resentment towards Abel was getting more and more and eating at him and feeding within his mind, his carnal human nature. And its desire is for you, is referring to sin. If you don't stop thinking about it, if you don't process this resentment and envy and jealousy you have towards your brother and that you also have towards me, it's going to lead to sin. He says, but you should rule over it. It's a good message for you and I regarding any sin or anything we're struggling with in our lives. Sure, it's there. Sure, we're carnal. Sure, we're going to have those kinds of thoughts. But we need to learn to rule over it. And unlike Cain, we've been given the most powerful spirit in the universe to help us to learn, to rule over whatever it is that we're struggling with in our lives. Now 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 killed him. And the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother? Now God knows where he is. He wants to see if he's going to be honest enough, if he has enough character to answer the question truthfully. And you know what? If you want to impress God, don't murder someone and then on top of it add a lie, which is exactly what Cain does here. So here's what he says. Where is Abel, your brother? And he said, I do not know. Of course he knew. His corpse is out there laying in the field somewhere. He killed him. He murdered him. Am I my brother's keeper? A little bit of sarcasm there, should we say. In other words, why should I care about my brother? And he said, this is God. What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. I will stop the story right there at that point without going into what the curse was, because I would get off point from the purpose of this sermon. The commandment, this commandment, against murder is based on having respect for God himself. Only God is the creator who has the right to give or take away life, especially the life of an innocent person. To do this act is taking upon yourself the authority and acting like you're entitled to be God as God himself is God. Abel's blood was symbolically calling out for justice. Cain allowed his jealous and competitive and resentful attitude to provoke him to kill his brother. To me, what's so sad—this is only chapter 4—notice how quickly the sense of brotherly love had evaporated in the short period of time since Adam and Eve sinned. They were taken out of the garden. Everyone was forced out of the garden. How quickly human nature degenerated into it's all about me and my feelings and what I want, and even the camaraderie of brotherly love between the two of them had evaporated, at least on Cain's part. In the course of time, the population of earth grew, and humanity became more and more, and they also became more and more wicked. And we are all familiar with the story of Noah. God decided to start over with Noah and with Noah's family. And after the ark had rested on the dry earth, God gave Noah some instruction as well. Let's go to Genesis 9, just a few chapters forward. Genesis 9, beginning in verse 1, and see the instructions that God gave Noah. And it ties into the sixth commandment.

So the sixth commandment isn't something that was just invented by God during the time of Moses. It's not like he had nine commandments and said, well, ten sounds like a better number. So let's see, come up with one. I know! Thou shall not murder. That's not how it happened. Murder was a sin from the very beginning before there was a law of Moses.

And it continues now and will continue forever because it is disrespectful to destroy anything that God has created. Only he has that right and prerogative to do that.

Genesis 9, verse 1, so God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth. You're smart. You're wise. You'll create weapons. You can literally hunt anything that you desire. Even if it's bigger than you are, you're very smart. Everything in this world, all other created life, will fear you.

You have the ability to dominate it. You shouldn't abuse it. It's a trust that I give you. But you are bigger and better than anything else that I've created. Of every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and of all the fish of the sea, they are given into your hand.

Verse 3, every moving thing, now in context he means every moving thing that's a clean animal. In chapter 7 and verse 8, there's a distinction between clean and unclean animals. In chapter 8 and verse 20, there's a distinction between clean and unclean animals. So within context, every moving thing means clean animals. That live shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. So you can eat them now. But you shall not eat flesh with its life that is in its blood. You are not to eat the blood of an animal. Surely, for your lifeblood, I will demand a reckoning from the hand of every beast I will require. If a beast kills a human being, murders a human being, that beast must die, is what God is saying here. And from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds a man's blood by man, his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God, he created man. Again, this is precious to God. Human life is precious to God. He is the creator. And no one has the right to take that away from God or to act on God's behalf. I'm going to read this from the new century version, verses 4-6, that I think makes it a little clearer. You must not eat meat that still has blood in it, because blood gives life. I will demand blood for life. I will demand the life of any animal that kills a person. And I will demand the life of anyone who takes another person's life. Whoever kills a human being will be killed by a human being because God made humans in his own image. Again, that is from the new century version. So the instruction to kill a murderer who is responsible for the death of an innocent person, from God's perspective, is simple justice according to God. I am the creator. Only I have the right to create and destroy. And if you murder someone, you will pay the price by your life being taken away from you. To God that is simple justice. It's not very complicated. It doesn't take a room full of 18 witnesses and prosecutors and the best attorneys you can buy. To God it is a very simple concept.

Humans were created in the very image of God, and taking another's life is a personal affront to God. This instruction carries over into the laws of ancient Israel as they were given after they left Egypt. Let's go to Exodus chapter 21 and again see how this concept and understanding has been around from the beginning. It wasn't invented as one of the Ten Commandments. Exodus chapter 21 and verse 12.

Exodus chapter 21 and verse 12.

He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. That's verse 12. Verse 13. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand. That means if it's an accident and God allowed it, God chose not to intervene, then I will appoint a place for you. I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. This would be described and called later as a city of refuge. But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar that he may die.

The scripture is saying if a person out of premeditation, that's usually accompanied by rage and anger. If that person kills or murders another person, the penalty is death and it's imposed by judges. If you look at Exodus chapter 22, just a chapter ahead, verses 8 through 9, you'll see the judges are involved in this process. This was not vigilantism. God never intended for someone to say that I am going to be trial, judge, jury, and executioner all by myself. That's not what God ever wanted or God intended. He had and established a judicial process for these things to be as fair as can be in this human, physical world. So this is not vigilantism. It's part of a judicial process. The phrase, God delivered him, that we read here in Exodus 21, should not be misunderstood. It means God allowed the accident to occur. I'm going to read again the new century version. I'm going to read verses 12 through 14 that I think makes this clearer so there's no confusion. Anyone who hits a person and kills him must be put to death. If a person kills someone accidentally, God allowed that to happen. So the person must go to a place I will choose. But if someone plans and murders another person on purpose, put them to death even if he is run to my altar for safety. So there's a difference here between the accidental death that one might perform and a literal murder that one does intentionally out of rage or anger. And God is delineating the two. We'll talk about this city of refuge in a few minutes. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 17 verses 6 through 13 and see more of this judicial process that we talked about. Again, God is against a vigilantism. God understands human nature. No one should die because my opinion is that they're worthy of death. Or I feel that they're worthy of death. It should be a process, to be fair. Deuteronomy chapter 17, beginning in verse 6.

I own the land next to theirs, and I'd like to acquire their land. So one witness may have a hidden agenda. And God says, that's not good enough. It's harder to bribe two, really hard to bribe three people. It's unusual that three people will have a hidden agenda. So God, in His mercy, institutes this process. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against Him to put Him to death, and afterward, the hands of all the people. So it was a community event that occurred. You shall put away the evil from among you. If a matter arises, which is too hard for you, this is talking about locally in your little village, if it gets complicated, and we all know, if you read the news, there are some murder trials and other types of trials that really get complicated, that have a number of threads going in and out, and they're hard to discern. If that happens, too hard for you to judge between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise, and you shall go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. You're going to take it to a higher level. Verse 9, Then you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and the judges there in those days. Later, this would have been Jerusalem, that this would have occurred. And inquire of them. This is an Old Testament example of a Supreme Court. On the lower level, if it couldn't be decided, if there was controversy or confusion, they would take it to the place that God chose in those days, and at a higher level, the priests, the Levites, and the judges would hear that case. And they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.

You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you, according to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment by which they tell you you shall do, and you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence to which they pronounce upon you, now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God or the judge that man shall die. What do we call this? We have a modern term for this. We call this the rule of law. There have been many times in my life when the United States Supreme Court makes a decision that I think is pretty dumb, that I think is painful, is horrible, sinful even. And what I do is I swallow my pride and I pray about it and I hope there will come a time when there are different judges can reverse that decision. But I accept that decision and that's called the rule of law. Otherwise, you have chaos. You have constant revolution. You have constant assassinations. And God is saying for good or bad whatever this court decides, you abide by it. And you don't say to yourself, well, I think the guy is guilty, so I'm going to go out here and kill him. Or my opinion is this or my opinion is that. God says, I don't care what your opinion is, you abide by the decision of the judges of the court.

So you shall put away evil from Israel. This is for someone who acted presumptuously, did not heed what the judges said. And all the people shall hear and fear and no longer act presumptuously. Again, what we have here is what we call in the modern terminology, the rule of law. God did not want individuals taking it upon themselves, taking upon themselves the right to kill a person because they thought a person was deserving of death. He also didn't want the death penalty placed upon a person if there was only a single person as a witness who might have a faulty memory or maybe was bribed.

This is part of what we call the judicial process, and God states that vengeance is mine. And he states that, of course, in Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 35. I'd just like to read you a paragraph that I found in a book that's kind of interesting. It's called, Judicial Procedure at the Town Gate. And this gentleman gives us a living picture of what it would have been like to be in one of these trials at that time.

Again, it's Judicial Procedure at the Town Gate by Donald A. McKenzie. He wrote it in 1964, and this is from page 100. And I'll quote from him. Trials were usually held in the villages before the local elders. The adversaries would come before the elders, normally at the town gate, to lay out their case. The elders would come and take their seats, and a defendant would be given a prominent place. He refers to 1 Kings chapter 21, verse 9. And the plaintiffs, at his right, he refers to Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 1. The witnesses would be sitting and later would rise to bear testimony.

If the case were very important, citizens would be summoned to attend. That's according to 1 Kings chapter 21, verse 9. The plaintiff would state his case, and then the defendant would state his, after which the witnesses would rise to bear witness. He refers to Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse 16, and Psalm chapter 35 and verse 11. The elders would discuss the matter and rise to give their verdict. He refers to Psalm chapter 3 and verse 8, chapter 35 and verse 2, declaring, The defendant innocent or guilty?

In the case of a guilty verdict, they would then oversee the immediate punishment. The informality of such procedures is indicated in chapter 4 of Ruth, in which Boaz waits at the gate for his kinsmen and then convenes the court with what seems to be a random ten or so of the elders of the town.

So the implication is, unless it was truly very important, the average citizens wouldn't even come to these things. They would just let the elders of the village take care of it. So the biblical phrase, for those who have been justly executed as due punishment for their crimes, a phrase referred to in Scripture is, quote, Their blood shall be upon their own heads.

In other words, you caused a murder and now you have to pay the price. That's also called blood guilt in a number of verses. This expresses the idea that those guilty of certain actions have brought the shedding of blood upon themselves. While those carrying out due punishment that was ordered by the elders do not bear any blood guilt. Let's go to Romans chapter 13 and verse 4. Romans chapter 13 and verse 4, the Apostle Paul reinforced that civil governments have the authority from God to maintain the rule of law.

And when you think about it, he's talking about the Roman Empire here. Not exactly the most compassionate, caring, human kindness empire that ever existed on earth. Romans chapter 13 and verse 4, when he's talking about the civil government or the ruling authorities, he says, For he, again referring to the civil government, is God's minister to you for good. That word can also be translated to God's servant, for good.

But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister, servant, and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Brethren, there's no indication in the New Testament that it is unjust or immoral for secular civil governments to execute those guilty of shedding innocent blood. However, God also knows the human nature is corrupt. And anciently he instituted a safeguard for a person who accidentally killed another person.

It might have been a complete accident, and it went before the village elders, and they said this man did not commit murder. It was an accident, and he's acquitted. But unfortunately, in that age, a vengeful relative known as an avenger might want to kill him. And this was so deeply embedded in these cultures that this avenger would not rest until he had killed and redeemed his relative's life through the death of another person.

They really didn't care what the judicial system said. So, to protect that individual who had killed someone accidentally, God instituted six cities of refuge in various parts of Israel to offer protection within the city gates. This is all mentioned in Numbers, chapter 35, and we've had some sermons on the cities of refuge in the past. Aside from murder, there are a number of other sins that require the death penalty as well as a punishment. But my focus today is specifically on the sixth commandment, not those other sins.

So I'm not going to go there. That's not my intention today in this sermon. So did you have the right to protect yourself and your property? Well, let's find out in Exodus, chapter 22 and verse 1. Exodus, chapter 22 and verse 1.

It says, if a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox. That's five for one. That's quite a price to pay. And four sheep for a sheep. That's four to one. That's quite a stiff penalty to pay. If the thief is found breaking in and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed.

Now, that's talking about if someone comes by night and they break into your home and you're startled and you're surprised and you react and that you hit that person and they die, there is no guilt for his bloodshed. Verse 3, however, if the son has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He, referring to the thief, should make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If he can't pay the price, the restitution, then he's sold into slavery. Verse 4, if the theft is certainly found alive in his hand.

So if he's caught, as we say, red-handed and he has an axe or a donkey or a sheep and he hadn't gone to the point where he slaughtered it, sheep still going, ah, he hasn't slaughtered it, he hasn't sold it, he's caught red-handed, in that case he shall restore double. Two for one. So again, that's a pretty difficult price to pay. Theft was considered a terrible sin, and if a thief broke in a home or a stall at night and was killed, the death was considered justified as the property owner would naturally be startled and shocked by the nighttime intrusion.

However, if it was daylight, though the property owner was still allowed to defend himself, killing the thief was considered murder. Killing a thief in daylight was considered excessive. It was considered an excessive act if all the person did was have a sheep under his arm. For you to respond and kill him for that was considered excessive. If I can use my worst pun of the day, doing that would be considered overkill.

So now that was the Old Testament. What did Jesus teach? Did Jesus change this commandment? Did Jesus expand for his disciples in the New Covenant the meaning of what this commandment is and stands for? Let's begin by going to Matthew 19 and verse 16. We're going to see that Jesus restored the spiritual intent of the law, which was from the very beginning. This isn't something that we could say he adds. It's something that it's a knowledge that he restores because it was originally there and lost and ignored by carnal human beings who only look at the letter of the law or who are always looking for a way out or an excuse not to obey God from the heart. Matthew 19 and verse 16. Now behold, one came and said to him, Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? So he said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good, but one that is God. So he's implying, Are you saying that I'm God? Jesus is asking this or more like a rhetorical statement. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. And he said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your mother and your father and you shall love the Lord or you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So obviously, Jesus here is teaching the Ten Commandments are still in effect, including the commandment, You shall not murder. But there's a lot more to it than that. We're going to go back a few chapters to Matthew chapter 5, in which Jesus teaches the spiritual intent of this commandment. And all Ten Commandments have a spiritual application, which is much deeper and much richer and emanates from what's in our hearts and minds. So let's take a look at Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20.

Jesus says, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, at first thought, that can be very scary. They were very religious and pious individuals. They fasted twice a week. There aren't too many people in here, certainly not Greg Thomas, who fasts two days a week.

They prayed a lot. They immersed themselves in God's Word. And Jesus says that your righteousness needs to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. So what did he mean? Well, the scribes and Pharisees believed in the letter of the law, but not in the law from your heart, from your attitude, from what's going on in your mind.

They were focused simply on what the Word said in the letter written of the law. It's mere physical application.

Jesus taught his disciples the spiritual application, which is a much higher standard of thought and conduct than the mere letter of the law.

What Jesus is teaching is much harder because it cuts right to the core of our hearts and how we're thinking and what our attitudes are towards our fellow human beings.

So let's continue and take a look here in verse 21.

You have heard that what's said of those you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, Jesus, says that whoever is angry with his brother.

Now it says without a cause, a number of translations don't have that in there. A number of Bible translations say whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. That doesn't give you an out because you know how human beings are. Oh, we are, but I have a good reason because why would do why do we do that? Because we're all human. That's why we would do that. Shall be in danger of the judgment.

And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the counsel. But whoever says you fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you. There's something eating at you, or you know it's eating at your brother, and you need to be reconciled.

Leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. I mentioned earlier that we're already showing the Passover on our weekly bulletin.

And if for some reason we are harboring anger, resentment towards a brother, and I don't mean limiting it to a brother in this room, I mean someone, anyone in this world. We need to process that. Before we come to Passover, we need to deal with that anger, that heat, that resentment, in some cases that jealousy before we take the Passover. This word here in English, angry, comes from the Greek word orgizo, and it means to provoke or enrage, to have wrath. Jesus is saying that murder begins in the heart, and that's where we need to deal with it. Not after the fact, not after there's a corpse laying on the ground, it's too late to deal with it then, we need to deal with it while it's still festering as resentment, anger, jealousy, or hate in our hearts. That, according to Jesus, shall we say is heart murder. And as far as Jesus Christ is concerned, we are also judged for that. The word raka is actually an Aramaic word that means stupid, or vain, or empty-headed, and the phrase you fool is a Greek word that means you're good for nothing or you're totally worthless. And rather than focusing on the words that are used in English, I think it's more important that we understand what Jesus is saying here. It's not so much the words. For example, you fool is someone who here would be in danger of hellfire. Paul, in Galatians 3, Chapter 3, Verses 1 and 3, said, oh, you foolish Galatians! But he obviously didn't mean it out of a sense of anger or hate towards them, you see. The important thing isn't so much the word and what the word means here. It's the intent of our hearts, and when we make a statement towards someone we're frustrated with, is it a hateful remark? Is it a spiteful remark? Because it shouldn't be. That is what Jesus is teaching. I'm going to read something here from Matthew Henry's Bible commentary notes on Verse 21.

Quote, the Jewish teachers had taught that nothing except actual murder was forbidden by the sixth commandment. Thus they explained away its spiritual meaning. Christ showed the full meaning of this commandment, according to which we must be judged hereafter, and therefore ought to be ruled now. All rash anger is heart murder. I love that phrase. I'm going to read that again. All rash anger is heart murder. By our brother here, we are to understand any person. Raka is a scornful word and comes from pride. Thou fool is a spiteful word and comes from hatred. Malicious slanders and censures are poison that kill secretly and slowly.

So this is the spiritual intent of the law that Jesus is teaching, going far beyond those four words translated in English as four words, as thou shall not murder. Jesus Christ, God, is interested in what's going on in here. Not just the surface physical application of that law or any of his other laws.

Let's go to Matthew chapter 15 and verse 16.

Jesus and his disciples are criticized here because they're not ritually washing their hands before they eat.

Therefore, it's possible that a little dirt is on their hands when they eat, and that violates the oral law. So they're criticized. Jesus said, Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? So you eat a little dirt on your hands, you eat that, you lick your fingers, it's going to go down your throat, it's going to go to your stomach, it turned around for a while, it's going to go through your entire digestive system and then plop! It's gone! It's out!

But those things, verse 18, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man, Jesus says. It's not that little piece of dirt that you should worry about. It's what's coming from the inside out that is the problem.

So again, Jesus is emphasizing the fact that sin here is having a vile, self-centered, carnal, judgmental attitude that's usually laced with jealousy of other people, resentment that they're perceived as successful and maybe I'm not, or however those things turn in our heads and turn in our minds that become evil thoughts. And eventually, if they're not ruled over, as God told Cain, we don't learn the rule over them, it eventually leads to very terrible actions. From these attitudes, proceed evil thoughts, and then evil words, and then evil actions.

Did you know that Jesus was not the first to mention the importance of not hating your brother? Let's see what Jesus taught here when he was not Jesus, but when he was the God of the Old Covenant in Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 17. Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 17, Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Covenant, and you know he taught the same thing to ancient Israel. They ignored it. Most people today ignore it. Again, he didn't add this spiritual application. It was already there all along. It's spoken of in the book of Leviticus chapter 19. It's just been ignored. People don't care. Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 17, You shall not hate your brother in your heart. There it is. It was always there for anyone to see who cared enough to read it and to take it seriously. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor. If your neighbor does something wrong and is eating at you, you need to sit down and tell him what's bothering you. That's okay and not bear sin because of him. I'm going to read this verse 17 from the New International Version. Again, verse 17 from the New International Version. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Review your neighbor frankly so that you will not share in his guilt. Do it maturely and frankly and with respect toward your neighbor if there's something that's bothering you. If you do that, you'll nip it in the bud and it won't grow into heat because that's usually what happens. No communication is poor communication. Ignoring someone is poor communication.

A couple of final scriptures here in our sermon today. We're going to go to 1 John chapter 3 and verse 15. As an old man, the Apostle John reminds us of the importance of this sixth commandment. Here he is writing in probably the 90s AD.

The Apostle who lived the longest about the time when 1 John and his other accompanying letters were written. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 15. He said, whoever hates his brother is a murderer. That's what Jesus taught. That's what Jesus was saying.

And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. So in other words, if you want to have eternal life, you need to stop hating people. Whoever that person is, whatever they did to you. In this context, this is in concert with the book of Revelation regarding those who will be kept out of the kingdom of God. Here's what Revelation chapter 21 and verse 8 says, which is the second death. That's what John also said in writing the book of Revelation. Now let's look at our final scripture. 1 John, going back there. Hopefully you didn't leave it. Chapter 4 and verse 20. 1 John chapter 4 and verse 20. Very powerful statement. And if it challenges us before the Passover this year, then we need to be challenged. As the handsome prince once said, Cinderella, honey, if the shoe fits, wear it. 1 John chapter 4 and verse 20. If someone says, I love God, I love Jesus, and hates his brother, he's a liar.

Wow! That kind of puts it rather succinctly. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, and knows, and talks to, and hears from. How can he love God, whom he has not seen? John writes. Well, brethren, we want to respect the Sixth Commandment, not only in the letter of the law, but in its spiritual intent, as taught by our Savior and reinforced by the apostles Paul and John and others. I encourage all of us to examine our hearts and make sure that hate towards anyone no longer resides there. If it does, we need to process why that hate is there and do a personal Bible study and repentance and do a Bible study and the power of forgiveness.

There have been some powerful sermons that have been given here in this congregation in the past on forgiveness on our local website. Ucg.org also has a number of great sermons on the topics of forgiveness.

And if we need to forgive, then this should be our duty before the Passover this year to make sure we're doing that. Make sure that we come to the Passover this year without any remnants of hate or resentment or jealousy towards anyone. Let's make sure if it exists that it's been totally removed, because that's what God wants us to do. And that is the real meaning of this Sixth Commandment. I wish all of you a wonderful Sabbath.