Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Proverbs chapter 6 from verse 16 to verse 19, and we are going to be addressing the third one of the sins. We have done already haughty eyes, according here to the ESV. Our brother explained to us a couple of weeks ago. Now, last week we did lying tongue. So the one that follows is hands that shed innocent blood. hence the shed innocent blood." So we're going to read a scripture with reverent hearts, paying attention to each one of the words, and more importantly, with faith so that the Lord may help us as we discuss all of these matters here. So let's read it together with one heart in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Word of God. There are six things that the Lord hates, and seven that are an abomination to Him. haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. Amen. That is the Word of God. As I said, brothers and sisters, the one that we're going to be working on or trying to understand by the help of the Spirit is the third one. Hence that shed innocent blood. Hence that shed innocent blood. So when I say hence that shed innocent blood, what sin am I speaking about? Murder, right? We're speaking about murder. The context of the Old Testament, every time that it speaks about blood being shed, we are speaking about murder, about taking someone's life. And in a sense, beloved of Christ, murder can be understood within the context of those big contexts or concepts, life and death. Either murder is just simply taking someone's life, Or murder can also be understood as just bringing death to someone, right? So we need to understand life and death in order to understand murder. But what I want us to do tonight is just to address this scene because this is a scene. And if we remember what we said in the first time, we said that scene is a transgression of the Law, that sin is a transgression of the law, that sin is lawlessness. Also, we said that sin is that which does not proceed from faith. Remember in 1 John, it says that sin is a transgression of the law, God's law, that is lawlessness. And also in Romans 14, it says that sin is that which does not proceed from faith. So, murder, of course, is a sin. But what I want us to do so that we will understand or have a deeper understanding of murder as a sin, is just simply just to take a little bit of a step back, if you want, and understand that sin in the context of death. So, death is going to be a greater context than murder. Murder is death, but not all death is murder. Why? Because there is a type of death or there's death that is righteous death, when the Lord kills someone that is not murder, because there is no sin in God, right? There's no evil in God, yet God does execute death, if you want. I think execute is what you say or carry on or brings death, executes that. So he does not commit sin when he executes death. So I want us simply to understand this concept of murder, which is a sin, but just simply from the greater context of death. And there is going to be a passage in the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 9 that is going to help us to see how murder is understood in the context of death as a sin, but also how death is not sin. So let's come together to Genesis chapter 9, and then you will understand what I'm just saying here and what we are going to be doing tonight. So if you go to Genesis chapter 9, in Genesis chapter 9, after the flood, Remember that we have here the story with Noah, the establishment, if you want, of the covenant with Noah in Genesis chapter 9. And even here in Genesis chapter 9, we're going to have the same terms of the shedding of blood. But in this passage, we're going to see here the greater context of death, not as a sin, and death as murder, when it's sin. And I hope that you understand that what I'm just saying there. So, Brother Jesus, if you can just please help me reading there from verse one through verse six, and the verse that I want you to pay attention to in which we will derive that principle is in verse six. So, brother, please. Genesis 9 verse 1, God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall build upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hands they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life. That is its blood. And for your lifeblood, I will require a reckoning. From every beast, I will require it from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. For God made man in his own image. Very good. Thank you, brother. Now, verse 6. In verse 6, we have a statement that is repeated, yet the first statement is different to the second statement. It says, whoever sheds the blood of men, that is, whoever murders, whoever kills, by men shall his blood be shed. And that is that the second shedding of blood is going to be the retribution for what the first person did. So here we have something very important, beloved of Christ. Murder is a sin and is death when it's sinful, but not all death is going to be a sinful death. There is a death and in general speaking, death is going to be an instrument of divine justice. Death, in general, is an instrument of divine justice. So when I say divine, I'm speaking of whom? of God. So death, in general, is an instrument of divine justice. And when I say justice, I'm talking about what the Lord does. He gives to everyone according to what they deserve. Right. That is the concept of justice, giving each one according to what they deserve. That is what Apostle Peter says in First Peter, chapter one, that God the Father is the one who gives to all according to their deeds because he's just. So that is the justice of God. So death is an instrument of divine justice. So in that greater, greater, greater sense, the only one who is supposed and has the right to execute death is God, because God is the one that gives life and he's the one that takes life. So in that greater context, before we even think about death or murder as a sin, we see that death is a divine instrument of divine justice. This is very important because death is only or can only be applied or executed by God Himself. That means that man in and of himself, ultimately in man, he has no right to execute death. You understand that, right, brothers and sisters? Death is a divine instrument of His justice. Therefore, no man has the right in and of himself to take that divine instrument of justice and use it on their own. It's only God, the one that executes death in His divine justice. This is very important. Now, when we go through the Old Testament and even through the Bible, we see that the Lord, beloved of Christ, executes death according to His will. And his will is perfect. His will is perfect. And he has a will when it comes to taking the life of a person or not. The will of God when it comes to death is manifested in two sense. One that is passive and the other one that is active. You will understand what I mean. God says, for instance, passively, you shall not kill. So that is that God's will for humans, or at least for the people of Israel there in Exodus chapter 20, is that they will not execute death, right? That is what you shall not kill means. That is, you will not execute death. So God's will when it comes to death as His instrument of His justice is manifested, first of all, passively, namely saying, you shall not kill. But also God's will when it comes to death is manifested positively. You may remember the many stories in the Old Testament in which God commands to kill, right? Many times in the Old Testament, the Lord commands to kill. Can you think about any example in the Old Testament in which God commands someone to kill? Very good. So someone who will break, for instance, the Sabbath, that person was supposed to be put to death. So even God commanded that those who broke the law will be put to death. So in a sense, God's will, when it comes to death as an instrument of His divine justice, is manifested passively and actively. Passively, He says, you shall not kill. And then positively, He says sometimes that you will kill. Now, it's very important for us that we understand that bigger concept or context of death in order for us to understand what the root of this sin is, murder. Because God is the only one who has in His power to define how to execute death or how not to execute death. Either passively you shall not kill or positively you shall kill. Now, let me just go into the positive aspect of God's will revealed when it comes to death, because that will tell us something very important about the nature of the sin. If you come with me to 1 Samuel chapter 15, in 1 Samuel chapter 15, there is a very clear example in which the Lord is actually going to command someone to kill and to destroy. Just as our brother Jesus mentioned the example of a person breaking the Sabbath and that person being commanded to be put to death, that is, that person needed to be killed in that sense, also we see in 1 Samuel chapter 15, we have a story that is very important that will tell us something very relevant of the nature of death as an instrument of divine justice. So in 1st Samuel chapter 15, you may remember, I think we even went through this story in a previous Bible study. You remember that Saul, he was the king that was requested by the Israelites, right? And then he was appointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel. And now the Lord, as perhaps the title that you have there, the Lord is going to reject Saul. And the reason why the Lord is going to reject Saul is related to the execution of death. So let's read that story together, and then perhaps we're going to see here a couple of things. So in 1 Samuel chapter 15, we are going to read perhaps the whole chapter, but we're going to see a couple of things in this chapter. So verse one, it says, And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. Now, therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. Thus is the law of hosts. I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now, this is the instruction. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both men and women, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. So the Lord here is instructing Saul to kill, and not only to kill, but to kill everyone, right? That is the instruction that he's receiving, to kill and to destroy everyone. So Saul, we continue in verse 4. So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 men on foot and 10,000 men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. Then Saul said to the Canaanites, Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Canaanites departed from among the Amalekites. So Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agak, the king of the Amalekites, alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. In verse 9, But Saul and the people spared Agak and the best of the sheep of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs and all that was good and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. You see here what happened? So, the Lord commanded His will when it came to death, when it pertained to death, the death of the Amalekites was, Saul, you are supposed to kill and destroy everyone. Yet when he came and actually, you know, destroyed, overtook them and he was successful, but he spared, we're told, the life of the king and that which was valuable in his eyes, that which was worthless, they destroyed all of it. So here we can see that there is clear disobedience to the instruction of the Lord. So then he continues in verse 10. The word of the Lord came to Samuel. I regret that I have made Saul king. For he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.' And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and he was told, Samuel, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument." Samuel, sorry, I think that someone is not muted and I can hear everything that they are doing. Sorry. Yeah, thank you. Verse 12, sorry, brothers and sisters. Verse 12, And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, and it was told Samuel, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to heal God. So these men did not only disobey the Lord, but he went and built a monument unto himself. You see here how much he loved himself, right? And then verse 13, And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear? Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, where the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.' Then Samuel said to Saul, Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.' And he said to him, Speak. And Samuel said, Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you a king over Israel, and the Lord sent you on a mission and said, Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission in which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Hilgal. And Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption as inequity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king. Here we're going to see a certain type of conviction of Saul, not a complete conviction. It says in verse 24, Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I fear the people and obey their voice. Here's the real reason. Now, therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord. And the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.' As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and he tore it. And Samuel said to him, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also the glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, but he should have regret.' Then he said, I have seen. Yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me that I may bow before the Lord your God.' So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord. Then Samuel said, Bring here to me a Gock. the king of the Amalekites, and Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Death was applied there, right? Verse 34. Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death. But Samuel grieved over Saul, and the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. Before I mention anything about this related to the Bible study, it's incredible to me just to see the attitude of Samuel that even though he was so offended with the disobedience of Saul, we're told two times in verse 11 and in that last verse that he grieved over Saul and even that he cried out to the Lord the whole night for Saul. His spirit was just broken because of the disobedience of this man who had not followed the word of the Lord, but beloved of Christ, What I want you to see here is how death is an instrument of divine justice. God is the one who gives life and God is the one who takes life. And when He decides to take life, that is an instrument of His divine justice that is given to the person what they deserve. And death became an instrument of his justice. Pay attention to what I said. Death became or it happened to be, it became an instrument of his justice because of sin. You can track in your memory and go back to the book of Genesis. That is the Lord himself, the one that uses the word death for the first time. The day that you eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in that day you shall surely die. That death that he spoke about, which was only a concept, became a reality because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve. So, the death that was a spiritual death that was executed was an instrument of divine justice. Now, because of the disobedience of Adam, then sin entered into the world and through that sin, Death. And then we have the Apostle Paul telling us in Romans chapter 6, verse 23, that the wages of sin is death. Death is an instrument of divine justice. So that means that there are times in which applying or executing death is completely coherent with the righteousness of God. And there are times in which applying or executing death is contrary to the will of God. In the example that we have here of Saul, we can see how not applying the will of the Lord when it pertains to death was considered to be sinful and how carrying out or executing death was seen as righteous. Because, beloved of Christ, the heart of the murderer or the heart of the one who takes unto himself to execute death or not to execute death contrary to the will of God is a sin that places himself or that takes to himself the prerogative, the divine prerogative of justice. Now, I explain it with terrible words there, but let me just put it in different words. When God decides that a person should come to the end of his days or her days, namely to execute death unto that person, whatever means that is, that is a manifestation of His justice unto that person and that is His will to that person. And when God says, you shall not die, but rather continue, the fact that that person continues living is also a manifestation of the providence and the desire of God for that person to continue living and arrive to the point of death. But when a person acts contrary to the will of God when it comes to death, that is what it is, sin. Here's what we have with Saul. Again, I'm not explaining that very well, but just try to understand what I'm just saying here. The will of the Lord for the Amalekites was that they were going or they had to be utterly destroyed. They were supposed to be utterly destroyed. They had to experience the fullness of death. All of them, from the babies to the elderly and the animals, all of them, they had to experience death. But when Saul came and went against the will of God, when it comes to the death of the Amalekites, that is what it was considered to be sin. Why? Because the execution of death is a prerogative of the divine justice of God. So when he says that person has to die, if the servant of God does not perform the commandment of the Lord, That person has taken unto himself or themselves the divine prerogative of saying, divine justice will not be executed. Now, I don't know if you see the depth of it, because when God said that the Amalekites should die, we are told here that they were sinners, right? We were told, I think, a couple of times, go the boat to destruction, the sinners, the Amalekites and fight against them until they are consumed. That means that the desire of the Lord by executing death to the Amalekites was His divine justice being executed through Saul. But Saul went against the divine justice of God for the Amalekites. Therefore, that was accounted to Saul as a huge transgression against the Lord. So then when Samuel comes to fix the problem that Saul had caused, what did he do? He took the sword and he killed. Agag, why? Because the disposition of the Lord in His justice was that the Amalekites will experience death as the manifestation of the divine justice of God. Beloved of Jesus Christ, this is very important because even passages like this will be brought to our attention by people who are against Christianity and people who are against the Lord Jesus Christ and say sometimes, how come in the Old Testament God ordained that babies and people will be killed and will be destroyed? How come? How is that of a good God who ordains that everyone should be killed? Why would He ordain to the people of Israel to kill and destroy all of these people in the Old Testament? The answer to that is that... Death is an instrument of His divine justice and when He ordained in the Old Testament that people will be killed or that people will be put to death, that was a manifestation of His perfect divine justice given to each one according to what they deserve. So, the Amalekites, equally than the Israelites and everyone in the world, they deserved to die. So God was simply executing that divine justice on the Amalekites. Now, beloved of Christ, same thing happens on the other side. So here we have Saul not carrying out the will of God when it comes to death for the Amalekites. But when a person executes death that has not been authorized by God, then that person is taking on to him or herself the divine prerogative of executing divine justice." Wow, I thought it so much easier in my mind and now all of these words are just so complicated too. Do you understand what I mean? When a person, beloved of Christ, takes the life of another human being, that person is putting him or herself in the role of God. Because death is an instrument of divine justice. So that person is deciding what the outcome, the just outcome for that person should be. And that person is taking the life of another human being when the Lord's will was not that for that person. Both soul and the murderer are placing themselves in the role of God and saying, Lord, you have said that they should die. No, they should not die. I'm deciding what to do. And the murderer is placing in the side of God because that person who should not die, who should continue living sustained by the providence of God, then the person is taking on to him or herself the role of God by executing something that is divine in nature. Now, beloved of Christ, just because death is so natural to us, we don't understand the divine implications of what death is. Every day that passes in your life, you're not living more, you're dying more. And the reason why you're dying is because you were conceived in sin and the wages of sin is death. So your body has to die as the divine judgment because of the presence of sin that is within you. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ that we have the hope that once we die, we are resurrected with a new body and with a new spirit, never to die again. But the fact that you're going to die, that you're actually dying every day, that you're moving towards the point of death, is in a sense the divine execution of the judgment of God because of your sin. And that is just and divine. But when a person comes and takes the life of another person, they are doing something horrible and terrible. They are putting themselves in the role in the shoes of God, if that can be said, and they are deciding that this divine justice that is not theirs is to be executed upon that person. Now, brothers and sisters, think about abortion. Think about the number of people that are killed and destroyed, well, killed every single day that the Lord has not appointed. That's why the Bible clearly says that murderers will not inherit the kingdom of God. Murderers will not inherit the kingdom of God because executing death is something that is left entirely to the will of the Lord. I hope that you can see that, that was not very well explained, but I really hope that you can see that. And as I said, just because death is just normal, we were born in death, that is in you, that is in me, we are dying every day. We don't see the cosmic treason that is just to take the role that only pertains and is in God when it comes to end the life of a person. But, of course, the Bible teaches us that this sin of putting yourself or putting oneself in the role of God when it comes to executing death, it's something that is not only external, but it's something that is rooted in the heart of the person, right? The Lord Jesus Christ and the Old Testament teach us very clearly that the root of a murderer is hatred. Hatred. And this speaks of what we have just simply seen here in the case of Saul, in the case of the murderer, beloved of Christ. It is just a rebellion against God, the one that is the giver of life and the one that takes God. So murdering or taking the life of a person does not happen when someone takes the life of a person, but rather that happens completely in the heart of that person. That principle is seen in the Old Testament. And of course, it's also seen in the New Testament. If we quickly go to Deuteronomy chapter 19, there we can see that principle very clearly explained in Deuteronomy chapter 19. What we have in Deuteronomy chapter 19 is a topic that we will cover in Numbers 35, but it is more clearly given here in Deuteronomy chapter 19. Brother Bernie, if you can please help me read it Please brother, chapter 19, the first 13 verses. When the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is given to you to possess. You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession so that any manslayer can flee to them. This is the provision for the manslayer. who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past, as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, he may flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. Therefore, I command you, you shall set apart three cities. And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers, provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways, then you shall add three other cities to these three, lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you. But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and hand him over to the avenger of blood so that he may die. Your eyes shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel so that he may be well with Thank you, brother. Brothers and sisters, I don't know, of course, I think it's very clear just to see there in the text, the legal or the judicial, if you want, or the justice aspect of death. Once again, if I try and if the Lord gives me better words to explain this, death is an instrument of justice. You use death to execute justice. And in this case, divine justice. And we can see there in the example of the law that was given to the Israelites. in which they were given initially three cities and then it will be six cities of refuge in which those who killed unintentionally they could flee there so that then their case will come before the priest and then they will decide what was the situation that took place there. But I want you to see how death It is just simply a type of veredict, if that is the word, a veredict, a legal veredict. So if the person was found to be innocent, that is that he did not have an intention when he killed the other person, then that person will be found to be innocent. And then if the person actually is found to have intention in the heart or hatred in the heart, an intention to kill the other, then that person will be found guilty and the death that he applied unto the other person will apply to him because death is an instrument of justice. So then just following what I was just saying before, beloved of Christ, when a person takes unto himself the right to execute death unto another, he's taking the divine right to declare the punishment that that person deserves. That person is taking unto himself the veredict of saying that person is guilty and that person deserves death because death is only an instrument that is meant to be used within the realm of justice of the Lord. This is very important, beloved of Christ, because this goes exactly within the heart of the nature of the gospel. If you come with me to Proverbs chapter 6, I want to show you something, a couple of words there that I utilized. You know how death is a very important aspect of the gospel, right? It is by or through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that we have received eternal life. It is through the giving of the life of the Lord that we have received eternal life. Now, death is meant to be applied according to divine justice. That it is that the person that deserves to die, that person should die. But the person who does not deserve to die, that person should not die. Then we have something very interesting here. In chapter six, we are told that the sins that we have discussed are an abomination to the Lord. that the sins that we have there, Horea, Lion Tongue, and all of those sins, that they are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs is going to describe abomination or is going to describe many things as an abomination to the Lord. And this is one of the first things, these six or seven sins is one of those first things that the Proverbs describes as an abomination. There's another thing that Proverbs describes as an abomination, and that is you put your hand in chapter six and then you go to chapter 17. And if you go to chapter 17, then in verse 15, it says, he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. The one that justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord. Now, if you go now, you keep your hand there. So we have we need this verse of religious to have a present. And if you go to the scene that we have today, it says, hence, the shed innocent blood are an abomination to the Lord. Right. So hence the shed innocent blood, those are an abomination to the Lord. Now, beloved Christ, if there is going to be a legal case that is going to be brought against your soul in the day of judgment through Satan or by Satan, it is not going to be so much. How, Lord, are you going to justify him or her who was so wicked and did so many awful things? But the main case that Satan can and perhaps, I don't know if that will happen, but that Satan can bring before the Lord, it's not about our sins, is that how come, Lord, your Bible, your Word says that the hands that shed innocent blood are an abomination to you and your Word says that the one that justifies the wicked is an abomination to the Lord and the one that condemns the righteous is an abomination to the Lord. When your son died upon the cross and his blood was shed, not by the Romans, right? Not by the Jews, but ultimately by whom? By God the Father. How come God the Father allowed and was in his decree to shed the blood of Jesus Christ, who was guilty? No, innocent. He was shedding his innocent blood and through that death, make the wicked just or justify the wicked and condemned the righteous there upon the cross. Lord, your word says that you should be an abomination unto yourself. You are going against that which you have instructed people to be. Beloved of Christ, this is How is God going to give an answer to all of these matters, to these accusations that Satan will bring about this, that it is God Himself who is shedding the blood of the innocent person, and who is God the one that is justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous? Well, beloved of Christ, because I said to you something very important and perhaps it was very difficult to understand in my explanation. But I said to you that death became an instrument of divine justice because of sin. God has been just and righteous before the creation started, before the foundation of the world, God was just and was righteous. But death only became an instrument of His justice when He created the world and when sin entered into the world. The righteousness and the justice of God has been eternally manifested in something that goes beyond death, because death is the wages of sin. And this is how He manifests His justice unto the sinner and unto the righteous. But the righteousness of God, the justice of God in God Himself has been eternally manifested in something greater than death. Justice is given to each one according to what they deserve, right? Justice is given to each one according to what they deserve. God in eternity past got the Father, got the Son and got the Holy Spirit coexisting or being God in eternity past without anything that was created. He was righteous and just and He was manifesting this justice given to each one according to what they deserve. and that which each one of the three persons of the Trinity deserved was the fullness of love. so that when justice will be required, love is that which fulfills the law." Beloved of Christ, the justice and the righteousness of God, it is primarily and eternally manifested in the eternal love of God that God the Father had for the Son, and God the Son had for the Father, and God the Spirit had for God the Father, and God the Son, And that's why when we go and hear in the New Testament our salvation, our salvation is connected in time, our redemption eternally with the love of God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, says Paul in Ephesians chapter 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him, or in Christ, before the foundation of the world. It is in Him, or in the Beloved, in Christ, that He predestined us to be sons, to be adopted as sons. It is in Jesus Christ that He predestined us to be redeemed in time. I don't have the words to explain this and I don't know that I've done it very well, but beloved of Christ, I don't know if you can see this, the eternal righteousness of God that is rooted and is filled in the love of God Himself, that is clearly manifested in the gospel of Jesus Christ. For he who was not seen, he made to be seen on our behalf, that we may become the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ had no sin, but He truly and genuinely made Him to be seen in His eyes, so that by executing His death, or better, His justice upon the Lord Jesus Christ, The one that is wicked will be made just and the one that is righteous will be condemned, but in a complete legal way. Beloved of Christ, God is eternally just and righteous. So when a person decides to execute death or to murder someone else, That person places himself in the role of God to execute the judgment that only belongs to God himself. That's why the greatest manifestation of murder is not so much killing a person, But it is killing the Son of God, that's why He said, right? He's the just, He's God Himself. He's the one that is vindicated, eternally righteous in God Himself. That's why it would have been better for Judas not to have been born than to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ says, forgive them for they do not know, they do not know what they do. Because killing the one that is just is the greatest manifestation of the wickedness of the sin of murder. But the New Testament passes that unto the church, beloved of Christ. Because now, for those who by grace through faith have been redeemed and inserted in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are now partakers of the eternal veredict of innocence. That is that every single person, when they are in Jesus Christ, that person has already received the veredict from God. And that is that person is innocent. Death has no power on that person anymore. I have said that because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because of what my son did upon the cross, every genuine Christian has received already the veredict. And that is that they do not deserve death. They do not deserve that. They are my people. So then the New Testament comes and says that if we hate our brother, which in the heart is murdering our brother, that that makes us not to be sons of God. Why? Because when a brother or professing brother, when a professing brother hates another brother or sister, he is taking unto himself the role to execute death upon the other person whom has been already not only bought by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but may declare just Death has no power on that person anymore, but rather that person is the object of the love of God because that person is in Jesus Christ. That is what the Bible says in 1 John. If you go to 1 John 3 quickly there, just to perhaps explain that better with the words of the apostle. 1 John 3. Everyone 3.15, 1 John 3.16, everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. He said before in chapter two that those who murder are walking in darkness, that make the Lord a liar. But if you go then to chapter four, if you go there to chapter four, It says in verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love God does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God hands His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved of Christ, I don't know if you see there in verse 10, but I want you to see there the propitiation is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the manifestation of the love of God unto us is in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why He doesn't want us to hate our brothers and sisters because that is contrary to the substance of the gospel. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and that He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Bear with me, please. We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. Beloved of Jesus Christ, there are many people who die on a daily basis, and there are many people that commit murder and all of these things. But even, you know, I could take you to Revelation and all of that, but now I've spoken too much. Healing. I don't know if you remember the passage there in Revelation chapter 6 when the saints are with white robes. They're saying, how long, O Lord? How long is it going to take for you to revenge the blood of your saints? How long is it going to take for you, O Lord, to take vengeance on those who have taken the lives of your saints? Because beloved of Jesus Christ, murder or taking the life of a person is executing death that it only is a job of God. And when that is committed against the people of God, whoever that person is, a professing Christian or outside of the context of the church, that person has taken on to him or herself the role, not only to take the role of God, but to go contrary to what God has verified for that particular person. If a brother or sister, generally in Christ, has been saved by the grace of the Spirit and united to that person, the person of Jesus Christ, then the divine verdict unto that person is not only that he or she is the object of my love, but that death has no power on him. Woe unto those who hate that saint, or woe unto those who actually execute a murderer to the final extent. Woe unto those who in their heart have, their heart is filled of hatred towards those who are Christians. Woe unto those who take unto themselves the task to kill and to destroy the Christians. Because when the day comes, the one that is going to take an account for the things that they have done, not only in the past, but also for taking the life of those who profess to be Christians or who are genuine in Christ is God Himself. And what a terrifying thing is to fall into the hands of the living God. What a terrifying thing is to fall into the hands of the one who created heavens and earth. And what a terrifying thing is to fall into the hands of the one who is the giver. and the taker of life. Beloved of Jesus Christ, your life is the only repayment that you can give in exchange to God for the sins that you have committed. And not even your life is enough to pay for the sins that we have committed. That's why hell is eternal, because our life is the most valuable thing that we have to repay God for the sins that we have committed against him. That's why death is the wages of sin. But not even the value of our life is enough to repay because of His righteousness and His holiness. Therefore, the person that is outside of Christ will have to pass eternity in hell. That is the value of life. How much more? is the life of the Son, Jesus Christ, in the life of His people, because the Bible says that Jesus Christ is our life. How much valuable it is the life of God Himself in each one of the believers, And how much greater will be the punishment of those who are in their heart, haters of the saints and those who carry death onto those who are in the beloved Jesus Christ. As I said before, very difficult sometimes for us to apprehend this concept because death is very normal even to us. My beloved of Christ, death is starting in your heart. I don't know if at least I have managed to communicate this to you, but as I was praying this afternoon, I was thinking, I don't want to carry not even the smallest level of bitterness against any one of you. because that can easily turn into manifestations of hatred and hatred is in the heart murdering my brother and murdering my brother is not only condemning the Bible, but I'm condemning the life of Jesus Christ in my brother and I'm supposedly putting myself in the place of God to execute death when I should not do that. So, Lord, search my heart and show me in which corner of my heart there is a Canaanite, there is a little bit of bitterness or there is a little bit of manifestation of even of fake and cold love towards my brothers and sisters. Because if I do not remove that from my heart, then that can easily grow into a bigger tribe or into a bigger Canaanite group of people in my heart and easily turned into hatred, which is the foundation of murder against my brothers and my sisters. Beloved of Christ, each one of you, even if I am in Christ, I have the life of Christ and you have the life of Christ. And in that sense, we are to be lovers of each other because he's got himself the one that is in us. And if you perceive bitterness in your heart, if you perceive any level of hatred in your heart, if you perceive any type of cold love in your heart towards your brothers and sisters, even if you perceive lack of love in your heart towards your brothers and sisters, brothers, run to the city of refuge that is Jesus Christ. Run, run to the city of refuge that is the Lord Jesus Christ because in that city there is a high priest and the high priest will, by his blood and through his sacrifice, cleanse you, redeem you, purify your heart and remove you from the path of condemnation. Hatred in our hearts is just the path unto eternal hell because no murderer will inherit the kingdom of the Lord. Amen?