Murder on SermonAudio

The sermon argues that Christian love for one's neighbor often requires the defense of innocent life against violent aggression, distinguishing between personal insults and lethal threats. It examines biblical passages on non-resistance to conclude that Jesus' teachings on turning the other cheek do not prohibit protecting family from murderers or robbers. The speaker then applies these principles to historical context, defending the American Revolution as a lawful resistance by lower magistrates against a higher authority that violated its own laws and the rule of law. Emphasizing the distinction between submitting to governmental whim versus upholding justice, the message encourages believers to exercise wisdom in balancing submission to authority with the duty to protect the vulnerable. Ultimately, it calls for righteous leadership and personal discernment in navigating complex moral and legal landscapes.

The Gospel of God - Message 21 - A Path of Destruction - Romans 3:15-18. John Murray said, "To be destitute of the fear of God is to be godless." And John Calvin wrote, "Wickedness flows from a disregard of God." In our text we continue to follow this progression into depravity by those who suppress the knowledge of the truth and exchange the truth of God for a lie. For them, there is no peace!

Unjustly taking another's life is another way of usurping God's authority.

In 11:23-26, the writer shifts his focus to the life of Moses, whose faith journey can only begin because his unnamed parents, seeing he was anointed by God, defied Pharaoh's decree and hid their son. And it is because of their faith that Moses came to be saved through the water, like Noah, by way of an ark, and was raised by Pharaoh's daughter. But the writer says that Moses was not happy to remain as an inhabitant of a kingdom of darkness but renounced it and took up with his fellow Hebrews. But the way he did it was not free from sin, as he murdered an Egyptian to do it, leading to his exile. However, despite his messy circumstances, Moses did, in faith, look forward to the reproach of Christ and claimed it as his own. That is what strengthened him to be the deliverer of God's people that he was predestined to be.

God tells us that King David is a man after his own heart. I have often wondered why. Oh come on, David did a lot of things wrong, including but not limited to his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. How could God possibly call him "A man after my own heart"???

Stephen's speech before the Sanhedrin is not a rambling history lesson but a carefully constructed case: God's messengers have always been rejected by the very people who claimed to honor God, and the council standing before him is the latest and worst example. As they fix their eyes on Stephen with murderous contempt, he fixes his on the standing Christ, who sees, acknowledges, defends, and stands ready to embrace the rejected for his name's sake.