Should Christians command people to obey God? Can the unregenerate obey?

It's interesting that the subject of whether Christians are supposed to tell people to obey the commandments or not has been a heatedly debated topic recently. Another question is whether the unregenerate are ABLE to obey God's commandments. So,

* Should Christians command others (outside the covenant community) to obey God?
* Are the unregenerate able to obey God's commandments?

I have been studying the scriptures & asking my husband (a seminary grad) to help me to understand.  I am not very good at systematizing my answers (I am a random intuitive) but I would like to try. Today my husband & two other godly men joined me for lunch. I picked their brains.

As a result I have 11 pages of notes on these questions. I will not include all of my notes, but have whittled it down to some of the basics. As to the two questions:

* Should Christians command others (outside the covenant community) to obey God?
* Are the unregenerate able to obey God's commandments

I have found that YES is the biblical answer to both of those questions.

I believe that the scriptures provide us at least 7 reasons to say "YES" to the preceding questions:

1) God's commandments are not grievous, burdensome, hard, difficult or unreasonable. (I John 5:3) God is not commanding the impossible from men. They are able to obey OUTWARDLY. (I John 5:3)

2) God has written the commandments on every human heart. All people understand what is good & they know what is evil by their God-given conscience. This is called Natural Law & they are able to instinctively obey it on the outside. "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.  in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.." Romans 2:14-15 When they do GOOD, they feel good. When they do EVIL, they feel evil. Thus, to maintain a healthy conscience, people can & do obey the inward witness of the God's Law OUTWARDLY. "Righteousness has two separable aspects - the heart and the hand. Rightness in the heart is always by faith. Rightness in deed is required in the law. Rightness in deed is possible for us because God requires it." ~ Kevin Ross

3) By General Revelation all human beings perceive that;
a) There is a Creator God.
b) They are created.
c) They are guilty before this God because they do the things that their God-given conscience tells them NOT to do & they do not do the things that they OUGHT.
d) They will be punished. This means, they are without excuse.  " ... because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them." Romans 1:19 (cff vs 19-32) http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/packer/04guilt.html

4) The moral Law of God (the commandments) has a three-fold use. (http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/sproul/threefold_law.html)
The second use of the Law may be what we are alluding to for the purposes of our discussion. Commanding people to obey God's commands accomplishes the gracious influence of RESTRAINING EVIL. In other words, it serves to protect the righteous from the unjust. This is for both the individual & the common good.  John Calvin explains how the second use of the moral Law functions “by means of its fearful denunciations and the consequent dread of punishment, to curb those who, unless forced, have no regard for rectitude and justice.”

One might also include that this function of the Law produces 'fear of the Lord', which is the beginning of wisdom. This use of the moral Law is, in fact, our positive duty as Christians. Why? Because it reveals our love for people & our desire to keep them from harm, from themselves & from others. (The inverse is also true. Our stubborn refusal to preach & teach the Law reveals our lack of love for our neighbor.)

It is a fact that our faithful preaching of the Law, "You shall not murder", outside abortuaries is used by God to restrain evil & to prevent bloodshed. Some women, although they are heathen (false converts, agnostic, atheist & even Hindu!) turn from dismembering their infants. They repent of delivering their babies whole (& sometimes still alive) into the toilets of the killing place. Our commanding women to obey the Sixth Commandment curbs the evil in their souls & some choose loving adoptive Christian families to raise their babies.

The proclamation of the commandments is very much reflected in Jesus' teaching when He speaks of His disciples being salt & light. The commandments act as a preservative & an illuminating means of exposing the exceeding sinfulness of sin. We are to seek the peace of our city. We are, by the offensive weapon of the Law, commissioned to do battle against the principalities & powers. By faith & prayerful action through the public proclamation of the Law & gospel, we drive out evildoers. We are to be a wholesome influence on our culture through the message of the Lord.

5) The wicked store up wrath against themselves on the Day of Wrath every time they sin. (Rom 2:5) If we truly love our neighbor, while we cannot cause their wicked souls to be regenerated (salvation is of the Lord) we can, by giving voice to command them to obey the Law of God, see God use it to restrain their evil actions. This will lessen their outward acts of sin, decreasing the degree of sin they commit & as a result, the degree of wrath poured upon them at the judgment will be less severe. If they are not one of the elect & do not ever savingly repent, the restraint of their evil by the Law of God will have served the purpose of inhibiting their commission of evil, thus, shaving some of the degree of their punishment in the lake of fire. (Do you not know that the wicked shall experience the pain of EVERY one of their sins & wish to God that they had not committed them? "every sinner in hell has a full realization that he deserves to be there. Each sinner has a fully informed, acutely aware, and sensitive conscience which, in hell, becomes his own tormenter. This is the experience of torture in hell—a person fully aware of his or her sin with a relentlessly accusing conscience, without relief for even one moment. The guilt of sin will produce shame and everlasting self-hatred." http://www.gotquestions.org/eternal-hell-fair.html)

6) Jesus & the Father reveal themselves to those who obey their commandments. “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” John 14:21 When we preach the gospel truth, we are fishing for men (for the elect) The elect will hear the voice of their Beloved call them, even His voice in the Law! [Note: In the visible church there are unregenerate people - tares & goats. In Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, we find the Lord telling His covenant people, who were circumcised, to get a circumcised heart. The covenant community was always comprised of believers and unbelievers. In fact, the Scriptures bear witness than the believing covenant members were actually a remnant of the covenant people as a whole (see Rom. 11:1-6). ~ Nicholas Batzig]

7) Those who are unregenerate remain under the Covenant of Law & Works, which has never been abrigated. It is binding & all men are duty-bound to obey God's holy commandments under the Covenant of Works. Only the redeemed are under the New Covenant of Grace through the Blood of Christ. "There is an undeniable relation between the Law and the Covenant of Works. The unregenerate are still under the moral Law as a Covenant of Works. There is no denying the fact that it is broken. There is no denying the fact that they cannot keep it to obtain the blessings promised for perfect obedience to it. But it is still in place." ~ Nicholas T. Batzig
[http://www.feedingonchrist.com/understanding-the-law-and-its-uses/]

Question 95 of the Westminster Larger Catechism asks:
Of what use is the moral law to all men?
Answer: The moral Law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and will of God, and of their duty, binding them to walk accordingly;to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives; to humble them in the sense of their sin and misery, and thereby help them to a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of His obedience.

[*I realize that we have not gotten into the reality of how the Law prepares a person for the grace of the Gospel, which of course is the very thing that we are to be about the business of. However, that was not the topic of discussion at this time. Perhaps that can be addressed in another note, if anyone needs convincing.]

To sum up:
Christians should, and indeed must, command others to obey God.
Even the unregenerate are able to obey God's commandments outwardly.

In conclusion, let's ask another question. What’s our MOTIVATION for preaching the Law & commanding all men to obey it? Love! Love for God, for the glory of His Son & love for our neighbor. Why? To seek & save the lost. Do good to those who hate us. Preserve the peace of our city. Educate & enlighten the conscience our neighbors. Restrain evil. Encourage the faithful. While the unregenerate do not obey from the heart, they can and must obey by the hand. Slaves obey under duress. Sons obey from the heart.

The Calamity of the Wicked

The Calamity of the Wicked

Evil shall slay the wicked." Psalm 34:21

There is often a delay between a wicked act and its punishment.

Deuteronomy 27:5 declares: "Cursed be the one who takes reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen."

Women who murder their babies by abortion are relieved of the physical and financial burden of bearing and raising a child. This is their 'reward'. And yet, the Bible declares the post-abortive woman as accursed. How so? As we see in scriptures, the unrighteous may prosper for a time, but one thing is certain, they will pay. Sinners reap what they sow. Even before the judgment of God and being cast into hell, sin brings its own retribution upon the sinner.

The consequences of sin are frequently the result of its own outworking. Just yesterday as I studied the Bible I made notes in my journal on the scriptures that spoke of the awful inheritance of the impenitent wicked (including the false convert). In a far-from-exhaustive look at the Psalms and Proverbs I discovered the many horrible consequences and the final end of those who persist in their rebellion:

Evildoers shall be cut down, cut off & shall be no more.
Their arms shall be broken.
The wicked are cursed & shall perish.
The transgressors shall be destroyed and have no future.
The wicked have draw the sword to slay yet their sword shall enter their own heart.
Sinners make a pit & fall into it themselves. Let no one support them.
Trouble returns upon their own head & the violent dealings of the wicked shall down on his own crown.
Evil shall slay the wicked. His own iniquities will capture him & he will be held with the cords of his own sin.
Destruction shall come upon him suddenly.
The net that he spreads to harm another shall catch him & into that very destruction he shall fall.
The Lord Himself brings upon them their own iniquity & cuts them off.
The wicked shall fall by calamity.
The man of wicked intentions God will condemn & the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.
The wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
Whenever a person chooses sin, they choose wrath. Tell them this.

Tell the men and the women who are murdering their babies what is going to happen to them. Prophesy to them from the Word of God. Tell the enemies of God (and of His children) that they shall be vanquished. There is coming a Day of Recompense. Love Jesus enough to give Him the glory He is due. Love the sinner enough to tell them the truth. Tell the wicked that God commands all people everywhere to repent. Preach your heart out - for the demand of Christ is

"... that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations."
Luke 24:47

Witches never weep ...

..the LORD hates...
hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil.
Proverbs 6:16-18
Think: ABORTION

Witches never weep ... those who have no grief for sin are spiritually bewitched by Satan.
~ Thomas Watson

You shall not murder ~ God's Law

Do not shed innocent blood. ~ God's Law

If one turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.
Proverbs 28:9

When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin.
Psalm 109:7

God's sovereign command
'He commandeth all men every where to repent' (Acts 17:30). Repentance is not arbitrary. It is not left to our choice whether or not we will repent, but it is an indispensable command. God has enacted a Law in the High Court of heaven that no sinner shall be saved except the repenting sinner, and he will not break his own Law. Though all the angels should stand before God and beg the life of an unrepenting person, God would not grant it. 'The Lord God, merciful and gracious, keeping mercy for thousands, and that will by no means clear the guilty' (Ex 34:6-37). Though God is more full of mercy than the sun is of light, yet he will not forgive a sinner while he goes on in his guilt: 'He will by no means clear the guilty'!

The pure nature of God denies communion with an impenitent creature till the sinner repents, God and he cannot be friends: 'Wash you, make you clean' (Isa 1:16); go, steep yourselves in the brinish waters of repentance. Then, says God, I will parley with you: 'Come now, and let us reason together' (Isa 1:18); but otherwise, come not near Me: 'What communion hath light with darkness?' (2 Cor 6:14). How can the righteous God indulge him that goes on still in his trespasses? 'I will not justify the wicked' (Ex 23:7). If God should be at peace with a sinner before he repents, God would seem to like and approve all that he has done. He would go against His own holiness. It is inconsistent with the sanctity of God's nature to pardon a sinner while he is in the act of rebellion.

Sinners continuing in impenitence are out of Christ's commission. See His commission: 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted' (Isa 61:1). Christ is a Prince and Saviour, but not to save men in an absolute way, whether or not they repent. If ever Christ brings men to heaven, it shall be through the gates of hell: 'Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance' (Acts 5:31); as a king pardons rebels if they repent and yield themselves to the mercy of their prince, but not if they persist in open defiance.

We have by sin wronged God There is a great deal of equity in it that we should repent. We have by sin wronged God. We have eclipsed His honour. We have infringed His Law, and we should, reasonably, make Him some reparation. By repentance we humble and judge ourselves for sin. We set to our seal that God is righteous if He should destroy us, and thus we give glory to God and do what lies in us to repair His honour.

If God should save men without repentance, making no discrimination, then by this rule He must save all, not only men, but devils... and so consequently the decrees of election and reprobation must fall to the ground. How diametrically opposed this is to sacred writ, let all judge.

There are two sorts of persons who will find it harder to repent than others:
(1) Those who have sat a great while under the ministry of God's ordinances but grow no better. The earth which drinks in the rain, yet 'beareth thorns and briars, is nigh unto cursing' (Heb 6:8). There is little hope of the metal which has lain long in the fire but is not melted and refined. When God has sent His ministers one after another, exhorting and persuading men to leave their sins, but they settle upon the lees of formality and can sit and sleep under a sermon, it will be hard for these ever to be brought to repentance.

(2) Those who have sinned frequently against the convictions of the Word, the checks of conscience, and the motions of the Spirit. Conscience has stood as the angel with a flaming sword in its hand. It has said, Do not this great evil, but sinners regard not the voice of conscience, but march on resolvedly under the devil's colours. These will not find it easy to repent: 'They are of those that rebel against the light' (Job 24:13). It is one thing to sin for want of light and another thing to sin against light. Here the unpardonable sin takes its rise.

This disease, I fear, is epidemical: 'No man repented him of his wickedness' (Jer 8:6). Men's hearts are marbled into hardness: 'they made their hearts as an adamant stone' (Zech 7:12)..It is a received opinion that witches never weep. I am sure that those who have no grief for sin are spiritually bewitched by Satan.

Excerpted from 'The Doctrine of Repentance:The Reasons Enforcing Repentance, with a Warning to the Impenitent by Thomas Watson http://www.fivesolas.com/watson/repent5.htm

Evangelism: Does your church obey the Great Commission? If not, why not?

Evangelism

What is it?

Evangelism is simply telling non-Christians the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to save sinners.

In order to biblically evangelize you must:
* Preach the whole gospel, even the hard news about God’s wrath against our sin. Call people to repent of their sins and trust in Christ.

* Make it clear that believing in Christ is costly, but worth it.

* Where is it in the Bible? Scripture contains both teaching on evangelism (Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 10:14-17; 1 Pet. 3:15-16) and examples of evangelistic preaching (see Acts 2:14-41, 3:12-26, 13:16-49, 17:22-31). Moreover, any time Scripture speaks of the gospel, it is teaching us what we are to share in evangelism (see, for example, Romans 1-4 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

*Why is it important? When a church has an unbiblical understanding of the gospel, they don’t evangelize, they evangelize in misleading or manipulative ways, or they share a message that’s not the gospel. On the other hand, a biblical understanding of evangelism clarifies our role in the mission God has given to the church: we are to preach the good news about what Christ has done and pray that God would cause people to believe it.

http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/evangelism

Does your church propagate the lie of cheap grace?

Take no satisfaction in the prevailing religiosity of our nation. Much of it is a perversion of the Christian gospel. Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. Cheap grace means grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian “conception” of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins. Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. “The price we are having to pay today in the shape of the collapse of the organized Church is only the inevitable consequence of our policy of making grace available to all at too low a cost. Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy to the scornful and unbelieving. We poured forth unending streams of “grace.” But the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was hardly ever heard. Cheap grace has turned out to be utterly merciless to our evangelical church. This cheap grace has turned out to be utterly disastrous to our own spiritual lives. Instead of calling us to follow Christ, it has hardened us in our disobedience. Deceived and weakened, men felt that they were strong now that they were in possession of this cheap grace – whereas they had in fact lost the power to live the life of discipleship and obedience. The word of cheap grace has been the ruin of more Christians than any commandment of works. ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

Are you a victim & purveyor of 'Christian' mysticism?

There is no mysterious, mystical 'secret' to the Christian life. It's key is right out in the open. Read. The. Bible. Obey. What. You. Read. Got it? Do it!

Mysticism is the idea that spiritual reality is found by obscure or extra-biblical means. Biblical illiteracy is often (but not always) a mark of a person who practices mysticism. Superstition. Myth. Secret language. Ecstatic worship, dance, prayer. Manifestations. Seeking for signs & wonders. Making prophetic declarations. Beware of the strong delusion. False prophets. Lying signs and wonders.

The following was written by John MacArthur.


MYSTICISM: IRRATIONALITY GONE TO SEEDMysticism is the idea that spiritual reality is found by looking inward. Mysticism is perfectly suited for religious existentialism; indeed, it is its inevitable consequence. The mystic disdains rational understanding and seeks truth instead through the feelings, the imagination, personal visions, inner voices, private illumination, or other purely subjective means. Objective truth becomes practically superfluous. Mystical experiences are therefore self-authenticating; that is, they are not subject to any form of objective verification. They are unique to the person who experiences them. Since they do not arise from or depend upon any rational process, they are invulnerable to any refutation by rational means.Arthur L. Johnson writes,The experience convinces the mystic in such a way, and to such a degree, that lie simply cannot doubt its value and the correctness of what he believes it "says."...In its crudest form this position says that believing something to be so makes it so. The idea is that ultimate reality is purely mental; therefore one is able to create whatever reality one wishes. Thus the mystic "creates" truth through his experience. In a less extreme form, the view seems to be that there are "alternate realities," one as real as another, and that these "break in upon" the mystic in his experiences. Whatever form is taken, the criterion of truth is again a purely private and subjective experience that provides no means of verification and no safeguard against error. Nevertheless, it is seen by the mystic as being above question by others.The practical result of all this is that it is nearly impossible to reason with any convinced mystic. Such people are generally beyond the reach of reason.12Mysticism is therefore antithetical to discernment. It is an extreme form of reckless faith.Mysticism is the great melting pot into which neo-orthodoxy, the charismatic movement, anti-intellectual evangelicals, and even some segments of Roman Catholicism have been synthesized. It has produced movements like the Third Wave (a neo-charismatic movement with excessive emphasis on signs, wonders, and personal prophecies); Renovaré (an organization that blends teachings from monasticism, ancient Catholic mysticism, Eastern religion, and other mystical traditions); the spiritual warfare movement (which seeks to engage demonic powers in direct confrontation); and the modern prophecy movement (which encourages believers to seek private, extrabiblical revelation directly ftom God). The influx of mysticism has also opened evangelicalism to New-Age concepts like subliminal thought- control, inner healing, communication with angels, channeling, dream analysis, positive confession, and a host of other therapies and practices coming directly from occult and Eastern religions. The face of evangelicalism has changed so dramatically in the past twenty years that what is called evangelicalism today is beginning to resemble what used to be called neo-orthodoxy. If anything, some segments of contemporary evangelicalism are even more subjective in their approach to truth than neo-orthodoxy ever was.It could be argued that evangelicalism never successfully resisted neo-orthodoxy. Twenty years ago evangelicals took a heroic stand against neo-orthodox influences on the issue of biblical inerrancy. But whatever victory was gained in that battle is now being sacrificed on the altar of mysticism. Mysticism renders biblical inerrancy irrelevant. After all, if the highest truth is subjective and comes from within us, then it doesn't ultimately matter if the specifics of Scripture are true or not. If the content of faith is not the real issue, what does it really matter if the Bible has errors or not?In other words, neo-orthodoxy attacked the objective inspiration of Scripture. Evangelical mysticism attacks the objective interpretation of Scripture. The practical effect is the same. By embracing existential relativism, evangelicals are forfeiting the very riches they fought so hard to protect. If we can gain meaningful guidance from characters who appear in our fantasies, why should we bother ourselves with what the Bible says? If we are going to disregard or even reject the biblical verdict against homosexuality, what difference does it make if the historical and factual matter revealed in Scripture is accurate or inaccurate? If personal prophecies, visions, dreams, and angelic beings are available to give us up-to-the-minute spiritual direction—"fresh revelation" as it is often called—who cares if Scripture is without error in the whole or in the parts?Mysticism further nullifies Scripture by pointing people away from the sure Word of God as the only reliable object of faith. Warning of the dangers of mysticism, Schaeffer wrote,Probably the best way to describe this concept of modern theology is to say that it is faith in faith, rather than faith directed to an object which is actually there.... A modern man cannot talk about the object of his faith, only about the faith itself. So he can discuss the existence of his faith and its "size" as it exists against all reason, but that is all. Modern man's faith turns inward.... Faith is introverted, because it has no certain object ... it is rationally not open to discussion. This position, I would suggest, is actually a greater despair and darkness than the position of those modern men who commit suicide."13The faith of mysticism is an illusion. "Truth that is true for me" is irrelevant to anyone else, because it lacks any objective basis. Ultimately, therefore, existential faith is impotent to lift anyone above the level of despair. All it can do is seek more experiences and more feelings. Multitudes are trapped in the desperate cycle of feeding off one experience while zealously seeking the next. Such people have no real concept of truth; they just believe. Theirs is a reckless faith.

12. Arthur L. Johnson, Faith Misguided: Exposing the Dangers of Mysticism (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988), 31-32.

13. Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, in The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Volume I (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1982). 64-65

Guilty! The Crying Sin of Abortion

"Thou shalt not murder."
Exodus 20:13

Thomas Watson writes in sharp pictorial of the damnation of the Almighty against those who dare to violate His 6th command & commit the sin of shedding innocent blood. I have included excerpts from Watson's biblical treatise on this commandment below, including notes to particularize it for the evil of abortion.

~ Patte Smith

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
by
Thomas Watson
1620-1686

"Thou shalt not murder."
Exodus 20:13

In this commandment is a sin forbidden, which is murder, 'Thou shalt not kill,'
and a duty implied, which is, to preserve our own life, and the life of others.

We must not injure another in his body. Life is the most precious thing; and God has set this commandment as a fence about it, to preserve it. He made a statute which has never to this day been repealed. 'Whose sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' Gen 9: 6. In the old law, if a man killed another unawares, he might take sanctuary; but if he killed him willingly, though he fled to the sanctuary, the holiness of the place would not defend him. 'If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.' Exod 21: 14. In the commandment, 'Thou shalt do no murder,' all sins are forbidden which lead to it, and are the occasions of it...

Hatred is a vermin which lives upon blood. 'Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel.' Ezek 35: 5. ... Hatred is ever cruel.

How many ways is murder committed?

We may be said to murder...

With the HAND; as Joab killed Abner and Amass. 'He smote him in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels.' 2 Sam 20: 10. (*Abortionists, clinic workers, mothers & fathers who procure an abortion against their babies & grandbabies.)

With the mind. Malice is mental murder. 'Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer.' 1 John 3: 15. To malign another, and wish evil against him in the heart, is murdering him. (*Those who murder babies by abortion have to mental malice against the child beforehand. Murdering the infant from the heart before they even arrive at the killing place.)

By putting poison into cups. Thus the wife of Commodes the emperor killed her husband by poisoning the wine which he drank. So, MANY KILL LITTLE CHILDREN BY MEDICINES THAT CAUSE THEIR DEATH. (*Birth control pills, Morning after pill, herbal abortifacients, RU-486/chemical/medical abortion)

By CONSENTING to another's death; as Saul to the death of Stephen. 'I also was standing by and consenting unto his death.' Acts 22: 20. HE THAT GIVES CONSENT IS ACCESSORY TO THE MURDER. (*All of those who stand by in support of the murder of a child or who, by their silence, imply consent. Father of the baby, grandparents of the child, co-workers, friends, family members & the church in the community.)

BY NOT HINDERING THE DEATH OF ANOTHER WHEN IN OUR POWER. Pilate knew Christ was innocent. 'I find no fault in Him,' he said, but did not hinder His death; therefore he was guilty. Washing his hands in water could not wash away the guilt of Christ's blood. (*Neither can it wash away the guilt of those who do not try to hinder the violent murder of their little neighbors.)

By UNMERCIFULNESS. BY TAKING AWAY THAT WHICH IS NECESSARY FOR THE SUPPORT OF LIFE... Or BY NOT HELPING HIM WHEN HE IS READY TO BE SLAIN. YOU MAY BE THE DEATH OF ANOTHER, AS WELL BY NOT RELIEVING HIM, AS BY OFFERING HIM VIOLENCE... How many are thus guilty of the breach of this commandment! (*Fathers & grandparents of abortion-imperiled babies & any others, including church folks, who say: "It's her choice" and offer no assistance to the pregnant woman & her baby.)

By not executing the law upon capital offenders. A felon having committed six murders, the judge may be said to be guilty of five of them, because he did not execute the felon for his first offence. (*The magistrate is given the sword to defend innocent citizenry. Because the state & the nation does not prosecute abortionists & clinic workers & aborting mothers & fathers & grandparents for the intentional murder of babies, they too are guilty before God for the shedding of innocent blood.)

What are the aggravations of this sin of murder?

To shed the blood of another ceaselessly; as to kill another in a humour or frolic...many when not provoked, will take away the life of another. This makes the sin of blood more bloody. The less provocation to a sin the greater sin. (*Abortionists & clinic workers are unceasing in their bloody killing spree. We see many aborting women & men laughing & casually murdering infants over & over again.)

To shed the blood of a near relation aggravates the murder, and dyes it of a deeper crimson... he is not guilty of murder only, but of ... diabolical cruelty. (*It is one thing to murder a complete stranger, as the abortionists do. The sin of murdering one's own flesh & blood child is an aggravation of the sin & greatly increases the degree of the sin for the mother, father & grandparents & no doubt enhances their degree of punishment in hell as well.)

To shed the blood of any righteous person aggravates the sin. Hereby justice is perverted. Such a person being innocent, is unworthy of death. A saint being a public blessing, lies in the breach to turn away wrath; so that to destroy him is to pull down the pillars of a nation. He is precious to God. Psa 116: 15. He is a member of Christ's body; therefore what injury is offered to him is done to God Himself. Acts 9: 4. (*Of all human beings, pre-born children are inarguably the most innocent.)

Take heed of shedding blood... This is a great wrong done to God, and he will not hold you guiltless.

To deter all from having their hands defiled with blood, consider what a sin murder is. It is

(1) A God-affronting sin. It is a breach of His command, and trampling upon His royal edict. It is a wrong offered to God's image. 'In the image of God made He man.' Gen 9: 6. It is tearing God's picture, and breaking in pieces the King of heaven's broad seal. Man is the temple of God. 'Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?' I Cor 6: 19. The man-slayer destroys God's temple; and will God endure to be thus confronted by proud dust?

(2) It is a CRYING sin. The VOICE of BLOOD cries to Heaven. There are three sins in Scripture which are said to CRY. Oppression. Psa 12: 5. Sodomy. Gen 18: 21. Bloodshed. This cries so loud, that it drowns all the other cries. 'The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground.' Gen 4: 10. Abel's blood had as many tongues as drops, to cry aloud for vengeance. This sin of blood lay heavy on David's conscience; though he had sinned by adultery, yet, what he cried out for most was, this crimson sin of blood. 'Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God.' Psa 51: 14. Though the Lord visits for every sin, yet He will in a special manner make 'INQUISITION FOR BLOOD.' Psa 9: 12. If a beast killed a man it was to be stoned, and its flesh was not to be eaten. Exod 21: 28. If God would have a beast stoned that killed a man, which had not the use of reason to restrain it, much more will he be incensed against those who, against both reason and conscience, take away the life of a man.

(3) Murder is a DIABOLICAL sin. It makes a man the devil's first born, for he was a murderer from the beginning. John 8: 44.

(4) It is a CURSED sin. If there be a curse for him that smites his neighbour secretly, he is doubly cursed that kills him. Deut 27: 24. The first man that was born was a murderer. 'And now art thou cursed from the earth.' Gen 4: 11. He was an excommunicated person, banished from the place of God's public worship. God set a mark upon bloody Cain. Gen 4: 15. Some think that mark was horror of mind, which, above all sins, accompanies the sin of blood. Others think it was a continual shaking and trembling in his flesh. He carried a curse along with him.

(5) It is a wrath-procuring sin. 2 Kings 24: 4.

It procures TEMPORAL judgements...Vengeance as a bloodhound pursues the murderer. 'Bloody men shall not live out half their days.' Psa 55: 23.

It brings ETERNAL judgements. It binds men over to hell...Let all impenitent murderers read their doom in Rev 21: 8: 'Murderers shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.' We read of 'fire mingled with blood.' Rev 8: 7. Such as have their hands full of blood must undergo the wrath of God. Here is fire mingled with blood, and this fire is inextinguishable. Mark 9: 44. Time will not finish it, tears will not quench it.

http://www.ondoctrine.com/2wat0006.htm