Nor does he take up and we'll make some of the final applications that I would like to make in summary. But today as we deal with the sixth commandment, you shall not murder. I want us to note how this command proceeds from the fifth command, the one preceding it, to honor our father and our mother and the general principle with our responsibility to love authority. Love authority as encapsulated in father and mother. That term being a stand in father and mother for all who are our superiors and the duties owed to subordinates. As we receive life from our superiors, so we ought to honor and hold them in high regard. So we see this relation to the sixth commandment, which commands us, the general principle is to love life. We receive our life from another, therefore we are to honor and love them. So you see how the command flows out from the previous. And again, these are all gonna, interpenetrate and affect one another. So all of the six commandments in the second table flow out of the fifth commandment and they all relate to one another. So something to mention here as well before we get further into the details of this. What is in view with you shall not murder has reference to man exclusively. Man as the image bearer of God. Not so much to all of creation, specifically animals. That's not what is in view here with this commandment. what is mainly in view is human life. And Genesis 2 says, God brought all the animals before Adam after he made Adam, after he made the animals and then Adam. He brought them before Adam, Adam named them all, yet God saw that man couldn't carry out his duties as man, with help of the animals, to fill the earth, to subdue it, to multiply, the animals could not help him in that. So there's a distinction there between Adam's role as a moral creature in carrying out the commands of God between man and animals, and God says it's not good for man to be alone, so he puts man to sleep, creates a helper that is suitable for him to carry out his responsibility. So it's not good for man to be alone. Animals are not in view with the sixth commandment. We see that in creation as well, that that's not what is in view with shall not murder. So there's no prohibition against taking the life of plant or animal, nor there's an explicit command to preserve the life of plant or animal, except that it serves the good of humankind. So we wanna care for the creation of God's world. So he made all things, all things are good, we want to do what is good for them, but that's not what is in view with the sixth commandment. What is in view is the life of man as the image bearer of God. So a man does not live from himself, by himself, or for himself. He receives his life from another. He does not live in an exclusive individual existence. And he does not live for an exclusive individual existence. He lives for the good of his neighbor. John Calvin writes in his exposition of this sixth commandment in his Institutes that the purport of this command is that since the Lord has bound the whole human race by a kind of unity, the safety of all ought to be considered as entrusted to each. So in this commandment we have the binding of all men toward one another. So man is a social animal, as we see in the Sixth Commandment. Niels Hemmingsen, who we've used before as well, writes on his demonstration of the Sixth Commandment. So he says, whatever disturbs human society, whether in the domestic or the political state, is forbidden by the law of nature. And this is gonna be his major premise for all the commandments. So, when we saw the Fifth Commandment that was the same premise that he made, whatever disturbs human society whether in the domestic or the political state is forbidden by the law of nature. We saw how authority was in view in the Fifth. In this one we'll see that hatreds, reviling, quarrels, and murders disturb human society. So, there's a minor premise. Major premise, Whatever disturbs human society is forbidden by the law of nature, which we're just saying is the moral law as well. Hatreds, reviling, quarrels, and murders disturb human society. Therefore, his conclusion is that hatreds, reviling, and murders are forbidden by natural law. And as we see that the law forbids and also commends, he says, by contrast, because mutual love, friendly conversations, kindness, concord, and zeal for preserving and defending one another preserve human society, They are therefore required by the law of nature. So the sixth command does require mutual love, friendly conversation, kindness, concord, which is just a form of friendship and association, and zeal for preserving and defending one another in human society. So the general principle, or the common notion, is that life is to be loved. This is what's demonstrated. Let me add this. Human life is to be loved and preserved. Human life is to be loved and preserved. That's the common notion or the general principle among all men. And as love is willing, excuse me, as love is willing the good of another and a friend is another self, our disposition and our affections, our mind and our will is to love life, human life specifically, and to will the good of another, to preserve life. So our conscience is directed toward this general principle. It ought to be directed toward this general principle. Of course, we know before the fall, our conscience was directed toward this. After the fall, our conscience is directed in many ways away from this and can never arrive at this in a perfect way, even though that principle still exists. And in a sense, the conscience knows that there is some life that is to be loved. I've come across multiple sources, ancient sources that also hold this principle as well regarding the sixth commandment being required by the law of nature in its relation to human society. So the political use of the moral law exists even in the conscience of unbelievers. This source writes this. He says, no person is unwillingly blessed. As in, when somebody does good to you, nobody does, most people don't just say, no, I don't like that. People will their own good. They generally receive that. Evil is voluntary, or it's an act of the will. These statements seem to be confirmed by private individuals, so individual people confirm this. In general, people like to be blessed, but evil is a voluntary action, an act of the will. And people don't care for that. Not only is it confirmed by private individuals, it's also confirmed by the magistrate, the legislator, those who enact human laws for the good of society. For they, the magistrates, punish or take vengeance on those who commit evil acts, but honor those who perform noble actions, and they do this in order to exhort the latter, but deter the former. So this is an ancient pagan source that understands this general principle that doing good to preserve the life of human society is something that the legislators have a responsibility to carry out. And it is something that they do. And it's confirmed even by private individuals. And I think this is important because he says, they punish or take vengeance on those who commit evil acts, but honor those who perform noble actions or good acts. And they do this in order to exhort the latter to encourage good and to deter the former, to deter evil actions done to others. So even a pagan person writes about this. And why is this important? Because we also have the confirmation of this principle in Romans 13. This is confirmed by apostolic doctrine as well, relating the fifth commandment to the sixth commandment. So in Romans 13, Paul speaks of the way in which the authority God has granted ought to be executed in the preservation of life and to commend what is good and deter what is bad. just read Romans 13 for us. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. So, we see the Fifth Commandment encapsulated there in verses 1-2. And then we have the Apostle moving us over into the Sixth Commandment. He says, rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. You will have praise or honor from the governing authorities. Why? Because the governing authorities, verse four, are ministers of God to you for good, to do what is noble, to act in a just manner. to carry out the principles of the moral law. If you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword for nothing or in vain. It's a minister of God, an avenger, one who brings vengeance upon, who brings, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. So we have those two general principles existing both by the light of nature and more clearly by the light of scripture. So they agree there. So verse five, therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake, so that your conscience is directed toward what is good, so that it doesn't prick your conscience and act as a judge, but rather direct your conscience in a free way. Okay, we'll come back to Romans 13 as we go on. So, we see the general principle or the common notion given greater light in scripture in Romans 13 as well. So, summary, God gives authority, certain roles to ensure the sixth commandment is being followed. This principle exists as part of man's original nature as he has the moral law imprinted upon his conscience. It can be demonstrated by right reason and given greater light and understanding through special revelation. The preservation of life isn't a moral question that is exclusively answered by Christians, although we do have both the light of nature and the greater light of scripture to defend that. So this question of the sixth commandment regarding life isn't a moral question that belongs exclusively to us as Christians, although we do have greater light in defending that. So the political use of the law for our society comes from the light of nature, and we as Christians exhort our non-Christian neighbors to use right reason to understand this principle. And when they fail in doing so, our responsibility is to preach the gospel and to explain why it is this principle is not carried out in a perfect manner in this fallen world. So after the fall, this principle is marred, injustice comes about, and the perfection required can no longer be attained. Okay, so let's go on and unpack the Sixth Commandment a little bit more. In questions 105, 106, and 107 of the Heidelberg Catechism, it answers this question of what is required, what is forbidden in the Sixth Commandment. And let me just give you the three different answers that it gives. What is required in the Sixth Commandment? is that neither in thoughts, nor words, nor gestures, much less in deeds, I dishonor, hate, wound, or kill my neighbor by myself or by another, and that I lay aside all desire of revenge, also that I hurt not myself, nor willfully expose myself to any danger, wherefore also the magistrate is armed with a sword to prevent murder. And in forbidding murder, God teaches us that he abhors the causes of it. What are the causes? Envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge, and that he accounts all these as murder. Envy, hatred, anger, desire of revenge are all accounted as murder by God, and that God abhors the causes of those. Also, when God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, He commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to show patience, peace, meekness, mercy, and all kindness towards Him, and prevent His hurt as much as in us lies, and that we do good even to our enemies. So those are the three things that are commanded in the Sixth Commandment, or that are contained in the Sixth Commandment. So here we see both the internal act, the thoughts of the mind and the heart, as well as the external act, the hand itself that carries out the deed. So, not only the hand that commits the murder, but also the mind and the heart that considers the murder, and that leads to murder. And we're reminded of the words of our Lord in Matthew 5, 21 and 22. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. So our Lord is taking murder and showing both its external and its internal application. Not just the deeds of the hand, but also the thoughts and desires of the heart as well. Because it's not whatever goes into a man, but it's what is already in a man, that which comes out of him, that is a display of his own heart. So if our hands are directed against our neighbor in a violent and hateful and envious way, that just displays what is happening in the heart. Calvin picks up on this again when he writes that the commandment prohibits the murder from the heart. And it requires a sincere desire to preserve our brother's life. The hand indeed commits the murder, but the mind, under the influence of wrath and hatred, conceives it. Turn to Genesis four with me. and we'll see this encapsulated here. The story's very familiar with us, but I wanna point out a few things here from Genesis chapter four. After the fall and after God covered the shame and the guilt and the nakedness of Adam and Eve and promising the serpent crusher, Messiah, to come and to deliver Adam and Eve from their sins. And after God drove man out of the garden, we have the account of what happens afterward. Verse one, now the man had relations with his wife, Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. And she said, I have gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord. So here she's thinking, okay, God promised me a man to come and to destroy the works of the serpent. Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. And so you see the principle of thanksgiving and worship and honor that Cain knows by nature and probably was taught by his parents to bring an offering of the firstfruits to God. Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard. So not only did Abel bring what was commanded, he brought it in faith as well. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Why? Because his brother brought an acceptable offering to the Lord. He became angry, he became envious of his brother for being accepted by God, and his countenance fell. meaning his disposition toward God and toward his neighbor fell. Verse six, and the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance also be lifted up? If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it. So here, God is instructing Cain to take great care with his thoughts toward God, his thoughts toward his brother Abel, and to make a change. Now, that needed to be confessing his sin of bringing the wrong offering, and to bring the right offering, and to confess his sin of anger and envy and hatred, but he didn't do so. Verse eight, Cain told Abel his brother, and it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. So we see the first instance of sin after the garden, as recorded in scripture, is the violation of the sixth commandment. And the source was envy, anger, and hatred of his neighbor. Verse nine, the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel your brother? And Cain said, I do not know, am I my brother's keeper? So the answer to that question was yes, you are your brother's keeper. You have a responsibility to love your brother and to not be angry and envious and hateful toward him. Your responsibility is to have a kind disposition toward him to confess your sin, to come to God so that your countenance could be lifted up. Verse 10, he said, what have you done? God says, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you. You will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. So you see here his sin disrupted his livelihood. He was a tiller of the ground. God cursed the ground because of that. and he became a vagrant and a wanderer. So now he's existing for himself. So God is giving him over to his own passions. He wanted to exist for himself. He didn't think he was his brother's keeper and now nobody is there to keep him. Verse 13, Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is too great to bear. Behold, you have driven me this day from the face of the ground, and from your face I will be hidden. And I will be a vagrant and wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. Vengeance will be taken out upon me. So what does God say? The Lord said to him, verse 15, therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain so that no one finding him would slay him. So what you see there in that verse is God taking vengeance upon himself and not allowing vengeance to be taken by others upon Cain apart from God's own authority and institution. At this point, we don't have the setting up of magistrates or cities or political entities, and so God, before Noah, is already preserving this idea of vengeance belonging to him through his ordained means, and as we go on, we'll see that those ordained means come through the magistrate and God-given authority. So we see the issue of his countenance or his conscience, his passions, his will, his mind being fallen, being directed in the wrong way toward himself, away from his brother. He asked, am I my brother's keeper? Yes, you are your brother's keeper. You ought to take great care of him and his life. belongs to the Lord and His ordained messengers all occur before the Noahic Law, or what we call the Lex Talionis. So, we see even before Noah that there is an institution by God of the proper authority of vengeance being carried out by Him and His ordained messengers. And that's important because we don't look exclusively to the Noahic law or the Noahic covenant for the institution of human government. Human government comes before that as the Lord keeps back certain things from individual societies, or individuals I should say. And eventually he will ordain the political state and magistrates to carry out certain functions. So what is murder? So we see these instances of the taking of life, we see the general principle, we see how God demonstrates the way in which we have responsibilities to one another. So let me ask this, what What is murder? I think that is an important question to ask. The King James says, you shall not kill. Other translations say, you shall not murder, which tells us there is a specific thing in mind when God gives this commandment. So, when you hear, you shall not murder, what are some of the things you are thinking of what is murder when you hear this commandment? Unjust killing. That's great. That's a great succinct statement there. Murder is unjust killing. Let me ask another question. What is murder not? Self-defense. So you've got a negation there. Murder is not just killing or righteous killing. So you have what's forbidden and its opposite in there. So what is commanded is no murder, therefore Unjust killing is murder, so what is commanded is to not unjustly kill someone. It's opposite is that there is the proper time to take someone's life, and it is the just killing of a person. We'll get into, in addition to self-defense, there's a little bit more packed in there, but that's certainly contained in it. Just leave that up for us. I did not note who said this. I believe it's Vandergrove. Murder is to rob either ourselves or someone else of life. That's unjust killing. Irrespective of the manner in which this may be achieved. And to consider the righteous and unrighteous taking of life of our neighbor or ourselves. So Vandegro in commenting on the Heidelberg Catechism, and I found his exposition of this to be the most helpful to me in this particular commandment. He says that The taking of a person's life is both righteous and permitted for four specific reasons, and then he adds a fifth as an opposite. So these are four times when this is not murder and it's lawful. So when God gives an express command is when it is lawful to take a person's life. And what example do we have in scripture where God commands the taking of a person's life? What's that? The Canaanites? Basically everybody that's in the land as they're going into the land. What's that? I heard somebody say violations of the mosaic law. Oh, gotcha. OK. Right, so when somebody violated the moral law, God did give command to take their life, that's right. What about Abraham with Isaac? God expressly commanded Abraham to take his life. And the difference in that being, God didn't command Abraham to take Isaac's life because of some moral evil, but this is just an added law. This is not a part of the moral law. This is an added law, which God is free to do so, because he's the law giver. So when God gives express command, as the Lord commanded Abraham, and to drive out the inhabitants of the land in which they were going in. The second permission to take life is when of necessity and in order to protect either our lives or our belongings, we kill someone who violently seeks to rob us of one or the other. And when we get into the command to not envy other people's property, That command is related to this because a man's property, in a sense, is a part of himself. It's an extension of himself. As a man possesses himself, and all of the things that he possesses are a part of himself, a man is able to not only defend his own life, but to defend his possessions from theft. So when somebody's breaking one of those other two laws, man is permitted to stop that person. Man's not required to, but man is permitted to. So your conscience can be free if someone is trying to take your things and in order to preserve those things for the future. for the preservation of life, then we are permitted to do that. And so you can get into all little details as to, well, which one of my properties is worth me taking somebody's life for? There's all kind of considerations. And so that's how the law affects our ethical decision making. And the more we consider God's law and think about all these ethical issues, we're conditioning and habituating ourself into acting in a timely manner. So that if somebody is trying to steal your truck, you're not having to sit there and think, OK, so this truck, I need this because it's the way in which I get my family around. I don't have the means to purchase another truck. I need to use this to carry out my duties for my work. All those things happen in a split second, and as we consider ethical decisions, that's one of the things that comes to view. The third reason given that is permitted for man to take a person's life is the magistrate, as we've already looked upon in Romans 13, God gives judges or government agencies the permission, the authority, and the responsibility to execute guilty criminals, not to just execute whomever they want, but to execute those who are violating another part of the moral law. And the fourth reason given. And this is where just war theory comes from. When one kills his public enemies in necessary and righteous wars that are waged for the protection of the nation or its people, liberty, freedom of religion. For not only does God in his word expressly command us to do so, but even natural reason teaches its common necessity. So these aren't just frivolous wars in which we go over to another country to steal their things, but to defend life and liberty and freedom of religion, those are acceptable, not required means of war, but are acceptable reasons to engage in a just war. Okay, Vandegro goes on and he talks about some of the ways in which we commit this sin, the ways in which So we looked at the ways in which it is just and permitted to do so, and then we will look at the ways in which we commit this sin. But let me back up a little bit here. There is another instance in which one cannot say that it is lawful. And it is of such a nature that God the Lord does not expressly forbid it in the Sixth Commandment, but it is a necessary conclusion found in that, that causing an innocent or accidental death when someone robs either himself or his neighbor of life by means of an unanticipated accident without having had the least inclination in his heart to commit such an act, really we would just say negligence. negligence is in view here, accidental death or harm. And that's involuntary, unwilling, accidental death or harm is also something that's not expressly forbidden. So the ways in which a neighbor, a man kills his neighbor and robs him of his life So before, these are the manner of killing that God forbids, and then these are the ways or the means by which we do carry out the killing of our neighbor. So in thoughts, in words, in gestures, and in deeds. in thoughts, in words, in gestures, and in deeds. So one kills his neighbor and thus robs him of his life and his thoughts when he harbors bitter hatred toward him, wishing that he was dead, that he no longer lived in this world, or that he was no longer in his way. I wish you didn't have existence. I wish you were out of my life, were dead, had no existence at all. Or that harm would come upon this particular person. One is guilty of this sin when he harbors bitter hatred in his thoughts. And then a man will go on, as he harbors these bitter hatreds, he starts thinking about all the different ways he can make this thing happen. So he hasn't carried it out in deed yet, but a man is considering all the different ways that I can bring harm upon this person because of hatred, and is thus filled with murderous inclinations toward his neighbor. There are such persons who do not actually commit the act of murder, All right, so they think about it, but they don't do it. And in the Lord's mind, there's an equality there. So thinking about doing it is the same as doing it. Because you either lack courage or the lack of opportunity to not carry these things out. Because you're either fearful of being punished, which is a good thing. That fear of being punished is a good thing. or you don't have opportunity. And as we've said before, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts and murders and so on. In Zechariah, God says, let none of you imagine, consider, think about evil toward your brother in his heart, in your heart. So we sin, we violate the sixth commandment when we consider and think about how to destroy the life of our neighbor. We also break the commandment with our words when we verbally curse someone and in anger or wrath wish upon him death and the perdition of soul and body. When we wish a man's body or soul to end in death, or curse them, we violate that with our words. And typically we do this in order to provoke our neighbor's passions, it's like a jab, right? poke in the bear as we say. And we do that to arouse our neighbor's passions and provoke them to anger as well. So that's a sin when with our words we provoke another person to also be angry at us as well. Why? Because those are the things that cause hatreds and revilings. So when you're angry and you respond with an angry word, that causes your neighbor to then be angry and that escalates things. So that is what is forbidden. We also do that when we lie about someone. So we see the relation to another one of the moral commands. says, one murders his neighbor verbally when he causes him to be put to death by means of such false accusations as the Jews were guilty of in causing the Savior to be put to death. So, even our words, when our words provoke others to anger so that others will carry out their anger in taking the life of someone, that's a violation of the Sixth Commandment. And I hope we see just how much our own society is permeated by this particular violation. And it's all of us. It's not exclusive to one group of people or another. It's all of us are guilty of this. Another way in which we commit the sin is by our countenance. And when we talk about the countenance, we're not just talking about the passions of the heart or the mind or the thought or the conscience, we're talking about the way in which somebody's facial expressions are given as well. So Cain had a look on his face of anger and disgust toward God and his brother as well. There's some, very interesting examples of this, but I'll just leave it to any time our demeanor is set against somebody in anger or hatred, wishing their own harm. and it's done unjustly. If it's done not to preserve life but because one is angry, that is wrong. If somebody's countenance is against somebody because they're seeking to preserve life, then that's acceptable. Also by his actions, when someone physically robs someone of his life, either with their own hands or by the hands of another, as we saw with the example of David and Uriah. David didn't actively kill Uriah with his own hands, with his own sword, but he instructed those under his charge to draw back so that Uriah would be murdered. And David was guilty of murder in that instance as well. So again, we see just the depths of the Sixth Commandment, how it goes not only to our minds and our hearts, but our general disposition toward our neighbor. Just want to think about this as well. Not only is there a concern for life in our community, general attitude and disposition toward another, there ought to be a concern for our own life, we are to protect our own life as well. So there are multiple ways in which this is carried out and I've noted through several sources through the Sixth Commandment, it relates what does go into a man affecting his disposition toward anger and hatred and the non-preservation of life. And frequently it talks about what a man eats, drinks, and any sort of drug that was taken. It's really interesting. All the sources will say there's a consideration to be made with what a person consumes and puts into his body for the preservation of his own life for the good of our neighbors as well. And why do I mention that? Because we have a responsibility toward one another, and so what we put into our bodies is related to this. So our conscience, in a sense, needs to be bound to how do I preserve my own life for the good of other people as well? So again, I don't live by myself, for myself, or from myself. Yes, sir? So like over-drinking. Sure. And then driving. Yeah. Would be an example of that? Right. Because you get on the road and your mind is relaxed in that instance, and you're less sharp with your focus and ability to drive. I would relate the consumption of certain foods to that as well. High blood sugars, high blood pressure, you have the same effects to that. So again, I'm not here to bind anybody's conscience toward or against a particular thing other than to say the issue of temperance is what is involved here. And that there is a relation and a consideration to be made with the things that we put into our bodies. Something else that was mentioned here is a person's personal safety. So the things one does that can put ourselves into harm's way, I'm just thinking about certain things. And I'm just gonna use an example. Again, I'm not here to bind anybody's conscience. I'm just using an example of something that could be related to this. Just parachuting for fun, jumping out of an airplane, There's a consideration to be made for that. So again, I'm not binding anybody's conscience to not jump out of a plane. Sometimes we might have to. But it just depends. If you're in the air and the plane's going down and you need to jump out and there's a parachute, then you need to jump out to preserve life. Doing so for sport or for fun or for recreation is really what's in mind there. OK, some other practical questions. So we talked about self-defense. What is a very common practice related to self-defense? Okay, carrying a firearm. Yeah, that's where I was going to go there. So, martial arts, wrestling, boxing, any form of practicing for self-defense would be commended if it's in order to preserve life? Where would martial arts not be commended? Where would martial arts not be used for self-defense? Generating income. Other than the one teaching, yeah. Yeah, there's a consideration to be made for boxing, wrestling, and any sort of other martial arts for sports or for recreation. So there's a consideration to be made with how we approach issues of self-defense with martial arts. But it's teaching to help people develop those skills. Absolutely. So the issue is the preservation of life, not the destruction of life. So if something is practiced for the destruction of life, something that doesn't preserve the body that God has created, accidents, those are understandable when one is training, that happens, but the willful harm to another is what is forbidden in this. Go ahead, Mark. Would you say that to be a boxer, I would have a hard time doing that, yes. Your intent is actually to harm someone. It depends on the condition of the heart. I took up boxing years ago for that very reason. Because I know as a small guy, if I get in a scuffle with someone, it's going to be a pretty ugly scuffle. But if I can knock them out, then I ain't got to hurt them. Yeah, so you see how, yeah. There's a push and a pull there. So the intent to train yourself toward the preservation of life is commended. The intent to harm someone or destroy another person's life, not for the sake of self-preservation, we need to take great consideration with that. I'm not here to bind a conscience, but I want the law to really, we need to be thinking about these things in our ethical decisions so that we honor God and truly show concern and love for our neighbor. One thing, just thinking through this, or as a sport or whatever, what I was thinking of, could someone in their mind use boxing or something like this as a sport to generate income to provide I think that's something that needs to be thought through. Is there another way in which I can carry out all of the moral law in order to provide for my family. That's got to be a consideration that's made. When COVID happened, they were talking about essential jobs. I remember seeing somebody push back against the idea of essential jobs saying, no, all jobs are essential. Not all jobs are essential, you know. I wouldn't say that prostitution is an essential job because it's a violation of the moral law. So yeah. I saw a question. Rachel, did you have a question? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But again, these are part of our thought processes for ethical decision making. I've got one more that I really want to get to. We've got just two minutes here. So we're talking about issues of life. What conduces to the well-being and welfare of our neighbor? For parents, who is our closest neighbor besides our spouse? So issues of, we've got people who are starting families, people who have families, they're asking the question, how many children do I have? What are the means by which I go about having children? Especially in our modern society, we have so many different means by which we can attain children. So you're having to ask these questions. Do I use certain technologies or not? because of the issue of life. There are certain things, I think the biggest one in our society now is in vitro fertilization. We need to approach that question thinking about how is this, do I engage in this technology for life? Because there's a way to implement the technology where life is destroyed. rather than to create one life, multiple lives are destroyed. So these are considerations to be made. Did you have another question, Mark? No, it's a comment. Boy, that's a slippery slope. Yeah. Going down right there. Years ago, we had a lady in our Sunday school class come in. A couple had been married for, I think, 13 years at the time. She come in crying her eyes out one day. and they had gone through every means known to man trying, you know, for her to conceive, and nothing worked. And she'd come in crying, and of course, they shared what the class explained. We gathered around that woman, put hands on her, prayed over her, and within a month, she was, got it over with, and she was pregnant. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, that's good. We're talking about ethical decision making. How many children do I have? How do I go about having these children? Do I have the means to provide for all of these children? Do I have the means to provide for more children than I have? These are all questions that we have to ask, and it's in relation to the Sixth Commandment. How am I seeking the good of my neighbor and preserving life? and honoring life in the society in which I live. And let me just end with this as we're past time a little bit. As the sixth commandment deals with hatred and envy and murder, Christ himself was hated and envied and murdered and he was innocent of all of those charges. And he did that to bring peace between Him and those who had hatred and envy and murder toward Him. So we see in Christ the perfection of keeping the sixth commandment. And in our own imperfections, we ought to confess, we don't want to do as Cain did and let our countenance fall. Our responsibility is to look at Christ and see in Him a peacemaker, because in Matthew 5, he says, blessed are the peacemakers. And we receive that blessing when we trust and look to him in repentance and in faith. OK, let's let's pray and dismiss. Father, we come to you thanking you for your revelation to us, both in our consciences and through your word of our responsibility to love life. Lord, we give you thanks that you have come to us when we were enemies and we were unfriendly and we had hatred and quarreling and reviling against you, Lord, and you brought peace with us through your son. He gave up his very life that we would have life. He died that we would not die and yet he rose again and brought us life because he cares so much for the life of his creatures, his own your own moral image upon creatures that you displayed your own anger towards sin yet in a righteous manner. And so Lord, we pray that you would help us to be angry yet without sin and in all these things to look to Christ who is our peacemaker. And it's in his name we pray all these things, amen.