THE DECALOGUE by J. W. Watt

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 15, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 50.

THE DECALOGUE.

By J. W. Watt

The Sixth Commandment.

“Thou shalt not kill.” Ex. 20:13.

This commandment is short in words, but very broad in meaning. The Lord did not desire that there should ever be any death in His fair universe; all death is contrary to His will. When the law of God condemns a sin, it goes to the lowest depths, and condemns the last fiber of the root of the matter. There is left absolutely nothing; it is utterly uprooted. There is no excuse for sin anyway; it has come into the universe of God as an intruder.

When a man goes out with knife or gun in hand, and takes the life of his fellow-man, he has committed the overt act of killing. But this was not the beginning of the matter; the desire to do the deed was in his heart for days, weeks, or months before he committed the act. And a desire to harm our fellow-man is a violation of the sixth commandment. This is shown by our Saviour in Matt. 5:21–24.

Judging, condemning, or speaking evil of others is also a violation of this precept. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matt. 7:1, 2. “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” Luke 6:37.

God has not given to man the work of judgment, for man is not capable of judging; he can not look into the heart of his fellow-man and discern the motive that prompted the act. God only can do this; therefore man has not been given any such work to do. Yet how often this is done!

“Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; who art thou that judgest another?” James 4:11, 12. When we speak evil of our fellow-men, we judge the law of God, but can we judge the law without judging the One who gave the law?—No, we can not. Therefore in the act of speaking evil, we set ourselves above the God of heaven, judging Him to be an incompetent Lawgiver, and unworthy of our respect and obedience. This is an awful thing for any one to do. If we ever enter heaven, we must learn to keep all the commandments of God, and this one says, “Thou shalt not kill.”

“And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.” Isa. 1:15. If we should meet a man on the street with his hands literally besmeared with human gore, we should be horrified; we should flee from him, feeling that he was a dangerous man, and ought not to have his freedom. But we can sit down and listen quietly for hours to an evil report some one is peddling about the country, and we do not feel horrified at all. Yet in the sight of God both are guilty, and must repent of the sin of murder, and obtain forgiveness, before God can take them to heaven. It is a very dangerous thing to engage in evil-speaking, or to associate with those who do so.

There is another phase of this subject which we must not overlook. Men sometimes take their own lives. This also is a violation of the commandment we are now considering. There are many ways that men may take their own lives. Some shoot themselves; others take poison; others cast themselves into the water, and are drowned. All this is very bad, and we are sorry for one who takes such a course. But by the use of tea, coffee, tobacco, opium, alcohol, and stimulants of various kinds, men and women bring upon themselves disease and premature death, shortening their lives by ten, fifteen, or twenty years. Have such persons violated the commandment which says, “Thou shalt not kill”?—They certainly have.

By overeating, men sometimes shorten their lives. The writer once knew a man who ate so much ice-cream that he died in a few hours. He was young, strong, and vigorous. Did this man violate the law of God? Others have overworked, and have died prematurely.

God in His mercy may save some of these persons who have violated His law in the different ways spoken of, because of their ignorance of the true character of His law; but light is now shining upon the world, and God is leading His people to an understanding of His law, that they may prepare characters that will fit them for citizenship in His kingdom.

How broad and deep are the thoughts of God expressed in His law! How pure these holy principles are! Only by the aid of the Holy Spirit, which is given to us through Christ Jesus, can we ever meet the divine standard. But, praise the name of the Lord, in Him and by His strength we can reach the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

J. W. WATT.